The Greece Antagonist

On the island of Aiaia, the night was tranquil as water, with the waning moon hanging high in the sky.

Accompanying the arrival of mealtime, wafts of rich food aromas drifted from the treetop house.

"Tomorrow morning, I'd like to leave the island for a bit."

"You're leaving?"

Circe, who was cheerfully bustling about the dinner table, lifted her head in astonishment, the smile on her face somewhat frozen.

Luo En put down the spoon he was holding and raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Don't worry, I'm just going to practice on some nearby targets to see if I can find a way to break through."

"Really?"

Hearing such an explanation, the gloom on Circe's face lessened a bit, and she skeptically sniffed with her aquiline nose, leaning in to smell Luo En all over in a whirl of sniffing, her gaze sharpening instantly.

"That's the scent of lying!"

"Smack!"

A loud thwack landed on Circe's head, and Luo En, with a dark face, pointed behind her.

"What lying scent, if you don't turn around this instant, you'll end up setting the kitchen on fire!"

At once, Circe shuddered, looked up to see the bubbling cauldron on the stove, its edges already turning red, and her face paled as she darted into the disastrous scene with a shriek.

"Ah, my Hoo Koo E Koo 3.0!"

A quarter of an hour later, the Great Witch of Aiaia, with a soot-covered face, emerged from the smoke-filled kitchen carrying half a pot of salvaged barley porridge.

Her once fair face was now pitch black, leaving only two colorful eyes rapidly moving about; the sharpness and profundity that had burst forth earlier had vanished, replaced only with an aura of "wisdom."

Luo En, sitting at the dining table, twitched the corner of his mouth and shook his head, hand on forehead.

"You're leaving tomorrow morning, are you? This meal just happens to be for your send-off."

Circe, unfazed, cleaned her face with fresh water and enthusiastically pitched her masterpiece to her beloved apprentice.

"Come on, try my newly concocted barley porridge, just out of the pot, guaranteed fresh!"

Luo En glanced at the thick green potion-like broth and the few suspicious charred chunks reminiscent of burnt crocodile skin floating at the bottom, then smelled the heavy burnt odor in the air, his eyelids twitching.

He suspected that one bowl of this would certainly send him off immediately.

"It's burnt; next time, for sure!"

Luo En maintained a stiff smile on his face, pushing away the bowl, and declined what was either a well-meaning or malevolent gesture from Circe.

Then, without waiting for Circe to react, he smoothly withdrew from the dining table and, from beneath the floor of his bedroom, he brought out a sealed pottery jar and placed it on the table.

"As it happens, I made some drinks earlier too; let's have mine first."

As he spoke, the old seal on the pottery jar was broken, releasing a rich and extraordinary fruity fragrance.

The mouth of the jar tilted, pouring a stream of purplish-red nectar into an empty bowl, shimmering with an amber glow.

Circe's aquiline nose twitched, and her eyes brightened, "That smells wonderful, did you make it with grapes?"

Luo En smiled and nodded, took up the pottery bowl, and passed it to his Enchantress teacher. "Authentic grape juice, have a taste."

Circe took the pottery bowl, curiously examining the clear liquid inside, but didn't rush to drink. Instead, with narrowed eyes, she suspiciously glanced at her apprentice.

"Something's not right, you've never been this attentive before. You wouldn't have poisoned it, would you?"

"Yes, yes, I've poisoned it," Luo En rolled his eyes and stepped forward to take the jar away.

"Don't bluff me, it's clearly grape juice!"

However, before Luo En could reach out, Circe snatched the jar away, confidently puffing up her chest.

"Hmph, and even if you did poison it, I wouldn't be afraid! You learned potion-making from me, and with your skills, you certainly couldn't poison me!"

As she spoke, the enchantress curled her lips upwards and, unexpectedly, lifted the clay jar, pouring the entire jug of grape juice down her throat.

"You, you drank it all?"

Luo En looked at Circe with her rounded belly in astonishment, his expression dazed and complex.

"Heh, of course!"

Circe proudly tilted her chin up, her lips parting in a sly smile that betrayed her underlying scheme.

"Hmph, all the drinks you've hidden have been finished off, and now... now... obediently drink my barley porridge... drink... drink it all up!"

However, for some reason, her thoughts were growing sluggish, her speech increasingly slurred, a searing heat boiled inside her body, her feet felt as if stepping on tufts of cotton, her body swaying left and right without strength, and the scenery before her eyes kept spinning and splitting.

"Weird... why have you... why have you turned into... two?"

Circe held a soup bowl full of barley porridge in one hand and scratched her head with the other, her fair face flushed red as if set ablaze.

"To let you taste it slowly, and you went ahead and drank it all..."

Watching the Witch of the Eagle spinning around beside him, Luo En's mouth twitched slightly as he helplessly rubbed his forehead.

"How do you feel now?"

"My head's... a bit dizzy… but... it's awesome!"

Circe raised a clenched fist in the air, revealing an unusual level of excitement.

"Then what's this number?"

"Ten!"

The enchantress answered cheerfully and with pride.

"Congratulations, you got it right!"

Luo En complimented loudly, while hiding his right hand that was showing two fingers behind his back, and satisfiedly nodded at the silly bird whose thinking was clearly becoming fragmented.

Well, she's crippled now.

It seems that just like the accounts in the epics, even a demigod cannot resist this kind of magic potion called "wine."

Especially the grape wine that he had personally brewed and refined.

Luo En pushed away the Exiko 3.0 in front of him, hefted the empty clay jar on the table, with the corners of his lips curving up in a delighted arc.

A few years ago, in his spare time, he had gathered the grapes from the island and, using the natural fermentation method mentioned in ancient books that he remembered, attempted to make a batch of homemade wine.

This method didn't require adding distiller's yeast; it relied on the wild yeast that naturally grows on the grape skins and, through sealing and temperature control, fermented the grapes into wine.

Whether it was due to the talents brought by his bloodline and divinity is unknown, but he had an acute sense and awareness for brewing-related matters, far exceeding that of ordinary people.

The experiment was not only a success on the first try but also achieved the standard of craft brewing.

These wines that were stored in advance were originally intended for that gambling goddess.

However, considering the great risk and her keen senses, he couldn't take the chance of ending up losing what he tried to gain.

As a result, his first successful batch was used on this silly bird, Circe.

Initially, he had only intended to casually drink a few glasses under the pretense and get his witch teacher drunk.

But to his surprise, either from overconfidence or true bravery, she had gone ahead and drunk the entire jug of his finely brewed grape wine in one go.

Now, she probably won't wake up for three to five days.

But just right...

Luo En looked up at Circe who was now deeply asleep, lying on the table, snoozing away, and walked towards the Great Witch of Aiaia, rubbing his hands together. The handsome face shrouded in the night revealed a mischievously evil smile.

Teacher, after tormenting me to death and back for so long, now it's finally your turn to cough up the gold coins.