Chapter 55 Half Magic "I think you must really enjoy being held by her..."
The Revealing Curse reveals the truth from Billy's perspective, which is why they cannot see inside the Yeti's body.
There was a metallic clanging sound, and something was uprooted. Lucas guessed it was the Twin Grass.
The Yeti's body trembled a few times, then fell silent again.
Then he roared.
The dwarf hurriedly crawled out of the yeti's body, clutching the herb and a green seed tightly in his hand: "Run!"
Despite his slowness, Billy managed to run towards the Coldclaw Forest.
"Didn't it faint?"
Nova tossed the symmetrical grass and seeds to Billy. "I don't know what kind of grass you want. But it crawled all over the Yeti's core. It slowed the heartbeat. I pulled it out, and the heart started beating again."
The Yeti then came running, but the memory ends there.
Lucas and Ashlyn returned to Mara's house, and Billy rubbed his eyes.
"It was only after that that the Yeti began to wreak havoc around the Coldpaw Forest," Lucas thought. Originally, the Yeti near the Coldpaw Forest was unconscious, so people believed it was just a legend from hundreds of years ago.
However, Nova, who was determined to improve the Yeti, and Billy, who wanted to obtain the power of the magic herb in the Yeti's heart, accidentally awakened the Yeti.
According to the plan, if Rae hadn't stolen the wreath, Nova might have successfully modified the Yeti, and it wouldn't have gone out of control.
Ray and Mr. Mara were neither the caster nor the object of the spell, so they did not see what the three of them had just seen. Lucas had no choice but to quickly tell them the key points.
Ray looked like she was suppressing her anger.
“I’d like to ask you what you’re thinking,” Billy said unhappily. “Nova passed the trial, and you stole her wreath because you wanted to be Greta! What’s wrong with a leopard head, huh? I’m proud to be a Noreira, proud of our animal side!”
Ray rolled her eyes. "That's easy for you to say. Didn't you get beaten up by that Greta deer man just because you're Norira?"
"Stop arguing!" Mr. Mara shouted, rubbing his temples. "You two are equally stupid. Aren't we living a good life now?"
"Not good!" Ray and Billy shouted at the same time, staring intently at each other as if a battle was about to break out.
“Woof, now’s not the time to argue! I still have a question,” Ashlin said. “Didn’t that notebook say that the Twin Grass can grant people magical powers? But Billy has fainted and keeps coughing. What happened?”
Mara and her brother did not move; the tension remained high.
“LKD’s research might have gone wrong,” Lucas quickly said. “That’s not important, Billy has already been healed. What’s important is the trial. Mara’s family, I want to ask… what criteria are used to determine whether someone passes the trial?”
“The High Priest’s magic will make its own judgment,” Mr. Mara replied, “which is the same as the Forest Goddess’s magic.”
Ray snorted. "I don't think so! Maybe she made the decision based on her mood."
“Don’t talk nonsense to outsiders,” Mr. Mara said irritably. “I’m a bookseller and I’ve read many books about the High Priestess. The High Priestess’s magic is very powerful; there are some things that even she herself may not be clear about.”
"So, where does the flower wreath go after you put it on?"
Ashlin turned around and quickly glanced at him.
“Disappear,” Mr. Mara said. “The High Priestess’s wreath is disposable. She makes the wreath with magic bestowed by the Forest Goddess, and the wreath transfers the magic to the wearer. After the magic is transferred, the wreath, as the vessel of the magic, also disappears.”
Will the High Priest have the flower wreath ready at the very beginning of the trial?
“That’s right. The wreaths are prepared in advance, but their specific shape will change according to the wearer’s characteristics,” Mr. Mara recalled. “It is said that she had a quirk that she hid all the wreaths in a rat hole. No one has ever seen them, since even the rat-person is not the size of a real rat.”
Ashlin's eyes lit up, as if she was hatching a plan.
Lucas continued, "So, was the wreath a gift from the forest goddess to the orcs?"
"A gift? Of course not. The magic of the wreath belongs to the High Priest. Power and life are the gifts the goddess bestows upon us. The wreath and the trial are both decisions made by the High Priest."
Lucas looked at Ashlin thoughtfully, hoping to have a heart-to-heart talk.
However, she deliberately tucked her ear back and turned her head away.
After saying that, she made a move as if she was about to rush out of the room.
Lucas had to stop her again: "Wait a minute, have you forgotten what the High Priest said? The trial has begun, and failing it means certain death! Besides, without the wreath, I'll lose my humanity. You don't want to keep communicating with me as a dog, do you?"
Ashlin stopped but didn't turn around.
“Listen to me, you are the one chosen by the High Priest for the trial. Stay and continue the trial,” Lucas said. “I’m going to find Nova and the Ring of God.”
“Hey, count me in.” Billy raised his hand. “This has to do with me.”
But he might actually know some other clues.
“I want to go too,” Ray said. “I was really unfair to that idiot.”
“No,” Lucas said, “you and Mr. Mara accompanied Ashlin to complete the Trial. The Trial of Truth has not yet been passed, which means there is still more truth to be uncovered. And I strongly suspect that it is hidden in Coldpaw Forest, and is related to the High Priest. Ray, you know this place well, perhaps you can help us.”
Ray looked reluctant, but after glancing at Billy, she nodded. "Let's get this straight, I have absolutely no interest in the High Priest's Trial. I only agreed to help because Ashlin healed Billy."
“I understand completely. Remember, we only have one day. It must be over by midnight tonight, or our lives will end here, and even our corpses will be animals,” Lucas warned.
Sadly for the cat, Billy Mara is a chatterbox.
“…So I said, ‘You’re a complete idiot, you don’t deserve her!’ He immediately got angry, but I reacted faster, grabbed his tail and slammed him to the ground! That guy finally got his comeuppance. However, my beautiful woodpecker girl still didn’t choose me.” Billy frowned. “Why do you think that is?”
Lucas crossed the Guardian Creek, his only thought being to stuff the leopard's mouth with snow.
They arrived at the place where they had previously driven away the Yeti by rolling in the slush.
The smell here is strange, it has a scent that doesn't belong to the forest, as if there is a mysterious treasure hidden underground.
He observed the footprints in the snow without answering, until he noticed Billy's golden leopard eyes looking at him expectantly, like two lamps.
Oh no, I didn't hear a thing.
"Because...she already has someone she loves?"
Billy sighed deeply. "I knew it! Sure enough, our feline instincts are always right."
“Meow, please allow me to correct you, I am actually human,” the black cat reminded me. “Unlike you, it was Ashlin who mispronounced the spell and turned me into this.”
"Hmph. An excuse." Billy scoffed. "I think you're quite enjoying it. What's wrong with being a cat? You don't even have to wear clothes."
“I love wearing clothes, thank you. I feel sad at the thought that my blue cape is now useless,” Lucas said irritably. “Why don’t you ask what’s so good about being a cat? I, for one, prefer to walk on two legs.”
“Anywhere is fine.” Billy grinned. “Free and carefree… You certainly can’t be like that in the palace, can you? I don’t understand why you go through all this trouble with these trials and items. What good will it do you to become a prince again?”
Lucas dug through the snow and mud he had previously rolled in; underneath was just ordinary ground.
“I can’t change back into a prince. But if I don’t change back and my father discovers that I’m the way I am now, all wizards like Ashlin will be persecuted,” Lucas said. “Besides, as Ashlin said before, changing back isn’t the main reason anymore. Stopping dark wizards is more important.”
Actually, he could have died during the adventure, Lucas thought. That way, his father probably wouldn't have discovered he'd turned into a cat, saving time and effort.
But that wouldn't be fair to Ashlyn; he couldn't let her efforts go to waste.
They continued following the Yeti's footprints, gradually moving away from the Frostclaw Forest.
"You think you can do it?" Billy asked, "Stop the dark wizard?"
"Yes, I believe in us."
Lucas squinted, unsure of what he meant.
“She’s fine,” he said carefully.
"Come on!" Billy said with a hint of mockery. "There aren't any other cats here. I mean, she turned you into this, and you still follow her and believe her? You wouldn't be... you know what I mean?"
He made a heart-like gesture with his paw.
Lucas was still focused on the yeti's footprints and didn't react for a moment. After a while, he rolled his eyes. He really couldn't understand what was going on in this leopard boy's head. He had no interest in chatting with a love-struck fool.
"Stop pretending, Your Highness the Kitten. I bet you really enjoy being cuddled and purring in her arms, don't you? Trust me, I know, it feels so good when human fingers touch fur..."
“I never snore!” Lucas exclaimed, as if his tail had been stepped on. “And I don’t like being hugged by anyone, thank you. Unless it’s too cold.”
“It’s okay, admit it, I love listening to this kind of human royal gossip.” Billy was very generous. Lucas could see why he was able to find out the whereabouts of the Ring of God.
“There’s nothing to gossip about. We’re good friends, it’s that simple,” Lucas said quickly, not really feeling that the search for the Yeti was a good time for a chat.
Billy's ears drooped a little.
Lucas looked up, suddenly remembering something else.
His conversations with those noble youths were mostly about things like, "A certain earl from a certain family has lost power, and we should keep our distance from his children," or "I recently went to the southern territories, and there a certain family there is trying to curry favor with us."
At the age of twelve, he finally made two friends who were both interesting and had a certain status. Until one day, he was walking through the garden and heard them talking quietly in a corner.
One said, "You deliberately lost the game of chess to His Highness yesterday; it was too obvious."
The other replied nonchalantly, "What else? My mother says it's our duty to please the prince."
Lucas looked at Billy, sighed, and decided to continue the conversation: "Well, as far as I know, Ashlin also had a crush on an elf, just like your woodpecker girl. Although it turned out that the elf was a bad guy... but that's all in the past."
Fortunately, Aidan's spiritual quality wasn't good, Lucas thought, otherwise they might still be dating right now.
However, thinking that way was selfish, so he quickly turned his attention back to the Yeti's trail.
“Sigh, I just don’t understand these girls!” Billy muttered. “First, Woodpecker dumped me, and then Ray got plastic surgery behind my back. Tell me, what was Ray thinking, turning herself into a Greta? Just because the High Priest said Gretas are nobler, less animalistic, and that Norira isn’t civilized enough. Humph, to hell with civilization!”
Lucas's ear patch.
"What did the High Priest say?"
“Yes,” Billy said. “The high priest often says that during his sermons and such. But I don’t think there’s anything wrong with animality; it’s part of what orcs are born with.”
At this point, he grinned, suddenly becoming indignant. "We are neither human nor animal; we are simply ourselves. We should not be divided into superior and inferior, noble and lowly, based on animal characteristics."
Lucas stopped, somewhat surprised. Billy might be an impulsive fool, but he was very clear-headed.
“I agree with you. Trying so hard to become someone you’re not really is a smart thing to do,” Lucas said, a strange feeling rising within him, like being gently pricked by a tiny icicle.
This statement applies not only to Ray.
Yes. They all thought that once Lucas became human and returned to the palace, he would revert to being himself. But was that really the case? He asked himself. Did he want to go back?
He missed Elaine's teasing, his mother's smile, and the almond pudding and clean bed at court. That much was certain. He was fed up with sleeping on the filthy floor!
But the rest...
Lucas shook his head. In any case, completing the mission was the most important thing.
The leopard beamed with delight at his approval, and seemed poised to hug him. Lucas quickly stepped back.
"I have a question. What is the High Priest's purpose in saying this?"
His words were interrupted by a deafening roar, startling the birds in the woods. Lucas's hair stood on end.
The Yeti stood amidst the pine trees, like a pure white snow mountain. The little dwarf Nova stood at its feet, constantly fiddling with a ring in his hand.
The turquoise flower on the ring glowed with a faint red light.
Red light? That's not right. The forest goddess's magic should at least be green light.
“The ring isn’t useless,” Lucas realized. “It just lacks half the magic.”
Now only destruction remains.
The magic of the Ring of Gods is immense, perhaps as powerful as, or even stronger than, the protective magic of the High Priest of Coldclaw Forest. They share the same origin, both being the power of the Forest Goddess.
The Yeti turned around, its metal joints creaking. It excitedly headed towards the Frostclaw Forest, seemingly unconcerned that Spirit Creek would block its way.
This is not good.
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