Hair to the Waist

"This taste, ugh..."

After drinking the potion, Roy let out a burp.

It was as smooth as milk tea, yet also like thick soup, sticky and gooey. Apart from a slight fishy saltiness, there was no other taste.

However, as the liquid slid down his mouth and esophagus, a cold sensation seemed to spread from his stomach, causing him to involuntarily shiver.

The mysterious, strange power caused goosebumps to rise and his hair to stand on end.

Naturally, this sensation also traveled upwards, making his scalp tingle.

A few minutes later, his hair grew rapidly.

Roy's short apprentice hair, which he kept for daily life, suddenly grew to waist-length and became incredibly thick.

This astonishing volume of hair was enough to make every bald or hair-loss sufferer in the world envious and jealous, wishing they could pluck every strand and transplant it onto their own heads.

But even at this point, his hair continued to grow, showing no signs of stopping.

Roy watched with his own eyes as it spread beyond the bed and began to droop towards the floor.

Before long, it reached about ten feet, spreading across the room like black water, covering the floor.

Amidst the smoky black clouds, a chilling aura permeated the air. Within the dense black hair, several giant, python-like phantom shapes seemed to be moving.

They were black with a hint of red light, slowly raising their heads with a ferocious demeanor.

This was the permanent activation energy at work, the strange power originating from the Hair Ghost residue, beginning to revive within the hair!

Roy attempted to control it using his Mental Strength.

These were actually control techniques for Animate, and they were all interchangeable.

Under the control of Witchcraft, the hair suddenly shot out like tentacles in all directions.

Tables, chairs, clothes racks, bottles, and jars...

All were entangled by strands of hair.

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

Glass shattered, and wooden planks creaked and deformed.

Suddenly, with a snap!

The table and chair broke, sending wood chips flying!

Even the iron rod of the clothes rack was twisted and deformed on the spot, bent and contorted by the long hair.

"As expected, this hair is very tough. When bundled together, it possesses several times the strength!

An ordinary person, without enhancement, would absolutely not be able to break free from such a grip!"

Seeing this, Roy praised inwardly.

However, the excessively long hair made it inconvenient to move, so after a moment's thought, he began to try and retract it.

With a thought, the ten-foot-long black waterfall retracted, shrinking back to waist-length.

But he couldn't make it any shorter.

Roy gathered his lustrous black hair, stroked it, and felt a little helpless.

He could only find a cloth band to tie it up simply, then began to tidy up the mess in the room.

"Roy, what happened to your hair!"

"It's so beautiful! What Hair Growth Potion did you drink? My hair has been falling out a lot lately due to staying up late!"

Such a drastic change in appearance was hard to hide from those around him.

When they gathered for a meal again the next day, Renion and the others saw it and couldn't help but ask in surprise.

Nia, as a female apprentice, had her eyes shining with envy.

Roy mumbled a vague excuse, brushing it off casually.

Fortunately, there were many strange occurrences in the Wizarding World, so they didn't press further, merely assuming he had drunk the wrong kind of potion.

Explosions and disfigurement from failed experiments, or various irreversible bodily injuries, were common.

Let alone growing hair, it wasn't unusual to grow an extra pair of arms or eyes.

"Oh, right, the Tower has been strongly pushing various Mandatory Tasks again recently!"

Soon after, their attention shifted.

As the end of another year approached, the impact of last year's Forbidden Experiment was still ongoing.

It was rumored that the Wizard Tower was preparing to revise its rules, mandating that all apprentices complete at least four tasks per year.

They even encouraged exceeding the quota, offering more rewards.

As a result, the probability of battle damage and even death had also increased.

Roy had a good spot like the Apple Garden for grinding tasks. In the half-year since he started learning Animate, he had visited it several times, so he wasn't too worried about such matters.

But everyone else couldn't escape this trend.

"Sigh, I've only manifested the 12th Will Rune so far, still several short."

"I'm even worse off than you, only 11!"

"Next June is the next Tower Cleaning, this time targeting second-year Intermediate Apprentices. If we don't meet the requirements, we might really end up in the deacon sequence just to retain our right to reside."

"That's equivalent to making Mandatory Tasks a regular thing, consuming a lot of time and energy to deal with matters outside of studying."

"What are we going to do then? We can't catch up, and we can't shake them off..."

The others didn't have such conveniences and were more or less worried.

"Oh right, Roy, you always seem to pass your tests smoothly... Are you manifesting the 15th Rune now?" Renion asked a question.

"Something like that," Roy replied vaguely.

"You're always like this, giving perfunctory answers no matter what we ask." Renion wasn't stupid and could tell Roy wasn't serious about answering, so he said helplessly. "But if I ask again, you'd better answer honestly... Do you have Low-level Knight strength now?"

Roy said, "Of course, why?" Low-level Knight strength was something from a long time ago, and he didn't mind revealing it to his companions to update their impression.

"The few of us have also recently strengthened our physiques. How about we take on that Advanced monster-hunting task together?" Renion happily suggested. "Five Knight-level combatants should be enough to deal with that Merman Tribe!"

"Five? The Merman Tribe?"

"That's right, the four of us, plus Sailen... Don't let her appearance fool you, she now possesses Intermediate Knight strength, much stronger than us!" Renion explained briefly.

It turned out that while he was diligently studying Animate, they had each undertaken some Mandatory Tasks for Intermediate Apprentices and had suffered minor losses at a Merman Tribe on the west coast. However, it was precisely those experiences that led them to discover that the tribe was quite wealthy. If they could work together to eliminate them, they could complete their Mandatory Tasks while also replenishing their meager savings. Roy, being penniless, was naturally tempted. He asked for details, inquiring about more information.

The Merman race are a type of ferocious low-level monster that breeds in large numbers near the coast and on islands. Because they can often collect resources from the sea, Wizards haven't wiped them out completely but have confined them to specific areas as training grounds for apprentices. The Wizard Tower issues culling tasks annually to prevent them from overbreeding. But recently, there seems to be some abnormality... The related tasks have also increased.

Renion said, "Let's just accept the task of eradicating them and go annihilate the Merman Tribe! I've investigated, and there are many Bitter Heart Fruits growing on the sea cliffs there, as well as sea products like Pearl Clams and Blue Scale Lanternfish. In addition, there might be inheritances left behind by apprentices they've previously robbed... If we deal with them, all of that will be ours!"