“Tree Spirit, sir!” Angor turned around with a helpless look. “Note that I certainly do not want to be in that position.”
As he expected, Tree Spirit still had that half-naked look.
“Why not? Do you know who’s the current champion on the ‘husband candidate list’?”
For some reason, Angor immediately thought about Sunders.
“Your professor? You’re so easy to read.” Tree Spirit smirked. “Well, Sunders did charm a lot of powerful witches, but he’s not enough to get all women under his pants. Still... he got his name on the list. Was it number 20? A young man recently beat everyone and came on top. Guess who?”
Angor tried not to roll his eyes.
“Easy, right? It’s Sumesh!” Tree Spirit hopped in delight as if that were a very big secret to share. “Once you earn a position on the husband list, Phantom Island will have three dear gentleman stars!”
Angor thought to keep moving since Tree Spirit did not tell him to stop. But as he almost reached Phantom Island, Tree Spirit called him, “Aw, I almost forgot why I came here. Come. Follow me.”
Angor glanced at the protective barrier of the island almost within reach and cursed in his mind.
A moment later, he came to the giant tree leaf where Tree Spirit usually took naps. Well, the great spirit was currently doing it by bathing his entire body in the sunlight while only using a single leaf to cover his private spot.
Tulu, Vonman, and Guina were waiting nearby with confusion clearly written in their eyes.
Angor came by flying using his enchanted boots, which attracted Tree Spirit’s attention.
“You made these?” the spirit asked.
Angor nodded.
“Nice.” Tree Spirit checked Angor’s body and fixed his sight on Angor’s shoulder. “It has only been several months, and you made quite a lot of interesting toys.”
Angor simply waited.
“By calling you here, I have a question to ask.” Tree Spirit beckoned to Tulu, who stepped up with a nervous look. “Do you know what he’s talented in?”
“During the Talent Sphere test, Tulu saw strange weather on the sea. Combined with the fact that he’s naturally sensitive to weather changes, I suspect that he’s born to wield elements. An Elementalist who commands the sea, probably. Is there a problem, sir?”
“What you said is correct. Your prediction is almost accurate.” Tree Spirit nodded. “However, this man is way too adaptive to water elements. Unnaturally so. Do you know what caused this?”
When further examining the incoming recruits, Tree Spirit had to record their traits in detail to let wizards make better decisions. In Tulu’s case, everything was normal except for one thing—Tulu was so in tune with water elements in the environment that he didn’t even need cantrips to control them. Tulu had not studied a single cantrip model yet, and he already knew how to gather vapor around his body.
Tree Spirit summoned Angor because he needed to know whether Tulu used some kind of special potion so that the result of the final test could stay reliable.
“It’s not a potion,” Angor explained. “When I was making an item and was challenged by an alchemy omen, Tulu was there to see it. He also joined me when I was testing the effect of the item.”
Angor carefully described what happened around his Ocean Tuner.
“Are you saying his affinity boost isn’t temporary but is permanently improved?!”
“It should be, sir.”
Tree Spirit’s joyful look was briefly replaced by astonishment.
“You’ve created quite a powerful item, my boy. There’s a popular footage that everyone has been talking about. It showed some kind of alchemy process. Was it you making this Ocean Tuner thing?”
“If it was recorded somewhere on the sea, then yes.”
“By the spirit! Brute Cavern does not have many high-tier alchemy assets since it was established. And you just added another one to the list... Can I take a look at it?”
Angor frowned when hearing the request. The illusion inside Ocean Tuner was intended for Lady Mirror and contained something improper to look at.
He still complied since he couldn’t just straightforwardly reject Tree Spirit. He took out the item while hoping that Tree Spirit wasn’t going to find the “Goddess” in the illusion.
The charming design of the engraved mermaid soon grasped everyone’s attention. Angor had used a piece of starry silk on the mermaid that slowly flicked in the breeze, which made the entire statue appear animate.
“You know what, I totally agree when they said you’re hitting the level of a master,” Tree Spirit exclaimed in awe.
Tulu looked fine since he saw Ocean Tuner many times. Even so, this did not prevent him from admiring the treasure every time he saw it again.
As for Vonman and Guina... they just couldn’t get their eyes off the splendid art piece.
After hearing the effect of the illusion, Tree Spirit looked at the recruits and wanted them to back away.
“You can let them stay, sir.” Angor stopped him. “If they’re lucky enough to gain something out of it, so be it.”
Guina and Vonman quickly thanked Angor. They didn’t know what they were expecting, but it did sound like something nice.
“The illusion will give you different starting points,” Angor said as he went to trigger the illusion. “Good luck.”
The sky above them suddenly grew dark as the bright environment was replaced by storms.
...
A minute later, Angor woke up from the illusion after he was “killed”. He felt a bit frustrated when he noticed that he was the first one who failed. Though it couldn’t be helped when the illusion sent him directly next to a giant whirlpool that swallowed his boat almost instantly.
The illusion would strip all of his magic powers. He was as good as dead when the boat was lost.
Vonman was the next one to come to, after another two minutes.
Angor nodded casually and pretended that he did not enter the illusion at all. Although this was not necessary when Vonman could do nothing more than gasping painfully, after going over the pain of getting drowned.
Tulu and Guina all returned later.
Tulu quietly closed his eyes to remember what he saw in the illusion, which he had experienced many times.
Guina seemed not bothered at all. On the contrary, she looked happy, being able to take such an exciting adventure with her original, healthy body, which was made possible by the illusion.
It took Tree Spirit almost half an hour to open his eyes in the end.
“Dang it. I saw her dress before I drew my last breath. Only if that boat could last longer...”
Angor sighed in relief. This meant Tree Spirit didn’t get to see those handsome mermaids.
“Yes, there’s a strange power that helps apprentices learn how to control water elements.” Tree Spirit glanced at Vonman and Guina. “You can’t feel it right now, but you’ll see the difference once you study relevant arts in the future.”
He then looked at Tulu, who had created a thin water film around his body.
“This one hit the jackpot. What he gained from the illusion is substantial.”
As Angor explained, Ocean Tuner could help apprentices develop water affinity. Wizards might not find it useful, but those who studied sea-manipulating arts could discover unknown enlightenment that helped with their study.
Previously, Tree Spirit believed that Ocean Tuner was useful but was still average among high-tier alchemy tools. But he changed his mind, after going into the illusion himself.
The illusion of Ocean Tuner was an area-of-effect. It could improve large groups of apprentices at the same time, which was enough reason for it to be considered a tactical utility.
In the views of certain organizations that focused on sea-controlling techniques, Ocean Tuner was an irreplaceable engine of unlimited potential. They might even trade their Sorcerer’s Gardens just to get their hands on this item.
Angor produced a tool of advancement that many organizations would do everything in their power to procure!
That explains why the footage caused so many farces... Tree Spirit thought to himself. People will get crazier if they ever find out what they can do with Ocean Tuner. Man... This world is crazy already. Angor is crazy.
The most important thing is, Angor belongs to us!