'What should I choose? A magic tool for speed or defense?'
'These should significantly improve my strength.' Bai En was about to ask if there were any magic tools of these two types when the grimoire at his waist suddenly floated out on its own, shimmering with a pearly white light.
"This is?"
Bai En followed the floating grimoire forward. Where it hovered, a strange stone appeared before him. Half of the round stone was fire, and the other half was frost.
Frost Ember Stone.
It was the material for forging the kitchen utensil 'Frost Ember' that he had found in the Royal Library.
What a pleasant surprise.
"Do you recognize this stone?" The Clown noticed Bai En had stopped and walked forward to ask.
"Can I choose this?"
"Of course."
"But why would you choose this? Given your current situation, you should have many other choices, such as: recovery or healing magic tools... You probably don't use healing magic, do you?"
"Besides, although this stone looks flashy, it shouldn't be of much use to you. I found it in the Spade Kingdom, and like you, I originally thought it was extraordinary. But after some research, it turned out to be nothing special, so I've kept it here ever since."
"What's more, you're not a Mage of Flame Magic or Ice Magic, are you?" The Clown generously advised Bai En. In his opinion, a practical magic tool would be better than choosing this useless stone.
Bai En didn't explain anything. Since he had said he could choose, then... The grimoire floating in the air began to turn pages, and a white longsword flew out from the book. This was the kitchen utensil embryo, reforged with Mithril by the Dwarf Clan.
When the longsword hovered above the Frost Ember Stone, fire and frost intertwined around the blade like tiny tornadoes. After losing its frost and fire, the round stone began to gradually shrink.
The expression on the Clown's face became intriguing. 'This... was absorbed by his sword?'
'The sword itself already carried the aura of fire and frost.'
'His sword... has something to it.'
The Clown recalled the scene of his battle with Bai En. 'A sword that controls gravity, a sword that negates and absorbs magic power, a sword that eliminates the five senses... Plus this sword of frost and fire. What is the purpose of so many disparate abilities?'
The dice involuntarily rolled, and the number 'five' appeared on its face.
Transparent threads connected the dice with the evolving sword of frost and fire. The next moment... a white light erupted, and the transparent threads were severed by an invisible slash.
'Broken?'
The Clown was slightly shocked, but he quickly understood... Compared to his ability to only foresee cause and effect and destiny, what this guy's magic could do was... sever!
'Is this how the diverse and chaotic abilities ultimately manifest?'
'But gravity, elimination, absorption, annihilation of the five senses, frost and fire... how do these connect? It's really strange?'
The forging process wasn't slow. The stone visibly shrank, and the ice and fire dissipated from it. The moment the stone completely vanished, the kitchen utensil 'Frost Ember' was fully tempered.
The cracks that were not obvious in the Bronze Fertile Plains were completely repaired.
The translucent blade, interwoven with fiery red and icy blue, looked as if it were made of natural jade. Red and blue flowing light reflected across its entire body, splendid and pure. It was a crystalline and beautiful sword.
After 'Frost Ember' was tempered, it didn't linger, naturally flying into the pearly white grimoire.
Watching the longsword disappear, the Clown didn't question Bai En about his thoughts. Everyone's magic had secrets. He took out the Elf seed he had prepared long ago and gently offered it to Bai En.
The silver seed landed in Bai En's right palm.
"Before hatching her, there's a very important thing: 'Blood Oath'. You need to feed the Sky Elf with your own blood for her to form a contract with you."
"The way to form a contract with an Elf is unique. It can only be an equal contract through 'Blood Oath'. After that, you will be together until death, and only then will the Elf leave."
As soon as the Clown's words fell, Bai En cut his palm, and blood seeped from the wound, naturally flowing onto the silver seed. Crystalline red light and silver light intertwined, and a magical array pattern appeared in his palm.
The magic array appeared, the Blood Oath condensed, and the cut wound became increasingly painful, like ants gnawing at flesh. Blood trickled out, merging into the silver seed.
The Blood Oath fully condensed, and the contract was complete.
The originally silver seed transformed into an exquisite artwork of red and silver.
Just as the Clown was about to say something, suddenly, the exquisite artwork glowed. The golden light grew increasingly dazzling, and a 'crack' of breaking sound came from within the light.
"The hatching speed is a few days faster than I expected," the Clown murmured.
The golden light slowly receded, and a small figure stood in Bai En's palm. It was a little girl with fair and delicate skin, wearing a pure white long dress and bare feet.
Her eyes were red, crystalline and transparent, like brilliant rubies, and a red ocean could be seen in those bright eyes.
Black hair, red pupils.
Having just hatched, she was sluggish, as if not fully awake, her eyes blurry.
Upon seeing Bai En, she excitedly chirped, 'Yi ya yi ya,' unable to speak. She fluttered her transparent wings around his palm, and after much fussing, she plopped down in Bai En's hand, tears welling up in her eyes, looking utterly pitiful.
"Is she... trying to sleep?"
Perhaps due to the contract's influence, Bai En understood what the Sky Elf meant. He quietly opened the grimoire at his waist. The little girl slowly stopped crying, and her bare feet gently stepped onto the grimoire, like an adorable kitten.
The Sky Elf's form slowly began to dissipate, melting into the grimoire like falling snow. Three transparent pages were added to the grimoire.
Just like that... the original six-page grimoire became nine pages.
However, the three new pages were completely different from the previous six.
'What a strange combination? But... it looks much better.' Bai En thought, then put away the grimoire.
"Sky Elf, her origin is 'Sky,' which also means the 'Origin of Magic.' To put it more simply, she is the Elf with the most magic power. In battle, she can provide you with magic power as a source." The Clown explained the Sky Elf's abilities to Bai En, whose contract was now complete.
'Endlessly provide magic power?'
For a moment, Bai En sentenced his previous arduous chef's life to death.
'What was the meaning of all that effort?'
"Of course, the current Sky Elf is still in her infancy and not that powerful, but... I don't think her growth period will be too long. Besides, an Elf's abilities aren't limited to just providing magic power."
"As I mentioned before, she has some similarities with the four elemental spirits..."