Chapter 592: Hatching Young Wyrm
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
To others, they were just legends, but Lin Li dared not belittle it at all. He reckoned that it should be the clone of the Elemental Wyrm that was hidden in the Sun Well during the last battle he fought before he got the Stars of Fury. Even though his Hunter avatar was already at the max level, and had used the best equipment, it was still very difficult to win. He had only managed to do so by fluke—despite having the help of all sorts of advanced pharmacy scrolls.
That was a projected clone of the Elemental Wyrm which possessed inexhaustible magic, thus making it akin to a cannon that had limitless ammo. Under the overwhelming magic storm, even some of Lin Li’s magical defense accessories were destroyed. The supreme magic defenses recorded on the scrolls couldn’t persist for a second in the magic storm, fragile like glass in front of a machine gun.
Lin Li still felt rather terrified at the thought of the battle that he’d fought back then. All Lin Li felt towards the endless magic storm was a sense of powerlessness and despair. Full of hope, he whipped out his trump card, only to have it be destroyed. Back then, he almost thought of giving up and drowning in the storm.
At the start, Lin Li did not think of the Elemental Wyrm, because the adorable little pocket-sized creature seemed to be worlds apart from the tyrannical and massive Elemental Wyrm. However, after recalling all of the Wyrms that he had encountered, he found that the Elemental Wyrm was the closest thing to the tiny creature.
After having deduced that, Lin Li again compared the characteristics of the baby Wyrm with those of the Elemental Wyrm in his memory. The more he compared, the more certain he was that his guess was correct. That was the case for Lin Li who had memories of the Endless World. If it were anyone else from Anril, even a knowledgeable mage might not be able to identify the baby Wyrm as the legendary Elemental Wyrm.
After deducing that the little creature was an Elemental Wyrm, Lin Li’s heart pounded rapidly, and the memories of the legends he heard in the Endless World began to pop up in his mind.
Legends had it that Wyrms had no soul inheritance. All their worldviews were determined at birth because they were the oldest creatures in the world, and were born from nothingness together with the Titans. Although humans classified them as magical beasts, they were actually far from magical beasts. Even prehistoric magical beasts allowed their inherited souls to decide everything for them. However, it was different for Wyrms. Wyrms were like blank canvases that could be painted on, but only after they hatched.
In other words, if one was lucky enough to encounter a newly born baby Wyrm which had no relative nearby, he or she would very likely gain the recognition of the baby Wyrm. Even if the baby Wyrm didn’t take him or her to be its relative, it would at least offer its friendship, and thus develop a close relationship with the person who found it. That was the reason for the rampant legends about the Dragon Knights. Tutankhamun of the Blackstone Mountains was a perfect living example. Despite being a descendant of the Dragon of Destruction, which was hatched by the Immortal King, he did not take revenge on the Immortal King for the death of the Dragon of Destruction. Instead, he treated the Immortal King like his father.
It would be amazing under normal circumstances, but Lin Li was not too interested in being a Dragon Knight. To a Legendary-mage, a Wyrm might be intimidating, but not irreplaceable. Besides, Wyrms had a long growth process, and would require a long time to develop battle power.
Not to mention, Lin Li already owned a Humerus Crimson Dragon which was an Undead creature by nature. However, it had the physical body of a Crimson Dragon and the Heart of the Fallen that was gifted to him by Sendros. The battle power of the Humerus Wyrm was not inferior to that of the actual Crimson Dragon’s.
However, it was different for the Elemental Wyrm, which was destined to have unlimited potential by genetics. It was destined to be as powerful as Dragon of Dream, which ordinary ancient Wyrms could not compare to. The Dragon of Dream was leading even amongst the five major Dragon Aspects. If one could become friends with an Elemental Wyrm, it would be tantamount to associating with an existence that was on the same level as the Dragon of Dream.
It was a good idea, but Lin Li was still unsure if the Elemental Wyrm had hatched out of its shell yet. In the beginning, he thought that it was a young Wyrm because it had the standard shape of an adolescent magical beast, with a large head, a small body, and short limbs. However, he could not use that physique as a standard, because an adult Elemental Wyrm would have the same physical shape too. Besides, he had never seen an actual baby Elemental Wyrm, and thus could not tell if it was a newly born Elemental Wyrm. He could not tell if it was a baby Wyrm or an adult one that was playing cute.
Lin Li dared not approach it recklessly, because it might just be an adult Elemental Wyrm. If that were the case, what he encountered next would be an overwhelming magic storm. It was a top existence amongst magical ancient Wyrms. As the leader of ancient Wyrms which had all the power of Dragon Aspect, it was definitely a tough nut to crack for a Legendary-mage.
Back then, Lin Li’s Hunter avatar was placed in a dangerous position by a mere clone of the Elemental Wyrm. Besides, it was just a game where characters could respawn after their deaths. However, it was now reality, and Lin Li only had one life. Everything would be over if he were to lose it. Hence, Lin Li dared not take the risk at all.
However, the temptation of the Elemental Wyrm was too great for anyone to resist. Was he supposed to let this opportunity pass? Lin Li definitely did not want to miss the opportunity, but he was now facing an Elemental Wyrm that could grow to become as strong as the Dragon of Dream.
To Lin Li, this was just like a huge gamble where he would gain plenty if he won and die if he lost. Lin Li was stuck in a dilemma, and had no idea if he should take the gamble or not. Had he known earlier, he would have grabbed an adolescent Elemental Wyrm in the Endless World and study it back then.
After hesitating for a long time, there began to be some lax in Lin Li’s mental strength manipulation. However, that was also the change that put a rare smile on Lin Li’s face. Sometimes, a little distraction might not be a bad thing.
In the beginning, Lin Li devoted all his energy to controlling that portion of mental strength. After all, Geresco’s techniques were not something he could apply at this stage. The long hesitation and dilemma caused him to be distracted, thus resulting in the detection of the things going on in the background apart from the halo. The magical elements around him seemed to have darted towards that halo at an amazing speed.
Lin Li could acutely detect the changes, and after calming himself down to give it some thorough thought, he immediately had an answer. The abnormal changes of the magical elements around him were a result of the Elemental Wyrm just hatching. It would continuously absorb the magical elements around it, and only open its eyes after accumulating enough magical power.
The thought of it resolved another doubt in Lin Li’s mind. Why did the adventurer team formed by the three major forces still encounter a large number of high-level magical beasts in the supposedly peaceful area in the Haiga Mountain Range despite it being the best route designed according to the adventure journal?
Moreover, Lin Li also noticed that the magical beasts which had attacked the adventurer team were composed of various types and species that assembled at the last minute. The magical beasts which were non-related and even had to fight each other whenever they met appeared in the same cluster. What was the reason for that? Lin Li once guessed that it could have been because of the manipulation of a greater force, like the Black Current that had once appeared in the land of Anril. However, it now seemed that the greatest possibility was that it was because of the Elemental Wyrm.
The large-scale fluctuation of magic elements had even caused the scarcity of magical elements in the Haiga Mountain Range, thus making it easily noticeable for the sensitive magical beasts which mistook it for the foreshadowing of a certain catastrophe. When faced with a major catastrophe, the only response magical beasts would have would be to migrate to a safer place.
Magical beasts had simple mindset, and that was to minimize damage as far as possible. Hence, they would attack all obstacles that got in their way. The adventurer team of the three forces could only be said to be too unfortunate to have become one such obstacle.
Although Lin Li, Cheyenne, and Borg were all Legendary-mages, they were extremely sensitive to the magical waves in magical elements. However, they were not natives of the Haiga Mountain Range, and hence unaware what original magical waves of the Haiga Mountain Range should look like. The Haiga Mountain Range itself was a special environment, and so the abnormal magical wave was deemed to be normal by them.
Lin Li was now in the epicenter of the magical wave, and he naturally understood everything better after deducing that the Elemental Wyrm lay deep within the halo, and detecting the flow of direction.
However, Lin Li could no longer be bothered, because there was a high chance that the Elemental Wyrm had just hatched and had yet to open its eyes.
A tender Elemental Wyrm was waiting for him to collect it. Even though Lin Li had already reached the Legendary-realm, he still found it hard to contain his excitement. Hence, there was a slight fluctuation in the mental strength that he was controlling.