Don't move, it's a robbery!

Are you alright?

"Of course I'm fine, how could I be in trouble?"

"But your dark circles are even worse than mine before. Didn't you sleep well last night?"

"I already said no... Ah~~ yawn~, it's okay, I'm not sleepy at all."

"Why don't you go and rest for a while?"

"Can't you just focus on the lesson, Ms. Eve? I'm paying for the pills, not for you to worry about my health."

For some reason, Eve's attitude towards me today was noticeably better than before.

In the past, when she was teaching me, she would always be sarcastic and make me feel like I was stupid. But today she was very patient and cared about me a lot.

Does she also want something from me?

Surely you're not thinking about that honey-glazed fruit platter we talked about last night?

Are elves really that greedy?

The day of studying passed quickly. I yawned as I went to the kitchen, first taking a Troll Vitality Pill, and then washing my face with a basin of cold water.

Last night I lay on the roof listening all night, but I didn't hear anything useful. But I couldn't leave because Tina hadn't slept all night either, and was trying to figure out how to escape.

Actually, it doesn't matter if she doesn't say it. I had already made other preparations. The reason I deliberately said yesterday that it was her last meal was to create tension for Tina and make her mistakenly believe that it was her last chance to escape.

In this situation, if Tina successfully escapes, she will inevitably head to what she considers a safe place.

And there is a high probability that her hidden secrets are kept there.

To ensure Tina wouldn't suspect anything, I reinforced the rope bindings to make them absolutely impossible to untie by normal means. At the same time, I carefully selected a house, specifically one that was particularly dilapidated, with cracked walls and rough stones everywhere inside.

If she's smart enough, she'll definitely figure out how to cut the ropes with stones. Although it will take some time due to the angle and posture, the more difficult it is, the more she'll believe she escaped through her own efforts.

I was full of confidence, thinking I had her completely under my control, but I waited all night and still couldn't catch Tina escaping.

I couldn't stand it anymore, so I went inside to see what she had been doing all night.

Guess what? She actually spent the whole night untying the ropes, without even touching the stones on the ground.

Why are you so persistent, lady? Can't you think about things a little different?

"I thought she was pretty smart, but I didn't expect her to be so stubborn and inflexible."

Thinking of Tina made me a little annoyed, and I couldn't help but use more force when cutting fruit. Before I knew it, the knife was stuck in the cutting board. I calmed myself down and tried to pull the knife off, but to my surprise, with a little force, only the handle remained.

"Is the quality really that bad?"

I was somewhat helpless. I looked around and found that there wasn't a second kitchen knife in the huge kitchen.

Did the city lord take the kitchen utensils with him when he fled?

Feeling somewhat helpless, I pulled out my own bright red dagger, intending to use it as a makeshift kitchen knife. But when I applied a little force, I accidentally cut the cutting board in half.

"What's going on? When did the rabbit knife get so sharp? I haven't sharpened it recently!"

I looked at the bright red dagger with some surprise and found that it seemed even redder than before.

Could it be that it became stronger after the last battle?

Can a knife become stronger?

I was pleasantly surprised. Sure enough, anything that Xitong sends me is always good!

"Thank you, West Copper! You're truly my best friend!"

(눈_눈): "You're welcome, it gives me a stomachache."

"What are you talking about?"

Eve appeared out of nowhere. She first glanced at the dagger in my hand, but her attention was quickly drawn to the fruit on the cutting board.

"You really prepared a honey-glazed fruit platter for me? Where did you get the fruit? And I was going to ask you yesterday, where did you get the honey?"

"Of course it came from the council. They have the best food in the whole of Linde City."

"What?"

"It's alright, don't be jealous. I always take the good stuff and never leave any for them."

"I... I finally understand why the council always gives bounty hunters preferential treatment."

Eve was somewhat amused and exasperated. Then she secretly glanced at me, and when she realized I had noticed her little action, she awkwardly looked away.

"Is there something you want to say?"

"Yes, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that to you yesterday. There's nothing shameful about wanting to learn magic, it has nothing to do with your talent."

"Fine, if it can't be used, it can't be used."

I nodded to indicate that I accepted her apology, but then I noticed that Eve still hadn't left.

"Do you really want to use magic?"

"Yes, but didn't you say I simply couldn't learn it?"

"Well, although you can't be a mage, you might be able to cast spells if you use some clever tricks."

I was a little surprised and turned to look at Eve. She took a deep breath and then solemnly said that she wasn't entirely sure about the method she was about to describe, and whether or not to listen to it was up to me.

"Tell me about it. If the risk is too high, I just won't use it, right?"

"Come with me to the yard."

Eve led me to the garden of the city lord's mansion. Due to lack of maintenance, it was overgrown with weeds, but the flowers did not wither; on the contrary, they bloomed even more beautifully.

However, Eve was clearly not there to admire the scenery. Her expression was very serious. She went to the circular open space in the center of the garden by herself, then took out a piece of chalk and began to draw a peculiar magic circle on the ground.

Then, she took a rabbit from a nearby cage, put one of my pills into the rabbit's mouth, and only after the rabbit had swallowed the pill did she place the rabbit in the center of the magic circle.

"What is this?"

"This is a magic circle for activating the magic power of living beings. As the name suggests, it can activate the magic power within a living being, similar to the spell I taught you last time to awaken your magic power."

"Do rabbits have magic powers too?"

I turned my head in surprise, waiting for Eve's explanation.

"Of course rabbits have magic. Not just rabbits, every living thing has magic in its body."

"I know what you're trying to say. You've probably misunderstood the relationship between magic and magic circuits. In fact, although all living beings have magic within them, they don't have magic circuits that can convert magic into magic."

"It's like the relationship between an oil lamp and oil. The magic is the oil. If an oil lamp is to be lit, it must have oil as a fuel. But if there is only oil and no wick, the oil lamp still cannot be lit."

"The magic circuit is like the wick of an oil lamp. Whether it's a monster born with the ability to cast spells or a mage who learns to cast spells later in life, they all need to pour magic into the magic circuit to produce magic."

"I said you lacked talent before because it's difficult for ordinary people to form magic circuits. In addition, you took magic potions indiscriminately, which caused the magic circuits in your body to be chaotic, confused, and fragmented. If ordinary people are like a platform with nothing, then this place is like a junkyard full of waste."

"However, your potion is indeed very magical."

Eve pointed to the rabbit in the magic circle. At this moment, its eyes were bloodshot and its body was much larger than before, as if the whole rabbit had swelled up. I felt that this scene was very familiar, so I quickly took a few steps back.

"Is this guy about to explode?"

"No, I only awakened its magic, and because it ate your pill, it now has a magical circulation."

Eve took out a pill, which I examined and found to be made from the adrenaline of werewolves. Its effect was to make people go berserk and unleash power several times greater than their own.

Before I could explain, Eve described the effects of the medicine, exactly as I knew.

"Do you know how this potion works? It doesn't have any special effects. Apart from a small amount of drug stimulation, the most important thing is that it forms a temporary magical circuit in the user's body. That's why its effects are so powerful, and it has almost no side effects."

"Furthermore, you have never activated magic before, so the amount of magic you can give to a temporary magic circuit is extremely limited. If you can freely draw upon the magic within your body and then infuse it into the magic circuit, then you will essentially possess all the power of those monsters."

My eyes lit up. I understood what Eve meant. In other words, as long as I could activate my magic, I could use the magic that those monsters were born with while on drugs.

"How can I activate my magic? Do I need to use the incantation I used to lift the curse?"

Eve shook her head, indicating that this time not only would a spell be needed, but also a special ritual, and she could not guarantee that it would succeed.

But no matter what, I want to give it a try.

Seeing that I persisted, Eve moved the rabbit out of the magic circle, then had me sit on it, and then began chanting the spell again.

"Based on the body; guided by the soul; and bridged by the spirit;"

"Reaching the sky, embracing the earth, merging with nature, transcending the universe;"

"Let your breath merge with the storm, let your blood flow and surge with the rivers; communicate with life and death through your heart, and subdivide the infinite from positive and negative."

As the incantation was recited, the magic circle emitted a faint glow, and I felt some light spots appear in my body, along with many strange black spots. They surrounded and intertwined with each other, and although they were very different, they gave me a similar feeling.

That's right, compared to the last time, I seem to be able to observe much less magic.

"Why so little?"

"Are you talking about the magical aura within you? I told you before that your talent isn't that great. The reason it was so bright last time was because you had to fight against the curse and risk your life, so I ignited some of your life force to make it easier for you to fight to the death. This time you're just activating magic, so you naturally don't need those."

Eve's words reassured me a lot, so now it's time to witness a miracle.

I ate a troll pill while I was in the kitchen earlier, intending to use it to perk myself up, but now it comes in handy.

Following Eve's instructions, I channeled the magical energy within me into the magic circuit. I felt its power; a surge of powerful life force suddenly welled up and filled my chest.

Appear! My own unique magic!

I shouted, then suddenly ripped open my shirt and looked at my chest.

Yes, some chest hair has grown.

"So, the troll's mana circuits are used to grow chest hair?"