Dark Wizards steal power from nature. Always remain humble and cautious...
He went back and mulled over that sentence again, but still could not make anything of it. He could only set it aside for now.
[Seeing you drink the potion, the crow takes flight again and flaps its wings, signaling for you to follow.]
With the first trial cleared, the crow began leading the way again.
Mu You was just about to follow when he suddenly remembered something and directed his character to pick up the remaining bottle of potion on the altar.
Although this was a text-based game, it still offered considerable freedom. Clicking on the text for any character or item mentioned earlier would bring up various interaction options. For instance, clicking on "Fatal Springwater" now brought up three options: [Pick up], [Destroy], and [Drink]. Mu You selected "Pick up," and his character acted on his own.
This deadly springwater was useful, too. He could take it back to deal with the Werewolf, or, failing that, use it to poison wild monsters he could not beat.
[You secretly pick up the bottle of Fatal Springwater and hide it in your backpack.] [The crow glances back at you but says nothing.]
Mu You breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the crow had tacitly approved of his actions.
[Following the crow through turn after turn in the forest, you finally arrive before an ugly Mad Alchemist whose body is covered in lumps and festering sores.] [The Mad Alchemist was once a kind doctor who lived near the Dark Forest. But after studying potionology under the Witch of Calamity for a time, he became obsessive and eccentric. Ordinary potions could no longer satisfy his ambitions. He began experimenting with all manner of bizarre formulas, searching for every possible combination. Without test subjects, however, he could not verify their effects, so he had no choice but to experiment on himself. After tasting all sorts of potions, he eventually reduced himself to this grotesque state, neither human nor monster...] [The Mad Alchemist is thrilled to see you, eyeing you like a lab rat. He sets out three potions-red, blue, and purple-and tells you to choose one to drink. If you survive, you pass the trial!] [You glance at the ground around you. There are fewer skeletons here than at the altar, but they still number over a thousand. Clearly, all these people met their end at this trial. Looking at these bones, you feel as though you can see the fate awaiting you.] [Of the three potions, you choose to drink...]
Three options: red, blue, and purple.
Mu You pursed his lips. Another test of luck.
Judging by the description of the surrounding bones, there was no question that at least one of these three bottles contained poison again.
There was nothing more to say. He would try all three potions, one by one.
[You drink the red potion. Oh, that familiar taste-isn't this the Fatal Springwater you just drank? You actually picked it up again without learning your lesson!] [Your legs give out again, and you collapse, bleeding from all seven orifices. In your fading consciousness, you once again hear someone murmuring in your ear: if you accidentally lose control, the path to redemption is to face it, not become another kind of monster...]
Sure enough, there was poison, and it had provided another hint.
Mu You quickly scanned the hint, committed it to memory, and hurriedly rewound time.
[You drink the blue potion, but nothing changes. It turns out to be nothing more than plain water with blue dye added.]
"Rewind."
[You drink the purple potion. This is an exceptionally potent strength potion! Your strength begins rising wildly, increasing by a full thousand points in the blink of an eye!]
"What?"
Mu You stared at the new game notification in shock, almost convinced he had misread it.
One bottle of potion had given him a thousand points of strength?
He quickly switched to his stats panel to check.
Sure enough, his strength had risen to 1,004. The number was so high that even the digits after the decimal point had been dropped.
The result was so alarming that Mu You hurriedly pressed the Pocket Watch, rewinding to settle his nerves.
Judging solely by their results, the purple potion was undoubtedly the best of the three.
The problem was that it was frighteningly good. A thousand points of strength felt utterly unreal.
Just then, inspiration struck Mu You. He suddenly recalled the hint from the first trial: Dark Wizards stole power, and must never pursue power they could not control...
Could this be what it meant?
Those two considerations together ultimately persuaded Mu You not to choose the purple potion.
[You choose the blue potion. Nothing happens after you drink it.] [You pass, but the Mad Alchemist gives you a displeased look: what a shame. You didn't choose my strength potion! It's my proudest creation, capable of granting a thousand points of strength! Though the price is that afterward, you will "lose control" and become a brawny, dim-witted baboon...]
The corner of Mu You's eye twitched as he read. There really was something wrong with that potion. It turned anyone who drank it into a baboon...
Still, this proved that the hint from the first trial was genuine. In other words, every trial provided a hint for passing the next one.
Yet those hints were hidden in the poison. If drinking the poison killed you outright, how the hell were you supposed to pass?
Mu You did not even know where to begin complaining. What kind of vicious-circle paradox was this? Fortunately, he had the Time Pocket Watch and could ignore all that nonsense.
[You have passed the second trial. Now, you may ask the Mad Alchemist one question. You choose...] [Ask about "losing control."] [Ask about the "Witch."] [Ask about the "reward."]
The trial was over, but instead of immediately moving on, the game presented another three options.
Mu You first clicked "losing control."
["Losing control" is a technical term in black magic. Black magic is extremely delicate, and every bit of its energy must be used with great care. The slightest deviation, whether too much or too little, will immediately cause the user to "lose control." Specifically, the user loses all reason, and their flesh mutates into some kind of monster, such as a spider, monkey, rat, frog, or any number of plants. The exact transformation is completely random. In short, once a Dark Wizard loses control, they can never regain human form.]
"So that's the price of black magic!"
Mu You finally understood the risks of learning black magic. One slip could turn him into a monster, permanently at that. That was certainly troublesome, but it was not without a solution.
According to the alchemist, as long as his control over the energy was sufficiently "precise," he could avoid "losing control."
After reading the text, Mu You rewound and asked about the "Witch."
[Master Vivian is hardly a good person, but when it comes to understanding potionology, if she claimed second place, no one would dare claim first. She is the most brilliant potion maker in history! If you get the chance, you must study potionology under her.]
It seemed this Witch was not merely powerful, but an expert in potionology as well!
Mu You was even more pleased. She really was the perfect person to learn from.
He rewound and clicked the third option.
[You ask about the reward for passing the trial. Reluctantly, the alchemist takes out a cauldron from behind him. This is the cauldron the Witch of Calamity used as a child. The Witch instructed him to give it as a reward to anyone who passed this trial.] [You have obtained the Witch's Cauldron!] [Witch's Cauldron: an essential vessel for brewing potions. Can be used to concoct any potion in the world and slightly increases the success rate of potion brewing.]
Before you continue