Chapter 285: The Crystal Stage (2)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
‘I wonder what happened to Stigma. Is his progress faster than mine with the help of Arisma?’ Angele suddenly questioned. He was not worried about himself at all. According to the simulation, the chances of him successfully advancing to the Crystal stage was over 90%.
‘I don’t think so. That kid fits Arisma’s system perfectly. If everything goes through as they planned, he’ll start preparing to advance to the Crystal stage soon,’ Henn responded.
‘Well, I think I should focus on my own progression more.’ Angele took a deep breath and walked to the cylinder. He put both hands on top of the cylinder and started meditating.
‘First, you need to remove the impurities from your mentality and use the jade cylinder to increase your mentality to a certain level. Second, you should consume all the needed materials you collected and compress your mentality. You’re on your own now,’ Henn advised in a light tone.
‘I understand,’ Angele responded.
The glowing crystals on the walls faded as soon as they finished their conversation. The whole room sank into darkness.
*CHI*
The cylinder produced slight noises.
Rays of green light were released from the top of the jade cylinder.
The green light leaked out of the gaps between Angele’s finger and illuminated on the ceiling.
The whole living room looked horrifying.
*CHI*
Most of the green light disappeared except for the one on Angele’s forehead.
The green light created a tunnel that connected Angele to the jade cylinder.
Small white light particles were floating in the light tunnel, they were coming out of Angele’s forehead, and the particles were quickly absorbed by the jade cylinder.
Angele remained in that position as he slowly fell into slumber.
*****************************
One month later…
Inside the living room, thick white dust covered the jade cylinder, the floor, and Angele’s body.
The number of white light particles coming out of his forehead was reducing.
After about two hours later.
There were no longer any white light particles in the green light.
Angele suddenly opened his eyes and stumbled two steps back.
His body had become weak, and his cheeks had become thin. There was almost no soul in his eyes. Angele trembled for several seconds and almost fell to the ground.
‘Wait…What happened to me?’ Angele became flabbergasted when he felt he was too weak now.
‘There are too many impurities in your mentality. Removing impurities is the same as consuming your mentality. You haven’t eaten anything for a month. Go to the second floor and start the next step now,’ Henn responded in a strange tone.
‘One month? What? Why didn’t you wake me up?’ Angele was speechless. Zero was not able to wake him from such a state.
‘Well, I wanted to know what you look like when you’re weak, ha. It’s quite…interesting.’ Henn chuckled.
‘Happy now?’ Angele turned around. With the help of the railings, he slowly walked upstairs. ‘Our souls are connected, so you will die if anything happens to me. Make your decisions wisely.’
‘Nothing will happen. You’re weak now but you still have me.’ Henn was not concerned.
Angele rubbed his temples and entered the potions room on the second floor.
Three special materials were lined on a large table, which had been prepared before the advancement had started.
‘Different wizards need different materials for the ritual. They’re selected because they fit the properties of your mentality. I can’t help you in this step. You need to figure out how to make the most out of these materials,’ Henn advised.
Angele nodded and looked at the table.
Each of the materials was covered by a red cage.
The cages were formed by red electric pulses.
The electric bars were flashing and sparking.
The noises made by the electricity were quite annoying.
Angele raised his hand and reached for the first cage.
*CHI*
Suddenly, the red electric pulses turned into a red rune and disappeared into the air, revealing the item stored in the cage.
It was a white egg with an appearance identical to a chicken egg.
Angele grabbed the egg, knocking it on the table several times.
He removed the eggshell slowly and looked at it.
Inside the egg was some light-yellow substance that had the texture of a banana. There was no egg yolk or egg white.
Furthermore, the yellow substance smelled exactly like a banana. The intense fragrance rushed into Angele’s nose.
He remained calm and removed all the shells. What was left was a piece of yellow flesh.
Angele tapped on the flesh with the index finger of his right hand.
The yellow flesh was ignited right away, and the yellow flames crackled in the area around him.
Angele narrowed his eyes.
He grabbed the flesh and threw it into his mouth. He chewed the flesh several times and swallowed it.
Intense pain began to ravage from within his mouth. Angele struggled several seconds, and it felt like swallowing a piping hot iron. The burning flesh’s temperature was high, and it was sizzling in his stomach.
Angele opened his mouth.
*CHI*
White smoke began to seep out of his throat.
His mouth was completely black, and it smelled like burnt barbeque meat.
Angele quickly grabbed the second item.
It was an old book with a star sign as the only thing on its cover and it was quite heavy.
Angele opened the book slowly, but he only found a single page.
In the center of the page, there was a dried-up fairy, flat like a piece of paper, surrounded by distorted energy waves.
The fairy was thin, and its eyes gray. It had no mouth or nose; its ears were long and sharp. The fairy’s dried-up body was trapped in a web of tree roots and the roots covered the whole page.
The dried fairy’s arms were stretched outward making it look like a ‘Y’ character.
"The book of savior, please tell me your wish." Angele’s voice had become hoarse and deep due to the burnt, but he was speaking in the ancient language.
White glows surrounded the fairy’s eyes after Angele finished the incantation.
Strings of white light rushed out of its eyes and flew into Angele’s burnt mouth.
The dried-up fairy on the paper started struggling once Angele began to absorb the white light. The fairy slowly stood up and the roots were being destroyed one by one. It looked like the web was the only thing restricting the fairy’s power.
‘Hurry! Close the book!’ Henn’s voice interrupted, sounding nervous.
Angele was surprised. He tried to grab the book immediately.
*CHI*
The seemingly infinite white electric pulses were jumping out of the book and they were trying to block Angele’s hands.
The force was pushing Angele’s hands back slowly.
"Ha…"
The fairy raised his head and stared at Angele. The web that was stopping it from moving was almost destroyed.
The white electric pulses almost blinded his eyes.
Angele’s face was twitching, he used all the strength he had but his body was just too weak.
‘Damn! What should I do now?! Don’t tell me…’
‘You have to do it! That’s the only choice you have left. Hurry! I’ll buy you some time!’ Henn was almost shouting.
‘I…!’ Angele watched the fairy standing up. He narrowed his eyes.
‘Do it! Right now! You chose to use the level-3 cursed book. You should know the consequences! No one knows what’s going to happen if the fairy gets freed!’
Angele blinked his eyes and made the decision.
‘Alright!’
He took a deep breath and inhaled all the light into his mouth. His mouth had already recovered from the injury and returned to its original color.
‘Ready…go!’ Henn yelled.
*PA*
Angele reached toward the book and grabbed the fairy. His fingers started melting and a sour smell permeated the air.
He had no time to think so he threw the fairy into his mouth before it could realize what had just happened.
However, the fairy started moving in his mouth right away. Angele chewed it into pieces and swallowed everything. It tasted like a rotten orange.
*BOOM*
The book on the table suddenly set ablaze.
The book disintegrated in the red flames and turned into a small pile of white ash.
‘Well, I guess everything is edible on this land.’ Angele looked at the table and pursed his lips.
‘It’s just you. Your bloodline is complicated. I can see the harpy blood but it’s different. It’s something I don’t really understand. Your stomach is stronger than most mutated beasts in this world. There’s also a strong energy wave helping your digestive system…’ Henn explained. ‘You can use the last material to…repair your body, I think.’
‘I thought you were joking when you asked me to swallow it if things went south…’ Angele recalled the moment that the fairy was still moving in his mouth. It truly was an unpleasant experience for him.
‘You succeeded in the end. That’s all that matters,’ Henn stopped for a second and continued, ‘So…how does it feel? You’re a Crystal stage wizard now.’
Angele spat out a brown root from the web and there was a blank expression on his face.
‘I want to vomit.’