A dark passage led directly underground.
"Sure enough!"
Ryan's' expression showed no surprise as he looked into the dimly lit tunnel.
Since Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother had chosen this place for her potion experiments, the testing area couldn't be far away.
Unless something unexpected happened, this had to be the secret chamber where the old witch tested her concoctions.
Ryan changed into more appropriate clothing and retrieved a large flashlight from his personal space.
~Click!~
The flashlight flickered on, its powerful beam illuminating the passageway like daylight. He followed the narrow stairs down.
After about thirty steps, the area suddenly opened up.
A huge secret chamber covering hundreds of square meters came into view.
~Swish! Swish! Swish!~
Candles on the walls ignited automatically, casting a flickering light over the dark surroundings.
Ryan scanned the room.
The chamber was vast, filled with shelves of herbs and strange items: dried bat specimens, various animal carcasses, and other oddities.
Against one wall were two cages of silver-white wolves.
Silver wolves, rare among their kind, were prized for their pure wolf blood. Freshly drawn blood from such a creature was the key ingredient in the Wolfsbane Potion.
Obviously, the old witch kept these wolves here for convenience, ready to bleed them whenever a potion required it.
What really caught Ryan's' attention, however, were the cages draped in black cloth in one corner.
Curious, Ryan approached and lifted one of the covers.
~Bang!~
A loud sound erupted from within.
A sharp wolf claw slashed at Ryan's' face, stopping inches from him.
Without flinching, Ryan grabbed the werewolf's wrist and held it, his expression calm as he inspected the cage.
Inside, a werewolf with blood-red eyes growled, its face twisted in bloodthirsty madness. Thick chains pinned his battered body to the wall. Fresh wounds marked its skin, evidence of recent torture.
Around the chamber, nearly twenty cages held similar prisoners.
The werewolves from the forest had been captured, used as test subjects for the old witch's dark potions.
"Even the most basic humanity is gone," Ryan muttered, staring at the tortured creature. "Living like this is nothing but agony."
He took the cross necklace from his Potable Space and wrapped it around his hand.
With one swift blow, he crushed the werewolf's skull.
"May your Lord bless you," Ryan murmured softly.
Under the purification of the holy power, the creature died painlessly, giving it peace in death.
Ryan looked at the lifeless body and thought. To leave it here to rot would only invite maggots and decay.
Instead, he decided to make the sacrifice worthwhile and strengthen his own power.
Wasn't it better to use the body for good?
"Does it make sense? Probably," Ryan thought, justifying his actions.
He activated his ability to sacrifice.
As the werewolf's body disappeared into the light, Ryan felt his power increase - slightly.
Only about 1%. The change was so minimal that he almost missed it.
"I guess I was greedy," he admitted with a wry smile.
Ryan had hoped that the sacrifice of these creatures would lead to a significant increase in power.
But the stronger his body became, the more energy and resources he needed for even marginal improvements.
It was like comparing a man to a tiger. A five-pound meal might be overwhelming for a human, but for a tiger, it was barely a snack.
So even if sacrificing all twenty werewolves only increased his strength by 10%, it was still worth it.
After all, a 1% increase was nothing to someone at his level.
"Let's get to it," Ryan muttered.
He moved methodically, lifting the black covers one by one, giving each werewolf quick salvation.
Finally, he gathered all the bodies and began the sacrifice.
As the ability progressed, a deep light illuminated the chamber. The werewolf bodies disappeared one by one.
This time, instead of physical improvement, something new appeared in Ryan's mind.
His eyes widened in surprise.
Though his physique hadn't improved, he had awakened a special bloodline ability.
~Roar!~
The ability allowed him to channel the hidden power within the werewolf bloodline and unleash a soul-shattering roar.
The roar struck fear into all nearby creatures, rendering them unable to resist. The powerful sound waves could even kill weaker beings instantly.
It was a dual attack - both mental and physical - and completely unblockable, even by plugging one's ears.
Ryan smiled with satisfaction.
Though his strength hadn't increased, the new skill was a significant gain.
After a thorough search of the chamber, he gathered all the usable potion materials and stored them in his portable space.
With his alchemy skills, he could create his own potions. It would be a waste to leave these resources behind.
On the potion-mixing table, Ryan spotted an old and tattered manual.
He flipped through the pages casually at first, but soon his gaze sharpened.
What he read stunned him.
Half an hour later, Ryan slowly closed the potion manual in his hand.
This manual contained detailed records of various potion formulas and the testing process involved in creating new ones.
Alchemy was a highly complicated skill, even for potion masters with decades of experience.
Success was never guaranteed, especially when attempting to create new potions.
According to the records, the witch had spent three years developing the perfect wolfsbane potion.
She tested it on hundreds of ordinary people and failed countless times before finally succeeding.
The manual also served as a diary, documenting the life of this witch named Chrysanta.
Born in a village called Star, Chrysanta's mother was a prostitute. Due to a lack of precautions, she became pregnant.
Her childhood was a nightmare of abuse and neglect, with her mother attempting to drown her several times.
Chrysanta escaped her mother's cruelty only after she awakened her magical abilities.
However, in certain kingdoms of the Southern Continent, witches who practiced magic were considered diabolical harbingers of plague and disaster. They were mercilessly hunted down and executed.
Forced to flee for decades, Chrysanta encountered many allies and enemies as she was relentlessly pursued. Eventually, she became a skilled potion master.
During one of these hunts, Chrysanta's lover was killed by the kingdom's knights. This loss fueled her desire for revenge, leading her to seek refuge in the forest and begin crafting a potion to destroy the kingdom - the Wolfsbane Potion.
When fully developed, the potion could not only turn people into werewolves, but also infect them with a deadly toxin.
Anyone scratched or bitten by these werewolves would be transformed into mindless beasts, spreading destruction.
However, Chrysanta's plans were cut short. She was killed before she could take her revenge, ironically by the person who now held her manual - Ryan.
The manual confirmed Ryan's earlier suspicions.
The village chief was merely a puppet controlled by Chrysanta and the werewolves' supposed weakness to fire was a lie fabricated to lull the villagers into complacency.
Her ultimate plan was to turn the entire village into werewolves as part of her revenge.
But one detail caught Ryan off guard - Little Red Riding Hood's true identity.
She wasn't related to Chrysanta, but was the daughter of Baron Osvid, who had been killed by werewolves three years earlier.
Her real name was Britney, and she was known throughout the kingdom for her beauty and grace.
Before Britney reached adulthood, suitors from noble families-including heirs to earldoms-flocked to win her hand. But Baron Osvid had rejected them all.
Chrysanta had kept Britney alive with the intention of using her as a pawn to infiltrate the upper echelons of society and assassinate the king.
To achieve her goal, Chrysanta used a variety of magic potions to transform Britney's body on a daily basis.
These potions included those that improved flexibility, agility and explosive power, those that increased the body's water content, and those that made the body more sensitive and taut.
Chrysantawent to great lengths to train Britney to become a beauty specifically for the pleasure of men, one that no man could resist.
Her goal was to allow Britney to get close to the king by her own means. In the extravagant and promiscuous upper aristocracy, a noblewoman's skills in bed could conquer all men.
Once her reputation spread to the upper echelons of society, she would become a pearl sought after by all.
With the king's character, he would never pass up the opportunity to have an intimate relationship with such a first-class beauty.
In all dynasties, it was common for the monarchs of the kingdom to have relationships with the beautiful wives of their subjects.
Chrysanta's plan was to use Britney's charm and beauty to get close to the king and influence him for her own purposes, believing that by transforming Britney's body and increasing her attractiveness, she could help her rise to the top of society and achieve her own goals.
Unfortunately for Chrysanta, her meticulous plans went awry and her life ended prematurely.
"No wonder my waist is about to break...."
Remembering Britney's extraordinary physical prowess during their earlier encounter, Ryan smiled.
Her fighting skills, especially her leg strength, surpassed anything he had ever encountered. Even his ex-girlfriend, who had spent a decade training her adductor muscles, couldn't compare.
If I had to describe it, it was like his stomach was churning, like he wanted to rip the person out by the roots.
This shows how strong his physique is in werewolf form. An ordinary person wouldn't be able to withstand it for even three seconds.
It's no wonder that she was able to withstand the werewolf's ferocious fucking during her first time.
Thinking back to their fight, Ryan realized that what he had initially thought was natural talent was actually the result of Chrysanta's potions.
"Potions are truly remarkable," he muttered, marveling at their potential.
Ryan wasted no time. He sacrificed the journal, which immediately disintegrated in a burst of light.
Moments later, countless pieces of knowledge about potions flooded his mind, not as mere information, but as fully understood expertise.
By sacrificing knowledge-based items, Ryan could not only learn, but also integrate that knowledge into his being.
Having already sacrificed the old witch herself, and now her potion manual, the two gifts combined seamlessly.
Ryan felt his potion making skills soar. He was now on par with professionals who had spent over a decade mastering the craft.
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