You Brat... You Planned This All Along

The Three-Headed Wizard returned the heartwood to Ethan.

“Speak. What kind of Wizardry Tool do you want to make?”

The Energy-Eating Insect poked half its body out from the top of Ethan's head, tapping his forehead with a foreleg.

“Brat, the old geezer took the job. Go ahead and state your requirements, don't hold back. Since you provided the primary material and I bought the supplementary materials on credit, you've got to make sure you get your money's worth.”

Ethan put the heartwood back into his storage ring.

“An offensive type. I want to use the heartwood of the World Tree as the primary material to craft a club-like staff.”

The dragon head's vertical pupils narrowed slightly.

“A club? You want to use a staff for close combat?”

“I've trained in body refinement on the side,” Ethan said. “So what I need are durability, weight, mana conduction, and amplification. If that's too difficult, we can discard all other attributes and focus entirely on spell power.”

“Oh? Body refinement? Interesting, truly interesting.”

The Energy-Eating Insect flew up from Ethan's head. “Three-Heads, cut the chatter. Just tell us if you can do it or not.”

The dragon head stopped laughing, its dark gold vertical pupils lingering on Ethan for two seconds. “It's not a big problem. The labor fee is ten magic crystals.”

With that, the six eyes across all three heads turned toward Ethan simultaneously.

Ethan felt the weight of those six gazes falling upon him, his shoulders sinking slightly. Keeping a respectful expression on his face, he raised his right hand and pointed his index finger at the Energy-Eating Insect. “Cough... My Lord, Lord Energy-Eating Insect said it would cover the cost.”

The hall fell dead silent for a moment.

The Energy-Eating Insect froze in midair, its six legs stiffening simultaneously. Its compound eyes bulged wide, its mouthparts opening and closing slightly as the silver runes on its carapace began to flicker.

“What on earth?!” The Energy-Eating Insect's voice went sky-high. It spun in midair, its six legs flailing wildly. “I don't have any money! And I never said that!”

It flew right in front of Ethan, its compound eyes almost touching the tip of his nose. “Brat, don't talk nonsense! When did I ever say I'd cover your labor fee?! The supplementary materials were borrowed! That's a debt of seven hundred and eighty-three magic crystals! My monthly allowance is only 2.2 magic crystals! Where would I get the money to pay your labor fee?!”

Ethan silently retrieved a recording crystal from his storage ring.

It slowly began to play the audio and video of Ethan and the Energy-Eating Insect from earlier:

“Yes, as long as you bring the primary material, I'll cover everything else needed to make the Wizardry Tool.”

“Any quality is fine?”

“Any is fine.”

The recording played on loop three times.

The Energy-Eating Insect froze in midair.

Its six legs were still frozen in their flailing positions, and its wings had stopped vibrating, leaving it suspended there like a stone. The light in its compound eyes flickered frantically, and the silver runes on its carapace went completely dark, then lit up entirely, then went dark again.

“Wait... when did you record that, you brat?”

The Energy-Eating Insect's voice squeezed through its teeth, pitched even higher than before, screeching and ear-piercing.

Ethan didn't answer.

He flicked his left wrist.

Rolling up his sleeve, he revealed a dense array of recording crystals strapped to his wrist. The crystals were lined up side-by-side, extending from his wrist all the way to the middle of his forearm.

The Energy-Eating Insect's compound eyes bulged even wider.

Ethan flipped over his belt with his right hand.

Peeling back the leather outer layer of the belt, the inside was completely lined with recording crystals. The tightly packed crystals were arranged in three rows, stuffing the entire belt to the brim.

All six of the Energy-Eating Insect's legs went limp at once.

It dropped from midair and landed plop on Ethan's head. Its six legs mindlessly ruffled his hair a couple of times as it muttered in a muffled voice, “You brat... you planned this all along.”

The dragon head let out a deep rumble. The sound bubbled up from the depths of its chest, causing the runes on its robe to tremble slightly. The flood dragon head's barbels shook frantically, and laugh lines rippled across its deep blue scales. The serpent head threw its head back, its forked tongue flicking wildly in the air.

“Hahaha!”

All three heads burst into laughter simultaneously. The laughter echoed through the hall, shaking the points of light on the vaulted ceiling so much that they began to rain down.

The Energy-Eating Insect poked half its body out from Ethan's head, pointing a foreleg sharply at the Three-Headed Wizard. “What are you laughing at, you old geezer?! What's so funny?!”

The dragon head's laughter grew even louder. The flood dragon head's barbels had laughed themselves into a tangle. The serpent head was laughing so hard it swayed all the way from the left side to the right.

“You dead bug, you finally got what was coming to you.” Once the dragon head finished laughing, its dark gold vertical pupils locked onto the Energy-Eating Insect. “A debt of seven hundred and eighty-three magic crystals for the supplementary materials, plus ten magic crystals for the labor fee. That's nearly eight hundred magic crystals in total. With your monthly allowance of only 2.2 magic crystals, it would take you twenty-nine years to save up even if you didn't eat or drink.”

The Energy-Eating Insect's wings drooped completely. Nestled on Ethan's head, it grumbled, “It's only because this brat set me up.”

“Those were your own words on that recording crystal. He didn't force you,” the flood dragon head spoke up for once, amusement still lingering in its voice.

The Energy-Eating Insect fell silent.

It nestled deep in Ethan's hair, its six legs clutching his hair tightly, the vibration of its wings slowing down to a near-imperceptible hum. After several seconds, it poked half its body out of his hair, directing its compound eyes toward the Three-Headed Wizard.

“Old geezer, can't you give me a discount?”

“No,” the dragon head replied flatly.

“What about for our master's sake?”

“Lord Jade Shadow Star's face has value, but yours does not,” the dragon head said, its voice devoid of emotion.

The Energy-Eating Insect retreated back into Ethan's hair.

Ethan could feel the insect's body trembling slightly on his head. After a few seconds, it poked its body out again and muttered, “Fine. Ten magic crystals it is. Put it on my tab.”

The dragon head nodded slightly, holding out its palm to Ethan. “Hand over the materials. Come back to collect it in thirteen days.”

Ethan retrieved the storage bag containing all the supplementary materials from his storage ring and handed it over with both hands.

The Three-Headed Wizard took the heartwood and the storage bag. With a swipe of its left hand through the air, a dark gold rune emerged from its fingertip, hovering directly above the storage bag.

The rune spun slowly, sending out a faint golden ripple with every rotation.

After a few seconds, the dragon head nodded slightly. “Not bad. The quality of these materials is even better than I anticipated.”

It raised its right hand, gesturing for Ethan to leave.

Ethan bowed and took two steps back before turning to walk out of the hall.

Just as he took two steps, the dragon head's deep voice drifted from behind him.

“For every day you are late, there will be an additional storage fee of one magic crystal.”

Ethan paused and turned back.

The dragon head had already lowered itself. All three heads huddled close to the heartwood, their six eyes filled with intense focus.

The Energy-Eating Insect poked half its body out from Ethan's head and grumbled, “Let's go, let's go. What are you looking at? This old geezer ignores everyone when he's working. There's no point in watching.”

Ethan walked out of the tower, and the gate shut silently behind him.

The Energy-Eating Insect snuggled onto Ethan's head, ruffling his hair with its six legs. “Brat, let's go. I'll take you to see Master's real Wizard Tower.”