Miss Witch’s Devotion Has Gone… Twisted

“Is this the piece of jewelry you made with all your effort recently?”

Loren picked up the ring and examined it. The ring looked flawless on the outside, but he had no idea what its effect was.

Seeing Loren suddenly pick up the ring she had just finished, Paqina choked on her excitement, hurriedly patting her chest. Loren promptly handed her a bottle of magical potion so she could take a sip and steady herself.

None of the potions on Loren were cheap. If others saw them, they might accuse Loren of wasting precious items, but Loren didn’t care—he wasn’t short on money.

After the Chailros Family pledged allegiance, his wealth became even less of a concern.

They hadn’t sent money yet, but Loren knew they would.

Paqina treated the potion like a beverage and drank it all in one gulp before she came to her senses. Only then did she realize she had just swallowed a potion.

“What kind of potion is this?”

Even after drinking something unknown, Paqina did not panic; she trusted that Loren would never harm her.

“This is a seventh-tier potion, Spirit-Wisdom Enlightenment. It can enhance your aptitude. Although I think it’s probably not that useful for you anymore, every little bit helps.”“Seventh-tier potion?”

High-tier potions were far rarer than high-tier spells. Even Paqina, who attended the Bountiful Magic Academy, had never seen a seventh-tier potion.

Furthermore, potions that could alter aptitude were the most valuable even among potions of the same tier. And Loren had just handed it to her like a drink.

Before Paqina could react further, Loren slipped the ring onto his finger and tried it on.

“!”

The instant he put it on, Loren was stunned. His Intelligence instantly increased by ten points, and his Mana rose by a full thousand points!

That boost was frightening. Even Loren couldn’t have made a ring this powerful with the materials he currently had.

“Paqina, how did you do this?”

Loren cupped Paqina’s face, interrupting her mid-bite.

Paqina swallowed what was in her mouth and then began to answer Loren’s question.

“This ring is one of a pair. The other one is with me.”

Her words were a little slurred as she spoke, and only then did Loren release her face.

Paqina raised her hand; there was also a ring on her ring finger, though it was much plainer than Loren’s.

“This ring’s effect lets you share part of my attributes and all of my Mana. When you cast spells, you can directly draw from my Mana.

“Your knowledge is vast, but your combat ability is somewhat lacking. I’ve never heard of you using high-tier magic, so I guessed it’s not that you can’t learn it, you simply can’t use it right now. So I came up with this solution…”

“Thank you…”

Loren pulled Paqina into his arms. He was genuinely moved.

What Paqina had done was essentially entrust her life to Loren. Mana was not only crucial to mages; it was vital to anyone who relied on magic. If Mana was completely depleted, one couldn’t cast spells and would also feel extremely weak.

Although Paqina had some misunderstandings about Loren before, the ring’s boost was undeniably significant. Beyond the ten point Intelligence increase, the thousand-plus Mana alone was enough for Loren to cast a Super-tier Magic once.

A single Super-tier Magic could change the tide of battle. Even though Loren did not yet know Super-tier Magic, he could already deal significant damage with Blood Moon Condensed Light alone.

At the same time, this revealed to Loren a rough understanding of the Witch’s stats.

Paqina was only a student; she wasn’t exceptionally powerful, but her base Mana was already one thousand points.

That alone was not something a human mage could normally achieve. Even Casper might not have a thousand Mana points, and that’s assuming the Bountiful Church had methods to increase Mana.

In a sense, it was the end era for magic—gods were continuously weakening mages because they feared another anomaly like the Dawn Princess appearing.

“Master Mentor…”

Paqina’s face flushed instantly and her voice softened considerably. In that moment she felt all her recent efforts had not been in vain.

She eagerly continued explaining the ring’s effects to Loren.

“It does more than that. It lets us feel each other’s emotions and even sense each other’s locations, because I wanted to understand you better…

“Also! If you get hurt, I can share your burden—your pain too…”

Right now, for example, Loren could feel Paqina’s excitement and joy. But Loren discovered a blind spot.

Paqina noticed Loren’s mood wasn’t very high and realized something was wrong. She looked up into Loren’s eyes, and his red eye showed concern.

“Many of this ring’s effects must require you to pay a price, right? Didn’t you consider yourself when you made it?”

Loren’s words shocked Paqina into thought. He was right—she had only thought about making Loren better and hadn’t considered the cost to herself.

“This…”

Paqina worried Loren might dislike the gift because of that and immediately grew nervous. Loren just ruffled her hair.

“Thank you. You didn’t have to do this. I’m actually very strong.”

Loren’s gaze brimmed with resolve; his words were indisputable.

“I’m very, very strong—strong enough to kill anyone who wants to kill us.

“Even if the enemy is the whole world, I can still slaughter through it.”

The claim was exaggerated and had no proof, but through the ring Paqina sensed Loren’s unwavering will.

“So I won’t use anything that would hurt you.”

Loren removed his hand from Paqina’s head and changed the subject.

“Does this ring have a name?”

When Loren accepted the gift, Paqina was overjoyed and excitedly introduced the ring’s name.

“I call it Synchronized Heartbeats. It fits the effect, doesn’t it?”

“That’s a good name.”

Loren praised the name Paqina had chosen, and she broke into a goofy smile.

“All right, you eat first. After you finish, I’ll help tidy you up. Such a cute little girl going around all dusty and dirty.”

Loren took off the string of ornaments from his neck and threaded Synchronized Heartbeats onto it.

“All right…”

Paqina felt a little down that Loren didn’t wear the ring on his ring finger like she did, but she still wore a big smile. Through the ring, Loren could feel her disappointment.

Paqina could understand Loren’s choice. The ring might affect wielding a blade; Loren pursued optimal solutions and wouldn’t take even the slightest risk, so he wouldn’t wear the ring.

Her disappointment lasted only a moment. After sending off the carefully prepared gift, Paqina began devouring her meal again.