by Zhuang Bifan
Damn it! Why do you insist on absorbing my mana when there's a whole world full of magical elements out there? thought Lin Li angrily. Maybe his mana was particularly delicious? The baby Elemental Wyrm seemed to want to absorb all of Lin Li's mana before releasing its grip.
Chapter 599 - Tamed
As a Legendary-mage with an enormous amount of mental strength, Lin Li had a body almost filled with endless mana. Since coming to Anril, Lin Li had never been troubled by the lack of mana in every battle he had. However, he had overestimated his abilities this time. The baby Elemental Wyrm was like an endless hole, and had absorbed almost all of his mana already.
Lin Li g.r.o.a.n.e.d internally. While the mana used up was refillable, exhausting all mana was detrimental to a mage. However, Lin Li didn't have control over the current situation. His inner mana was totally out of control, and he could only pray that the baby Elemental Wyrm could be merciful.
However, the baby Elemental Wyrm evidently hadn't heard Lin Li's prayer. It shifted its focus to Lin Li and absorbed his mana with higher intensity.
Lin Li didn't even have time to think of strategies before his mana totally ran out. He directly blacked out and fainted with rage and sorrow.
Not knowing how long had passed, Lin Li gradually regained his consciousness. He felt something wet tickling his face as if a cool and slippery little thing was sliding on his cheek. Images flashed across Lin Li's mind. Thinking of where he was now, Lin Li suddenly sat up in shock.
This was the Haiga Mountain Range—the valley of the baby Elemental Wyrm! How could he faint here? Not to mention any magical beast, even a random wild beast could eat him up!
Lin Li still remembered how he had fainted. He couldn't care about anything else, and checked his body's condition first. He wanted to know if he had already fallen out of the Legendary-realm since all his mana had been absorbed by the baby Elemental Wyrm.
Lin Li was overjoyed to realize that not only was he still a level-21 Legendary-mage, all of his mana that had been absorbed by the baby Elemental Wyrm had recovered.
While Lin Li was thinking about this, he suddenly felt an itchy sensation on his arm. He turned around, and realized that a petite little thing was staring at him with a pair of large innocent eyes.
Lin Li thought, Damn it! Isn't this that baby Elemental Wyrm from the halo? What's the situation now?
He couldn't believe his eyes. This palm-sized little thing was very similar in appearance to the Elemental Wyrm's projected avatar. Obviously, the baby Elemental Wyrm in the halo had been successfully awakened.
However, didn't it have the projected avatar's memories already? Why would it wiggle its tail and lick Lin Li's arm like a pet now? Lin Li couldn't figure out what had happened to this baby Elemental Wyrm during the period that he had fainted. However, judging from the situation now, this baby Elemental Wyrm was evidently very reliant on Lin Li, just like how kittens and puppies relied on their masters.
Lin Li felt as if he had seen light at the end of the tunnel. Today should be his lucky day instead. All his efforts weren't in vain, and he hadn't endured the pain from the Heart-piercing Potion for nothing.
That baby Elemental Wyrm seemed to be frightened by Lin Li's abrupt movement, and moved back a little. It seemed reluctant to part with Lin Li, but was too afraid to get close to him. It could only look at Lin Li with pitiful eyes, not behaving like a legendary Elemental Wyrm at all. Compared to that fierce and flaming projected avatar, this baby Elemental Wyrm was totally different.
Lin Li hooked his fingers, signaling the baby Elemental Wyrm to come towards him. Given the baby Elemental Wyrm's intelligence that was much higher than that of kittens and puppies, it immediately understood what Lin Li meant and yelped happily. Flapping its colorful wings joyfully, it landed on Lin Li's shoulder.
Lin Li was very happy now as well. Though it just hatched, this baby Elemental Wyrm could grow up to become an Elemental Wyrm as powerful as the Dragon of Dream! After all, the Dragon of Dream possessed the four elements' Laws and endless mana. It was no doubt the king of all prehistoric Wyrms.
Although it would take an extremely long time for this baby Elemental Wyrm to grow into something like the Dragon of Dream, Lin Li believed that it would bring more benefits to him than just being a fighter.
Elemental Wyrms possessed the four elements' Laws innately. The Dragon of Dream had taken possession of the four elements' Laws and didn't allow any other powerhouses to touch them. This baby Elemental Wyrm might not be very strong now, but its understanding of the four elements' Laws wouldn't decrease with the increase in levels given its innate talent to grasp the elemental Laws.
As a Legendary-mage, Lin Li aspired to understand the nomological power of this world. Although this baby Elemental Wyrm couldn't be his helper in battles, it was extremely likely to provide important hints to help him understand the four elements' Laws.
"Little thing, I've suffered so much because of you," said Lin Li as he carried the baby Elemental Wyrm from his shoulder and examined this legendary little creature closely.
The baby Elemental Wyrm let Lin Li carry it by the wings. Dangling its thin limbs, it looked at Lin Li with innocent eyes.
"You'll stay with me from now on whether you like it or not. Speaking of this, let me give you a name first. Should I call you Kitty or D.o.g.g.y… Damn it! Why is your expression like this? I'm calling you that for your own good! The more lowly the name, the easier it is to take care of you…" Lin Li wasn't an expert in naming, and couldn't be bothered to think of any nice names for it. Seeing that there were white spots on the baby Elemental Wyrm's tail, he said, "How about Xiao Hua1?"
The baby Elemental Wyrm wasn't too bothered by how it was called; knowing that Lin Li was calling it with much affection was enough to make it happy.
Lin Li put the baby Elemental Wyrm back on his shoulder, and flicked the dust off his clothes. Although his trip was totally worth it after obtaining this baby Elemental Wyrm, he still didn't know if the battle outside the valley had ended, and so he prepared to leave this valley.
However, seeing that Lin Li was walking towards the exit of the valley, the baby Elemental Wyrm got anxious, and suddenly flew away from Lin Li's shoulder towards its birthplace while yelping continuously.
Lin Li was confused at first, but he saw the baby Elemental Wyrm circling around its birthplace as if yearning for something. He then realized that this was the place that bred this baby Elemental Wyrm. Although he didn't know the relationship between Xiao Hua and the Dragon of Dream, it was definitely not an ordinary pet given its status as an Elemental Wyrm. There might be something peculiar at the birthplace of this baby Elemental Wyrm.
Nobody would think that they had gained too much. Although Lin Li already had this baby Elemental Wyrm, he was still very excited by Xiao Hua's reaction. What treasure was hidden in its birthplace?
The baby Elemental Wyrm flew around its birthplace aimlessly like a headless fly, not knowing what it was looking for. Soon, it lost its patience, and started to bombard the area with magic directly.
Lin Li was stunned by what he saw. The Elemental Wyrms lived up to its title of being the king of prehistoric Wyrms. Xiao Hua was just a newborn, yet it could release magic below level-10 instantaneously. How powerful would it be when it grew up?
After a period of bombardment, the last piece of green finally disappeared from the valley. The whole valley turned into a mess because of the magic. Xiao Hua flew towards one of the valley walls and yelped happily at Lin Li.
Lin Li realized that there was a dark crack in that smooth valley wall only after walking close to it. The crack was very narrow, and only allowed one person to go in. Who knew where it led to.
Upon seeing Lin Li come closer, Xiao Hua flew into the crack, popped its head out, and yelped at Lin Li.
Lin Li knew that Xiao Hua was signaling for him to follow. Thinking that this little creature wouldn't harm him, Lin Li followed Xiao Hua to see what was hidden in the crack for i
t to have such a big reaction.
Luckily, Xiao Hua was only palm-sized. If it had been any other prehistoric Wyrm, it would have bombed the entire valley's wall. Lin Li followed Xiao Hua into the crack. It was pitch-dark inside, but Xiao Hua's body radiated a soft magic flow like a floating torch.
If this baby Elemental Wyrm wanted to harm Lin Li, it could have killed him with a single blow back when he was unconscious. Although the baby Elemental Wyrm was a newborn, its level-10 magic could easily kill off a defenseless mage. Lin Li wasn't worried that Xiao Hua would harm him, but a place that could attract a baby Elemental Wyrm wouldn't necessarily be totally danger-free.
It was always better to be cautious. Lin Li didn't ignite the place directly with magic, but examined the walls of the crack carefully with the light from the baby Elemental Wyrm's body. Seeing that there were no signs of human excavation, Lin Li was more cautious of what lay in the crack.
It was impossible that human treasures could attract a baby Elemental Wyrm. Although legends said that Wyrms liked shiny objects, how could something like an Elemental Wyrm have such lowly preferences? Thus, it was very likely that some precious herb or something grew in this crack. This brought another problem: there were always powerful guardians beside natural treasures.
The more valuable the treasure was, the more powerful its guardian would be. How could some ordinary treasure attract an Elemental Wyrm? Of course, Lin Li wouldn't give up this opportunity no matter how much danger he would face. He was just much more cautious than before. Little flower.
Chapter 600 - Baby Elemental Wyrm's Food
Lin Li stopped and turned towards the baby Elemental Wyrm with confusion after walking a few steps into the crack. Since this little creature had led him here, why wasn't it moving now? Could it be that it was scared of something here? Looking at its pitiful expression, it was evidently not afraid.
"Let's go, little thing! Aren't you leading me somewhere?" Lin Li waved at the baby Elemental Wyrm, and then pointed inside the crack.
Lin Li's hand gestures were easily understood by the baby Elemental Wyrm given its exceptional intelligence. However, this little creature chirped and circled around in the same spot. It rubbed its tummy with its front claws and looked at Lin Li with watery eyes.
Damn it! Does this little thing want to drink milk? Where do I find a female Wyrm for it? thought Lin Li as he turned stared at the baby Elemental Wyrm which appeared to be starving helplessly. However, its reaction was understandable since it was a newborn. Lin Li took out some food from his ring to feed the baby Wyrm, like roasted beef and some snacks.
The baby Elemental Wyrm chirped with joy and zoomed towards Lin Li upon seeing him take out something. However, it stopped suddenly and fell onto the ground after seeing that Lin Li had taken out food, rolling on the ground while rubbing its stomach.
"Hey, are you hungry or not? These dishes were cooked by the most famous chefs in the Breezy Plains. Even though I think they are good, how can you be so picky?" Lin Li waved the dishes in front of the Wyrm, trying to entice it with their aroma.
However, the baby Elemental Wyrm wasn't interested in the food Lin Li was holding at all. It continued to roll about on the ground and yelped with sorrow as if it was tortured. It rolled next to Lin Li's feet and gripped onto Lin Li's pants, looking at Lin Li with sadness.
"What do you want to eat? Tell me so that I can find it for you," said Lin Li, not knowing whether to laugh or to cry, and put the food back into his ring.
The baby Elemental Wyrm's eyes sparkled, and it shook off the dirt on its body. It then spread its wings and pounced onto Lin Li's hand, wanting to give Lin Li's finger a bite.
"Damn it! Are you trying to kill me?!" Lin Li was shocked by the Wyrm's action. After some tugging and dragging, Lin Li finally saved his fingers from the Wyrm's mouth.
Lin Li couldn't be bothered with the little Wyrm anymore. He raised his hand to check his fingers. Evidently, the baby Elemental Wyrm didn't want to eat his flesh, but rather targeted the Evil Eye Tyrant's ring on his finger.
"Hmph, you think that the baby Elemental Wyrm is just some ordinary magical beast?" Connoris' voice sounded in Lin Li's mind again.
"Why didn't you say it earlier if you know? If I had not been fast enough, this ring would've been ruined! Where can I find another one of these!" Obviously Lin Li would be unhappy with Connoris. Even if he hadn't said anything, Lin Li would have known by now that the little Wyrm wanted to eat magical crystals. However, the problem was that this Evil Eye Tyrant's magical crystal had irreplaceable effects even though its level wasn't very high. Otherwise, Geresco wouldn't specially put it with a treasure like the Book of Eternity.
Since Lin Li had started wearing the ring made from the Evil Eye Tyrant's magical crystal, he had gotten many benefits from it. His mental strength had been increasing at every moment. To a mage, this meant that his magic potential was increasing. It should be known that one's magic potential was inborn, couldn't be increased, and directly determined his future achievements in magic.
If Lin Li hadn't increased his mental strength by using this Evil Eye Tyrant's magical crystal, how could he fight with that elven Legendary-mage? He would have been harmed himself first when he let out the Lord of Nightmares. If not for his immense mental strength, Lin Li wouldn't have dared to fight with the Elemental Wyrm's projected avatar and drink the Heart-piercing Potion.
"The Elemental Wyrm is like an incarnation of the four magical elements. Although it can use the four magical elements without worrying about exhaustion, it still needs to transform the magic it absorbs into its own in order for it to grow. Like other prehistoric Wyrms, the Elemental Wyrm's developmental process is very long compared to your pathetic human mortality." Connoris was green with envy regarding Lin Li's luck, and sounded rather sour upon thinking about his own unfortunate current state.
Hearing Connoris' explanation, Lin Li fell into deep thought. No wonder Xiao Hua absorbed his mana frantically when it was born. It was because his mana was more delicious than the magical elements…
The baby Elemental Wyrm couldn't hear Lin Li and Connoris' conversation, and slowly stood up from the ground. Its eyes were filled with tears, and it sobbed.
Connoris continued, "Don't feel reluctant, since you won't be giving the Wyrm magical crystals for nothing. A baby Wyrm needs at least thousands of years to reach a.d.u.l.thood, but it's not impossible for it to mature in a few hundred years if you give it enough magical crystals. If you are willing to give it Legendary-level magical crystals, it may reach a.d.u.l.thood in 100-200 years." While he was jealous, he also knew that it was a good thing for him that Lin Li was getting stronger. At least he would be able to get out of this wretched old hammer earlier.
"Oh? There's such a good thing?" Lin Li was motivated by Connoris' words. It was easy to see how powerful an Elemental Wyrm would be given the abilities of that projected avatar. Although he hadn't planned for Xiao Hua to be his helper in battles, he wouldn't refuse to have a powerful assistant.
However, it was evidently not a matter of one or two magical crystals in order for the baby Elemental Wyrm to reach a.d.u.l.thood. Even if he were to feed it Legendary magical crystals, he needed a large number of those. The only good thing was that according to Connoris, the Elemental Wyrm wasn't picky at all. No matter which level the magical crystal was, the Wyrm would be able to absorb all the mana inside it.
Although this good thing was simply said, only the Elemental Wyrm would really accomplish not wasting any mana in the magical crystals.
From the prehistoric times till now, it wasn't the Elemental Wyrm's specialty to increase power by consuming magical crystals. Many powerful magical beasts would swallow its prey's magical crystal first after making a kill. Then, they would slowly absorb the mana inside the magical crystal. Though this absorption process was very slow, it was a relatively more efficient way to grow in power compared to converting magical elements into mana.
However, this method was extreme
ly wasteful in the eyes of humans. This was because most magical beasts might not even be able to absorb 10% of the magical crystal's mana, and wasted large amounts of mana. Even beasts that could use other's magical crystals to improve their own power were considered rather powerful beasts already.
Compared to the magical beasts that had no other choice, humans and other intelligent beings could use the magical crystals in other ways that would maximize their gains. For example, mageweaths, Alchemy Arrays, and the embedding of magical crystals into magical equipment were all ways to do just that. Equipment with embedded crystals required the user to use double the mana. For example, a level-1 spell released from an embedded equipment required the user to use the mana equivalent to that of a level-2 spell.
On the other hand, no matter how high in level mageweaths and the Alchemy Array used were, they would inevitably damage the core mana of the magical crystal even though they sought to maximize the usage of mana from the magical crystals by using them as the energy core.
Moreover, the higher the level of the mageweaths and Alchemy Array was, the greater the amount of mana wasted would be since more complex magical patterns would result in a longer route that mana needed to flow through before coming into effect. Even though generations of masters had researched ways to reduce this wastage, their efforts were futile.
Other than the wastage of mana, mageweaths and the Alchemy Array were still inanimate objects, and wouldn't control mana as sophisticatedly as true mages, even though they could help a mage release certain pre-programmed magical effects. For the same magic effect, a mage needed to use at least twice the amount of mana on the mageweath or Alchemy Array.
Lin Li had placed a Legendary magical crystal for the Tower of Dusk as the energy core for all kinds of mageweaths and the mageweath All-Kill Array. However, even this Legendary magical crystal couldn't supply mana for using the All-Kill Array more than several times. Once the usage had reached the threshold, this rare and precious Legendary magical crystal would likely be completely destroyed. This wasn't because the Legendary magical crystal was so fragile, but rather the additional wastage of mana was inevitable in the process of using it. Even a Guru of Inscription like Lin Li could do nothing about it.
