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Chapter 262: Taylors Tames a Sprite
🕑 Added 2024-09-29 08:04:37 +0000 UTCIn the cold twilight, Rhett and his group halted their steps, surrounded by darkness. The swaying dead branches in the wind created an eerie and terrifying atmosphere. At this moment, they found themselves lost.
“This damned map must be several years old; the writing is so faded you can’t even tell where Shadow Water Lake is,” Rhett said helplessly, tugging at an old, yellowed map.
Then, he subtly gave Tuck a meaningful glance.
Tuck caught on immediately, his mind recalling the lines they had rehearsed. According to the prank Rhett had secretly planned with him earlier, Tuck glanced at Taylors without giving anything away and said, “Maybe these paths merge after a while? How about we split up and walk for a bit? If we haven’t found anything in half an hour, we’ll meet back here.”
Rhett nodded in agreement, saying slowly, “Hmm… Let’s give it a try. I’ll take Taylors and Dick down one path, and Tuck, you go down the other.”
“No problem.” Tuck agreed, though his gaze was somewhat unnatural as he looked at the fork.
“Tuck, don’t go getting scared out of your wits!” Taylors said with a smirk, unaware of the prank.
“Hmph, a real man fears nothing!” Tuck retorted before strutting confidently toward the center path.
“Let’s get moving as well,” Rhett said, leading Taylors down the right path.
A short while later, Taylors, holding Dick’s hand, followed Rhett to the end of the path.
Before them, the scene was one of thickly intertwined trees and dense clusters of shrubs.
Taylors smacked his forehead in frustration. “Damn, it’s a dead end. That leaves only two paths, which means Tuck probably took the right one.”
He turned to Rhett and added, “Father, do you think Tuck might get so caught up admiring the scenery at Shadow Water Lake that he forgets to come back?”
“Hmm… You might be right,” Rhett said thoughtfully, nodding. “In that case, we should hurry back and try another path.”
“Definitely! We can’t let Tuck have all the fun!” Taylors laughed.
The three quickly retraced their steps. When they returned to the fork, it was indeed empty—no sign of Tuck.
Taylors narrowed his eyes in surprise and raised his voice, saying, “Wow, I guess I was right—Tuck really forgot to come back!”
He turned to brag to his father but then hesitated as a more mature thought crossed his mind. He frowned and lowered his voice. “Could Tuck have run into trouble? But we’re already out of the deeper regions; there shouldn’t be many mid-level beasts around…”
Rhett squinted, his tone tense. “Don’t overthink it—let’s catch up to him quickly!”
A hint of worry flashed in Taylors’ eyes as he hurried after his father.
The three of them moved through the pitch-black path, with Rhett’s gathered light elements providing just enough brightness to keep the way ahead visible.
Gradually, the path seemed to widen, the trees thinned out, and the space around them became less dark. The view ahead started to open up, and it seemed less ominous.
“I can feel the cool air and a strong presence of water elements—Shadow Water Lake is just ahead!” Taylors exclaimed in delight.
But his joy was short-lived. Something appeared in his line of sight, lying at the end of the path.
As the starlight dimly illuminated the distant ground, patches of blood began to appear, along with familiar clothing and scattered chunks of flesh.
“That’s… what Tuck was wearing earlier!”
Rhett seemed utterly shocked, as if struck by a heavy blow. He stared blankly at the ground ahead, appearing lost.
“Oh, no!” Taylors’ eyes widened, his breath catching as he covered his mouth with one hand.
“No, Tuck!”
Taylors’ eyes welled up as he sprinted forward. His mind was in a haze—he couldn’t believe his brother was dead.
“This can’t be happening… Tuck, you were just off enjoying the view by yourself. I didn’t even get the chance to scold you, and now you’re gone…” Taylors muttered, filled with overwhelming sorrow as he knelt beside what he thought were his brother’s remains.
Even Dick, the little guy, believed it was real. He jumped down from Fireclaw’s back, staring ahead with tear-filled eyes and wailing loudly.
Rhett, maintaining his composure to avoid revealing the prank, also feigned disbelief, his expression one of deep grief.
A few minutes later.
The lake water rippled, sending waves outward as a large, dark snake broke through the surface, splashing water everywhere. It reared up, hissing ferociously, and a foul stench filled the air.
Taylors looked up sharply, his eyes bloodshot as he sensed the powerful presence a hundred meters away. He roared in anger, “It was you! You must have killed Tuck!”
Rhett also radiated a killing intent as he slowly walked forward.
Inwardly, however, he was growing impatient. “Come on, sprite… When are you going to show up? How long are you going to drag this out?”
As if in response to his unspoken plea, the surrounding light suddenly vanished, even the light elements Rhett had gathered extinguished simultaneously.
The world plunged into darkness so deep you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.
Dick called out in distress, and Fireclaw and Taylors were equally confused, unsure of what was happening.
In the next moment, in a corner unseen by anyone, a shadow that blended with the darkness and bore tiny wings descended from the sky and entered Taylors’ body. He let out a muffled groan and collapsed to the ground.
Rhett, not wasting the cover of darkness, took action against the beast in the water.
With just one spike, infused with arcane power, he pierced it from head to tail!
A tragic wail echoed in the dark, accompanied by the sound of splashing water. The giant serpent had barely shown itself before losing its life.
The thick darkness that had come so quickly also dissipated rapidly. The process of the sprite bonding with Taylors lasted only a moment, and Rhett, having experienced it twice before, was quite familiar with it.
As the surroundings regained a faint light, Rhett noticed that Taylors had fallen asleep.
At that moment, rustling sounds came from a nearby bush, and Tuck’s large head emerged as he looked around in shock. “Father, what happened to Taylors? And what just happened? The world suddenly went dark—even my battle aura couldn’t shine through.”
Rhett furrowed his brow, hesitating slightly before saying, “Based on my past experiences, it seems that Taylors… has been recognized by a sprite…”
“What? A sprite?” Tuck’s voice rose in pitch, his shock growing. “You mean a simple prank ended up with such a big reward? Father, why didn’t you let Taylors prank me? I want a sprite too!”
“Father, Father…” Dick whimpered, clinging to Tuck’s leg, his tears soaking Tuck’s pants as he sobbed.
“Oh, little Dick, your father’s fine. We were just playing a joke on you and your Uncle Taylors!” Tuck’s expression softened as he realized what had happened. Feeling the weak grip on his leg, he knelt down to comfort Dick, giving him a couple of kisses on the cheek.
“It looks like it’s a dark-type sprite. Even if it were you, you might not have been able to attract it,” Rhett said, shaking his head. “But this is just my guess—we’ll have to wait until Taylors wakes up to be sure.”
Tuck, calming down, realized that Taylors had simply been lucky. If it had been him, he likely wouldn’t have been able to claim the sprite. He sighed and patted Dick’s head.
When Taylors finally woke up, he found himself surrounded by his father, Tuck, Dick, and Fireclaw.
He blinked. “Father, what happened? I think I passed out.”
Then, he noticed a familiar face and stared at it for two seconds before shouting in disbelief, “Tuck? You’re still alive! But just now you were…”
“Ahem, Taylors, calm down. Let me explain—it was just a prank that Father and I set up…” Tuck admitted, his face turning red.
Taylors blinked, then let out a breath of relief. At least no one had really died. But soon, frustration set in, and he muttered, “Damn, I can’t believe I fell for a prank! I’m the one who usually pulls pranks! I can’t forgive myself!”
“Stop complaining. Instead, why don’t you check for any changes in your body?” Rhett suggested with a sidelong glance. “Based on my experience, I think a sprite might have bonded with you.”
“I’ve tamed a sprite?!” Taylors froze in disbelief. He quickly closed his eyes, sensing the changes in his mind.
Suddenly, his expression shifted dramatically, and he said urgently, “This is strange—why is my mental power surging? Wait, I think I’m about to break through!”
Both Rhett and Tuck were astonished, with Rhett immediately saying, “Then focus on your breakthrough—we can talk about everything else afterward!”
Tuck was dumbfounded, his eyes tinged with envy but mostly filled with joy for his brother’s fortune.
Not long after, Rhett’s vision filled with a light screen, and a smile spread across his face.
[Family member’s power has advanced. +5 Fate Points]
At that moment, Taylors opened his eyes, feeling the surge of mental power within him. He met the gazes of his father and Tuck, his eyes brimming with excitement.
“It seems to be true. There’s now a very subtle connection in my mind. It seems very adept at hiding, but I can clearly sense its presence and… its general abilities.”
“What abilities? It must have helped you break through! It sounds a lot like Rilai’s snow sprite,” Tuck murmured curiously.
“Hmm, there are some similarities, but there are also significant differences,” Taylors mused. “It can bless dark-type magical plants and beasts. Additionally, it can obscure light. Finally, there’s one more thing—it can devour others and convert their mental power into mine…”
As soon as he finished speaking, Tuck urgently exclaimed, “It can devour others’ mental power? That’s too dangerous! You can’t let others find out about this, Taylors.”
“Obviously. Do you think I’m stupid?” Taylors rolled his eyes.
Rhett narrowed his eyes in thought, something clicking in his mind. He asked, “How does this sprite devour mental power? Can you demonstrate with that magical beast over there?”
Taylors looked at the corpse lying in a pool of blood, hesitating before nodding. He, too, was curious about this ability.
After a moment of communication, a small, bat-like shadow appeared but remained in the air for only a few seconds before returning to Taylors’ body.
Taylors frowned in confusion, feeling embarrassed. He didn’t understand what had happened.
“What’s going on? Can it not devour magical beasts? Or is it limited to humans?” Rhett’s brows knitted in concern. If that were the case, it would be problematic—he couldn’t allow Taylors to continuously hunt down people for his cultivation.
“I’m not sure… The sprite’s message was vague, but it seems that it definitely can’t target corpses!” Taylors pondered aloud.
So, it couldn’t target corpses, which made things even more complicated… Rhett thought, wondering, Does this mean they’ll need to capture living people for Taylors to devour?
At this moment, his thoughts were still influenced by the effects of the Blood Origin Bead and the Artifact Shard, making him instinctively think of violent consumption and feedback.
After a moment, he led the group on a sweep through the forest and found a second-tier Light-Eyed Wolf.
“Try it again,” Rhett said, tossing the heavily wounded, incapacitated wolf in front of Taylors.
Taylors nodded and released the bat-like sprite again, but the result was the same as before. The sprite did nothing and quickly returned to his body.
“Maybe it can’t target magical beasts?” Taylors suggested, puzzled.
Rhett’s expression darkened as his suspicion was confirmed. “But if it can’t target magical beasts, does that mean you’ll have to hunt people for your cultivation?”
The atmosphere grew tense, with no one speaking.
At that moment, little Dick, despite being unusually strong for his age, was still only five years old. After a long day of fatigue and now late into the night, he had fallen asleep on Fireclaw’s back. His soft, unconscious murmurs broke the silence.
Seeing his grandson’s peaceful, sleeping face, with a slight smile as if he was having a pleasant dream, Rhett had an idea. He said to Taylors, “Try calling out the sprite again, and place it near Dick. Let’s see if anything unusual happens!”
“Understood!” Taylors responded, summoning the bat-like sprite once more.
The sprite, small and thin, about the size of a human head, flew straight toward the sleeping Dick.
Immediately, Taylors’ face changed drastically, and without needing a prompt from Rhett, he quickly recalled the sprite.
“What’s going on?” Tuck asked in surprise, pulling Dick into his arms. “Does this sinister sprite only target children?”
“No,” Rhett shook his head, stroking his chin thoughtfully as if recalling something. He then said, “Do you remember three days ago, when we left the deeper regions and encountered those adventurers? They mentioned some strange phenomena…”
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