Chapter 27 – Eggs Must Be Hatched

The old man squinted his eyes: “This old man is going back to sleep. Little girl, go and close the curtains—you two boys, you can think about it for a while…”

After saying this, the old man really closed his eyes, looking as if he was leisurely waiting for a response.

Haitie pulled down the heavy curtains, and the room returned to its original dimness, much to the disappointment of Daniel, who had been eagerly examining the items in the cabinet. He leaned over to Lin Wei and Duan Yu, whispering, “This is a good deal! I don’t think the old man has much longer to live, and when he’s gone, all the good stuff here…”

Lin Wei, for once, extended his spiritual power to observe the old man, who remained motionless with his eyes closed. He saw a swirling vortex of gray elements surrounding the old man, almost filling the entire room.

Lin Wei asked Duan Yu, “What do you think of this old man? Is he an Archmage?”

Duan Yu, whose cultivation level was currently the highest among them and who came from a magical family, should have a better eye for this than Lin Wei.

“He’s not an Archmage,” Duan Yu’s fingers lightly brushed over the smooth, lustrous white box, his voice calm. “He’s even higher than that.”

Daniel exclaimed in surprise, “Higher than that? What does that mean?”

Duan Yu shook his head, “I can’t explain it clearly, but it’s different from an Archmage.”

In Lin Wei’s understanding, as well as in all the records he had read, an Archmage was already the pinnacle of strength. According to Duan Yu’s words, the old man’s strength could only be higher.

And judging by the size and shape of the weapon Duan Yu had carried in his previous life, it was almost certainly the item in the box… If that was the case, then Duan Yu from that time had also come here and agreed to the gray-robed old man’s request. Could the terrifying speed at which his strength increased, aside from his exceptional talent, also have something to do with this old man?

Moreover, if this old man’s strength had already surpassed that of an Archmage, taking on two young Mages as students didn’t seem like he had any ulterior motives.

The old man’s age was a mystery, and his strength was unfathomable. Although he looked like he could collapse at any moment, he might outlive both of them. While inheriting the shop’s items might not be a sure thing, having such a teacher would be a huge benefit—a powerful teacher was something every Mage dreamed of.

A calculating smile, one that Daniel was very familiar with, appeared on Lin Wei’s face.

He asked Duan Yu, “What do you think?”

“We can agree.”

“Then…” Daniel asked, “Which one of you will go?”

“Idiot!” Lin Wei threw out a succinct sentence, then turned and pulled Duan Yu toward the soft chair where the old man was lying.

“Wait… why am I the idiot?” Daniel stomped his feet in place.

Haitie patted his shoulder comfortingly, “Didn’t you hear Duan Yu say ‘we’ just now? I think they never even considered the question of who would go.”

By the counter, the old man lazily lifted his eyelids, “Made up your minds?”

Lin Wei called out, “Teacher.”

The old man didn’t move.

Until Duan Yu also called out, “Teacher.”

The old man glanced at them, “Not bad, you’re smart.”

Lin Wei smiled and bargained, “Teacher, originally you only wanted one student, but now you have two. Shouldn’t our price be higher…”

“Tsk,” the old man waved his hand, “Sly brat, this old man will make an exception and let you take one more thing.”

Lin Wei had only wanted to try his luck, but he didn’t expect the old man to agree so readily. “Thank you, teacher!”

With that, he turned to head toward the cabinet.

“Wait!” The old man glared at him, “The other boy, you go and pick.”

Seeing that Lin Wei hadn’t succeeded, Daniel laughed heartily.

Lin Wei: “…”

However, Lin Wei immediately noticed Duan Yu subtly moving closer to him. He caught on and pulled over Duan Yu’s right hand, quickly drawing a circle on his palm.

—Then, satisfied, he watched as Duan Yu walked to the corner where the Magical Beast egg he had been eyeing was placed. Duan Yu placed his hand on the largest one and said, “This one.”

The old man waved his hand helplessly, “Take it.”

Lin Wei happily walked over to the corner, only to realize that he couldn’t lift the enormous Magical Beast egg—even if he could, the posture would be extremely awkward.

Moreover, Space Rings couldn’t hold living things—yes, even eggs were no exception. This was for the same reason as the 30th Iron Law, which prohibited any attempts at spatial displacement involving oneself. You couldn’t guarantee that a living thing would survive after entering the ring.

Lin Wei thought for a moment, then carefully laid the egg, which had been leaning against the wall, flat on the ground and rolled it all the way to the shop entrance.

Haitie and Daniel, who had witnessed this scene: “…”

The thought of having to embarrassingly roll this giant egg around the streets after leaving the shop made them want to distance themselves from Lin Wei…

But at least one thing was worth being grateful for: this was the Magic World. If they were to do something so bizarre in the Imperial Capital, they might be arrested by the Imperial Knights patrolling the streets!

Meanwhile, the old man snorted and muttered to himself, “You didn’t listen to this old man, so you brought this on yourself…”

Lin Wei put on a respectful expression and stood by the old man, “Dear teacher, is there anything else you need us to do?”

The old man felt that taking on such a student would shorten his lifespan by a few more years.

He growled, “Your teacher needs to sleep, you can leave—come find me here tomorrow morning.”

After bidding farewell to the old man, the group slowly walked down the street. Lin Wei was at the front, rolling his beloved, finally-acquired Magical Beast egg. However, along the way, the poor egg inevitably hit a few small stones on the road, leaving faint white scratches on its thick shell, which made Lin Wei very distressed—this egg held his future Magical Beast companion! And judging by the size of the egg, it was bound to be a powerful, majestic high-level Magical Beast, possibly even a flying one!

Since the egg was quite a hindrance, the four decided to find an inn in the Floating Sky Capital to leave the egg before making further plans.

There was only one inn in the Floating Sky Capital, and it was quite unique.

The inn was made up of a giant tree, with rope ladders winding around its trunk. Countless green rooms, seemingly woven from vines, hung from the branches, some swaying slightly in the wind. The canopy was layered with lush greenery, and faint points of light floated around the tree. The shade of the giant tree was very quiet, like a green dream, as if at any moment, an elf with pointed ears and transparent wings from ancient legends might fly out of the treehouse.

Unfortunately, what flew out wasn’t an elf, but a Wind Mage in a green robe, floating in mid-air. He waved at the four below and called out, “Young friends, one Magic Crystal each—any kind will do—and you can stay until you leave!”

Haitie floated up from the ground, chose a spot, and flew into a light brown wooden door.

Daniel whistled, took out a small black object, and floated up directly—he had made this little gadget himself, and while it couldn’t fly very high, it was more than enough for this distance.

Lin Wei could only call out, “Duan Yu…”

Duan Yu understood and, with his right arm around Lin Wei’s waist, lifted him off the ground.

As they were flying, Lin Wei suddenly remembered something and quickly said, “Wait… my egg is still down there!”

A faint smile flickered across Duan Yu’s face as he stopped in mid-air.

Lin Wei summoned the still-young Abel Vine with his contract. The emerald vine quickly extended, wrapping around the Magical Beast egg a few times and laboriously lifting it up. The two of them dragged the egg into the room, much like how Haitie had dragged Daniel when they first arrived in the Floating Sky Capital.

Lin Wei rubbed his nose, “Looks like we’ll have to share a room…”

If they stayed separately, every time Lin Wei needed to go down, he’d have to trouble Duan Yu to come over from somewhere else and carry him down—after all, they had been living together at the academy anyway.

However, unlike the academy, this room wasn’t very large—which meant the Floating Sky Capital hadn’t bothered to put two beds in the room.

Fortunately, the bed was quite spacious, more than enough for two people and one egg.

Lin Wei asked Duan Yu, “You don’t mind if I incubate the egg on the bed, do you?”

“…I don’t mind.”

The so-called “incubation” wasn’t about using body heat like ordinary birds, but about providing the Magical Beast egg with an environment rich in Magic Elements to help the creature inside grow. In the Magic Beast Forest, parents would continuously input Magic Elements into the egg to nurture it. If a Mage obtained the egg, they would use the same method to hatch it. The Magic Attributes of the hatchling would be greatly influenced by the Magic Elements it absorbed.

Lin Wei took out the Magic Crystals he had obtained from hunting the Magic Wolf, as well as those he had gotten from a few small trades with Daniel at the academy, and the ones Teacher Adele had given him before they left, and placed them in the center of the bed. It was quite a pile, and the Magic Elements in the room suddenly became much denser.

He spread the Magic Crystals flat, then half-dragged, half-carried the Magical Beast egg onto the crystals—a living Magical Beast egg would naturally absorb the energy contained in the Magic Crystals.

Lin Wei looked at the enormous, promising egg, growing fonder of it by the minute, even wishing he could sleep while hugging it.

He sat on the bed, patting the smooth shell, “Duan Yu.”

Duan Yu walked over to him, “What?”

“The power of an Elemental Mage is much purer than Magic Crystals…” Lin Wei turned to look at him, his eyes curved into a smile, “Let’s incubate the egg together!”