Chapter 68: In the Lake

This was a lake hidden in a dense forest. The surface of the lake was bright and calm like a mirror, surrounded by tall and vigorous trees. The scenery was pleasant.

Hoo hoo!

At this moment, a gentle breeze blew over.

The surface of the lake rippled, and as the sun shone, the waves sparkled, as if countless gold had been deposited in the lake.

Along with the wind, pious prayers were heard:

“O great goddess of the lake, you are the master of the forest and the mother of the earth. Everyone knows of your benevolence. Please open your eyes and look at your servant, Griffin. Please bless him and bring him a glimmer of light in his dark life, so that this family can regain its former glory.”

It was a middle-aged man standing by the lake. He was wearing a pleated green jacket and gray-black stockings. Every wrinkle on his jacket could be seen to have been carefully tidied up, but the color of his clothes was a little faded.

He was a noble, but he was not rich. His family might have declined.

After a series of pious prayers, the man said to the only servant behind him, “Loyal Carmen, bring the sacrifice over.”

The servant handed over a sack. “Yes, Master Griffin, but are you sure you want to do this? We have no money, and Carmen is still hungry.”

The man said, “The goddess will bless us. When I find the Knights and restore the glory of the Griffin family, nothing is more important than this now.”

The servant sighed. “I hope we don’t starve to death before then.”

The man took the sack and poured the contents into the water. There were apples, bananas, roasted chicken, wine, and all kinds of delicacies.

Then, he prayed again and left with the servant.

The wind had stopped, and the surface of the lake returned to its mirror-like calm.

Heath came to the lakeside and took out a golden bell.

He held the bell and shook it gently.

Ding-ling!

The crisp sound of the bell spread into the distance.

After a moment of silence…

Gulp!

A light sound suddenly came from the lake.

Bubbles rose from the bottom of the lake.

Then…

Something slowly swam up from the clear bottom of the lake.

It was a beautiful girl with smooth and clean skin, big watery eyes, beautiful brown hair, and a little bit of playfulness on her pink cheeks. She was holding a red apple in her hand.

She surfaced and swam to the lakeside, lying on a piece of driftwood.

Kacha!

There was a clear sound.

She took a bite of the apple and looked at Heath. “New? Where’s Hodgson?”

This was a Lake Banshee. She was a demonized creature under the Banshee family. She was intelligent and mischievous. She liked to disguise herself as a young girl and liked to listen to stories. She often played tricks on travelers passing by.

They were very good at enchanting Wizard tools. Therefore, the qualified Wizards would raise one and ask them to help deal with the Wizard tools when they needed it.

Heath took out a bamboo basket and said, “Apprentice Hodgson has something to do. I’ve been ordered to deliver food to Lady Banshee. My name is Heath.”

As he spoke, he took out a bamboo basket from his dimensional pocket. Inside the basket were large white worms. These were Gold-Devouring Worms, a favorite food of the Lake Banshee. Moreover, eating them could increase their efficiency of enchantment.

“Heath?”

The Lake Banshee thought for a moment and suddenly asked, “Are you that black-haired Apprentice? The magic genius who led the army to defeat the Jed in Twilight Fortress?”

Heath said, “If you’re referring to the war not long ago, then I don’t think there’s a second Heath.”

The Lake Banshee’s big eyes lit up. “Ah! It’s really you!”

She looked a little emotional and swam around in the water. “Do you know? Everyone is talking about you now. Whether it’s Wizards or humans, I can hear about your deeds almost every day.”

Heath said, “The heat will soon go down.”

The Lake Banshee shook her head noncommittally and looked like a little fangirl. “Legends never fade.”

Heath really did not expect his reputation to spread so far.

However…

This was also a pleasant surprise. This way, things would be much easier to handle…

After thinking about it, Heath suddenly said, “Today, apart from bringing food to Lady Banshee, I also have some personal troubles and want to ask for Lady Banshee’s help.”

In addition to earning Magic Stones, this mission was also for this problem.

The Lake Banshee said straightforwardly, “Please say it. As long as it is within my ability, Cui Siqi is very willing to work for you.”

Heath nodded. “Cui Siqi, water fairy? It’s really a very appropriate name.”

Cui Siqi smiled. “You are the most knowledgeable apprentice I have ever seen. I am looking forward to what kind of difficulties can help you.”

“This trouble belongs to you.”

After pausing for a moment, Heath went straight to the point. “I have a Wizard relic that has a spiritual imprint that can’t be removed. I hope that I can borrow your Soul Gem to help remove the spiritual imprint on it. Is that okay?”

After coming down from the battlefield, Heath had started to deal with the spiritual imprint left on the Necromancer’s Scepter. However, no matter how hard he tried, he failed. His current strength was still too far away from the spiritual imprint of an official Wizard relic.

After he failed to deal with the spiritual imprint, Heath could only try to borrow external force. After looking through a lot of information, he quickly found a way, which was the Soul Gem.

This was a gem that was bred by the Lake Banshee. It was usually used as a supplementary material to make Wizard tools, but it had a very strong spiritual resistance. With it and the Wizard formation, it could effectively remove the spiritual imprint on the Wizard tool.

Cui Siqi suddenly cried out in surprise, “Ah!”

Heath asked in puzzlement, “What’s wrong?”

Cui Siqi said in a troubled manner, “I’m very sorry. You really came at a bad time. The last time Hodgson came, I already gave them to him. Why? Didn’t he tell you?”

Heath was stunned. He shook his head and said, “I didn’t meet with Apprentice Hodgson before I came here.”

Cui Siqi said, “Then can you wait? The next batch of Soul Gems will mature in three years. I will choose the best quality one for you.”

Heath frowned. “Is that so…”

There were only two years left before the trial of the Tower. It was obviously too late if he could only get the Soul Gem after three years.

Cui Siqi could not help but say, “If you are in a hurry, you might as well go to the city to take a look.”

“A few years ago, I threw away a defective piece. The human lord there happened to pass by and picked it up as a treasure. He was very excited at that time. I heard that he wanted to make it into the most beautiful jewelry in the world.”

“If it is only used to remove the spiritual brand, that defective piece is more than enough.”

Heath’s eyes lit up.

He quickly bowed to Cui Siqi. “Thank you very much for your help.”

As he spoke, he took out a bag of Magic Stones that he had prepared beforehand and handed it over.

Cui Siqi shook her head and smiled like a crescent moon. “It’s Cui Siqi’s honor to be able to help a legend like you. There’s no need for Magic Stones. There’s no use for me to stay in this lake and take Magic Stones.”

Heath hesitated.

This was not in line with the principle of equal exchange between Wizards.

Seeing that he still wanted to say something, Cui Siqi had already dragged the sack and swam away. “Alright, go deal with your business. There’s still time in the future. There will be plenty of opportunities to repay me in the future.”

Seeing that, Heath did not say anything else. He bowed again and turned to leave.