Witch Training Manual: My Water Magic Is Wrong

On the other side, the elves surrounded Vayne.

The chattering quickly turned into a chaotic mess.

"Why isn't my benefactor moving?"

"Is he injured?"

"Grandma, what happened to our benefactor? Is he alright?"

The tree spirit stared at Wayne, who stood there dumbfounded, and remained silent for a moment.

"The evil Anubidi wants to possess this young friend's body. If he succeeds... combined with that magical water magic, it could be a disaster for us."

The lead elf flew forward and landed on the trunk of the old tree. She asked anxiously, "Grandma, what should we do?"

The tree spirit remained silent for a while.

"...If your mental state is at a disadvantage, we need to awaken your will to survive."

"Survival instinct?"

"Besides some beautiful and painful memories, the most important thing about human survival instinct is..." The old tree paused, "...desire."

The elves didn't react in time.

The old tree spirit began to offer advice to the group of elves:

"So you do this... and this..."

"And then do that...and that..."

The lead tree spirit understood, her face instantly turning bright red. She clasped her little hands together: "Is this really okay, Grandma?"

The tree spirit's voice carried a hint of helplessness: "I don't know much about humans either, but I think this is the best method. With your palm-sized bodies, I think it's just right. Perhaps it would be easier to stimulate his will to survive together."

The other elves were still confused, but the leading tree elf lowered its head and softly replied, "...Okay."

She turned to her group of still-dazed companions and said, "We'll listen to Grandma."

The divine tree stretched out a branch, gently wrapped it around Wayne's body, lifted him from the spot, and sent him into a nearby stone cave.

The elves exchanged glances and flew inside one after another.

The light at the cave entrance dimmed.

Within the mental space.

Wayne was unaware of what was happening outside.

He stood in the mist, looking down at the twisted black shadow in his palm. Anubidi's will struggled in his hand, but could not break free, like an insect with its wings pinched.

Anubidi roared.

"What...what exactly are you?!"

He had seen human souls, the echoes of gods, and the will of the abyss, but he had never seen anything like this before. For a person's spiritual body to be this powerful was simply abnormal.

"Who exactly are you?!"

Wayne glanced down at him: "I am a good 21st-century youth who has received nine years of compulsory education."

Anubidi looked bewildered; he could understand each word individually, but couldn't comprehend them when put together.

"What did you say?"

Wayne smiled slightly: "Never mind if you don't understand."

The watery light in his palm closed, completely crushing the dark shadow.

In the space of consciousness, Wayne released his hand, and the dark shadow landed, reforming into the shape of Anubidi.

He cracked his neck and grinned. "You can't kill me. Even if you crush me a thousand times, I can always reform myself. The reason we're called evil gods is because we're unkillable."

Wayne didn't say anything.

He looked down at his palm, the water glistening between his fingers, reflecting Anubidi's distorted face.

"Really? Then I'll give it a try."

He raised his hand, and water elemental energy condensed into a sharp blade in his palm. With a single slash, he cleaved Anubidi in two, the blade dissipating into black mist. But two breaths later, the mist coalesced again, and a complete body stood before him once more.

"I told you, you can't kill him." Anubidi shrugged. "Don't waste your energy."

Wayne ignored him.

He tried several other methods.

Flooded. Burned. Scorched by holy light. Even torn him to pieces.

Each one works, but none of them can kill him.

The black mist always re-condenses after it dissipates, like a puppet being pulled back from the abyss by an invisible thread.

Anubidi rose from the ground, his tone mocking: "See? I didn't lie to you. I am a follower of the Abyss; my consciousness is connected to it. You kill me once, and I will rise from the mud of the Abyss once more. I will not die until I wear you down."

Wayne stared at him for a long time.

Then he laughed.

"Then I'll try another way."

He crouched down, scooped up a wisp of mist from the space in front of him, and began to knead it. The mist slowly condensed in his palm, first forming a blurry outline, then facial features, body shape, limbs, and finally turning into a tiny person the size of a palm.

Anubidi looked down at himself, now stuffed into the tiny figure's body, in his palm, and froze: "What are you doing?"

Wayne did not answer.

He continued to mold a second wisp of mist, creating a second little figure, then a third, and a fourth. After each one, he tore off a small piece of Anubidi's will and stuffed it into the little figure.

Anubidi's smile gradually faded.

"What...what are you doing?"

Wayne then spoke, his tone calm: "Don't you enjoy possessing other people's bodies? Well, I'll let you taste what it's like to be stuffed into someone else's body. With each body you create, you'll forget some things. Forget who you are, forget where you came from, forget your power, forget your followers."

As he spoke, he sculpted another small body and casually stuffed a wisp of Anubidi's will into it.

Anubidi looked down at his hands, a moment of blankness flashing in his eyes. He quickly suppressed that blankness, but Wayne could see clearly that he was indeed forgetting.

Do you think you can forget yourself?

Wayne answered honestly.

"I don't know, but I want to try."

He started to speed up.

One, two, three, ten, twenty. Each little man was devouring a part of Anubidi's consciousness. The black mist around him visibly faded, and his expression changed from initial arrogance to struggle, and then to bewilderment.

When Wayne had sculpted the fortieth-something corpse.

Anubidi finally panicked.

He lunged forward to stop him, but Wayne pressed him back into the mist. He could only watch helplessly as pieces of his consciousness were scooped out and stuffed into those incomprehensible little figures.

"You're a madman!"

Anubidi roared, "What do you want?! Are you trying to turn me into a complete idiot?!"

Wayne continued working: "You're right."

Anubidi struggled, his voice pleading for the first time: "No...no, no, no! You can't do this! I beg you...I can give you the power of the divine corpse! Leave me a little consciousness! Just let me go, and I'll agree to anything!"

Wayne glanced at him: "Do you think I need to?"

He continued kneading.

Anubidi's consciousness became increasingly blurred. He began to forget his name, where he came from, and even what he was there to do.

Below, only a group of little figures are left drooling.