Witch Training Manual: My Water Magic Is Wrong

Just then, the panel appeared.

[Nasha - Information Confirmed]

[Identity: Matt's younger sister, nine years old.]

[Note: Matt and Natasha are one of the few truly blood-related siblings in Raven's Nest. Their parents died in a street fight two years ago, and since then, Matt has been struggling to survive in Raven's Nest with his sister. He steals, fights for territory, gets beaten up, and runs away—all in an effort to ensure his sister has enough to eat.]

[Note 2: It was no coincidence that the Gluttony Vessel chose Matt. The core characteristic of that forbidden object is devouring. Matt's instinctive hunger—the desire to keep his sister alive no matter what—resonated deeply with the Gluttony Vessel. It wasn't trying to possess his body; it was simply responding to his stomach.]

[Note: After his sister's death, Matt fled with her body, heading to the largest cemetery outside the capital. Her death accelerated his fusion with forbidden objects. When hunger becomes meaningless, gluttony is born.]

After comforting Xiaolin, Emily immediately asked...

"Sir, what should we do with these children?"

Wayne's gaze swept over the group of figures huddled together.

"Take them back first and let Alice choose. If they can be trained, then train them. If not, then arrange other ways for them to make a living."

Emily nodded, then looked up at him again: "Sir, where are you going?"

Wayne turned to Emily: "I've found a clue. Go check out the cemetery on the outskirts of the city. You take these children back first, be careful on the way."

Emily frowned slightly. "The cemetery? Sir, you're going alone?"

"Hmm. Too many people might alert them. You go back first, I'll return home after I've finished my investigation."

Emily opened her mouth as if to say something, but in the end she nodded: "Then be careful."

Without saying anything more, Wayne turned and walked out, his steps quickening in the dim underground passage until he disappeared into the light of the exit.

Meanwhile, in the suburban cemetery area.

There were no towering trees to block out the sun, no neatly arranged tombstones. This cemetery was a public cemetery designated by the capital for the use of commoners, and it is said that at least hundreds of thousands of bodies lie buried here.

Wayne walked a short distance along the main road into the cemetery.

He found that the ground was littered with the carcasses of many animals: crows, wild cats, rats, and some small animals he couldn't name, scattered all over the ground.

Wayne crouched down and casually examined the carcass of a crow. The crow's body was shriveled, without any external injuries, and its body seemed to have been drained of moisture by something.

Wayne continued deeper into the cemetery.

The animal carcasses on the ground grew increasingly dense, and an inexplicable sense of stagnation permeated the air.

Deep within the cemetery lies a low stone house.

An old man was sitting at the entrance of the stone house.

He was wearing an old black robe with countless patches, and his hair was a mess of gray and white. He was drinking water.

Wayne stopped about ten steps away from him.

The old man didn't look up, but his voice still reached him.

"Father, you shouldn't have come this way."

Wayne stood still and asked a question in return.

"You recognized me as the priest?"

"The radiant aura emanating from you is so strong, I can smell it even from halfway across the cemetery. What do you say?"

The panel unfolded in Wayne's field of vision.

【The Gravekeeper - Character Information】

[Identity: Follower of the evil god Anubidi.]

[Rank: Possibly late-stage fourth rank, but due to the unique nature of his faith, his actual combat strength cannot be measured by conventional rank standards.]

[Background: He once served as an exorcist at the Holy See in the capital. Twenty years ago, during a night patrol, he was corrupted by an interdimensional rift and was deemed by the Holy See to have suffered "irreversible spiritual pollution," resulting in his excommunication and expulsion from the Holy See system. After leaving the Holy See, he wandered to this cemetery and became its caretaker.]

Wayne's heart sank.

Forbidden items have run into cult followers; this is troublesome.

"Where is that child?"

Hearing that no one asked a question, the old man sighed.

"That child... he's a pitiful person. His parents are dead, and his sister, who was his only family, is also dead. He's very hungry, always hungry. I'm helping him."

"Help him? How?"

The old man revealed his dark teeth and grinned.

"Of course, we should feed it until it's full!"

Wayne charged forward.

However, the tomb keeper disappeared.

The chair he had been sitting in was still gently rocking in place, with a water stain remaining on its surface, as if the person who had just been there had never existed.

Immediately afterwards, the old man's voice came from all directions at the same time, as if seeping out from the cracks of every tombstone.

"Father, I've saved a big surprise for you. Enjoy it, hehehe... By Anubidi, may His hunger never cease."

Wayne stood still, his gaze quickly sweeping over his surroundings.

There was no trace of him, no lingering aura, and not even a flicker of magic could be detected.

"...Playing tricks."

He didn't waste time on the vanished gravedigger; since the old man said he had left a "surprise," the surprise must be in this cemetery.

Wayne quickened his pace and walked deeper into the cemetery.

After passing through a grove of low, mixed trees, the sight ahead made him suddenly stop in his tracks.

A huge crater appeared on the ground at the deepest part of the cemetery, as if it had been blasted open from the inside out by something.

The edges of the pit were piled with a large number of broken coffin planks and scattered bones, while inside the pit, countless corpses surged like a tide, converging on the small, thin figure in the center of the pit.

Matt.

These corpses were being devoured in an endless stream.

Matt's face was covered in dirt and blood, obscuring his original appearance, but Wayne could clearly see the look in his eyes.

Those eyes held no madness of hunger, no thrill of killing, only utter pain and despair.

He looked up at Wayne, who was standing at the edge of the pit.

"Please...kill me..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the plate embedded in the center of his chest suddenly trembled violently, and a crack appeared in the center of the plate: "Human, have you also come for my sacrifice? If you obey me, you can become my apostle. If you obey me, I can make you my apostle. You will have eternal satiety and will never feel hunger again."

As it spoke, a foul stench wafted from its mouth, spreading outwards along the edge of the pit.

That aura was not an ordinary smell, but a kind of spiritual pollution with substantial power.

"Forget it," the mouth whispered. "Forget your mission, forget your name, forget all your pain and perseverance. Give yourself to me, and you will no longer bear any burden."

Wayne's gaze flickered.

The surrounding cemetery blurred in that instant. He almost forgot why he was standing there, almost forgot who the child in front of him was, almost felt that... it wouldn't be so bad to just relax and entrust everything to something warmer and more fulfilling.

Then Wayne's eyes refocused.

He raised his hand, and a pale blue liquid spread from his palm, covering his entire body. The foul stench was blocked by the water film, and his mind cleared again.

"...I almost fell for your trick."

The Gluttonous Vessel let out a low, regretful sigh: "What a pity. You could have been my most perfect apostle. Why couldn't you forget me?"