The Villain of Ancient Greece

”Kykeon?”

”Mhm, that’s right! Freshly made, still warm! Drink it up!”

Circe, with one hand on her hip, proudly presented her achievement, lifting the rough clay bowl and offering it to her beloved disciple.

Lorne, however, immediately blocked the bowl, coldly exposing the woman’s malicious intentions.

”Cut it out! Are you trying to turn me into a pig again? So no one will force you to teach?”

”I’ve never turned anyone into a pig...”

”Still denying it? What about last night?”

”Well, that’s because you were already a pig, my adorable little piglet!”

Circe spread her hands, her pink eyes blinking innocently, however, her expression tinged with mockery.

Lorne remained unmoved, pointing at the bubbling bowl of Kykeon porridge, his face dark as he snorted.

”Hmph, you think you can fool me? I already know what this thing does!”

”What does it do? It’s just a few herbs, pure water, natural barley grains, all in my bowl.

Transformation? No transformation; only the disguise that inadvertently falls away, letting them see themselves and each other.”

Circe hummed off-key, her gaze growing even more teasing.

”Don’t believe me? Look, you’ll recognize all these ingredients. They’re completely harmless.”

Lorne glanced at the dark green porridge in the bowl, sniffed it, and the list of ingredients flashed through his mind.

Barley, water, honey, mint oil, and... mandrake?

Apart from the last herb, the ingredients seemed pretty ordinary.

And the effect of mandrake was just to induce hallucinations...

Wait, hallucinations?!

A lightbulb went off in Lorne’s mind, and the answer came to him in a flash.

”Your Kykeon just induces hallucinations, making the eater believe they’re the embodiment of some animal!”

”Giggle, you got it, my clever little piglet.”

Circe nodded in affirmation, a pleased smile curling at the corners of her lips as she continued to explain.

”So, Kykeon is essentially a benign potion that liberates the mind, helping to achieve unity of body and spirit. It’s very beneficial for meditation.”

’I see.’

The suspicion on Lorne’s face gradually faded, and he nodded thoughtfully.

Seeing the atmosphere ease, Circe hurriedly handed a full bowl of barley porridge to her beloved disciple with a smile. ”Here, my adorable little piglet, drink this quickly. Let’s start our meditation early and finish today’s lessons together.”

Looking at the bubbling special drink before him, Lorne vaguely recalled that in ancient Greece, the Eleusinian Mysteries, dedicated to the agricultural goddess Demeter, involved a ritual where senior members invited new initiates to fast for a day to commemorate Demeter’s refusal to eat or drink while searching for Persephone.

During the fast, the initiates would drink a special barley beverage to seek divine ”revelation.”

This barley beverage was similar to the kykeon porridge.

So, Kykeon porridge might indeed have originally been a secret potion to aid meditation and develop mental powers.

But...

”But only if I can withstand your mental suggestions...”

Lorne glanced at the thick porridge in the bowl, his lips curling into a faint smile as he looked at the confident witch before him.

”The kykeon porridge is fine, of course, because it’s just an aid. The real key is the constant mental suggestions you’ve been giving me, isn’t it?”

Hearing this, Circe’s smile froze, and her hand holding the clay bowl stiffened mid-air.

Well..it looks like she had been found out...

All along, she had frequently used the term ”little piglet” to implant a confusing perception in people’s minds, making them subconsciously accept their identity as ”piglets.”

Then, through the mind-body integration effects of the kykeon porridge, she would complete the transformation from ”human” to ”piglet.”

As the saying goes, she never actually turned anyone into a pig, but she was the primary force behind this transformation process.

Sure enough, witches have never been kind and pure little white flowers, but a willful and unscrupulous group that goes to great lengths to please themselves.

In simple terms, they can be described with one word—scum.

Lorne shook his head, once again recognizing the true nature of his seemingly foolish bird-like teacher.

Seeing her scheme exposed, Circe quickly averted her gaze, her eyes darting toward the door.

”Oh dear, I just remembered, there’s soup on the stove!”

With that said, the demi-goddess witch leapt up from her seat, ready to flee the scene of the crime.

However, before Circe could make her escape, a hand picked up the clay bowl from the ground and downed the entire contents of the kykeon porridge in one go.

”You... you drank it all?”

Under Circe’s stunned gaze, Lorne wiped his mouth, tossed the empty clay bowl to the ground, and calmly offered his critique.

”The mint oil is a bit overpowering. Use less next time.”

”So, how do you feel now, little piglet?”

Circe sat back down, her eyes brimming with anticipation as she looked at her beloved disciple.

If this little one turned back into a piglet, she could skip the tedious lessons and go back to cuddling with her precious little piglet while taking a nap.

Ah, the blissful thought made Circe’s eyes sparkle with delight, and her pointed ears twitched with excitement.

However, Lorne, who had willingly taken the bait, showed no signs of transformation and his gaze remained clear and focused.

In fact, once you understood the essence of the piglet transformation, countering the negative effects of the kykeon porridge was relatively simple.

As long as you could establish a corresponding mental barrier and continuously reinforce the concept of being ”human” in your mind, you wouldn’t easily fall prey to the witch’s verbal manipulations and revert to being a ”little piglet.”

”Stop daydreaming, what’s next?”

The calm murmur in her ear interrupted Circe’s reverie, leaving her somewhat disheartened.

But within the temple of Hecate, the great witch who revered the goddess of witchcraft had no choice but to settle down and reluctantly teach Lorne how to use the effects of the kykeon porridge to make meditation more effective.

”As usual, adjust your breathing, relax your body, expand your senses, perceive the magical energy in the air, and then try to use it to construct the corresponding Hermetic runes. Continuously strengthen your affinity and control over the elements...”

Lorne didn’t rush into meditation but instead scrutinized his seemingly stupid teacher with a calm gaze.

”And then?”

”...Don’t completely empty your mind. Remember your true essence to avoid getting lost in the illusions created by the kykeon porridge...”

Circe grumbled out the crucial elements in frustration.

She really hated smart students, especially those smarter than their teacher.

At this moment, Lorne, who had only been testing her out of habit, felt his expression darken further.

Still the same old tricks!

She’s really laying traps at every step just to get him into bed.

”Keep going!”

”That’s it! Really, that’s all this time!”

Under Circe’s whining and her oath in the name of the goddess Hecate, Lorne finally closed his eyes, half-convinced, and tried to empty his mind, expand his spirit, and sense the surrounding elements.

Of course, just to be safe, he didn’t rush the process.

Instead, he cautiously loosened his mental restraints step by step, carefully maintaining the boundaries of his self-awareness.

As his mental energy flowed outward like a tide and his sense of self began to blur slightly, Lorne immediately and carefully reined in some of his focus.

Seventy percent relaxed, thirty percent retained...

That was probably his current limit.

However, even with only about seventy percent of his mental perception, the amount of magical energy he could gather during meditation had doubled compared to before.

It seemed that as a special elixir, even though the kykeon porridge was dangerous, it could indeed significantly enhance the user’s mental perception.

Once confirmed, Lorne gradually settled into his daily practice.

With each breath, his expanded mental energy resonated with the surroundings.

The swirling elements within a thirty-meter radius formed visible magical tides, and shimmering Hermetic runes flickered within, constructing various formations and foundations.

Circe watched for a while but soon grew bored.

She propped her chin on her hand, lost in thought, pondering philosophical questions like what to eat for dinner.

After all, as a demi-goddess and a great witch, a disciple of Hecate, she could pretty much do as she pleased in the waters near Aeaea.

Without the threat of survival, there was naturally little motivation to actively grow stronger.

Thus, compared to the daily grind of rigorous training and study, Circe, who was quite lax in both academics and life, preferred to let her talent and bloodline accumulate her power over time.

As time passed in the monotonous supervision, the newborn sun gradually turned into the twilight on the horizon.

When the last ray of sunlight disappeared, the temple of Hecate, which was about to be engulfed by the night, suddenly burst with a dazzling light.

Bright as the sun, radiant as gold.

Circe, who had been dozing off, snapped her eyes open and stared at the glowing eyes in the darkness, utterly stunned.

”You... you leveled up again?”

Her astonished expression was as if she had just seen a curly-haired baboon evolve into a celestial being.