"You want this freezing spellbook?"
The woman beneath the cloak raised her head. When she heard Ethan call her "pretty lady," a hint of a smile immediately appeared on her face.
Only, this woman really looked far too much like those terrifying witches from Disney works.
It would've been better if she hadn't smiled. Now that she did, revealing a mouth with only a single front tooth, along with eyeballs that had no whites and were rolling around as they stared at Ethan, it was honestly pretty frightening.
"Yes! If you won't give a discount, that's fine too. I can give you ten Dragon Coins," Compared to a discount, Ethan now just wanted to hurry up and leave this witch's line of sight. For some reason, being stared at by her made his whole body feel uncomfortable.
It made Ethan extremely uneasy.
"Heh! Heh! Heh!"
The witch suddenly laughed and said, "Selling it to you cheaper isn't a problem. After all, this spellbook hasn't been asked about for a long time. If it can find a place it belongs, that counts as a good thing."
"Alright, then thank you."
Ethan hurriedly put fifty Dragon Coins on the stall. He didn't even bother asking for a discount anymore. He picked it up and was about to leave.
But at that moment, the witch suddenly reached out and grabbed him, "Young man, don't rush off!"
Σ(°Д°;!!!
Ethan was instantly scared out of his wits.
Because the witch's hand was unbelievably cold, as if what was gripping his arm wasn't a hand at all, but a block of ice.
He panicked and shook his arm twice, but the witch's grip was incredibly strong. Ethan couldn't shake her off at all.
"I-if you've got something to say, we can talk it out."
Left with no choice, Ethan had to back down.
Only then did the witch give a sinister smile and say, "Oh? You actually have a protective treasure on you. Looks like you're a disciple from a famous family. Don't panic. I won't do anything to you."
"Then… then let go already!"
Ethan had originally thought the witch wanted more money.
But hearing her say he was a disciple from a famous family made him even more panicked.
Because, that meant the witch really had intended to make a move on him just now.
Fortunately, he happened to be wearing the Nightmare Rat King's protective necklace, which gave the witch the illusion that this person had a powerful background and wasn't someone to mess with.
That was why she didn't attack Ethan on the spot.
But the problem was, Ethan's background was fake. If the witch discovered that...
'Damn it!'
He couldn't even think about it.
'Will I turn into a pig, or a frog or something?'
Then he'd have to travel thousands of miles to find a kind princess, let her kiss him, and only then turn back into a human?
'But that kind of thing only happens in fairy tales, right?'
If this were the real world, the more likely outcome would be Ethan traveling thousands of miles, getting dried into frog jerky under the sun.
Or, if he were insanely lucky, he might actually stumble into finding a kind princess.
But then the most likely outcome after that would be getting stomped to death by the guards next to the princess, kicked aside, and cursed at, ("Where did this dead frog come from?")
After all, what kind of princess doesn't have guards?
That's the most realistic ending.
"I just wanted to tell you," The witch finally let go of Ethan's hand and said, "No matter whether the spellbooks you buy from me are useful or not, you can't return them. Understand?"
"Understood! Understood! Absolutely no returns or exchanges. I get it!"
Ethan grabbed the spellbook and ran off as if fleeing for his life.
And only then, did he notice a red exclamation mark appear above the witch's head.
[Wilderness Witch: One of the most untouchable existences among all races. Once she takes an interest in you, she is very likely to turn you into her servant and make you serve her forever.]
[PS: Witches possess powerful magic. If you don't have absolute confidence, never provoke her.]
"Holy hell!"
Ethan felt a tightness in his chest.
'This damn system never says anything ahead of time. It always waits until I am scared half to death before chiming in afterward like some smug hindsight expert.'
'What the hell do I even need you for?'
Grinding his teeth in frustration, Ethan returned to his stall. Then he turned his head regretfully, looking at the pile of skill books and spellbooks in front of the witch.
He'd originally planned to rely on crazily copying those skill books and make a fortune selling them.
But now, to be honest, he didn't really dare to provoke that witch again.
After all, with his current early-stage abilities, not even counting as a proper warrior, going up against a high-level mage was basically the same as seeking death, right?
"Heh! Heh!"
But just then, the witch seemed to sense something. She suddenly raised her head and flashed Ethan another smile.
(;ﾟДﾟ)!
Ethan's poor little heart was frightened yet again.
He hurriedly lowered his head. He felt that if he made eye contact with the witch for even one more second, she might suddenly say something like, "Young man, come to my place and enjoy rich-lady happiness. I'll give you as many scrolls as you want."
"Sigh!"
After letting out a sigh, Ethan could only take out the skill book copier and secretly copy a copy of the [Totally Useless Freezing Ability Spellbook (Fake)].
Because here, it wasn't convenient for him to mass-produce fakes, so Ethan only dared to secretly copy one. As long as he had the original, once he got home, he could endlessly produce knockoffs.
"Learn!"
Ethan felt a flash of insight in his mind.
He didn't know if it was because he'd previously learned the [Grand Fireball Spellbook], but this time, learning a new magic skill didn't feel awkward at all.
It felt like something clicked by analogy, and he understood it all at once.
Immediately after, he tried condensing the spell at his fingertips.
❄️ ❄️ ❄️
And then, a thin layer of frost appeared on his fingertips.
And as he continued channeling energy, the area of frost kept expanding. Soon, white frost covered Ethan's entire palm.
It looked like Ethan was wearing a white glove.
'Interesting!'
But, when Ethan tried to fire the freezing spell out like the Grand Fireball spell, a problem arose.
Although the Grand Fireball spell was a bit weak and a bit slow, at least it was still a long-range attack spell.
Besides, hadn't Ethan blown a magma octopus away with the Grand Fireball spell before?
That kind of achievement wasn't something just anyone could pull off, alright.
'Hahaha! Let me put my hands on my hips and brag for a bit!'
However, when it came time for Ethan to try condensing this freezing spell, he couldn't brag anymore.
Because after spending a long time, all that appeared at his fingertip was a single snowflake, which fluttered down to the ground.
❄️~
"..."
No wonder it was called the totally useless freezing ability spellbook. It really was totally useless.
'It can't even leave the body, and this freezing ability…'
'Is probably only good for chilling a beer, right?'
Ethan didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Then, he took out a piece of octopus meat and tried freezing it.
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