Twin Towers, Silkworm House.
At this moment, the silkworm cocoons hanging on the mulberry wood racks had changed in appearance: one had grown to half a meter tall, the other close to three meters, making them particularly conspicuous in the room.
“Nnng nnng.”
The Silkworm Queen complained to Ivan, the room’s mulberry wood had withered due to the transformation of the two rapid wood silkworms.
These were no ordinary mulberry woods, they hadn’t completely decayed after withering, otherwise, the rack would have certainly collapsed.
“I know, I’ll have someone bring in a new batch afterward.”
Ivan soothed with a sentence; he found that the Silkworm Queen was quite carefree, not worried about the safety of her offspring. On the contrary, she was more active than usual, seemingly a bit excited.
Recalling how indifferent the Silkworm Queen was to the death of rapid wood silkworms on normal days, and knowing that it wasn’t difficult for her to split off a new one, Ivan let it go. Insects probably valued the overall strength more, and the life and death of individuals might not be that important.
This must be the mentality of a swarm.
After a while, a new change occurred in the Silkworm House, a large number of energy particles were drawn over, swirling toward the half-meter-tall cocoon. He saw it clearly, most of these particles were of the plant-type.
“This is strange, why is the transforming rapid wood silkworm absorbing so many energy particles? It wasn’t like this last time.”
Ivan beckoned with his hand, and a dozen or so Green Mulberry Waters floated over, turning into a light cyan mist that shrouded the silkworm cocoon. Within a few seconds, it was completely absorbed.
He had no time to ponder the reasons and brought over more Green Mulberry Water, turning it into mist for the cocoon to absorb. After exhausting the Green Mulberry Water, he used plant-type element stones instead.
Fortunately, he had recently collected a batch of plant-type element stones, and it wasn’t until a large portion of the stones were depleted that he managed to satiate the cocoon.
Soon after, the cocoon underwent another change. Delicate vines emerged from the threads of the cocoon, elongating and draping down. Then, one vine after another sprouted, and in the blink of an eye, the cocoon’s location was surrounded by lush greenery.
“Nnng nnng.” The Silkworm Queen chirped excitedly.
“It’s done.” Ivan too sensed a distinct vitality there, indicating the rapid wood silkworm inside had successfully navigated this difficult phase.
While both human and insect wondered why the peculiar rapid wood silkworm had yet to emerge, energy evenly sprinkled on the surrounding vines, which instantly bloomed with colorful flowers. Fragrance wafted from the blossoms, filling the Silkworm House.
Alongside the fragrance, the vines parted on their own, and an exotic creature flew out from within.
The creature had a pair of vibrant, butterfly-like wings, while its body resembled a dainty, jade-colored lizard. It looked around the room cautiously, its eyes brimming with a distinct agility.
After pondering for two or three seconds, it suddenly spoke to the Silkworm Queen and Ivan, “Mother, Father.”
Its accent was somewhat unusual, but its articulation was clear and its meaning unambiguous.
The Silkworm House fell silent for a moment.
“Nnng nnng.”
The Silkworm Queen broke the silence with a reply, then turned to look at Ivan with a sense of grievance.
Just as Ivan had jokingly said before, the first intelligent creature among the offspring was born, just outpacing the Silkworm Queen. This left it feeling extremely wronged; after all, it was present at the time as well.
While the Silkworm Queen possessed a degree of wisdom, it did not have a fully developed spiritual intelligence and was unable to speak; it could only express simple ideas. By definition, it wasn’t considered an intelligent creature.
“Cough cough cough, just call me Sorcerer Ivan,” Ivan beckoned to it, and the little creature obediently flew over. It was light~ and graceful; the butterfly wings were larger than its body, measuring thirty-five or thirty-six centimeters in height.
It didn’t show the slightest resistance to Ivan’s inspection.
“Indeed, it has changed.”
Originally, when rapid wood silkworms became Level 1 creatures, the Spring Buds within them transformed into Life Seeds that suited them. However, the Life Seed within this one had now transformed into something resembling an element core.
In other words, its Breath of Life had turned into the Power of Elements, which was akin to changing from a knight into a magic cultivator.
This bizarre transformation puzzled Ivan greatly.
After some tests, Ivan found the little guy was very smart and learned languages rapidly, making progress that would be considered genius among humans.
Three days later, the other cocoon broke open.
The creature that the other rapid wood silkworm had transformed into wasn’t as graceful as the previous one; it broke a hole in the cocoon, shaking the mulberry wood rack to the ground and struggled to crawl out.
It was also a strange creature, with two pairs of drab, moth-like wings and a body resembling a green snake, three meters in length. It too was an intelligent creature, able to speak.
Seeing this, the Silkworm Queen felt even more wronged, but luckily, both creatures liked to circle around it, so its grief was quick to come and go.
Discover stories with empire
Ivan did a simple test first: it wasn’t as smart as the first one, its intelligence could only be considered average.
“From now on, you’ll be ‘Scented Butterfly,’ and you’ll be ‘Wind Moth,’ any objections?” Ivan pointed at the butterfly-winged, jade lizard and then gestured towards the green snake with moth wings.
“Scented Butterfly likes it.”
“Sorcerer Ivan, shouldn’t I be a snake?”
“No, you are a moth, are you planning to betray the rapid wood silkworm kin?”
“No no—-okay, I’ll be called Wind Moth.”
Facing several insistent gazes, the green snake could only accept the somewhat dissatisfying name.
In the small testing field within the Twin Towers, both new rapid wood silkworms underwent more detailed testing.
Besides being smart, Scented Butterfly had an abundance of elemental power within it and knew a plant-type spell—Rejuvenation Technique, which had two effects: healing and plant growth.
Ivan also discovered that Scented Butterfly had a certain capacity for learning spells, limited to the plant-type, but it couldn’t directly learn the spells of apprentices and sorcerers. It couldn’t construct a magic model, only slowly deciphering in its own way.
Based on the attribute data panel, Scented Butterfly’s body statistics should be strength 6.6, agility 7.8, and body constitution 6.9, outperforming the other Level 1 rapid wood silkworms by quite a bit.
Wind Moth: Strength 7.5, Agility 8.3, Body Constitution 8.2.
In terms of physical strength, the Wind Moth completely outperforms the Scented Butterfly.
Through testing, it was found that the Wind Moth can control the wind and can release a type of illusionary dust toxin which has a certain level of contamination on spiritual power, limited to apprentices.
It can also grow significantly larger, with a maximum body length extending to about 15 meters, filling up a small test field, but it cannot further shrink its original form.
Clearly, the Wind Moth had inherited quite a bit of power from Toyennes and Lahr.
Strength: 6.1, Agility: 7.5, Body Constitution: 6.6, Spirit: 25.8
Ivan glanced at his own data, seeing a slight increase compared to when he had just advanced to being a sorcerer. Compared to the butterfly and moth, except for spiritual power, he was completely outmatched.
Progressing methodically in his cultivation was less effective than the transformation undergone by the two rapid wood silkworms in a single molt; it can only be said that the ways of the world are unpredictable.
While he was reflecting on this, the cry of the Silkworm Queen attracted his attention.
“Ning Ning.”
“Mother says she wants to show you a new ability,” Scented Butterfly translated preemptively.
Over these days, the Scented Butterfly and Wind Moth had become the followers of the Silkworm Queen, looking like her protectors on both sides.
“Let’s wait and see,” Ivan, of course, understood the Silkworm Queen’s meaning but was happy to listen to the translation.
“I’ll cooperate,” the Wind Moth stepped forward before anyone else.
“Whatever,” Scented Butterfly did not bother to move.
“Hehe, Sorcerer Ivan, watch closely.”
The Silkworm Queen used the ‘Power of Crowd Control,’ fusing with three rapid wood silkworms, then merged into the Wind Moth. The next second, the Wind Moth transformed into a green pigeon, perhaps due to inexperience, the wings of the pigeon carried quite a few grey feathers.
Ivan realized this was another use for the Power of Crowd Control; the Silkworm Queen’s ability could actually be further developed.
“Not bad at all, you’ve been working hard these days.”
“I helped Mother develop it,” Scented Butterfly timely added. “Also, Mother wants to visit that place again.”
“No.”
Ivan knew the Silkworm Queen meant the cave near Lake Nichols and refused without a second thought, not the first time he had done so.
About that eerie place, he had asked Randall.
Randall’s answer was, you are already a sorcerer, weigh your decisions for yourself, you don’t need to ask me.
After much thought, Ivan had no plans to go there anytime soon; the place was too bizarre, and he didn’t want to be confusedly trapped there, even if the Silkworm Queen pleaded repeatedly to visit, he never relented.
…
The sorcerer living area.
Wolban was walking to his mentor’s residence when he came across several apprentices transporting carts of wood and couldn’t help but take a second glance.
“Wolban, long time no see,” someone recognized him and hailed from a distance.
“Barne, are you helping someone build a house?” Wolban casually asked. It was rare for such materials to be transported within the academy.
“This is mulberry wood. A sorcerer named ‘Ivan’ posted a task that needs to be delivered to the Twin Towers,” Barne hesitated before revealing the purpose of their trip.
Who?
Wolban was stunned, as the name was all too familiar.
“Wolban, we’re heading out now.”
“Okay.”
Watching the convoy move away, Wolban recounted the names of sorcerers he knew; not one of them bore that name.
Sometime later, he entered a steeple and met his mentor Andaya.
“Mentor, Ivan might have become an official sorcerer.”
“That 3rd Class talent apprentice from the Enchantment Group?”
“That’s right, a sorcerer with that same name has issued a task. I think it’s unlikely to be a coincidence.”
Hearing Wolban’s words, Andaya too couldn’t think of a sorcerer by that name and immediately used a Secret Method Seal to inquire.
Andaya was not just a sorcerer but also one of the stewards of the Hunting Team. It was easy for her to glean information, and she quickly confirmed the truthfulness of the news.
“The news is true,” Andaya said after a long silence, “it happened just over twenty days ago.”
“Ivan truly is a talented and capable person,” Wolban said with a complex tone. He suddenly remembered the mentor saying they should test Ivan’s resolve and felt that he might not need much time. Indeed, things turned out just as he had surmised.
No, even quicker than he had anticipated.
Sorcerer Ivan had always been someone full of surprises, and the mentor had undoubtedly miscalculated this time.
Wolban felt a sense of urgency. Even someone who started attending the academy much later than himself had become a sorcerer; he couldn’t allow himself to fall too far behind when his own talents were not lacking either.