Miss Witch Doesn't Want to be a Diva

"On the Southern Hemisphere side."

"I've heard that the climate is much better down south, and there are lots of tourist destinations, like forests, grasslands, and seas of flowers," Hexia said with a hint of envy, as she actually hoped to visit one day, but never had the chance.

"'Dantalion' longs to go there," Vurowus laughed.

"The places you mentioned, I've been to them, but maybe because I grew up there, I don't really find them exceptional."

"If 'Dantalion' ever wants to go, you can tell me, I'll give you some tips so you can avoid some easily detrimental spots."

"Thank you, 'Vurowus' sister." Since starting work at the shop, the word Hexia said the most was thank you.

In the work that followed, Vurowus not only talked about some Southern matters, but also taught Hexia a lot of methods for handling ingredients, such as how to detoxify, preserve freshness, enhance flavor, and neutralize peculiar smells, and so on.

"The reason some meats have a gamey smell is because they contain certain proteins, peptides, or amine compounds, which oxidize and decompose to produce off-flavors after the animal dies."

"The most common way to deal with this is to add an appropriate amount of alcohol, as alcoholic substances are good solvents and extractants, capable of dissolving these gamey-smelling substances."

"Besides, different deodorizing additives can also add different flavors to the ingredients, common ones include grape wine, Cointreau, baijiu, beer, etc. You can also use sugar, milk, tea, lemon, and so on; it all depends on what you choose."

Hexia listened and memorized diligently, feeling like she had taken yet another small step forward in culinary arts.

As time flowed by, after the busy noon rush, it gradually came to a relatively quiet 2 P.M.

"Okay, it's not busy now, does 'Dantalion' want to go rest for a bit?" Vurowus asked the young girl beside her.

"May I?"

"Yes, you can. Head over to 'Botis' area. Her secluded forest is quite off the beaten path in the shop, even the manager doesn't dare to go in," Vurowus said with a light chuckle.

"You just need to help 'Botis' with some simple tasks over there. It's very quiet, and you can sit and doze off (take a nap)."

"Alright, I'll be on my way then." After greeting, Hexia left.

Walking through the deep blue glazed hall, Hexia turned past several bars and came to a corner with a glass partition beyond which was a world of verdant green, dense with various trees, and teeming with many snakes and venomous insects.

Though it might look terrifying to outsiders, this was the place Hexia visited the most during her internship, and she had slowly become accustomed to it.

"I'm coming in, 'Botis' senior."

After announcing her arrival, Hexia, lifting the hem of her dress, walked in. Her maid outfit was a rather conservative long dress, not a bright and youthful miniskirt like Belfeng's.

The ground, covered with fallen leaves and debris, often had various poisonous creatures crawling over it, but fortunately, Hexia didn't walk fast or carelessly, so she hadn't stepped on any.

After making her way through the short stretch of dense vegetation, she arrived at the pond at the very back. Sadly, there was no one around.

"Is 'Botis' sister not here?"

As Hexia pondered, she took out her personal terminal in black and white, smoke-ink style, and sent a message to Botis. Just then, a small white-scaled snake wrapped around her calf and climbed up.

"Uh, don't do that."

Hexia quickly put down her personal terminal, bent down, lifted her dress, and then grabbed the small snake.

After holding onto the snake's neck and carefully unraveling it from her calf and thigh, she then placed it on a stone slab nearby.

Sitting on a clean rock, Hexia covered her legs and feet with her dress and then tapped the white-scaled snake's head gently with her knuckles.

"Don't crawl into my dress anymore, understand?"

Seeing the small white-scaled snake still looking blankly and flicking its tongue, Hexia repeated her words several times, tapping its head with each repetition.

"I wonder if this little guy understands," Hexia let go of the snake, then began to examine it more closely.

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Species: Tree Viper Subspecies

Status: Healthy (No Abnormalities)

Sequence Introduction: Primordial Sequence 2 · White-scaled Tree Viper (Evaluation: Superior Copper Grade)

Talent:

[Primordial Foundation] (Superior): Slightly enhances various abilities and provides more choices during advancement.

[Tree Viper Venom] (Excellent): The venom is relatively mild, not immediately fatal, but it numbs the wound and makes it difficult to stop bleeding.

Ability:

[Concealment] (Standard): Reduces presence and fluctuations, lowering the chance of being discovered.

[Feigned Death] (Superior): Puts the body into a deep hibernation state, ceases activity, reduces consumption, and appears as though dead.

Skill: [Venomous Fang Lv.1→2][Stealth Lv.2][Hibernation Lv.1→3] (Skill level changes are augmented by talents and abilities.)

Related Introduction: A low-rank but rare transcendent tree viper, with several advancement branches when reaching Sequences 3-4, not limited to the Primordial Sequence. Common options include Natural Sequence 4 · Fire-spiked Tree Viper, Tidal Sequence 3 · Rain-concealed Tree Viper, Dragon Sequence 4 · Phantom-scaled Tree Viper; rare ones also include Radiant Feather Sequence 3 · Glazed Tree Viper, Withering Sequence 3 · Shadow Tree Viper... Known for its wide adaptability and variability.

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After carefully sensing the rhythm and information of the lifeform before her, Hexia also consulted the great library through her personal terminal and summarized the aforementioned data. This was a recent discovery of a nifty use of her talent, one aspect of the "Voice of Time Strings," was perceiving the rhythms of all things. Once perceived, combined with searches on the Star Network's great library, she could obtain a wealth of reliable and comprehensive information.