Kelonkcro came over only after the last wave of minions had left, compared to its initial appearance, its size had halved. With slender legs and a large flaming tuft atop its head, it barely reached Angel’s knee when standing upright.
This was a far cry from the half-human-sized Kelonkcro of before, much smaller.
While Angel was appraising Kelonkcro, Kelonkcro was the first to report on the tasks of the past few days:
"Sir... Sir, I, I have already... completed Dan... Dan Dangross’s task. All, all the minions have... arrived."
Kelonkcro struggled to speak, but the more urgently it wanted to finish, the more it stammered. A simple sentence dragged on for quite some time.
After listening to Kelonkcro, Angel cast a suspicious look at Faespanneri.
The latter whispered, "Kelonkcro has a slight stutter."
Upon hearing Faespanneri mention its stutter, the flames on Kelonkcro became more vivid, unsure where to look, it sheepishly lowered its head.
Angel nodded, saying nothing, but felt slightly regretful inside. A stutter isn’t a major issue, but if Kelonkcro could indeed be persuaded, communication would be necessary for future cross-element practice, and if Kelonkcro couldn’t speak clearly then, it might cause a bit of frustration.
Nonetheless, it was only a minor flaw, not impossible to overcome.
Moreover, Kelonkcro already had intelligence and could communicate with the outside world in its sprite phase, far better than other clueless elemental sprites. Perhaps once it matured, the stutter would disappear.
Thus, Angel didn’t dwell too much on the stutter, especially since it was too soon to ponder an unpredictable future.
Angel gazed at Kelonkcro with a mischievous smile, pondering how to persuade it.
"You’ve done a great job on your task. I’ve witnessed many intriguing fire element talents, which were eye-opening. But speaking of which, I’m actually very interested in your talent as well." Angel stared intently at Kelonkcro.
Kelonkcro became a bit nervous, eager to explain: "My, my talent... is, is somewhat..."
Angel soothed its anxiety: "I understand. I’ve seen your talent before—it’s similar to an elemental explosion ability."
Kelonkcro nodded, swallowing back unspoken words.
"I’m really curious how, after an elemental explosion, you’re able to re-coalesce spirit intelligence and return to being whole. There must be an extraordinary process involved. Could you tell me about it?"
Kelonkcro didn’t know how to respond, as it felt that truly understanding would require experiencing an explosion itself, but currently it couldn’t self-explode.
Angel seemed to discern Kelonkcro’s thoughts and said, "Dangross told me about your current situation, rest assured I won’t ask for an explosion. You can just tell me the process."
Kelonkcro: "But, but I speak..."
"No problem, we can communicate slowly, there’s no rush, right?" Angel said with a smile, "Why don’t you stay here? We can have a good conversation. It’s a bit cold; do you need help adjusting the environment?"
Kelonkcro instinctively responded to Angel’s inquiry: "No need."
Angel: "Then it’s settled."
Settled what? Did I agree?
While Kelonkcro was still in a daze, Angel turned to Faespanneri by his side: "Leaving it here shouldn’t be a problem, right?"
Faespanneri’s gaze was calm yet profound; it glanced at Kelonkcro, seemingly aware of Angel’s intention.
After a moment of silence, it spoke: "Fine. However, Kelonkcro is still in its restoration phase. It’s best to send it back to Teacher Magu in the evening to rest. The environment here is not suitable for Kelonkcro’s restoration."
Angel nodded with a smile: "Alright."
In its bewilderment, Kelonkcro remained in the Illusionary Realm cottage while Faespanneri cast a deep glance at Angel, turned elegantly, and left.
Angel led Kelonkcro into the cottage and started exchanging ideas with it with a smile.
Though Kelonkcro spoke with a stutter, as long as they took their time, communication could still proceed. Their discussion centered around Kelonkcro’s explosive talent.
Angel wasn’t lying; he was genuinely intrigued by this talent. In the immensely powerful explosion, how exactly did Kelonkcro retain its core consciousness?
Besides discussing talents, Angel also brought up topics from the human world, occasionally mentioning the light and beauty of the outside world and hinting at more expansive and peculiar pan-dimensional situations.
These topics were naturally to spark Kelonkcro’s yearning for the outside world, but... with its whole body engulfed in flames, its emotions were hard to discern.
The day passed just like that, and as twilight began to approach, Angel sent Kelonkcro by the Lava Lake and arranged a meeting time for the next day.
On the way back to the Iceflame Cave, Angel encountered Phoenix descending from the sky.
Phoenix came with fierce intent, filled with strong battle spirit, targeting Earl Mi.
Angel, however, didn’t want to engage in a pointless fight, tricking Phoenix into thinking Earl Mi was unwell and suggesting to fight later. Phoenix, unable to see Earl Mi, truly believed something was wrong and turned away somewhat despondent.
As for fighting Angel, Phoenix was aware that Angel had some confusing tricks, and if they fought, there’s no certainty about the outcome. Yet Phoenix didn’t want to fight Angel, preferring Earl Mi’s straightforward approach.
After sending Phoenix off, Angel felt a piercing sensation, as though someone locked their gaze on him.
Angel turned to look where the gaze came from, and saw, over the Lava Lake, a giant shadow slowly rising.
Eyes blazing with fire quietly observed Angel.
Angel recognized its identity, the Fire Giant... Duroche.
Duroche’s eyes carried a hint of hostility, yet it made no moves—just silently watched Angel.
But even this gaze carried sharp intensity.
Duroche’s power had grown stronger compared to the previous days, evidently benefiting greatly from the Elemental Tide.
Even Earl Mi, who was hidden in the shadows, began to alert Angel.
Angel understood clearly that, like Phoenix, Duroche probably wanted to settle scores with Earl Mi. Now, with Earl Mi hidden, they couldn’t attack.
After all, Angel was received by Demonic Fire Midir and Teacher Magu. Unless ordered by Demonic Fire Midir, they wouldn’t make a move against him.