Chapter 2757: Chapter 2758: Element Seed
However, while Angel was willing to give up willingly, Dox was too financially embarrassed to make an exchange.
Dox hung his head in dejection. Indeed, Angel was different from Vay. It was almost impossible to take advantage of Angel.
As Dox wallowed in his misery, the voice of the Wise Sovereign resounded:
"The next duel is about to begin. Both participants, please enter the arena."
As soon as the words fell, the scene fell silent. Quite some time passed, yet no one stepped onto the platform.
Originally, it was supposed to be Vayâs turn from their side, but Vay was currently in a dazed state. The atmosphere around him was so low and depressive that anyone who got close would find their world turning black and white, just like Vayâs.
On the other side, things were different. Almost all of Gray Merchantâs apprentices had already lost, leaving Magic Elephant as their only choice. Yet, for some reason, Magic Elephant remained motionless, seeming to hesitate.
Gray Merchant, meanwhile, was whispering with the Wicked Woman at the side. Gray Merchant appeared somewhat excited, while the Wicked Woman had a cold expression. From their expressions, they seemed to be arguing. Their conversation took place within the Mind Ribbon, so others were unaware of the content of their dispute.
The arena was empty, on the verge of falling into awkward silence.
At that moment, the Wise Sovereign calmly stated, "If no one enters the arena within the next half a minute, it signifies forfeiture from both sides, and the apprentice duel will end here... with no winner."
The Wise Sovereignâs words amounted to issuing a final ultimatum.
Angel glanced at Vay, who still showed no response. He then glared at Dox and finally turned his gaze to Kaier.
If Vay couldnât enter the arena, Kaier would have to go instead.
Without needing Angelâs reminder, Kaier was already aware of the situation. He began taking deep breaths before standing up, ready to step onto the arena.
On the opposite side, the quarrel between the Wicked Woman and Gray Merchant had finally ended, seemingly with Gray Merchant losing the argument. As their dispute concluded, Magic Elephant finally stepped onto the arena.
Just as Kaier was about to follow, a shadow suddenly sped past him, with lightning speed, landing in the center of the arena.
Yes, it was a fall.
It was indeed Vay who entered the arena, but his entrance was quite unique, having been smacked into the field by a giant stone entity resembling a mosquito swatter.
Due to this unconventional entry, Vay hadnât yet collected his wits and was lying face down, with his head to the ground and buttocks in the air, on the arena.
When Vay regained his senses and opened his eyes, he saw the Magic Elephant, wearing a brown elephant mask, with an astonished expression visible even through the eyeholes.
One looked bewildered, the other astonished.
In the next two seconds, Vay began realizing what had happened, quickly standing up from his awkward position with a displeased face, while Magic Elephant remained astonished.
Recalling his prior landing pose, Vay felt his face flush hotly, as if something was leaving his body...
Turning around to see Magic Elephantâs astonished gaze, he found it glaringly offensive.
Without a doubt, it was his own master who kicked him. Vay wouldnât dare complain about his own master, but Magic Elephant, this outsider, looking at him with such an expressionâwas this mockery?
The thought ignited a flame of resentment in Vayâs heart, and he stared fiercely at Magic Elephant.
However, Magic Elephantâs gaze turned from astonishment to confusion.
He didnât understand why Vay suddenly harbored hatred toward him, and on such a significant scale.
If he knew Vayâs thoughts, heâd likely feel quite aggrieved.
The astonishment on Magic Elephantâs face wasnât because of Vayâs posture. Unlike Dox, Magic Elephant never engaged in idle chatter. Not even the nosiest among them, Fembrose, would mock someoneâs position for self-gratification. Itâs not about moralityâit simply doesnât matter to them.
The only ones who care about your embarrassment are usually those who know you. After all, even if thereâs teasing or mocking, one must at least be familiar with the person, right?
As for why Magic Elephant showed Astonishment, it was because he didnât expect Vay to be the one stepping up.
He thought Kaier would be his opponent.
After the fight between Kaier and the Shepherd, the Shepherd did a review. After much discussion, they concluded that Kaierâs trump card against the Shepherd was the Alchemy Golem, confirmed by the Shepherd through Black Shepherd to have power nearly at the Official Wizard Level.
And the robe made from Simosâ skin that Kaier wore displayed defenses nearly at a dominating level. They speculated it was prepared explicitly to deal with Magic Elephant. However, Kaier probably didnât expect the Shepherd to force this trump card out as well.
Thus, Magic Elephant was astonished when Vay, not Kaier, came onto the arena.
There was another thing that puzzled Magic Elephantâ
Could it be that the opposing sideâs strategy involving Kaier was discovered by the Wicked Woman?
Previously, the Shepherd advised Magic Elephant not to compete. If the opponent wore a robe made of Simosâ skin, his defeat was assured. Magic Elephant himself thought it was unnecessary to enter the fray and suffer.
The defensive power of Simosâ skin could withstand a strike from a True Knowledge Wizard, and Magic Elephant believed he couldnât break through such formidable defense.
Yet, Magic Elephant did enter the arena.
This was because the Wicked Woman insisted on Magic Elephant competing, and he had no right to refuse.
Why was the Wicked Woman so adamant about Magic Elephant entering? The reason was simple; the Wicked Woman wanted Simosâ skin.
Compared to the Chupacabra material the Wicked Woman was searching for, Simosâ skin was of a higher rank and more effective. The Wicked Woman had never even considered the materials on Simos before; she would have been satisfied with just obtaining Chupacabra materials. But now that Simosâ skin was right in front of her, how could she not be tempted?
Forcibly taking it wasnât an option; in her mind, there was only one way to acquire Simosâ skin: after Magic Elephantâs victory over Kaier, strip the robe made from Simosâ skin directly off him.
Previously, when Angel took victory spoils from Gray Merchant, the Wise Sovereign didnât intervene, indicating such actions were permitted by the rules. Thus, the Wicked Woman believed they could similarly take the robe from Kaier as a spoils of victory.
How was Magic Elephant supposed to defeat Kaier? The Wicked Woman, having suggested this plan, was prepared to help Magic Elephant with all her might. She even handed one of her trump cards to Magic Elephant to ensure his victory.
However, Gray Merchant didnât support the Wicked Womanâs idea.
Gray Merchant still needed the help of the Wizard, who called themselves "Earl Mi," on the opposing side to retrieve his memories from the mirror, and didnât wish to complicate matters.
Yet, the Wicked Woman felt these were two separate issues. Gray Merchant would offer fair compensation for retrieving his memories, a fair trade.
The Wicked Womanâs desire for Simosâ skin was also within the rules, so the two matters shouldnât conflict.
Do they really not conflict? The Wicked Woman likely didnât believe it herself.
Simosâ skinâs value is entirely different compared to that mirror. Moreover, the offer to help Gray Merchant retrieve his memories was clearly a gesture of "friendly goodwill," not necessarily driven by what Gray Merchant could offer in return, as the compensation remains unknownâwhether itâs worthwhile or not is yet to be seen.
Even understanding the underlying issues, sometimes greed can cloud judgment.
The Wicked Woman was in such a situation, deceiving herself into thinking her issue and Gray Merchantâs were unrelated and separate matters.
Magic Elephant clearly understood the key points here; how could the Wicked Woman not see it? Yet, Magic Elephant had no voice, nor choice, and under the Wicked Womanâs duress, he had to enter.
But upon entering, he was met with a shock immediately.
Kaier, donning Simosâ skin, didnât show up on the stage; instead, it was a descendant from the Noah Family stepping in!
Clearly, the ghostly shadow had already made this person lose their combat ability for a short time through the fungal barrier. Why did they recover so quickly? Has the mycelium infant completely been removed?
And, what should he do now? The descendants of the Noah Family, if they also brought a trump card, he wouldnât be able to defeat them. Should he use the card that the wicked woman gave him or not?
If he uses it, what happens afterwards? Also, this card is precious, even the wicked woman treated it as her heritage. If he doesnât use it on Kaier, how will he explain it to the wicked woman?
Moreover, using such a card against a Noah descendant in front of the Black Earl, and the Noah descendant could get injured or even die, what would they do afterwards?
Shortly, due to Vayâs appearance, various thoughts flashed through the Magic Elephantâs mind.
Every one of those thoughts made the Magic Elephant feel troubled and conflicted.
In this situation, the Magic Elephant continued to display a look of surprise.
Unfortunately, Vay didnât know there were so many twists and turns. He was already in a low mood, got "kicked" onto the stage, and the opponent saw him in an embarrassing state. Vayâs shame and anger were already maxed out.
Originally not intending to fight, Vayâs momentum kept rising higher and higher.
While the Magic Elephant, due to the various thoughts in his mind, had his desire to fight reduced.
Originally, the Magic Elephant should have had a stronger momentum, but now such a contrast appeared, surprising everyone.
With all sidesâ thoughts surging and this strong contrasting comparison, the duel finally commenced.
...
While Vay was fighting, Angel moved his gaze away from the arena.
Itâs not that Vayâs fight wasnât interesting. His combat method this time was completely different from when he fought the ghostly shadow before. It was more aggressive, like a wild lynx fighting recklessly, facing the Magic Elephant head-on. It was exciting to watch, but Angel now had something more intriguing on his mind.
His gaze fell on the Alchemy Golem beside Kaier.
Previously, they only discussed the skin of Simos and hadnât mentioned the Speedyâs matter. But whether it was Angel or the Black Earl, or Kaier, they were all curious about what had happened to Speedy at the time.
Why was Speedy entangled by those four black-faced sheep before? Why didnât Speedy take action?
Moreover, after Speedy left the scene, it should have immediately reported back to Angel, but Angel waited for a long time, and Speedy never actively expressed the situation to Angel.
All these strange reactions made Angel curious.
When Angel cast his gaze at Speedy, Speedy showed no reaction, just like an actual Alchemy Golem.
It wasnât until Angel actively communicated with Speedy through the power of the contract that Speedy slowly came to its senses.
The exchange between Angel and Speedy was conducted privately, and outsiders didnât know what they talked about. But Angelâs expression sometimes paused for several seconds, showing a contemplative look, indicating that perhaps there was really something fishy going on.
After a while, the exchange between Angel and Speedy finally ended.
Dox, seeing this, curiously asked, "Whatâs the situation?"
Angel pondered for a moment, then spoke in the Mind Ribbon: "Speedy mentioned something interesting. It wasnât that it couldnât break through the encirclement of those four black-faced sheep, but rather it was unwilling to."
Previously, the Black Earl had noted that Speedy seemed to have no intention of breaking through the encirclement, and Angelâs words now confirmed the Black Earlâs initial speculation.
Indeed, Speedy chose not to break through on its own accord.
"I called out to Speedy at that time..." Kaier remarked at this point.
Angel: "I asked Speedy, but it didnât respond. Most likely, it heard your call but wasnât willing or reluctant to break through, so it simply pretended not to hear it."
Dox raised an eyebrow: "For such an Elemental Creature that even defies its masterâs order, whatâs its reason to exist?"
Though Doxâs words were harsh, they represented a mainstream opinion, and from the overall situation in the Wizardsâ Realm, he wasnât wrong.
However, Angel shook his head: "It didnât actually defy the order."
Under the curious eyes of everyone, Angel briefly shared Doxâs past experiences and emotional journey.
The reason Angel stated that Speedy didnât defy the order was because when he made the contract with Speedy and other captured wind-oriented beings, one stipulation was that it wouldnât make them oppose Wind Elemental Sprites.
Although the Storm Ridge and White Cloud Village in the Tidal World were in a hostile state, no matter how fiercely they fought, they rarely attacked newly born Wind Sprites.
Having experienced this themselves, they knew well that the birth of any Elemental Sprite isnât easy. Furthermore, many Elemental Sprites hadnât awakened intelligence, lacking ideology or opposing hatred. What was the point in targeting them?
Angel had traveled in the Tidal World for some time, understood their sentiment, and hence, he agreed to this provision in the contract.
And Speedy was precisely following this provision, choosing not to attack those four black-faced sheep.
"So, those four strange sheep are Wind Elemental Sprites?" Dox inquired in astonishment: "They didnât seem like it to me."
Clearly, those sheep had physical bodies. Although their energy operation was odd, it didnât fit the pattern of an Elemental Creature.
Angel shrugged: "I thought the same as you."
Angel didnât believe those four black-faced sheep were Elemental Sprites either.
However, Speedy was firmly convinced: even if they werenât Elemental Sprites now, they had the embryonic form to become one. As long as they could experience an Elemental Tide, transforming into Elemental Sprites was just a matter of time.
In other words, although those four black-faced sheep werenât yet Elemental Sprites, they had the potential to become them.
They could be likened to a sprout or seed; just a spring rain would make them emerge.
Due to Speedyâs belief that they were just a step away from forming, it worried about even slightly overexerting its force, potentially devastating this cluster of "un-germinated seeds," stripping them of their qualification to advance. So, Speedy didnât dare to act rashly while encircled by them.
This was the core reason why Speedy didnât break through the encirclement.
"Are you sure itâs telling the truth?" Dox asked.
Angel: "I can only be sure itâs not lying to me, but whether itâs mistaken, I canât guarantee."
Even though Speedy gave an explanation, Angel still found it hard to believe that those four black-faced sheep could be the "seeds" of Elemental Sprites.
Angel had seen too many Elemental Sprites in the Tidal World, and the majority remained unintelligent. Sprites with intelligence and speaking ability, like Dangross, were scarce.
Even most Elemental Sprites hadnât achieved awakening intelligence. How could a "seed" that wasnât even an Elemental Sprite have extraordinary wisdom, engage in conversation, employ tactical pincer attacks in combat, and even "cross-species date"?
It sounded absurd.
Angel really couldnât believe it.
But since Speedy mentioned it, it wasnât impossible. Perhaps Angel just lacked experience or was fussing over nothing?
If experience was the measure, the Black Earl surely had the most authority to speak on it among them.
With this in mind, Angel shifted his gaze to the Black Earl, wanting to know his opinion on the matter.
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