Lucian floated to the walls of the cell.
Magical Candy House
Description: A house made entirely of delicious candy, enchanted and strengthened by magic. It is the domain of the Candy Witch, and within its walls, her powers are at their peak. The house has the ability to lure children with its enchanted sweets and can consume candy to repair itself.
Price:
1. Little children that love candy: A new child must be imprisoned in the house every month.
2. Candy consumption: 1000g of special magical candy is needed every week to maintain the house.
3. Magical candy transformation: Anyone who consumes the magical candy will slowly turn into special magical candy ingredients.
Lucian's voice echoed in the Traveller's mind. It seems the whole structure is enchanted. Makes sense—candy isn't exactly known for its durability. We've also found out how she plans to turn us into candy.
Lucian floated over to one of the candy creatures bustling about the house and "inspected" them as well.
Candy Person
Description: A sweet animated with candy magic.
Price:
1. Special ingredients: Special magical candy ingredients must be added to give the candy life.
2. Magical candy transformation: Anyone that consumes magical candy will slowly turn into special magical candy ingredients.
It's like some twisted karmic cycle, the Traveller mused, rubbing his chin. We eat them, then we get turned into candy to be eaten ourselves. Fitting in a grim way.
No, that makes no sense at all! Lucian exclaimed. Candy's supposed to be eaten! We aren't!
The Traveller shot a sidelong glance at the floating ghost. You sure about that? I mean, we're all—
We're not meant to be eaten just because the Ezekiels wanted to use us! Lucian protested. That's not how this works!
The Traveller chuckled. And what if the candy wasn't meant to be eaten either? They seem... semi-conscious, like they have their own little candy society. He nodded toward the animated candies, his tone teasing.
Why are you empathizing with candies?! Lucian groaned.
All things aside, the Traveller said, his voice lowering, I think taking down the witch will be easier than we thought. Go ahead, inspect her.
Lucian floated toward the witch, who was still busy preparing ingredients at the other end of the candy house, and activated his "inspect" skill.
Dark Candy Witch (Marked)
Magics:
Candy Kingdom Channeling (Marked): A permanent connection is established between the Candy Witch and the source of her magic, allowing her to draw on candy magic at will. She can create magical candy from normal ingredients without performing rituals. Candy magic can power other spells.
Price: Her body will slowly turn into candy, and the speed of the transformation increases if she channels more magic.
Candy Magic: Allows her to cast and use magic contained within consumed candies. Maximum of three spells at a time.
Current spells: Sleep, Command Candy.
Price: Candy magic is required, and the witch's body will further turn into candy with each spell cast.
Dark Witchcraft: By consuming their own life force, the witch can reverse or negate magical prices.
Price: Her life force. The user will be twisted into a hideous hag.
Burnt Candy: Using burnt candy, she can reverse the effects of magical candy transformation.
Price: Her life force is drained.
The Traveller grinned. If we eat enough of her candy and you inhabit her, we can push her over the edge. She'll either turn completely into candy or consume her own life force trying to stop it.
Just then, the witch finished preparing something at her counter. She turned, carrying a large plate of delicious-looking sweets, her grin wide and unsettling.
"You must be hungry," the witch said with mock sweetness, placing the plate inside the Traveller's cell. The chubby boy in the next cell looked longingly at the plate, his eyes darting to the candy walls, clearly struggling to resist.
The Traveller smirked internally. She just brought the weapon of her own demise. Get ready, Lucian.
He wasted no time, grabbing the sweets from the plate and stuffing them into his mouth with exaggerated gusto. At first, the witch looked pleased, her glee evident as she watched him devour the magical candy. But soon, her smile faltered. Her eyes widened, and she staggered, clutching her chest as the transformation began to accelerate. Her body was turning into candy faster than she could control.
"What... what is happening?!" she shrieked, her shriveled hands trembling. She fumbled for her bag and yanked out a handful of burnt, charcoal-like candies. With a desperate gulp, she stuffed them into her mouth, trying to reverse the transformation. But it was too late.
The Traveller, already feeling the effects of the magical candy enhancing his strength, tore into one of the cell bars with his teeth. The hardened candy that should've been impenetrable softened as he chewed, turning into a brittle treat under his bite.
"Magical candy is meant to be eaten," he said with a grin, spitting out the remnants of the bar. This was one of the nature of the candy house. It is like really candy to those eating it.
The witch's face twisted in horror as the price grew stronger. The more burnt candy she consumed, the more her life force drained, leaving her frail and disoriented. "It's you... you're doing this!" she screamed, trying to raise her wand. She pointed at the Traveller, attempting to cast her sleep spell, but her movements were sluggish, her strength almost entirely gone.
Meanwhile, candy soldiers rushed to stop the Traveller, but he merely plucked them up and popped them into his mouth one by one. Each animated candy he consumed seemed to fuel the witch's transformation further, accelerating her demise. The more candy he ate, the faster the dark magic of the Candy Kingdom took hold of her.
Before the witch could react, the Traveller had already gnawed through the remaining bars and stepped out of his cell. He approached her calmly, giving her a swift kick to the torso, knocking her over with ease. Her magic, which had fueled her dark powers, had done nothing to strengthen her physically.
As the witch lay on the ground, too weak to move, the Traveller spotted something on a nearby table—the Ghoul Sword. Without hesitation, he jumped toward it, and reclaimed the weapon.
In one swift motion, the Traveller finished the job, the Ghoul Sword cutting through what remained of the witch's brittle, candy-like body.