Chapter 2256 A Different Path <TOC> Chapter 2258 Rain Tanuki
Translator: SumTLMan
However, Angel’s true intentions were unknown to others. They simply thought that perhaps due to his inherently kind nature, he could not stand Dulmatin’s radical methods.
This was exactly what Dulmatin thought himself.
The first time he met Angel, Angel was still an apprentice, accompanying Iron Armor Granny to his residence to request Baruba. At that time, Angel showed a clear distaste upon seeing the living puppets about to be injected with the Umbrella Fungus Bloodline.
At that moment, Dulmatin had already pegged Angel as a white wizard.
Moreover, a white wizard of the kind and lawful alignment.
Dulmatin always had a disdainful view of such white wizards, considering them hypocritical and unworthy of respect.
But he also understood the necessity of white wizards’ existence. Especially within the strictly hierarchical wizard organizations, some positions are best filled by white wizards to serve as the bearings for operation.
As a member of the Research Institute who even developed the Wilderness of Dreams, a strategic existence, it would have been truly disastrous if he were an unprincipled black wizard. On the contrary, it is the white wizard that unconsciously commands the respect of others.
Even if Dulmatin harbored prejudices against white wizards, he still sincerely hoped that Angel would always maintain his status as a white wizard.
Facing the request made by Angel, Dulmatin pondered for a moment before finally nodding in agreement.
Studying elemental creatures doesn’t necessarily require cruel or extreme methods, at least not to the extent of being perceived as brutal by the general populace, like trepanation.
For Dulmatin, the only displeasing aspect of Angel’s request was the need to first seek the consent of the elemental creatures… However, since Angel didn’t specify how to obtain consent, he figured he might as well use some unconventional methods.
“Since it’s a request from you, I will naturally respect it. Moreover, they can perform elemental self-destruction, and I want to study their bodies. If I don’t get their consent first, I can’t proceed with my research,” Dulmatin said.
Dulmatin’s words were sincere, and Angel looked at him deeply, saying no more.
The others had no objections to this, as Dulmatin’s research capabilities were beyond doubt.
Angel shifted his gaze to the small fire frog in his hand, which, due to being sealed, struggled in vain and eventually gave up with a look of sadness and resignation.
“Do you remember what happened?” Angel asked the small fire frog slowly.
Perhaps because of what had happened before, the small fire frog was noticeably wary of humans and completely ignored Angel’s question, continuing to sulk in self-pity.
“I know you’re a traveling frog, previously engaged in a tough battle with that water elemental raccoon.”
Angel continued, perhaps the consecutive revelation of two key pieces of information had visibly stiffened the little fire frog, yet it still didn’t turn to look at Angel.
“Are you not curious why you find yourself here? Why you’ve transformed into a sprite-like form? And aren’t you concerned about your adversary, that raccoon’s situation?”
These three consecutive questions precisely mirrored the little fire frog’s own doubts.
As a frog that had never before encountered humans and had no concept of human malevolence, its curiosity finally overcame its wariness at this moment, prompting it to turn and look at Angel. Under Angel’s gaze, it finally opened its tightly closed mouth.
“Croak——”
Angel: “…Can’t you speak anymore?”
The traveling frog was also puzzled, as the sound it made was still a “croak.” Filled with confusion, it continued to make sounds, but all that came out was the croaking noise.
By this time, Angel had ascertained that the traveling frog had not only physically reverted to its sprite phase but some of its physical characteristics had also followed the rules of the sprite phase.
“Then you should be able to understand what I’m saying, right? If you understand, nod your head,” Angel said.
This time, the traveling frog nodded.
Though it was unable to speak, making interaction somewhat difficult, at least it could understand human speech. This fact alone would make subsequent communication less hindered.
Angel inquired once more about its physical condition, and through the nods and shakes of the traveling frog, they essentially confirmed several facts.
Its condition seemed to be due to insufficient energy during its body formation, thus it regressed into the form of an elemental sprite. However, its cognitive thinking did not regress into a state of confusion, and its memories were retained.
Overall, it was still the body in the sprite phase.
If it could revert back to its mature form, it should be able to communicate normally.
Thinking of this, Angel remembered another being, a water elemental raccoon whose composition involved the participation of law lines, and its body’s maturity had evolved somewhat more than that of the sprite phase; it might be able to speak.
With this thought, Angel turned back towards the place where the heavy rain was pouring.
Then, he locked eyes with a pair of deep blue eyes.
Unbeknownst to him, the water elemental raccoon had already absorbed the remnants of the law lines and awakened from its coma. It lay in the grass, quietly observing the situation here.
The eye contact with Angel caused a flash of panic in its eyes, but it quickly calmed down.
It radiated a blue glow all over, and its body began to slowly become transparent, with invisible water vapor evaporating from its body, faintly drifting towards the clouds in the sky.
Clearly, it intended to escape by transforming into water vapor and merging with the heavy rain.
Just when it least expected it, as its form had just merged and vanished into the rain, the densely packed dark clouds in the sky disappeared without any warning, dissipating directly, abruptly, and unreasonably.
With the oppressive rain clouds gone, the downpour ceased, and the water elemental raccoon, now without the cover of rain, was directly revealed and fell from the sky, plummeting dozens of meters.
Fortunately, being made of water, it suffered no harm from the fall. After landing, it flipped over, ready to flee.
However, Angel was already prepared; with a wave of his hand, a gust of wind carrying sand swept up, enveloping the raccoon within. The wind acted as kinetic energy, and the sand as a cage, solidly concealing the raccoon.
With a push of the wave, the raccoon trapped in the wind and sand was blown in front of everyone.
This series of actions surprised no one else; they could do better than Angel in reality. The only one shocked was the traveling frog in Angel’s hands, astounded both by Angel’s casual mastery over various elements and that its adversary had also appeared here, and was so easily subdued by Angel.
“Thinking of leaving after reaping the benefits?” Angel looked towards the raccoon.
The raccoon’s eyes flickered, but it put on an innocently endearing demeanor: “What benefits are you talking about, I don’t know anything about that?”
The raccoon’s response raised Angel’s eyebrows. Not only could it speak, but its mentality was commendable as well, capable of changing its expression to adapt to different situations, proving to be much more astute than the traveling frog. ——The straightforward and pure honesty of the traveling frog was transparent at a glance.
“Your expression play is excellent, you have the talent to be a circus performer,” Angel complimented, before swiftly changing the subject: “However, the correct response should not have been to focus on the advantages I mentioned, but to question who I am and why I intend to capture you.”
“Or at the very least, you should have said something like ‘I did not run away’ as a way to deflect,” Angel continued. “Your answer essentially confirms indirectly that you’ve gained a significant advantage, doesn’t it?”
The fact that the raccoon could feign weakness as a performance indicated it was not foolish. Once Angel pointed this out, it became clear to the raccoon itself that its response was flawed.
This was not entirely its fault, being a water elemental creature, it was acutely aware of the substantial benefits the residual law lines had brought it. From Angel’s words, it seemed these benefits were provided by him, and the raccoon was unsure how to reciprocate, thus subconsciously focusing on the benefits and overlooking other details.
Moreover, although the raccoon possessed some cunning, as an elemental creature that had never encountered the outside world, its scheming paled in comparison to that of humans.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Even when called out, the raccoon dared not admit it, still displaying an evasive attitude.
“Alright, let’s put this aside for now and talk about something else.” Angel didn’t pursue the matter further, instead shifting the conversation: “Do you come from the Marlaya Mountain?”
The raccoon did not utter a sound, but Angel could see from its eyes that it was not a water elemental creature from the Marlaya Mountain.
Angel did not continue to inquire about the raccoon’s origins; his reason for mentioning the “Marlaya Mountain” was simply to let the raccoon know that he was aware of its existence.
Because his next statement was like a thunderclap out of the blue.
“You are not in your original world now.”
Both the raccoon and the traveling frog turned to look at Angel, their eyes filled with disbelief and astonishment.
Angel gently stroked the traveling frog’s head, then turned to the raccoon: “You must recognize this traveling frog, right?”
Before this, when the raccoon had finished absorbing the remnants of the law lines and stealthily observed Angel, it had actually noticed the traveling frog. After careful observation, especially of the distinctive fiery red maple pouch on the frog’s back, it could almost confirm that this traveling frog was that detestable creature.
What concerned the raccoon, however, was that the traveling frog it encountered was a mature entity, so why was this one an elemental sprite? Moreover, its own body seemed to have shrunk quite a bit.
“I recognize it,” the raccoon said resentfully. “This guy came to my doorstep to steal gems, and when I caught him, he tried to run!”
“Croak croak——” The traveling frog anxiously tried to argue something, but all that came out were croaks.
Seeing this, the raccoon said, “I know what you’re going to say, that the gem was just lying on the shore and you picked it up. Think about it, have the gems you picked up outside been polished? I polished all those gems, smoothing their edges. It’s clear they’re not just something you can pick up anywhere.”
Listening to the raccoon scolding and the traveling frog’s croaks, Angel understood why these two ended up fighting in the valley. The traveling frog loved collecting gems from various places and ended up taking a gem that the raccoon had placed outside. Upon discovering this, the raccoon initiated what turned into a tremendous battle.
From the traveling frog’s aggrieved expression, Angel could roughly tell that it probably did so unintentionally.
The raccoon was able to accurately guess the traveling frog’s thoughts, probably guessing this answer as well. The reason they still ended up fighting fiercely, Angel speculated, might also involve some deep-seated animosity between them.
However, these matters are of little significance to the current situation.
Angel forcefully intervened in their argument: “Who is right and who is wrong, you can debate that amongst yourselves later. What I want to tell you now is, as you have also noticed, your bodies now are different from your previous ones.”
The raccoon and the traveling frog both stopped talking and looked at their current bodies, their eyes filled with complex emotions.
“Why are our bodies different from before? The answer, as I have already mentioned, is that this is another world, which you can understand as the world of dreams. In the realm of dreams, your bodies have been reshaped.”
At this moment, the raccoon still didn’t believe in the so-called world of dreams, but it didn’t dwell on this issue and instead asked about the reality: “If this is the world of dreams, then what happened to our bodies in reality?”
Angel replied: “If you still have your memories, you should know… what happened to your real bodies.”
The raccoon and the traveling frog fell silent; they indeed remembered some things, but they were reluctant to think about them. Because, if their memories were correct, they might have… died.
“Looking at your expressions, you should still remember.” Angel continued: “Your memories are real, and your bodies in reality have indeed suffered nearly irreparable damage——”
“Your elemental cores have developed cracks.”
This answer had already surfaced in the minds of the raccoon and the traveling frog earlier; they had only ignored it because they didn’t want to recall it.
Seeing the sorrowful expressions on the raccoon and the traveling frog, Angel continued: “However, it’s only nearly irreparable. I have used some methods to prevent your elemental cores from shattering immediately, allowing them to maintain some vitality for a while.”
“Moreover, in reality, I am currently with your bodies, trying to find a way to heal them. And how to heal, you should be clear on your own.”
Because Angel mentioned the condition of their bodies, the raccoon started to believe his words at this moment. It also did not wish to die just like that, so it immediately said, “I come from the Forest of Rain, our…”
Before the raccoon could finish, Angel said, “I know Mr. Magu and Mr. Eskimo, so even if we don’t go to the Forest of Rain, I can still heal your injuries.”
The raccoon and the traveling frog had naturally heard of the names Magu and Eskimo, who were the sages of the Land of Fire and Marlaya Mountain, respectively. If Angel knew these two, he indeed could easily heal their injuries.
Angel: “First, I must tell you that I am a human, and in the world of humans, we follow the principle of equivalent exchange. Naturally, I cannot heal you for nothing. Moreover, I have given you two bodies in the dream.”
The raccoon pondered and said, “What do you want?”
Angel curled his lips into a smile: “The dream world you are currently in only has you two as elemental creatures from the real world. To delve deeper into the performance of elemental creatures here, I need to obtain your detailed data.”
“Our data? What do you mean by that?” The raccoon did not understand.
Angel said with a smiling eye, “You will know soon enough, don’t worry, it won’t harm you.”
Meanwhile, Angel silently added in his heart: Even if it really plays bad, it won’t affect your real bodies…
Chapter 2256 A Different Path <TOC> Chapter 2258 Rain Tanuki