After agreeing to the offer, Silva left Emery at the Spectrum Garden, so that he could assist the old man with his research. However, just as Emery was about to ask how exactly he would help the old man, the latter called his little army of a dozen wooden figures.
Kuang! Kuang! Kuang!
Constant, rhythmic sounds of the wooden figures walking over resounded in the air.
Emery watched, still in awe, as the dozen figures stopped and lined up in front of him in an orderly manner.
Then all of a sudden, Emery could feel dozens of stares thrown in his direction. Coupled with the old man's words that said he would start with taking a sample of his blood, this certainly unnerved and somehow gave him goosebumps.
Kuang! Kuang! Kuang!
Several transparent tubes were inserted into Emery's body by the army of wooden figures. He could see red liquid flowing through them as his blood was drained. It was only at this moment, when his blood was being drained, did Emery realize he never asked the old man how much blood he actually needed for the research.
For a moment, Emery couldn't help but feel a sense of dread.
After taking a few vials worth of blood and giving them a further inspection, the old man suddenly spoke. "Young man, you have such an amazing regenerative cell. This is great."
He then turned to Emery, beamed a smile, "Young man, you wouldn't mind if I took a few more, won't you?"
Emery couldn't help but feel more goosebumps due to how warm the other party's smile was. Therefore, he stuttered as he spoke his question.
"Erm… how much more exactly do you need..?"
Before the old man even answered the question, the little army of wooden figures already turned their attention towards him again and Emery could vividly feel the determination radiating from their small figures.
Kuang! Kuang! Kuang!
After an hour of multiple pokes on various parts of his body and being drained of blood as if there was no tomorrow, the devilish army of little wooden figures finally let go of Emery and left him alone.
Emery watched as the old man gave various instructions to his little assistants, before turning to him and opened his mouth. "It will take hours before we need the anchor of your blood. So in the meantime, as promised, tell me anything that you want to learn from me."
Emery's thoughts began to whirr into action when he heard those words. To be honest, he was very fascinated and very much willing to learn more about the Metamorph Project the old man did. Understanding that his gene was also a mutation further convinced him of how important the project would be for him.
Therefore, he turned towards one of the little wooden figures and said,
"Will you teach me how to make them, Senior?"
The old man smiled, as if he had expected the request.
"So you're interested, aren't you?"
There was a slight pause, before he continued to speak, "You may have the talent, but I'm going to directly break it up for you and say it is an almost impossible task with the cultivation you currently have. This is especially so, considering the limited amount of time you have. So, are you sure you still want to learn it?"
"Yes, Senior." Determination could be seen on Emery's face. "Please teach me."
Hearing that, the old man took out another similar seed as before and threw it to Emery, "Alright then. Let's see if you can succeed in the first step."
When Emery caught the seed and held it in his hand, the voice of the old man was heard again. "First, try to enhance its growth so that the seed turns into a sapling."
After saying those words, the old man turned and walked away, presumably to check on his research. His attitude clearly showed he didn't seem to believe Emery would succeed, at least not any time soon.
Meanwhile, contrary to the pessimistic view the old man adopted, Emery himself was feeling confident he could do the first step easily. After all, he had already mastered the required spell, a tier one spell named [Accel Growth], three years ago.
However, instead of the expected sight of cracks appearing and small leaves popping out, nothing happened when Emery cast the spell. The seed just continued lying in his hand silently.
Seeing there was no reaction whatsoever, Emery quickly used his apothecary skill.
[Analyze]
[? – Tier ?]
No information was received. To receive information, you require rank 3 [Analyze] skill along with rank 3 [Universal Flora Knowledge].
It was only when Emery saw the analysis of the seed did he realize why his [Accel Growth] posed no effect to the seed.
It wasn't a surprise actually, after all the unidentified result that Emery's [Analyze] got meant the seed was at least a tier 5 item. A category that needed an advanced spell, a minimum of tier 5, which Emery was still unable to cast.
However, Emery would not give up that easily. He focused all of the spirit energy of his nature core and guided it towards the seed in hopes he would be able to create a connection with it, though it might be a slow and gradual process.
Emery was so focused on his endeavor that he didn't even realize six hours had passed on the outside world. The only reason he awakened from his trance-like state was because of a ruckus of sounds occurring around him.
Kuang! Kuang! Kuang!
The small army of devilish wooden figures made their return as they came from another round of his blood. The sound they made as they walked towards him completely took away his concentration.
"Arrrghh!" Emery could only groan in frustration, as he let the small figures take his blood again.
When they finished and left as quickly as they came, it took Emery a few minutes to get back to his former state. He found himself closing his eyes and using his Spirit Reading, Emery once again probed the seed.
Slowly but surely, he felt the hidden yet boisterous energy within the seed. Numerous small green root-like spirit energy came out of Emery's palm, just like when he activated his [Nature Blessing] to heal people, and made their way towards the seed. It was at this moment Emery finally felt a connection.
Crack!
Cracks began to appear on the surface of the seed. Moments later a small leaf showed itself to the world. Emery was overjoyed when he realized this, but quickly reigned down the excitement as he knew this was only his first small step to success.
It took a full hour of continuous casting of the spell, before the seed finally turned into a full-fledged sapling.
When Emery opened his eyes, he found that the old man was already standing in front of him with an interested smile on his face.
"Impressive, what kind of spell did you just use?
"It's a spell I learned when I spent my time on my planet, Senior."
Emery could clearly see the surprise on the old man's face, when the latter heard his answer. He then proceeded to ask more about his planet. When he learned that Earth was only a lower realm planet, he suddenly said something that confused and also shocked Emery.
"Are you sure you learned it on your planet? The spell has definitely been invented by a higher being. It's a pretty good one, I must say. It should be rank A spell or at least rank B."
Emery was taken aback. "Rank A spell?"
The old man chuckled when he realized Emery had no idea how valuable his spell was.
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