Free Web NovelChapter 38: Chapter 38: Two Big Eaters
"Whew... phew... I knew I shouldn’t have tried to be cool. I’m freezing to death!"
Andre, wrapped in a greatcoat, walked into the academy.
At first, he thought flying through the sky would be an awesome thing to do. But after actually taking the plunge from the mountaintop, Andre discovered that while it was awesome, it was also seriously cold.
Because of his incredible speed, coupled with the fact that he’d jumped from the shaded side of the mountain, white frost had already appeared on his hair and eyebrows by the time he was halfway down.
When he landed, Andre felt like he had turned into a giant block of ice, a chill radiating from his entire body.
’Next time I fly, I have to get a Flying Cloak to block the cold. Achoo!’
Just like that, Andre walked all the way back to the Witchcraft Inheritance Hall.
Upon returning to his room, the chill on Andre’s body, influenced by the Witch Array, rapidly dissipated.
In just a minute, Andre warmed up.
"Phew!" Andre shook his head to clear it and began to organize the things he had brought back from the Secret Realm.
The first, and most precious, was the Servant Bag, which held two living beings.
The Earth Elemental Bear and that unknown Snake Egg.
The second was the Dragon Transformation Fruit Tree. The third was a huge piece of Crystal he had found in the area Quint was responsible for.
This Crystal wasn’t a mere stone; it was a Magic Energy Crystal. A tiny bit of its powder could be exchanged for dozens of Magic Stones, and a fist-sized piece could allow a Water Mage to cast several Witchcraft spells.
But now, the Crystal before him was as large as a human head. Its value was immeasurable, but Andre had no intention of selling it.
This was because, besides being a Magic Energy Crystal, this Crystal was also one of the best materials for creating Water Witchcraft Scrolls.
Andre had only been able to dig up this Crystal by a lucky coincidence.
At the time, he had just entered Quint’s area. To protect himself from harm, Andre had activated his Eye of Truth.
The moment he activated it, a massive ball of blue light appeared in Andre’s vision.
At first, Andre thought this huge blue light was left by a Magical Beast, but when he observed it carefully, he found the blue light wasn’t moving.
After that, Andre conducted several more tests. Only after confirming the blue light remained motionless did he finally start digging.
He dug for what felt like an eternity, using up five Witchcraft Scrolls just to get the Crystal out of the ground.
"You’re back?" Just as Andre placed the Crystal on the table, Radak’s figure appeared in the doorway.
"Teacher!" Andre stood up.
"Not a bad haul!"
Radak’s eyes gleamed as he looked at the things Andre had found this time.
Both the Dragon Transformation Fruit Tree that Andre had taken out and the Crystal were extremely valuable.
Fortunately, it wasn’t long before Radak reined in his greed.
As a teacher, stealing from his own disciple... he wasn’t a Black Wizard, nor did he have the inclinations of one.
"Did you find a cub of the Earth Elemental Bear?"
Radak’s gaze shifted from the Dragon Transformation Fruit Tree and the Crystal as he looked at Andre and asked.
"I found one, but it’s a little different from what you requested."
Andre opened the Servant Bag and released the Earth Elemental Bear.
With a flash of light, a chubby little fellow appeared before Radak.
"This is?" Radak frowned as he looked at the Earth Bear cub Andre had found.
"Teacher, I was looking through some books before. They said that the most primitive Bloodline of the Earth Elemental Bear isn’t that of a Magical Beast, but of the Elemental Creatures among magical beings."
As Andre said these words, Radak finally understood the source of his inner unease.
"You mean you found an Elemental Creature?"
Radak said, pointing at the Earth Elemental Bear that was hugging Andre’s thigh and begging for food.
Andre nodded sheepishly.
"Should I say you’re lucky, or unlucky?"
Radak looked at Andre, momentarily at a loss for words. freewebnσvel.cѳm
’The good news: Andre had brought back an Earth Elemental Bear cub from the Secret Realm, just as he’d been told. The bad news: it was an Elemental Creature. It was completely incompatible with the Witchcraft I had prepared for Andre and couldn’t help him construct his Magic Heart. Worse, it would have to be carefully fed until it was fully grown.’
"Oh, right, Teacher. I also found a Snake Egg in the Secret Realm."
Andre opened the Servant Bag and took out the child the Forest Water Python had given him.
"A Snake Egg? What kind of Snake Egg?"
Hearing Andre’s words, Radak couldn’t help but be curious. ’What kind of Snake Egg would be worth Andre bringing out of the Secret Realm?’
Andre took a piece of Honeycomb from his Storage Ring, stuffed it into the Earth Elemental Bear’s mouth, and let it go play on the side.
He carried the Snake Egg over to Radak.
"This is the one. Teacher, do you know what kind of Snake Egg this is?"
When Andre placed the Snake Egg in front of Radak, Radak couldn’t tell what kind of snake it came from either.
Perhaps not wanting to lose face in front of Andre, Radak left him with a "Wait for me," and vanished.
Andre listened to Radak’s words, placed the Snake Egg on the floor, and scratched his neck.
’Why do I get the feeling my teacher isn’t very confident?’
Meanwhile, in the Wizard Hall’s Inheritance Hall, Radak was frantically searching through books about Snake-type Magical Beasts.
After who knows how long, Radak finally identified the Snake Egg.
"Ice Cold Nether Serpent. Peak specimen, Level 3 Wizard potential, prefers cold, simple to raise."
Radak’s figure flashed back into Andre’s room, and he tossed the book about the Ice Cold Nether Serpent to Andre.
As Andre read the contents of the book, the corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.
"Another huge eater... Teacher, I can’t afford to raise it!"
Andre looked at Radak, blinking his eyes as he explained his poor financial situation.
Hearing this, Radak suddenly felt a discomfort in his chest.
"Either of the two things you brought back from the Secret Realm could be sold for enough Magic Stones to feed this Ice Cold Nether Serpent until it bursts."
So infuriated by Andre, Radak took out his Magic Staff and rapped him firmly on the head, then rapped the Crystal and the Dragon Transformation Fruit Tree that Andre had placed on the table.
Radak spoke through gritted teeth. ’How, in the entire month since I met him, did I not realize how unbelievably thick-skinned this disciple of mine is?’
"Teacher, have you forgotten about him?"
Andre picked up the Earth Elemental Bear that was hugging his leg and looked at Radak.
Radak looked at the Earth Elemental Bear before him and was instantly speechless.
Andre was right; he had forgotten about this even bigger eater.
If the Ice Cold Nether Serpent could be raised on large quantities of flesh and blood, for an Earth Elemental Bear—an Elemental Creature-type one at that—flesh and blood were completely useless.
The only thing that worked were crystals of the Power of Elements, just like the Crystal Andre had dug up.
Among them, Earth Element Crystals were the best. But the price of Elemental Crystals has always been ridiculously expensive. Generally speaking, holders of Elemental Crystals would only trade them for other Elemental Crystals.
They usually wouldn’t accept Magic Stones in trades involving Elemental Crystals.
And to raise an Elemental Creature, one basically had to feed it an equal volume of Elemental Crystals.
The Honeycomb Andre fed the Earth Elemental Bear would, at best, keep it from starving. It offered little benefit to the bear’s growth!
