Arnott looked around for a moment, then examined the terrain layout of the green plain below before hesitantly saying, "I feel like I’ve been here before."
"You’ve been here? Were there other wind creatures here at that time?" Angel asked.
"I, I..." Arnott hung his head, his voice growing weaker, "I don’t remember either."
Angel: "...You don’t remember?"
"I was just focused on finding my sister before, and didn’t pay attention to my surroundings at all." Arnott seemed to find a reason, and his tone became a bit more justified: "Besides, they like to make fun of me, so I don’t want to bother with them."
In short, Arnott’s mind had been entirely focused on chasing Salmado, with no room for other distractions.
Angel couldn’t afford to be too harsh, otherwise, he would start crying again, and Angel didn’t want to have to comfort him.
Angel: "Then try sensing it now, is there anything unusual around here?"
Upon hearing this, Arnott opened his mouth and took a deep breath, inhaling the floating wind elements nearby like a cloud of smoke into his stomach.
After swallowing the surrounding wind elements, Arnott smacked his lips, as if savoring the taste.
"There are many similar auras around; judging from the residual information in the auras, they must be mature kindred. However, their auras have become very thin, so they should have left long ago." Arnott said as he sensed the wind elements he had inhaled.
"So, there are no wind creatures around here?"
This time, Arnott didn’t answer assertively. After hesitating for a moment, he manifested two translucent little hands and pointed in a direction below the clouds: "Over there, I sensed a faint trace of kindred movement, but it seems a bit weak."
Upon hearing this, Angel flew without hesitation towards the direction Arnott pointed.
Once inside the clouds, he was surrounded by fog mixed with refreshing moisture, and his range of vision began to drop rapidly, as gusts of wind continuously howled past his ears.
In this place where wind elements were dense, it was not easy to find elemental creatures that could conceal themselves in the wind.
However, with Arnott’s guidance, it was no longer a difficult task.
Two minutes later, Angel arrived at a cloud-filled realm, where according to Arnott, the aura he sensed was nearby.
Walking through the void as if on solid ground, Angel slowly moved through the fog.
After taking about twenty steps, Arnott pointed to a spot: "Over there, I see it!"
Angel immediately turned to look.
The place Arnott pointed to was filled with clouds of varying density, making it difficult to detect the wind creature inside without careful observation.
It was a white dove whose body had nearly become part of the mist; it didn’t conceal its movements but was completely camouflaged by the surrounding clouds.
The dove stood with its eyes closed on a natural cloud platform, resembling a statue.
Judging from its size and energy fluctuations, the dove hadn’t reached maturity and should be an elemental sprite.
"It looks like it’s sleeping?" Angel asked.
"Not looks like; it is sleeping." Arnott paused: "Can I get a little closer?"
Angel nodded, and as they moved towards the sleeping dove, when they were about three meters away, the dove suddenly opened its eyes.
The pure white pupils appeared initially disoriented but then shifted to a big question mark upon seeing Angel approach.
Angel was about to say something when Arnott said, "Let me try to communicate with it."
With that, Arnott started conversing with the awoken dove, asking questions like who it was and why there were no elemental creatures nearby.
But the dove didn’t respond at all, remaining full of innocent bewilderment.
Initially, the dove was drawn to Arnott’s voice, but soon its gaze was entirely captivated by Toby on Angel’s shoulder, tilting its head for a closer look.
Toby also tilted his head, signaling with his eyes: What are you staring at?
The dove didn’t sense Toby’s aura at all. After staring for a while, it squinted its eyes as if smiling. Suddenly, it spread its wings and dashed towards Toby with a gust of wind.
The dove targeted Toby, who, not understanding what was happening, could only flap his wings to dodge the dove’s pounce.
The dove seemed to be playing a game with Toby, fluttering around for another attempt.
A chase and dodge ensued, as if they were playing around.
Angel glanced at Arnott, asking with his eyes what was going on.
Arnott looked dejected: "Its spirit intelligence is still low, not at a level where it can communicate with me. However, it doesn’t seem malicious; it’s probably curious because the bird on your shoulder looks similar to itself."
Angel also sensed that the dove was not hostile; otherwise, he would have already driven it away.
Having finally discovered an elemental creature, only to find it was an undeveloped sprite, Angel could only sigh helplessly.
Since he couldn’t get any information, the next thing to consider was how to handle the current situation.
Should he drive this dove away? Or should he, as in the Baya Desert before, take these little sprites to see The Sage? After all, elemental sprites are important to elemental creatures in various territories... huh?!
As Angel pondered how to handle the dove, he suddenly realized something.
"Elemental sprites are very important to Wind Island, right?" Angel looked at Arnott.
Arnott tilted his head, muttering: "Who knows. I’m not important anyway."
Seeing Angel still watching him, Arnott, after a moment, continued: "But I remember Gentle Wind Lord mentioned that if a newly born elemental sprite is found outside and there are no other elemental creatures to care for it, it should be brought back to Wind Island."
Angel’s eyes flashed with understanding: So it was indeed the case. Elemental sprites are highly valued, akin to newborns in the human world, requiring care and protection.
Angel believed that this dove must have stayed nearby for a long time. Previously, it must have been cared for by the local elemental creatures, much like Salmado took care of Arnott, otherwise, Gentle Wind Uranus would have already ordered the dove to return to Wind Island.