Millennium Witch.

Chapter 143-142- Metamorphosis
After having a vial of blood drawn, Lant's life returned to its lowest point, and nothing changed.

He continued to give it his all, but he only managed to make progress. The harder he tried, the more his heart sank.

The divine servant girl, who also served as his magic instructor, no longer treated him as harshly as before when she saw how hard he was trying. However, she often described him with pity as "a pitiful wretch who is powerless to defy fate."

Clearly, she had foreseen that he would be unable to change the final outcome due to his limited talent.

Lant always silently endured these mocking remarks, almost never arguing back. Only when Abella's words occasionally touched upon his deceased parents would he stubbornly raise his neck and whisper a few words of defense.

At other times, he would even agree with Miss Divine Servant's words in his heart.

He was indeed unworthy to be the witch's student, and he himself thought so.

Just like the favor bestowed by the previous Demon King, it was merely a ray of light for the demon race. For an ordinary demon boy like him, who came from humble beginnings, becoming a student of the Silver Witch was perhaps an unattainable dream.

……

While Lant was wallowing in self-pity and shrouded in the shadow of impending judgment, Yvette found something new to do in her experiment with runic medicine.

Her soul brain is equipped with the scientific research-grade AI model "Sage Core". As a top model from Black Tower Pharmaceuticals, Sage Core is not only an expert in the pharmaceutical field, but its vast database also stores a massive amount of gene sequence rune maps, making it an excellent tool for studying the underlying laws of life.

With the help of the Sage's Core analysis, Yvette quickly confirmed that Lant's blood—or rather, the genes of the demon race—did indeed contain anomalies. Some obviously externally embedded rune sequences, like ropes, were wrapped around the original gene chains, acting as invisible shackles that locked off the normal expression of large areas of genes, rendering these gene sequences useless.

Is this what is known as the "curse of the demon god"?
If these embedded sequences are removed, can the sealed talents of the Demon race be released again?

She immediately became interested. After all, the research of rune medicine requires a lot of practical support, but in reality, there is often a lack of suitable "topics." It's like aspiring to become a puzzle master but not being able to find sufficiently complex puzzles to hone one's skills.

The mysterious embedded rune sequences in the Demon Race's genes are now an excellent subject for scientific research.

Driven by a strong interest in exploration, and with the aim of practice and application, Yvette began to delve into the genetic sequence of the demon race, setting out to find a way to break and undo the deception.

In the course of research and experimentation, a year passed in the blink of an eye.

……

Yvette set a three-year probationary period for Lant, culminating in an assessment to determine his suitability for permanent employment.

With only five months left before the end of his expedition, Lant's growing anxiety made it almost impossible for him to meditate. He moved out and built himself a simple tin shack by a waterfall in the dense forest of the Ish Mountains, using scrap metal he had collected.

The environment here was neither comfortable nor safe, but the deafening roar of the waterfall brought a strange tranquility that barely suppressed his inner anxiety.

Moreover, he now has some combat ability, so as long as he doesn't encounter too strong second-order aberrations, surviving shouldn't be a problem.

That night, after finishing his meditation under the waterfall, Lant, soaking wet, had just climbed ashore when he saw the figure of the Divine Servant standing quietly not far away.

His heart tightened, but he still stepped forward respectfully and said in a humble tone, "Sister Abella, is there anything I can help you with?"

The maidservant handed him a glass bottle with a blank expression. The bottle contained a strange, viscous green liquid.

"This is the medicine your master gave you," she said coldly. "Drink it. I'll come back in a couple of days to draw a vial of blood, so be prepared."

Looking at the bottle of eerie liquid that exuded an ominous aura and was easily associated with poison, Lant did not hesitate for a moment. He tilted his head back and drank the green potion in one gulp, then said in a hoarse voice, "I understand."

The noble and aloof young lady nodded slightly, then turned and disappeared into the night.

In the following days, Lant felt some subtle changes occurring in his body, though he couldn't quite describe what they were. A few days later, the servant girl arrived as promised, drew a vial of his blood, and left again. A few days later, she reappeared, following the same procedure: handing over new medicine and returning a few days later to draw blood again.

However, the color of the medicine brought each time was bizarre, and the physical reactions after taking it were also different. Sometimes it was a tearing pain, and sometimes it was an unbearable itching. The feeling was more and more intense each time, which was a double torment from the body to the mind. It was hard not to suspect that he was being used as a guinea pig in some kind of experiment, and that the assessment had been ended long ago.

But he said nothing, remaining silent and enduring it all in silence. Deep down, he even somewhat hoped that one day he could die as a test subject under these potions. That way, he could repay the witch's life-saving grace and escape the despair brought by the failed experiment—a kind of relief, perhaps.

Another three months have passed.

During this period, as a guinea pig for drug testing, Lant's body did not undergo any drastic changes. The drugs seemed to be simply meant to make him feel pain, sometimes even suffocation as if he were on the verge of death.

One month before the final assessment, an accident occurred one night at the training grounds where Lant was located.

It was an uninvited intruder, a two-stage mutated hound monster. Having dealt with many undead recently, Lant immediately tensed up and entered battle mode, maneuvering against the hound monster in the dark forest and constantly retaliating with spells he hadn't quite mastered yet.

For Lant, the second-stage aberration was already the limit of what he could handle. Unfortunately, this hound monster was one of the most ferocious types. In addition, he didn't have much magic power, his control was poor, and he couldn't cast some spells instantly. He was quickly chased down by the hound monster and fled in disarray.

But the hound quickly caught up with him and lunged at him. Lant gathered flames, forcing the hound to close its mouth again, then rammed it with all its might, sending him flying. The hound rolled twice on the ground, letting out several screams.

Although the attack avoided the risk of infection from being bitten by the canines, the enormous impact broke his ribs. Even more fatally, his magic was exhausted, and in this dark, deep forest, no one would come to his rescue. This was the consequence he was destined to bear when he made the decision to move here.

Lant gritted his teeth, enduring the pain, and stood up again. Looking at the hound-like monster before him, he used all his strength to squeeze out the last bit of magic power from his body, letting out a low growl. He couldn't die here; he still had a great grudge to avenge. He had to hold on until the day of the assessment, to see the outcome of that beautiful dream, even if it ultimately turned out to be just a mirage.

The dog-like monster pounced again, and in that instant, he seemed to hear the sound of something breaking. Lant felt a cool power surge within him, supporting his body once more, allowing him to nimbly dodge to the side.

Under the influence of that power, his body seemed to become a huge black hole, absorbing all the elements in the surrounding area and gathering them around him. The consumed magic power also recovered at an unimaginable speed.

Suddenly, spells that had previously been impossible to control could be cast instantly, and magic that was difficult to manipulate became effortless. Lant was completely bewildered, but he knew that in a life-or-death battle, one couldn't afford to be distracted. A fierce wind gathered in his fist, and he unleashed a powerful punch forward, sending the ferocious hound flying!
The dog-like monster's massive body slammed into the tree, tilting the trunk to one side. Clearly bewildered by the sudden change in the previously fragile boy, it let out a mournful howl, turned, and fled into the darkness, vanishing without a trace.

Lant stood there dumbfounded for a long time before he came to his senses and realized that he had actually driven away the evil demon in one go.

But is this really me?

He looked down and saw that some white light had appeared on his hands. Judging from the patterns, they seemed to be the unique magic patterns of the demon race. But normally those magic patterns were dark purple and were just decorations. They had never shown such an unusual glow as they did now.

He walked back to the pool at the foot of the waterfall, lowered his head, and his current appearance was reflected on the water. His deep purple hair, magic markings, and pupils had all turned white, releasing a striking fluorescence in the darkness. His aura had also changed drastically. Although his face was still as youthful as ever, under the light of his hair, magic markings, and eyes, he actually showed a bit of awe-inspiring power, which could even be described as domineering.

Most importantly, in this special form, he will frantically absorb external elemental energy, and the magic power in his body is inexhaustible. At the same time, his control and magical pressure will also rise to a new level. The same spells will have completely different power!

This is...me?

Lant reached out blankly and tugged at his face. Then, belatedly, he noticed something, looked up at the cliff above the waterfall, and saw that the witch with silver hair like a waterfall and the maid with black hair like ink had been standing there for a long time, watching him.

He paused for a moment, then immediately thought of those medicines, those drugs that had tormented him for many days and caused him immense suffering.

Was it the effect of those medicines? Did the witch take pity on me and bestow those magical potions upon me, which led to such a great transformation?

In an instant, like a runaway child who has wandered for many days and suddenly discovers that his parents have been secretly following him all along, Lant suddenly burst into tears, his vision blurred by the tears. He had always thought that the witch didn't care about him, that she had long been disappointed in him, and that having the divine servant girl test medicine on him was just a small way of making use of his trash.

He suddenly knelt down on the ground and kowtowed desperately in the direction of the waterfall, smashing the glowing patterns on his forehead until they were bloody and mangled.

(End of this chapter)