Half an hour later, Garrett shivered in the hot springs. Although the fish brain had provided him with a significant amount of mental energy and a small portion of life energy, clearly, this life energy converted into heat was not enough to maintain his body temperature...
“Garrett, are you feeling any better now?” Seraina sulked on the other side. It was all her fault. If only she hadn’t caught that big fish, or let Garrett eat the fish brain. Or maybe, she shouldn’t have sprayed so much of her cold breath when she was controlling the water barrier earlier?
“Let me soak a bit longer...” Garrett sank lower: “A bit longer, once I’m warmed up, I’ll start grilling fish for you... Achoo!”
“I don’t want it anymore!” The silver dragon girl stamped her foot. With a loud “boom,” water splashed all around, like a small bomb exploding in the hot spring:
“Garrett, just cast a disease removal spell on yourself!”
“I haven’t learned it yet... Achoo!”
“Well, alright then.” The silver dragon girl muttered annoyedly. “Get up, get dressed, I’ll take you back! Auntie will do it for you!”
“What about the fish?”
“I don’t want it anymore!”
The long-dead fish had been lying stiff on a rock for 12 hours, its blood already drained. The incident happened so suddenly, Seraina did not freeze it with her frost breath. The picky silver dragon lady refused to eat fish that wasn’t fresh, but for the barbarians, it was a cause for celebration:
Such powerful strength!
Eating this, several warriors in the tribe would surely break through and advance!
Half an hour later, Garrett, neatly dressed, was once again hanging from the claws of the silver dragon, flying through the sky. The dragon’s wings flapped as Garrett dangled below, all the way back to the dragon’s nest...
“Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!”
Damn, the cold got worse... Clearly, when a human catches a cold, they should avoid the wind as much as possible. Riding in a plane, compared to being carried by a dragon, has an incomparable advantage...
The silver dragon lady treated him gently, even providing guidance on learning 【Remove Disease】. However, she had no immediate solution for Garrett’s inability to advance his mage level or control the electrocardiogram magic properly.
Ophelia’s suggestion was to wait for his magical abilities to naturally grow, to practice spells more, or...
“Otherwise, why not contract a familiar? A familiar can share the mental pressure with its master, help with control, and some can even provide additional abilities. It’s strange though, with the council so interested in you, they haven’t found you a familiar, how odd~~~”
She clicked her tongue in wonder. Garrett blinked, too embarrassed to say he didn’t actually want a familiar—the common familiars in the council’s exchange list, bats, cats, hawks, lizards, owls, and the likes, mice, ravens, snakes, toads, he found none of them interesting.
Weak, dirty, disgusting, requiring time to feed and care for. He wanted something like Mr. Troka, capable of enlarging or shrinking, speaking, shape-shifting, with formidable combat abilities, but where to find such?
However, dragonkind is more knowledgeable. Garrett took the opportunity to consult her:
“Lady, I indeed wish to contract a familiar. But, none of the common ones meet my needs. Moreover, I wish to contract an ethereal being that can enter a human body without causing harm, to inspect and share its vision with me—Lady, with your knowledge, could you guide me?”
Ophelia stroked her chin, deep in thought. Contracting an ethereal being wasn’t hard for dragonkind, but for Garrett, it was too difficult. Most ethereal beings, like ghosts, specters, banshees—were too strong, it wasn’t clear who would be contracting whom!
Besides, even the weaker ethereal beings often carried negative energy naturally. Such beings could harm a healthy person upon contact, let alone enter and exit a sick person’s body?
That would be a death sentence!
The silver dragon lady thought one by one. Ghosts, no, specters, no, bound spirits, no, those souls cleansed of hatred... yes, but they were rare. Souls
that dissipated hatred and fulfilled their desires but chose not to vanish were too few...
Or perhaps, ancestral spirits?
Her contemplative gaze shifted, looking at the barbarians busily chopping fish meat. Garrett had convinced Seraina to freeze the big fish and bring it back in a spatial bag. The fish had died half a day ago without preservation. The silver dragon girl found it not fresh enough, but the barbarians were overjoyed:
Such powerful strength!
This feast would allow several warriors in the tribe to advance!
“Perhaps the answer you seek lies with them.” Ophelia pointed towards Elder Gushan:
“I’ve heard, barbarians worship ancestors, nature spirits, and the spirits of mountains and trees. They contract with these entities, offer sacrifices, and borrow their power. In my youth, I’ve seen shadows perching on the totem poles at the entrance to their villages... just don’t know, can such beings grant power to outsiders?”
Elder Gushan, seeing her gesture, immediately put down what he was holding and hurried over, standing attentively. After Ophelia finished speaking, he promptly replied respectfully:
“Normally, it’s not possible. A village only has one guardian spirit, very precious, taking a long time to cultivate. But life in the wastelands is harsh, some small villages, small tribes vanish, and their guardian spirits, if preserved by larger tribes, become a suitable resource, brought out for exchange at the right time.”
The elder bowed respectfully, his white beard fluttering, his gaze filled with gratitude and expectation towards Garrett:
“Annually, at the great gathering, such exchanges occur. Warriors who win the competition, spellcasters who earn the respect of all elders, even outsiders, might receive such gifts. Sir, the gathering is held at the end of autumn, beginning of winter, just over a month away. If you’re interested, we’d be honored to guide you.”
“What are we waiting for?” Before Garrett could reply, Seraina had already leaped up, eager:
“Let’s go! Garrett, you go, I’ll join! We’ll pick a good one!”
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