Witch's Embrace

To be honest, Hawthorne wasn't much of a cook. Although his family urged him to learn in his past life, up until his crossing over, he could only make simple soups or scrambled eggs—basic home-cooked meals. Anything slightly more complicated was beyond him.

But his basic culinary skills weren't an issue, as the Kitchen itself had cooking capabilities!

All he had to do was stand there, tap a few selections on the system panel, choose the ingredients and desired dish, and then command the Kitchen.

Under the magic of the Kitchen itself, knives would fly through the air, expertly preparing ingredients like onions, shrimp, carrots, and potatoes.

The stove lit automatically, sautéing the onions in olive oil until fragrant, then adding fresh spring water to cook the vegetables before finally incorporating prawns, refined salt, and pepper.

Thus, a pot of seafood vegetable soup—far more flavorful than Heidi's best efforts—was completed.

Though Hawthorne's only contribution to the process was selecting options in the system interface, this didn't dampen his joy and sense of accomplishment.

He poured the soup into a bowl, and standing in the Kitchen, he used a spoon to scoop up some of the soup topped with golden droplets of oil. Overcome by the close-up aromatic fragrance, and unable to resist sharing, he offered the spoon to Heidi, cheekily saying, "Here, Heidi, try my cooking!"

Heidi's eyes shimmered with admiration, but she didn't refuse. She opened her mouth slightly, took the spoon into her mouth, drank the hot soup, and then looked into his eyes with sincerity, saying, "It's delicious, Master. Your cooking is excellent!"

Hawthorne watched her expression carefully but didn't notice a noticeable "eye-brightening" change, which made him a bit disappointed. "Heidi, do you... not really enjoy human food?"

Upon hearing this, Heidi's expression showed a hint of apology. "I'm sorry, Master. As witches, we feed on souls, so when I was disguised as a human, I didn't include the 'taste' function in myself."

Ah, it seems she really can't taste what the soup is like.

Perhaps the astringency in the previous seafood soup wasn't entirely due to the seasonings of this era...

With this thought, he didn't insist that Heidi eat it, and instead, scooped a small spoonful of soup for himself. After testing the temperature with his lower lip, he drank it down.

Instantly, the aroma of the oil, the freshness of the shrimp, the sweetness of the vegetables, and the salty flavor from refined salt exploded on Hawthorne's palate, moving him almost to tears.

Ah, my cooking is quite good!

Shamelessly taking all the credit due to the system's Kitchen, he swallowed the soup, feeling a warm current flow down his esophagus, slowly filling his stomach, and then spreading throughout his body.

His energy-deprived, chilly body suddenly felt this warmth, and goosebumps rose all over. Every nutrition-craving cell was cheering with delight.

This was a supreme enjoyment. Who would have thought that the second benefit he'd experience in this other world would be the food...

He mused, and then Heidi, being thoughtful, found a basket of sliced white bread from another corner of the Kitchen.

Unquestionably, the bread was cold and dry, not appetizing on its own. But now, with the savory soup in hand, Hawthorne tore the bread into pieces to soak in the soup. Once it was well-saturated, he scooped it up with the soup, vegetables, and shrimp.

Thus, the high-density protein from the shrimp, vitamins from the vegetables, and the starch from the bread and potatoes, providing major energy, all entered his body. Broken down and absorbed by the strong acids in his stomach, they traveled through his bloodstream to every part of his body, satisfying each long-starved cell with contented sighs.

He continued, finishing the entire pot of soup and consuming fifteen slices of dry bread, warming his entire body and making his stomach slightly protrude before finally stopping.

They didn't wash the dishes; the system's Kitchen had a self-cleaning function. After they left, the Purification white light automatically restored everything back to its original state, except for the consumed ingredients, leaving everything else unchanged.

Hawthorne, feeling satisfied, returned to his room and reclined on the bed to digest. Heidi stayed with him the entire time, her eyes filled with affection, unwilling to leave his side for even a moment.

However, now that he was full and warm, he noticed the simplicity of the room and furrowed his brow slightly.

Hmm, it's rather plain and not very comfortable to live in.

Since he wanted to improve his physical condition, having a good resting environment was also essential, so...

He opened the system and fiddled with the building interface, merging another building, the "dormitory," with his current room.

In the game, this was where the witches rested, and it significantly improved their mood and physical recovery rate, and could even automatically heal some injuries.

In short, it was another magical building like the "Kitchen."

Thus, accompanied by Purification's white light and Heidi's adorable, surprised gaze, the plain little room slowly transformed into a space similar to his former bedroom: its size nearly doubled, the small bed by the window became a two-meter-wide soft bed, his desk was at the head of the bed, opposite was his wardrobe, and there was even a chandelier on the ceiling!

However, that chandelier certainly couldn't be lit. Although this world had begun using electricity, it lacked Tesla and alternating current, meaning they couldn't use cheap electronic devices like people in the 20th century in his previous world.

In this world, electricity was harnessed by storing it in blocks of "electric energy stones," akin to large batteries, which were then placed into various appliances for use.

Naturally, this method was costly, so apart from the upper class, most couldn't afford such a luxury.

Liberl Port, being a rare large port, was affluent but had a significant wealth gap; the upper class lived almost in modern society, while the lower class lived like primitive tribes.

And the convent's location was in the South Harbor District, practically a slum, so to avoid attention, the witches certainly couldn't afford electricity.

But these were minor issues. As for lighting, although witches didn't have this need, if necessary, it could easily be replaced with magic.

Heidi pointed at the chandelier on the ceiling and softly murmured an incantation, performing a simple "Light" spell. The magical waves enveloped the chandelier, and a soft light emerged, illuminating the entire room.

Hawthorne watched enviously. Unfortunately, the system didn't provide him with direct Casting Ability. Acquiring that would require him to first learn it on his own and then use the system to level up.

But gaining Casting Ability isn't easy.

According to the setting, Liberl Port has about a million residents. Even counting those using magical items without real Magic Power, the number of people capable of casting spells is certainly no more than 30,000.

And those truly possessing Casting Ability, able to cast even a first-level spell independently, are likely just over 10,000!

Yes, considering Mages and Bards who learn spellcasting, Clerics and Paladins who cast through Deities and Oaths, Druids and Rangers who use nature, Warlocks who awaken Casting Ability on their own, and those who gain it through Pact Signing with powerful beings, plus others who achieve Casting Ability through various means like path choices, Ancient Blessings, career advancements, or Expertise Training, they total just over 10,000!

Thus, true Spellcasters are elite talents selected from hundreds out of every thousand.

The root cause is the stringent conditions for casting spells. Without evident talent, it's better to honestly pursue being a Warrior or Rogue rather than dreaming of wielding great magical power.

Hawthorne's initial Three-Dimensional Attributes are low, but his latter attributes are above average. At just fifteen, he has room to grow, so he's definitely talented.

However, his poor background limited him to basic general education at a church school, leaving no opportunity to study magic.

Therefore, the path of a Mage seems unfeasible for now. As for being a Warlock, it's even less likely. He doesn't appear to be an heir to a noble family, so a sudden awakening seems improbable.

As for aligning with a Deity or Swearing an Oath, that's hard to accept for someone fundamentally a modern East Asian.

And turning to nature as a Druid or Ranger?

The idea is promising since those two professions have few drawbacks besides being weak.

Ahem!

Fortunately, despite the challenges, Hawthorne, as a hardcore player seeking pure love completion, knows very well what the greatest shortcut to becoming strong in this world is!

Moreover, this shortcut can maximize the advantage of his 20 Charisma!

"Heidi!" he softly spoke to the witch beside him, "Could you Pact Sign with me, become my Overlord, and share your spellcasting abilities?"