"This taste... Ugh..."
After drinking the potion, Roy burped.
It was as smooth as milk tea and almost like soup, thick and sticky. Aside from a slight fishy saltiness, it had no other flavor.
However, as the liquid slid down his mouth and esophagus, a cold sensation seemed to spread from his stomach, making him shudder involuntarily.
The mysterious power of the aberration made his skin break out in goosebumps and his body hair stand on end.
Naturally, it also surged toward the top of his head, making his scalp tingle.
A few minutes later, his hair began growing rapidly.
Roy had originally kept the short apprentice haircut that was convenient for daily life, but it suddenly grew to his waist, and it was extraordinarily thick.
That astonishing volume of hair would make every person suffering from baldness or hair loss in the world envious and jealous. They would probably have loved to pluck it all out strand by strand and transplant it onto their own heads.
But even after reaching this point, his hair continued growing without the slightest intention of stopping.
Roy watched with his own eyes as it spread across the bed and began hanging toward the floor.
Before long, it reached more than ten feet in length, spreading across the room like black water and covering the floor.
Amid the smoke-like black clouds, a sinister chill filled the air. Between the dense black strands, several enormous, python-like phantoms seemed to be swimming.
They were black with a red glow, and as they slowly raised their heads, they revealed their ferociousness.
The permanent Activation Energy was taking effect within it. The aberrant power originating from the Hair Ghost Residue had begun reviving inside his hair!
Roy tried to control it using his Mental Strength.
These were actually also the secrets of controlling the activation technique, and the principles were universally applicable.
Under the control of wizardry power, the hair shot out in all directions like tentacles.
Tables, chairs, beds, clothes racks, bottles, jars...
All of them were entangled by bundles of hair.
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
Glass shattered, and wooden boards creaked and warped.
Suddenly, there was a loud crack!
The tables and chairs shattered, sending Wood Chips flying!
Even the iron rods of the clothes rack twisted out of shape on the spot, bent into a tangled mess by the long hair.
"Not bad at all. This hair is extremely tough, and when strands are combined to concentrate their strength, they possess several degrees of force!
"An ordinary person who hasn't undergone strengthening would absolutely be unable to break free after being strangled by it!"
Seeing this, Roy secretly praised it.
However, his hair was too long and inconvenient for moving around. After pondering briefly, he began trying to retract it.
With a thought, the black waterfall more than ten feet long shrank back until it reached his waist.
But he could not shorten it any further.
Roy held his glossy black hair and stroked it, feeling somewhat helpless.
He could only find a strip of cloth to tie it up simply before cleaning up the mess in the room.
"Roy, what happened to your hair?"
"So beautiful! What Hair Growth Potion did you drink? I've been staying up late continuously lately, and my hair has been falling out badly!"
It was difficult to hide such a drastic change in appearance from those around him.
When they gathered for a meal again the next day, Renion and the others could not help asking in astonishment when they saw him.
Nia, the female apprentice, was even more dazzled and envious.
Roy answered vaguely and brushed them off casually.
Fortunately, there were countless strange things in the Wizarding World. They did not press him for details and only assumed that he had taken the wrong potion.
Experiments failing and causing explosions that disfigured people, or various irreversible bodily injuries, were extremely common.
Growing hair was nothing. Even growing several extra arms or a few more eyes was considered normal.
"By the way, the tower has been pushing all kinds of Mandatory Tasks again lately!"
Not long afterward, everyone's attention shifted.
Another year was drawing to an end, yet the effects of last year's Forbidden Experiment were still continuing.
He had heard that the Witch Tower was preparing to revise the rules and force all apprentices to complete at least four tasks each year.
They were even encouraging apprentices to exceed the quota in exchange for more rewards.
As a result, the chances of various injuries and even deaths had increased as well.
Roy had a good place like Apple Garden for grinding tasks. During the more than half a year he had spent studying the activation technique, he had gone there several times, so he was not too worried about this.
But no one else could escape the general trend.
"Sigh, I've only manifested the twelfth Will Rune so far, and I'm still short by several."
"I'm worse off than you. I only have eleven!"
"The next Tower Clearance is in June next year. This time, it's targeting second-year Intermediate Apprentices.
"If we don't meet the requirements, we might really be reduced to the Steward Sequence before we can continue obtaining residency rights."
"That would make Mandatory Tasks the norm. We'd have to spend a great deal of time and energy dealing with matters outside our studies."
"What are we supposed to do? We can't catch up, but we can't shake them off either..."
The others did not have the same convenience, so they were all more or less worried.
"By the way, Roy, you always seem to pass the tests smoothly...
"You should be at the fifteenth Will Rune by now, right?"
Renion asked him a question.
"More or less." Roy answered vaguely.
"You're always like this. You brush off everything I ask."
Renion was not stupid. He could tell that Roy had not seriously answered at all, so he spoke 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 had been a thing of the distant past for him. He did not mind revealing it in front of his companions and updating their impression of him.
"The few of us have recently strengthened our physiques as well.
"How about we take that advanced task to hunt the monsters together?"
Renion made the proposal excitedly.
"Five Knight-level fighters should be enough to deal with that Merman Tribe!"
"Five? A Merman Tribe?"
"That's right. The four of us, plus Sailen...
"Don't let her appearance fool you. She now possesses Intermediate Knight strength, so she's much stronger than us!"
Renion gave a brief explanation.
It turned out that while Roy had been devoted to researching the activation technique, they had each received several Mandatory Tasks for Intermediate Apprentices, and all of them had suffered minor losses at the hands of a Merman Tribe on the western coast.
But those experiences had also allowed them to discover that the tribe was quite wealthy.
If they could work together to wipe it out, they could complete their Mandatory Tasks while also padding their pitiful savings.
Roy was flat broke, so he could not help feeling tempted.
He asked detailed questions and investigated the situation further.
The Merman race was a low-level monster species with a fierce temperament. They often bred in large numbers along coastlines and near islands in the sea.
Since they could frequently gather resources from the sea, the wizards had not exterminated them completely. Instead, they had confined them to a certain area as a training ground for apprentices.
The Witch Tower issued extermination tasks every year to prevent them from reproducing excessively.
But recently, something seemed abnormal...
The related tasks had also increased.
Renion said, "Why don't we simply accept the task to wipe them out and head there to exterminate the Merman Tribe?
"I've investigated it. The sea cliffs over there produce quite a lot of Bitter Heart Fruits, Pearl Clams, Blue Scale Lanternfish, and other ocean resources.
"Besides, the apprentices and others that the tribe has robbed and killed in the past may have left behind some legacies...
"Once we deal with them, all of that will belong to us!"
Before you continue