Serie had initially thought this body was nothing but a burden.
Although she possessed the ability to manifest Witch clones, a human body was ultimately mortal flesh; her slender wrists couldn't even hold a fruit knife steady, let alone contend with other Anomalies or the Control Bureau.
But the mission rewards wouldn't give her useless items, would they?
As her eyelashes lowered, the dark-purple light screen once again flowed through Serie's mind.
The moment her thoughts lightly touched the 'Ability' option, a completely different skill tree appeared, intertwined like gnarled roots.
Serie's skill tree, like the Mad Eater Witch's, had three branches—
Leader (You alone are a Witch army, and naturally, the Witch Leader of a Witch army): 'Myriad Phase Silk Puppet' (Not Learned) → 'Twin Phantoms' (Details of this ability can be learned after mastering the previous one) → 'Unlocked' → 'Unlocked'...
Maiden (You are a pure and beautiful human maiden; your delicate small face is both the misfortune that attracts disaster and your only remaining advantage): 'Feigned Pity' (Not Learned) → 'Desire Amplification' (Details of this ability can be learned after mastering the previous one) → 'Unlocked' → 'Unlocked'...
Anomaly (You are an unusual existence in this world; both humans and the heavens reject you, but perhaps you can win the favor of other Anomalies): 'Heterogeneous Resonance' (Not Learned) → 'Prying Demonic Eyes' (Details of this ability can be learned after mastering the previous one) → 'Unlocked' → 'Unlocked'...
Current Ability Points: 0
Current Serie Exclusive Ability Points: 1
Serie closed her eyes, her breathing as steady as if she were asleep, but her consciousness wandered through her mind, beginning to examine these abilities—
'Myriad Phase Silk Puppet': Slightly increases Spirit, allowing your mental power to extend like a spider web, constructing a neural spider nest that covers the Witch network. It can distribute your mental power among multiple Witches, and even across thousands of miles, they will precisely execute basic commands like marionettes.
'Feigned Pity': Slightly increases Charm, with an additional boost for humans. No superb acting skills are needed; just a single tear falling, and when a blush climbs to the corners of your eyes, all logic will surrender to your pitiful fragility. Even if they see through the lie, they will still be captivated by this false sense of brokenness.
'Heterogeneous Resonance': Slightly increases Charm, with an additional boost for Anomalies. All Anomalies emit pheromones, some as heavy as an abyss, others as violent as a volcano. But your pheromones will become a universally adaptable key, making them trust you like blood relatives. The weaker the Anomaly's spirit, the more heavily it will be affected.
Serie stared at the abilities on the light screen, her lips twitching unconsciously.
As she expected, there wasn't a single combat skill.
Then again, her attributes weren't like the Mad Eater Witch's, which could grow rapidly.
Serie, with her small frame, for her to fight?
She probably wanted to collect defeat CGs...
However, not having combat abilities wasn't entirely a bad thing.
On the contrary, for Serie, these functional abilities were extremely practical.
The first ability in the Leader branch was very useful, truly a godsend.
The remaining two abilities were quite similar, but one was for humans, and the other for Anomalies.
The one that boosted Charm for Anomalies was relatively less useful, at least for now.
After all, it was unknown whether Serie could even leave her containment cell and meet other Anomalies.
Perhaps it would be useful later?
Serie didn't know; she only knew she was currently torn between 'Myriad Phase Silk Puppet' and 'Feigned Pity'.
'Myriad Phase Silk Puppet' was undoubtedly a pillow when she was sleepy; she currently needed to make full use of her already limited time.
'Feigned Pity' was also very good, as it could win the sympathy of Linette, Hayato, and other researchers.
Humans held the power of life and death over Serie.
However, after careful consideration, Serie ultimately chose 'Myriad Phase Silk Puppet'.
While 'Feigned Pity' was useful, the only human Serie could currently interact with was Linette.
This beautiful doctor was already very kind to her, so using this ability would only be adding icing to the cake.
Compared to a timely help, there was no need to say more.
The moment she learned the new ability, Serie's eyelashes fluttered, and her vision suddenly became as clear as glass after rain. The lingering dizziness at the back of her head dissipated like a wisp of smoke, and even her breath carried a minty coolness, making her thoughts much more active.
Spirit D → Spirit D+
Current Spirit Power: 100%
Minimum Requirement for Remote Control of a Witch: 10%
In other words, Serie could remotely control up to nine Witches simultaneously?
After all, she had to leave some for herself...
It's hard to say, with Spirit... What if controlling too many simultaneously led to Serie developing something like schizophrenia or dissociative identity disorder? That would be too much of a loss.
Then again, Serie didn't really need to think that far ahead.
She only had one Witch clone right now; nine... when would that even happen?
But just thinking about it, Serie felt a little excited.
Nine Witches, completely under her control, each with different personalities and abilities... that would be lively!
Not just lively.
They would definitely be incredibly powerful, forming a formidable Witch army, and rescuing her would be just around the corner.
Thinking of this, Serie immediately allocated 10% of her Spirit power to the Mad Eater Witch, who was currently 'playing dead' in the tomb.
"Prioritize safety; eat as much as you can."
Upon receiving the command, the Mad Eater Witch immediately got up and continued gnawing on the stone door with her sharp teeth. Grey stone dust crumbled down, and the speed of consumption was no different from when Serie controlled her personally.
Such purely instinctive actions, after all, didn't require too much skill.
This greatly saved Serie's time.
There was no need for her to do this herself; she had more important things to do.
After seeing the Gluttony Count and 'Hardness' progress in her mind, the constantly jumping red numbers made her lips curl slightly.
So this was the joy of leveling up while lying down, truly getting stronger by idling.
If Serie could idle for a few years, or even decades, and raise the Mad Eater Witch into an all-SSS-ranked stat monster, wouldn't it be effortlessly easy?
At that time, without needing other Witches, just the Mad Eater Witch alone could probably kick Heinuma's butt, flatten the Control Bureau, and lead her to the pinnacle of life.
Just thinking about it made her happy~
But ideals are abundant, and reality is... Serie didn't think she could safely spend even half a year in the Control Bureau...
So, it was better to stop fantasizing and get practical.
For example, figuring out how to use the New Birth count.
As early as when Serie first created the Mad Eater Witch, she had completed the main quest [New Life].
The reward was [New Birth Count +1].
As the name suggested, this should allow her to create new Witch clones.
Serie returned to the main interface.
The first three functions, 'Witch', 'Quest', and 'Ability', she had already mastered, leaving only the last two.
The 'Items' interface was empty; it should be a storage space.
Perhaps Serie hadn't found the right method, or perhaps it could only store Witch-related items.
Just now, Serie had tried to stuff half of the leftover eggshell from breakfast into it, but nothing happened after much effort.
In any case, it wasn't needed for now.
Finally, Serie opened 'New Birth'. The content of the interface was very simple: apart from 'Remaining New Birth Count: 1' at the bottom, there was only a crimson button occupying the entire center of the screen—'New Birth'.
Serie lightly pressed the button, and the female voice resonated in her ear again.
"What... do you desire?"
As Serie expected, the "psychological test" she experienced that night was not her hallucination.
Those seemingly illogical questions were actually the keys to constructing the Witch's essence.
Each tricky question subtly pulled threads in the dark, quietly weaving the details of the Witch clone.
The Witch's personality, background, abilities, race, and so on, were all related to every word Serie uttered.
At that time, she was so hungry her eyes were seeing stars, and her impulsive blurting out of "I want to eat" created the gluttonous Mad Eater Witch.
So this time...