Chapter 28: Crystal

"Urrrr~~"Moaning non-stop, the two newcomers dropped to their knees.

Compared to the spatially talented Lucy, the other two rarely teleported, so besides the usual dizziness that accompanied teleportation, both felt nauseous, almost to the point of vomiting. However, both had extraordinary physiques, which made them quite adaptable. Thus, after a brief moment of rest, they recovered.

Apparently, before being teleported to this place, these two had been in fierce battles, as both their bodies were covered in scars. Even now, they were holding their weapons tightly, as if they thought they could be attacked at any moment.

When they saw Lucy, who looked incredibly unhappy, the two men exchanged glances, incredulous expressions in their eyes. Before entering the Magical Swamp, the three had fought, trying to determine who would be the leader of this temporary team.

Although both were very confident in themselves, they were both defeated by Lucy's mysterious telekinetic ability. If they were being honest with themselves, this Lucy definitely had the ability to kill them instantly.

But unexpectedly, after separating for a short time, Lucy suffered very serious injuries. Compared to her, their injuries were not worth mentioning.

"Lucy, who were you fighting? Was it a Pseudo-Mage?" Hesitant, the muscular man with a huge sword on his back asked the terrifying Loli what was wrong. The man with the snake head, standing next to him, also showed a worried expression, silently waiting for Lucy's response.

"Kerry, don't get involved in my business…" Lucy didn't want to answer the question and simply continued focusing on healing her own wounds.

Lucy secretly felt a great fear in her heart. She wasn't worried about her injuries; she had suffered worse wounds before. What she feared was what the Eclivel Mage had done to her when he threw that bizarre green light into her eye. No matter how much she examined herself, she couldn't find anything unusual in her body, so she had no choice but to focus on healing her wounds.

After drinking all kinds of potions, the wounds on her body finally stopped bleeding. Then Lucy began to apply a dark purple, foul-smelling medicinal paste to her injuries.

Strangely, the result of this seemingly insignificant mud-like paste worked very well. No matter how terrible a wound was, as long as it was covered by the paste for a short period, the skin would be restored to its former state.

After she finished healing all her wounds, Lucy began to heal her right eye.

If a normal human lost a part of their body, it would be a scar for life that could never be healed. But for these Apprentice Mages, who had stepped into the realm of mysticism and supernatural forces, restoring lost body parts was quite possible.

From a black clay pot, Lucy carefully picked out a strange-looking creature that resembled a small snake. Squeezing its tail, she carefully placed it into her empty eye socket.

This strange creature was tightly held by Lucy so it couldn't move, causing it to continue spinning in the air while making a sharp, whistling sound. It had a head that resembled a meatball and a mouth that opened like a flower. Inside this oddly-shaped mouth were many tiny, sharp teeth.

"Serpentine Sakura Herb!"

Obviously, the muscular man knew about this creature and couldn't help but sigh at its value.

"What is this thing?" The snake-headed man had never seen anything like it before.

"It's a sacred healing remedy, capable of replacing any missing vital organ in the body. Don't judge by its ugly appearance. It's a mutant plant specifically cultivated for this purpose. Its base price is about 70 Magic Crystals." The muscular man explained briefly. At the same time, his face was full of envy.

"70 Magic Crystals?" The snake-headed man was shocked, and he instantly grasped the value of this item.

Numerous large-scale Mage associations existed in the Mage World. There were simply too many to count. Internally, each of these organizations and associations implemented a system of knowledge points or exchange points, none of which were interchangeable. Thus, to facilitate trade between organizations, Magic Crystals were born.

This was an advanced magical universe with countless planes. Every space in each of these planes was filled with magical energy. Normally, this magical energy was evenly distributed throughout the space, but on rare occasions or in unique environments, very dense clusters of magical energy could be found.

Therefore, in these unique environments, the excessively dense magical energy would infest the surrounding minerals, transforming them into crystals. These crystals were unique items that allowed Mages to quickly replenish their Elementium consumption. Hence, it became an item that gained acceptance from all users across all major planes.

As a result, Magic Crystals became an important strategic resource for the Mage World, as they were constantly conquering other worlds. Thus, it was used as the basic currency for the entire Mage World.

The snake-headed man couldn't help but swallow hard.

For example, in the Black Glove Association where he came from, after successfully completing this training mission, he would receive 15 knowledge points and 30 Magic Crystals. To obtain 70 Magic Crystals, he would have to complete two 'Dangerous' missions or seven 'Difficult' missions or thirty-five 'Normal' missions.

So, when he saw Lucy use the Serpentine Sakura Herb without hesitation, which cost 70 Magic Crystals, the muscles in his face began to twitch uncontrollably.

Despite its fierce and strange appearance, the Serpentine Sakura Herb was just a special mutant plant. Once Lucy placed it in her empty eye socket, it immediately coiled its body and centered itself. Its viscous body began to break down, transforming into tiny threads that looked like micro-sized snakes. Countless threads began to twist and intertwine, soon taking the shape of a human eye. seaʀᴄh thё NôvelFire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

But just a moment before the eyeball formed by the Serpentine Sakura Herb was about to finish, a bizarre green light suddenly shone around it. In the next second, the Serpentine Sakura Herb went completely berserk.

Countless tiny tentacles began to pierce Lucy's eye socket and continued to grow, flailing violently. Soon, some of these tentacles expanded to the size of Lucy's arm and continued to stretch further.

After a long period of healing, most of Lucy's wounds had fully recovered. Thus, her beautiful Loli appearance had returned.

But at that moment, a gigantic and terrifying 'living octopus' was emerging from the eye socket of the small, cute Lolita; anyone who witnessed this would definitely tremble in disgust at the scene before them.

Lucy's flesh stimulated the disorderly growth of this Serpentine Sakura Herb.

Under the influence of a mystical curse, Lucy's newly recovered body began to wither rapidly, and almost half of her flesh was devoured by the rapidly expanding Serpentine Sakura Herb.

Without hesitation, and using all her strength, Lucy was able to forcefully pull out the Serpentine Sakura Herb that was currently occupying her right eye socket. Raising the twisted, octopus-like monster into the air, Lucy let out a deep, hoarse roar to the sky while blood gushed from her eye socket.

"Damn… You bunch of damned scoundrels… I will kill all of you!"

The unusual situation startled the other two Apprentice Mages. Although they had no idea what this little Lolita had experienced in the Magical Swamp, they could still clearly feel a deep hatred in her furious roar.

Judging by what had happened, it must have been the Mage who did this personally.

That Eclivel Mage, who led a sedentary life in this Magical Swamp and didn't even show respect for the mage Deborah, who was Lucy's mentor, how could he let them go so easily? Because they were both expelled by the Eclivel Mage personally! Who knew what he had cast upon their bodies?

Just as they were struck by these doubts, the lewd moan of a young woman suddenly reached their ears. Soon, two vague and indescribable Enchanted Souls emerged from the ground beneath their feet, transforming into two magnificent girls that perfectly matched their tastes, clinging tightly to their bodies.

Well, things would have been better if they were just two illusory souls, but as soon as they were grabbed by these animated beings, their Spirits began to gradually deplete.

"Spirit-Sucking Demons!"

The snake-headed man was the first to identify these enchanting spirits, and his loud shout was filled with unmistakable fear.

Spirit-Sucking Demons were very frightening souls. They consumed a person's Spirit, which was obtained through meditation. As long as someone's Spirit wasn't exhausted, they could survive being attacked by these terrifying demons. But once their Spiritual Points were depleted, the demons would start consuming the life force of their target.

The snake-headed man went wild.

He began to roar and scream, and his slender body started to stretch higher and higher, quickly becoming covered in dark green scales. In the blink of an eye, he transformed into a huge, furious serpent that was nearly ten meters tall.

But what a pity; no matter what he transformed into, the bizarre Spirit-Sucking Demon still clung tightly to his body, continuously draining his Spiritual Points.

Roaring, thrashing, shaking, rolling… He tried every kind of highly difficult movement, wreaking havoc on this small hillside with his giant body. He even turned his head back and spat poisonous liquids at his own body, but all his attempts failed to rid himself of the Spirit-Sucking Demon.

No magical spell could do anything, no physical attack could touch them; it was as if this demon were merely an illusion that didn't exist. It was as if it were all just his own fantasy. However, his Spirit was truly depleting. And with the restless and brutal movements of the giant serpent, his Spirit was being diminished at an accelerated rate.

The muscular man did not foolishly try to remove the demon from his body, as his high Physical Points gave him better magical resistance than the snake-headed man; thus, by avoiding unnecessary movements, he lost Spirit at a slower rate.

When dealing with a curse cast by an official Mage, these Apprentice Mages had no means to remove it. Therefore, he didn't dare to stay any longer and began to run away.

Only by returning to his own organization as quickly as possible could he seek help from his mentor; otherwise, he would die at the hands of this terrifying demon.

After numerous failed attempts, the snake-headed man had no choice but to revert to his human form. Only then did his Spirit depletion slow down. He cursed angrily in his mind and then took a Magic Crystal from his pocket, absorbing its energy. He then did as the muscular man had done, relying solely on his muscular strength, he ran away.

He also realized that as long as he didn't use any magical spells, the rate of Spiritual Point depletion would be slower, and with the replenishment from the Magic Crystal, he could sustain himself for a long period.

After the two male Apprentices plunged into the jungle and fled, Lucy used her Spatial Energy to crush the monstrous creature in her hand. But she immediately felt a subtle tingling at the back of her eye as another new tentacle appeared in her empty socket.

In the moments before, Lucy may have only felt hatred and anger, but now indescribable fear arose from the depths of her heart.

With an explosive noise, Lucy disappeared from her location, reappearing in a distant place. And just as her body solidified, she disappeared again…

She was running out of time.

If she allowed this terrifying curse to remain, she would soon be out of flesh. She had to return to her mentor as quickly as possible; only then could this frightening curse be removed.

Therefore, even if it completely depleted her Spiritual Points, Lucy still had to do her best and run back to the House of Fragrances.

Soon, peace returned once again to the hillside near one of the entrances to the Magical Swamp.

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2001 Words