Ethan did not linger in the public area, heading straight for the Wizard Tower.
Seeing him approach, the Treant guard in front of the tower doors stood all its leaves on end.
“Halt.”
Ethan stopped. “I am here to see Lord Energy-Eating Insect.”
The Treant guard looked down at him twice, its leaves trembling slightly.
It was likely communicating with the Energy-Eating Insect inside the tower in some manner Ethan could not perceive.
After a few breaths, it stepped aside.
“Go on in. The Lord is waiting for you upstairs.”
Ethan walked through the tower doors and made his way down the familiar corridor.
The Treant guards on both sides of the corridor bristled their leaves as he passed, only to relax them again once they recognized his face.
When he reached the end of the corridor, the Energy-Eating Insect's voice drifted down from above.
“Hehehe, little apprentice, I can smell your scent.”
Before the voice could even fade, a dark purple shadow darted out from the stairwell, its six wings vibrating at high speed as it landed precisely on top of Ethan's head.
Its six slender legs clawed through his hair a few times, settling into a comfortable position.
“Hehehe, did you fail to get it?” The Energy-Eating Insect's sharp voice carried a hint of smugness. “Hehehe, it doesn't matter. You still have plenty of time anyway. The water beneath the World Tree is not that easy to obtain. Just crossing more than half of the world is enough to give you a hard time. Come on, tell me, what kind of trouble did you run into? Were you chased around by patrolling Sentinels, or were you cornered in some mountain gully by a tribe's Priest?”
While the Energy-Eating Insect babbled on, Ethan retrieved the gourd from his storage ring. “Uh, I brought it back.”
“Oh, hahaha, I knew it. You couldn't possibly get... wait!” The Energy-Eating Insect flew down from his head and hovered directly in front of the gourd, its six legs paddling unconsciously in the air. “You... wait! You brought it back?”
Its compound eyes bulged.
Its six legs reached forward simultaneously, hugging the gourd. The silver runes on the surface of its dark purple carapace all lit up, and the stopper of the gourd popped open on its own.
A sweet, fresh aroma drifted from the mouth of the gourd, causing the surrounding air to vibrate gently.
The Energy-Eating Insect pressed its compound eyes close to the mouth of the gourd, staring at the pale green liquid inside for several seconds.
Then, it snapped its head up, its compound eyes locking onto Ethan's face.
In its extreme excitement, a sliver of its aura leaked out uncontrollably.
Ethan's shoulders suddenly sagged under the weight, and his Wood Armor automatically activated.
...
The Combat Instinct passive really isn't that convenient sometimes...
Fortunately, at that moment, the phantom of the Tower Spirit appeared behind the Energy-Eating Insect out of nowhere. With a wave of her hand, she blocked the aura.
A pale green light membrane flashed before Ethan, and the heavy weight pressing down on him vanished instantly.
Then, she backhanded the Energy-Eating Insect on the head.
“Ouch! Sister, what was that for?”
The Energy-Eating Insect was smacked into a half-spin in midair. It flailed its six legs a few times to stabilize itself, looking at the Tower Spirit with aggrieved compound eyes.
“This lady... cough, I should be asking you what you're doing.” The Tower Spirit's voice was cold and clear, light membranes swirling around her fingertips. “Releasing your aura in front of a Third-Tier Apprentice—are you trying to kill him?”
The Energy-Eating Insect stiffened, the vibration frequency of its six wings slowing down.
It looked down at the gourd in its arms, then up at Ethan, the light in its compound eyes flickering.
“Cough, my mistake, my mistake.” It plugged the gourd back up and flew back to the top of Ethan's head, its six legs scratching around in his hair. Its voice returned to its previous sharp tone. “Anyway, kid, your mission is complete. Once the cross-world teleportation array is fully established, I'll take you back to the academy to find that old guy to make your Wizardry Tool. Do you have your primary material?”
“I do,” Ethan said.
“Well, let me warn you beforehand.” The Energy-Eating Insect shifted its position on his head, tapping his forehead with one of its forelegs. “If the quality of the primary material is too poor, this grandaddy won't help you replace it. That old guy has a bizarre temper. If you bring him a lousy twig, he'll throw you and your material right out.”
“Don't worry, the quality is absolutely sufficient.”
“Oh?” The Energy-Eating Insect poked half its body over the edge of his head, hanging upside down to face Ethan. “Hehehe, kid, don't boast. Many things that are treasures to you little apprentices are no more valuable than a roadside weed in our eyes.”
“Don't worry, I understand.”
“Tsk, you don't know jack.”
Before the Energy-Eating Insect could finish its sentence, the Tower Spirit slapped it on the head again.
“Ow, what now!” The Energy-Eating Insect retreated back to the top of his head, its six legs tightly clutching Ethan's hair.
“No swearing,” the Tower Spirit said, retracting her hand as her pale green phantom fluctuated slightly in the air. “A girl should mind her manners.”
“A... a girl?” Ethan's lip twitched.
A Second-Tier lifeform was slapped on the head by the Tower Spirit just because she wasn't allowed to swear and had to mind her manners.
Well, the powerhouses of the Wizard World certainly lived very open-minded lives.
The buzzing of the Energy-Eating Insect's wings abruptly stopped.
“Sister! Save me some face in front of outsiders!” The Energy-Eating Insect flew up from his head, its six legs flailing in the air, its compound eyes bulging.
The Tower Spirit's phantom floated in midair, her voice as cold as ever. “Face? You lost all your face when you stole the master's experimental materials last time and were hung from the top of the tower for three days as a public display.”
“That was three hundred years ago!”
“Oh.” The Tower Spirit's tone did not fluctuate in the slightest. “Was it also three hundred years ago when you stole and drank my nectar yesterday?”
The Energy-Eating Insect froze.
Its six legs hung suspended in midair, completely motionless.
After several seconds, it slowly flew back to the top of Ethan's head, its voice sounding muffled. “Cough, kid, let's get down to business. Where is your primary material? Take it out so I can have a look.”
Seeing the Energy-Eating Insect's awkward attempt to change the subject, what could Ethan do?
He could only choose to let it slide.
Cough, he could only choose to cooperate.
After all, the Energy-Eating Insect had said that as long as he provided the primary material, it would take care of all the auxiliary materials for crafting the Wizardry Tool.
If he didn't take it out now and the auxiliary materials ended up being too low in grade, wouldn't he be the one losing out?
Ethan retrieved the heartwood from his storage ring.
The moment the arm-thick heartwood appeared in his hand, the air in the entire corridor trembled gently.
A pale green glow surged from within the heartwood, tiny points of light slowly flowing along the wood fibers, stirring extremely faint ripples of energy in the air.
At that exact moment, the glowing vines on the walls all lit up.
The leaves of the vines trembled slightly, and a pale green light surged from them, gathering toward the heartwood.
The Treant guards on both sides of the corridor turned their heads simultaneously, their dark green leaves all standing on end.
The Energy-Eating Insect flew down from Ethan's head and hovered directly in front of the heartwood.
Its compound eyes bulged as its six legs reached forward simultaneously to hug the heartwood.
The silver runes on the surface of its dark purple carapace all lit up, and the flow of light points inside the heartwood suddenly accelerated.
It held the heartwood and stared for several seconds before suddenly snapping its head up, its compound eyes locking onto Ethan's face.
“The heartwood of the World Tree?!”
Its voice was ear-piercingly sharp, pitched incredibly high.
Rate on N.U.
