After a familiar feeling of weightlessness, my vision returned again.
Buzz——
He cast a light spell in his hand, and soft white light spilled out.
Colin looked around, and after a moment, he exhaled slightly.
What came into view was finally no longer the despairing gray-white cave hall before, and the smell of blood that had always lingered on the tip of his nose finally dissipated.
But he didn't relax too much, his expression remained solemn.
'McIntosh's potion...'
While muttering to himself, he followed the previous instructions in his mind and walked forward along the gray-white passage in front of him.
The light of the light spell can only illuminate a short distance of the gray passage in front of you, and the passage farther away is still pitch black.
The embossed vine patterns on the gray walls on the left and right sides lengthened the dark shadows with the movement of the white light source in the hand.
Ta-ta-ta--
The deep passage was silent, only the sound of his footsteps echoed.
Not long after.
He came to the end of the passage.
A smooth stone door carved with blooming flowers appears in front of you.
Katsa.
As he approached, the stone door opened automatically.
A faint blue light came out from the gap in the door and fell on his face, making his blue eyes even darker.
"haven't seen you for a long time."
In the small room, at the top of the pyramid-shaped stone platform in the middle, a ball of light emitting blue light was greeting him.
"Long time no see." Colin's lips moved and his voice was a little slow.
"...Erica."
But he still hesitated and called out the name.
Previously in the cave hall, when Wizard Lapp and Harrington were busy curing Needham.
A familiar voice suddenly sounded in his heart, telling him about this crazy experiment called McIntosh and his potion.
And told him an escape passage and escape method in the hall.
Although the voice was familiar, it did not become a reason for him to trust the other party unconditionally.
But, in that situation, he had no other choice.
Who knows if he misses this opportunity and continues to wait, whether he will be able to wait for a new possible life like this.
As for hiding until the end to seek McIntosh's potion...
Only arrogant or stupid people would make such irrational choices.
After greeting each other, the room fell into silence.
Colin looked at the blue ball of light in front of him, was silent for a moment, and said:
"It's nice to see you again, Erica."
As if he felt that what he said was not straightforward enough, he added:
"I mean - I'm glad you're alive..."
"I'm already dead." Erica interrupted him, her voice calm and without fluctuations.
"I'm just a mutilated ghost...or, I can't even be called a ghost."
Colin was startled and his eyes lowered.
In this world, it is not uncommon to lose the body and let the soul attach to other things to continue to exist.
There are even many wizards who are proficient in life transformation and will specially change themselves into a more powerful steel mechanical body.
He originally thought that Erica was in this situation, maybe she had some adventure or something...
But ghost...
Ghosts are another story.
It is the product of accidental birth after the soul dies.
Strictly speaking, although the ghost will retain complete or partial memories of the original owner,
But in fact it is no longer the original soul.
The original soul has died.
Ghosts no longer have the emotions of ordinary people, and their way of thinking is completely different.
They don't know warmth or cold, love or hate.
The only driving force for living is the deepest obsession of the original soul.
"After entering the dark forest, I failed to find a miracle."
The crystal ball flickered, and Erica took the initiative to start telling the story.
"Finally, I got lost in a cave and died..."
“I don’t know how long it took, but ‘I’ was alive again.”
"Unlike other chaotic ghosts born from weak souls, my memory is not exact, and is even surprisingly complete..."
After saying this, Erica paused for a moment and then made a mocking comment.
"I was very confused at first, but then I thought about the legend passed down in the family... Maybe it has something to do with my bloodline."
"In short, I am stronger than I thought. My strength has far exceeded that of a junior wizard apprentice, and I have even almost reached the level of a senior apprentice."
"It's a pity that before I had time to fully adapt to the ghost's body——"
"Not far from the cave, the tower spirit in the McIntosh Wizard Tower noticed me and grabbed me, preparing to devour me to replenish its own origin."
"Then, as you can see, I swallowed the tower spirit in turn, but I also became broken."
Colin silently digested the information in Erica's words.
"So Colin, as you can see, I am not a threat to you, but can help you escape from the soon-to-be-destructed McIntosh Wizard Tower."
The crystal ball flickered and Erica continued.
"So what do I have to give?"
Colin asked straight to the point.
He stared at the pale blue crystal ball in front of him, already having Mo Hu's answer in his mind.
"Do you still keep the letter I sent you?"
Colin nodded without surprise.
Seeing this, the crystal ball flashed rapidly for a moment, seeming to be a little happy.
"Very good, Colin, what I need you to do is to take that letter and my body back to Laien, the capital of the Holy Flame Kingdom, and bring them to my parents."
"In return, I will let you successfully escape from this wizard that is about to be destroyed..."
"Not enough." Colin interrupted her.
He took off the silver Trigonometric School badge on his chest and rubbed it gently.
Then he raised his head, stared at the crystal ball in front of him with his blue eyes, and moved his lips.
"I need you to pay more."
"...Yes, as long as I can do it." Erica replied without hesitation.
"Tell me what payment you need from me."
"I need knowledge."
Colin's eyes were dark and he spoke softly.
The silver triangular badge twisted and deformed under the constant pressure of his fingers, making a slight sound.
Then, he threw aside the school badge that had turned into a silver ball, paused and emphasized in a deep voice:
"...I need power!"
"Erica, since you swallowed McIntosh's tower spirit, you must have inherited the knowledge stored in it..."
"Even if you don't inherit it completely, even if it's incomplete, it doesn't matter. As long as it's knowledge, I need it."
Everything, as long as it can bring strength, I want it all!"
The blue crystal ball was silent for a moment, then said without hesitation:
"no problem."
"However, due to the ravages of time, due to the loss of the tower spirit's origin, there is not much stored knowledge left. In addition, I have fought and collided with it before, and now there is nothing left..."
"It doesn't matter, just give me as much as you have."
"Okay." Crystal Ball said no more.
Buzz——
A moment later, several blue-green light balls suddenly appeared in the room, and then suddenly disappeared, leaving materials scattered on the floor.
"Pick up the leftmost ring first. It is a storage witchcraft tool." The crystal ball commanded,
"Then put the white crystal ball next to the ring to me, and I will burn all the stored knowledge into it."
"Yeah." Colin nodded and turned around to pick up the storage ring.
But as if he thought of something, he suddenly paused and turned around and asked:
"Erica...what did you mean by the 'wizard tower that is about to be destroyed' before?"