Chapter 47: Reward – The Sea Hag’s Potioncraft
"Answering before the question?" Ariel was utterly baffled by the young man’s statent.
"What does that even an? How can you give an answer when the question hasn’t even been asked?"
Aurora, with her sharp wit, quickly caught on to Rhine’s hint—
Before the Sea Hag had asked the final question, she had, in fact, already given the answer once!
And that answer was...
"Love," Aurora said. "The answer is love, isn’t it? Um, human love for rmaids!"
It was the sa answer she had just given a few minutes earlier to the first question! Of course, the correct answer to the first question had been "immortal soul," so her earlier response was wrong.
Rhine smiled.
"Precisely.
"How intricate are the workings of fate, that the wrong answer to the first question turns out to be the correct answer to the final one.
"Oh wise Sea Witch, even before you posed your question, my friend had already given the correct answer!
"Is this not yet another sign of destiny?"
Rhine understood well that in such a fantastical world of magic, destiny was no abstract concept but a tangible force.
He himself had once bestowed Aurora with a blessing, placing upon her the prophecy to "defeat the Black Witch."
Though the prophecy could not fulfill itself automatically, fate always orchestrated bizarre coincidences to bring about its intended outco!
During the first question’s discussion, they had essentially answered both questions simultaneously!
Ariel chid in to support her new friend:
"Yes, that’s right! My grandmother just told recently that while rfolk lack immortal souls, a human’s love can grant us one. And at the sa ti, the human’s own soul remains intact."
She spoke these words with a smile.
The Sea Hag was stunned.
Monts later, she burst into laughter.
"So that’s how it is. For a non-human creature to gain an immortal soul, the thod is so simple, yet so impossibly difficult!"
At the ntion of "impossibly difficult," Ariel’s expression shifted ever so slightly, an almost imperceptible flicker.
In that instant, Rhine felt a searing surge of energy pour into his own soul, slightly increasing his magical power.
The wish had been fulfilled!
Though it was Aurora who had voiced the answer, it was, in essence, Rhine, the magician, who had truly resolved the Sea Hag’s lingering question.
"Another wish of a Child of Destiny fulfilled. I wonder what reward I’ll receive this ti," Rhine thought with great anticipation.
An imnse ocean of knowledge flooded into his mind, etching itself into his mory and soul.
It was the art of potioncraft—the knowledge of using various ingredients to brew magical potions. The mories of the Sea Hag preparing her potions from peculiar materials flashed through his mind. ᚱ₳Ꞑỗ𝐁ƐS̈
"The Sea Hag’s Potioncraft!"
This ti, the reward for fulfilling the wish wasn’t a new spell.
Instead, it was a flawless copy of the Sea Hag’s potioncraft, granted directly to Rhine!
Rhine recalled how, in the original story, the Sea Hag had fulfilled the Little rmaid’s wish by brewing a potion that transford her tail into human legs.
Potion-making was evidently one of the Sea Witch’s greatest skills.
Now, Rhine had acquired her expertise as his own!
Compared to Rhine’s initial potion-making abilities from when he had first transmigrated as a magician, the Sea Hag’s knowledge was vastly superior.
Yet, the two sets of knowledge didn’t conflict. Instead, they complented and enhanced each other.
Rhine realized that by integrating the two, he had now surpassed the Sea Hag as a master of potioncraft.
"How peculiar! This ti, the reward wasn’t a spell that materialized the wish’s content."
Rhine was initially surprised, but the reason quickly beca clear to him.
Previously, the wishes he fulfilled had co from ordinary people, the King and Queen of the Rose Kingdom, Magician Oz, or the soldier who acquired the Tinderbox.
None of them had supernatural powers or exceptional skills.
Thus, the power of their wishes manifested in its purest form—as magic that embodied the content of their desires.
However, when the wish involved a Child of Destiny with supernatural abilities or extraordinary talents, the power of the wish instead replicated those abilities and talents!
"This is incredible," Rhine marveled at the wondrous nature of his "Wish Magician" physique.
He could hardly wait to grant the next fairytale protagonist’s wish.
"Very well. Two humans. I’m not sure if I should admire your wisdom or your luck," the Sea Hag sighed deeply. "You’ve answered my three questions, so as promised, I must share everything I know about Maleficent."
She plucked a strand of her seaweed-like hair and scraped a bit of sli from her pet toad using a dagger, then crushed them together in a mortar while chanting an incomprehensible spell.
Soon, a bubble rose from the mortar, and strange images flickered on its surface—they were patterns of mory.
"These are my mories of Maleficent. Place the bubble on your forehead, and you’ll be able to read them," the Sea Hag explained.
The bubble drifted toward the giant fish that Rhine and Aurora were riding.
The fish snapped up the bubble, swallowing it whole. Inside the fish’s belly, the two children caught the bubble as casually as picking up a ball from the ground.
Rhine tossed a coin into the air, performing a simple divination. Once he confird that this bubble held the answers they sought, he stowed it away without imdiately reading the mories.
"Thank you, Sea Witch, for keeping your promise.
"According to our original agreent, the three questions were rely the first paynt in exchange for the secrets of the Black Witch, Maleficent.
"Now, tell —what is the second price we must pay? This price will secure the information about your coven of witches."
Rhine was certain that this second paynt wouldn’t be as simple as answering questions—it might even take a long ti to fulfill.
"Help gain the recognition of the Sea Kingdom, its king, and the other sea creatures!"
The Sea Hag gave a self-deprecating smile.
"As you know, in this oceanic kingdom, everyone sees as a nightmare. They avoid and tell terrifying stories about as if I were the villain.
"But all I’ve ever done is what any rchant would do—charge a price for my goods.
"Sure, I’ve studied so black magic—but I’ve never used it to kill any innocents. Yet, I’ve been turned into a monster to frighten children.
"If you can help earn the recognition of the Sea Kingdom, make the rfolk no longer fear or despise , I’ll reveal everything about that coven of witches!"
Rhine sighed softly, once again feeling the blazing power of a wish emanating from the Sea Hag.
In the original The Little rmaid, this Sea Witch had embodied every traditional elent of an "evil witch"—ugliness, strangeness, fearso pets, and a nightmare-like bone-strewn lair.
Yet, she was an honest rchant, not a malevolent villain.
In this beautifully poetic tale, there wasn’t a single true "villain." Every character had their own kindness.
Of course, perhaps her image was too fitting for an antagonist, and stories often need enemies. In Disney’s adaptation of The Little rmaid, this Sea Witch was directly transford into an evil main villain.
Aurora’s eyes showed pity.
She recalled the fear and disdain the rfolk had expressed when ntioning the Sea Hag and began to feel so sympathy for this Sea Witch.
"Sea Witch, this is not a task that can be completed overnight. If soday my companions and I fulfill your wish, I will return to exchange it for your answer."
The deal was sealed, and the wish had been accepted. When it would be fulfilled, only ti would tell.
Rhine turned and pointed in Ariel’s direction.
"Now, it’s ti for our friend here, Princess Ariel, to make her wish."
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