The red sprite danced around for a while, seemingly realizing it couldn't approach the Ancient Tree Heart Crystal, and suddenly appeared angry.
It stared at the hand gripping it—the little face suddenly puffed up, followed by a red snowflake-like crystal shooting out from its mouth, landing on Colin's palm.
Boom!
At the moment of contact, the red crystal exploded immediately, causing even the Steel Temperature Resistance Field to wobble slightly.
Seeing this, Colin felt somewhat surprised. The red, vibrant crystal spit out by the sprite was indeed potent, capable of shaking the Defensive Field deployed by him as a First Rank Wizard.
...It must have already reached the standard of an Advanced Wizard Apprentice.
He leaned in slightly and examined the red sprite in his hand closely.
This sprite, like other sprites, had the appearance of a human female.
Probably looking like a teenage girl, with fair skin and delicate features, undoubtedly beautiful by human standards.
Due to his proximity, the red-haired sprite, frightened, closed her red eyes and shook slightly... evoking a sense of compassion.
Kelin carefully observed two pointed ears poking out from the sprite's red hair.
The pointed ears were slender and elongated, filled with beauty.
However, unlike Lillian's mutant-eared sprite, this red-haired sprite's pointed ears were clearly different from those symbolic of High Level Elves.
'I wonder what kind of sprite this is.'
Colin withdrew his gaze.
There were many red-haired and red-eyed sprites, and he was not an expert in this field; at this moment, it was difficult to determine the type of sprite before him.
However, sprites that live in forests are usually of the woodland sprite category.
But woodland sprites are typically characterized by elegant green hair and eyes, or occasionally noble gold hair and green eyes...
Yet, the sprite before him had red hair and red eyes.
'Could it be... has it mutated due to the red soil here?' Colin speculated silently.
He glanced at the red-haired sprite, pondering how to deal with it.
Elves and wizards have been allies since ancient times.
The relationship between the two has always been friendly and united.
Moreover, sprites by nature are kind-hearted and harmless, beneficial to all creatures.
Especially now that the High Level Elf Clan has disappeared into obscurity, and others like Tree Elves and Water Elves have also vanished.
The only creature still related to the Elf Clan are the originally numerous sprites... but now they are quite rare too.
Regardless of the reason, naturally, he couldn't possibly slaughter it brutally; it was more likely that he could only release it and not take it with him.
After all, sprites are born free; if forcibly taken away, they would soon become melancholic and perish.
It's just a pity... he wasn't like Lillian, who possessed the bloodline of High Level Elves, otherwise he might have captured this sprite using his charm...
Hmm?
At that thought, Colin suddenly had an idea.
Speaking of High Level Elves, he did indeed have something on him related to them.
Summoning his spirit, Magic Power began to flow.
In the next moment, accompanied by a clanging sound, a splendid and antique black-and-gold armor suddenly appeared on Colin.
Undoubtedly, this was the Elf Armor given to him by Master Attebold before departure.
Though it was described as armor, it looked more like an art piece crafted by the High Level Elf Clan.
The curves were graceful, the details exquisite, filled with an impressive sense of beauty.
If it weren't for his lack of pointed ears, combined with his already decent looks, he would seem just like a High Level Elf reborn!
"Yiya!"
The red sprite exclaimed, unbelievingly widening her eyes.
Then she began gesturing, though it was unclear what she was saying.
Colin's gaze sharpened, and he tried to extend his spiritual power to make contact with the red-haired sprite.
In the next moment, a string of vague meanings suddenly came through.
"Noble, great"... followed by a brief, untranslatable syllable—"Tree."
"Noble, great... Tree!"
The red-haired sprite kept murmuring this sentence.
'Tree... Could it be an alias for High Level Elves?'
Colin frowned, muttering doubtfully in his mind.
Using spiritual power to assist in communication was merely a workaround.
If he and the sprite were truly communicating spiritually, it would generally be highly efficient and accurate, with no incomprehensible situations.
But after all, this wasn't a Mind Reading Technique.
Limited by the red-haired sprite's lack of mastery in spiritual communication,
he could only use his spiritual power to capture the spirit emanating from the sprite while speaking, guessing the meaning of the sprite's words, which was not very accurate.
After mulling for a moment, Colin gently opened his right hand, releasing the red sprite.
Once freed from the constraints around her, the sprite instantly turned into a red light and fled into the distance!
Colin unfurled his left hand nonchalantly.
In the palm center, the light pink Ancient Tree Crystal immediately emanated an enticing scent.
The red-haired sprite's flying figure suddenly paused, glanced back repeatedly while flying, and nearly crashed into a tree trunk.
But her flying figure, though stumbling, showed no signs of turning back.
Colin slightly furrowed his brow, just as he was about to leap forward to catch the sprite again.
The red-haired sprite finally couldn't resist the temptation, suddenly turned back, and landed on the edge of his left palm.
She squeezed out a smile at Colin, her face expressing a plea, then cautiously took steps toward the Ancient Tree Heart resting in his hand.
Colin watched everything unfold without moving.
As she got closer to the Ancient Tree Heart, joy unmistakably overflowed on the face of the red-haired sprite.
But just as she was about to touch the Ancient Tree Heart.
Whoosh.
Colin's mind stirred, and he stored the Ancient Tree Heart in the Storage Ring.
"Yiya!"
The red-haired sprite incredulously rubbed her eyes, hurriedly flapped her wings, taking off and laboriously fiddling with his fingers, searching closely.
"What is 'Tree'?" Colin communicated through spiritual power,
"If you tell me, that pink crystal will be yours."
The red-haired sprite, initially startled, flapped her wings while looking around.
Moments later, the sprite caught on, carefully landed on Colin's palm, and looked up at him with curiosity, chirping:
"Kind giant, are you the one talking to me?"
Colin nodded gently, though with some confusion... Why hadn't the red-haired sprite continued to call him 'Tree'?
"If I answer, can I get that deliciously fragrant pink gem?" the red-haired sprite asked, biting her finger.
"Yes," Colin nodded again, emphasizing, "Just answer, and I will give you the gem."
As he spoke, he let go of the sprite and walked over to another tree.
Then he extended his palm, casting out the Ancient Tree Heart!
Moments later, under the shocked gaze of the red-haired sprite, another pink gem appeared.
The red-haired sprite licked her lips, instinctively trying to fly towards the newly appeared Ancient Tree Heart.
But in the next instant, the Ancient Tree Heart suddenly vanished.
The flying motion of the red-haired sprite halted, and she looked up at Colin.
Colin spread his palm open, revealing the new Ancient Tree Heart, and urged with a slightly enticing tone:
"Just answer my question, and you can have this new gem."
The red-haired sprite seemed to have completely let down her guard, flapping her wings and landing in his hand.
"Tree... Tree is mighty, beautiful... um, also terrifying, wearing armor just like a giant,"
The red-haired sprite, biting her finger, spoke in confusion, then raised her head to look carefully at Colin and added:
"The giant is not Tree; giants don't have pointy ears, Nasi was mistaken."
"Is Tree a High-Level Elf?" Colin persisted.
"Tree is Tree..." the red-haired sprite glanced at Colin, quietly stepping towards the Ancient Tree Heart while saying, "Giant, Nasi has answered your question, now you should give me the fragrant gem."
"Tree..." Colin wanted to ask more.
Buzz—
But at that moment, the crystal on his bracelet suddenly lit up red.
'Has Master Lin Ke returned?'
"Yiya—"
Meanwhile, the red-haired sprite was strenuously moving the Ancient Tree Heart that he subtly clasped with his palm lines, absolutely unmovable by Nasi's small arms and legs.
Nasi exerted all her strength, panting heavily and eventually simply sat down next to the Ancient Tree Heart, firmly embracing it.
"Little Nasi, do you want to leave here with me? There are gems like this every day," Colin began tempting.
"Gems every day?" Nasi's eyes widened, gesturing with her hands, "Is each one as big as the one just now?"
Colin nodded.
Now, the Ancient Tree Heart in his hand, to save time on casting, was noticeably larger than the first one he created.
Nasi looked conflicted, but ultimately shook her head:
"But Nasi can't leave here."
"Kind giant, I don't want your gem anymore, please leave."
Saying this, she even let go of the Ancient Tree Heart she had been firmly embracing, flapping her wings to fly up.
Colin glanced at the red-haired sprite and sighed.
'Well, best hurry back.'
Before taking off, he relaxed the tense muscles in his palm, tossing the Ancient Tree Heart to red-haired Nasi.
Nasi, showing surprise, flapped her wings, hurriedly catching the Ancient Tree Heart.
"Goodbye," Colin said softly, then performed the Soaring and Flying Technique, levitating.
"Wait, kind giant, Nasi also gives you this!"
Colin extended his palm, gently catching a mini, sparkling red flower tossed by Nasi.
While the red flower was mini, it was about the size of Nasi's small face... it was a mystery where she had found it.
"Thank you." Colin nodded gently, then surged upward, breaking through the dense canopy, heading back to the castle.