Chapter 36: Polymorph: Frog
Of course, with conditions this good, the price of the room was naturally very high.
Ordinary commoners simply couldn't afford it.
However, this level of expense meant nothing to Levi.
He even paid for an entire week in advance, planning to stay here for a while and take a proper rest.
After all, constantly adventuring and living in the wild didn't just exhaust the body—it also wore down the mind.
That was true for Levi, and even more so for Yalina.
After taking a hot bath in the room, Yalina, feeling completely refreshed, changed into new clothes and suggested going out shopping.
Miss Nightingale Odelle was also eager to go.
Levi agreed to Yalina's suggestion, but he didn't accompany them, as he had other matters to attend to.
Levi grabbed a handful of gold coins and handed them to her.
Yalina felt a little disappointed, but with Miss Nightingale Odelle keeping her company, she quickly adjusted, telling Levi to come find her at the marketplace after he finished his business.
Levi nodded. Yalina then left with Miss Nightingale Odelle.
The room was left with Levi alone.
He opened the window, a blue glow flickering in his eyes—he was using Detection.
Very quickly, he obtained the information he needed.
A faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips. Black light enveloped him, and silently, Levi transformed into a small nightingale. He flew out through the window, unnoticed by anyone, heading toward the Emerald Forest not far behind the Duke of Silverbrook's castle.
...
Outside the shadow of the Duke's castle, within the Emerald Forest, sunlight filtered through the canopy, forming shifting patterns among the leaves.
It was eerily quiet here. There was almost no birdsong or insect noise—only the faint, brittle sounds of vines strangling ancient trees.
Deep within the forest stood a forgotten ancient well, abrupt and out of place. Its mouth was covered in faintly glowing moss, like a murky eye of the earth.
The well walls were slick, covered in black mildew. The deeper it went, the heavier the air became, carrying the scent of rotting leaves and the metallic tang of underground water.
At the bottom was not stagnant water, but a pool of deep, green liquid, reflecting the small, distant patch of sky above.
And within the cold mud and water plants crouched a soul abandoned by the gods.
A frog.
More precisely—a human cursed into the form of a frog.
Once, he had been a blond, blue-eyed prince, admired by all.
Now, this damp and cold amphibian body had become his eternal prison.
His emerald skin glistened faintly in the dim light. His bulging golden eyes stared helplessly at his reflection in the water—
There was no crown. No regal robes.
Only an ugly face, its throat sac endlessly inflating and deflating.
He wanted to scream—to vent his pain, his anger, his despair.
But all that came out of his mouth was: "Ribbit."
Each "ribbit" was the perfect mockery of his former arrogance.
He would never forget that day.
The witch had pointed at him—and turned him into this ugly creature, casting him into this well. Then she said: "You enjoy using your status to toy with others' feelings, don't you?"
"So when you lose that body—lose that appearance—will anyone still love you?"
"If you can't do that, then live out your life in this frog's body until the day you die!"
After saying that, the witch left.
She hadn't restricted his ability to move. He could jump out of the well anytime and enter the forest.
But without a human body, the entire forest had become extremely dangerous.
He had faced death multiple times. Eventually, he no longer dared to leave the well easily.
Yet this place was so remote that no one had passed by for a long time.
He couldn't even find someone to ask for help.
All he could do was remain in this tiny space, slapping the water again and again with his webbed feet, letting out desperate cries. The echoes bounced along the well walls—part plea, part curse.
Suddenly, a shadow descended from above, covering him.
He looked up abruptly and saw a handsome young man.
Though cursed into a frog, the Frog Prince still retained the ability to speak human language.
Originally sunk in despair, the prince was overjoyed. He leapt to the edge of the well and looked at the young man, speaking urgently: "Kind sir! I am Prince Romdis of the Kingdom of Amtyr! A vile witch cursed me into this form!"
"Please help me—take me back to the Kingdom of Amtyr. My father will reward you handsomely!"
The young man who had suddenly appeared was naturally Levi, who had just dispelled his nightingale form.
He looked at the Frog Prince before him with a meaningful gaze. The light of Detection flickered subtly in his eyes.
He saw more information:
[The third prince of the Kingdom of Amtyr, cursed into a frog by a witch.]
[The method to break the curse left by the witch requires a woman to sit with him, eat with him, and sleep with him.]
Seeing this information, a trace of understanding flashed through Levi's eyes. No wonder, in the fairy tale The Frog Prince, he made those requests to the princess—and the moment the final condition of sleeping together was fulfilled, he immediately returned to his human form.
If one did not know this information, removing the curse from the Frog Prince would indeed be somewhat troublesome.
But if one did know, then removing the curse from the Frog Prince would be exceedingly easy.
Forget a princess—even if Levi had Yalina do it, she could lift the curse and return him to human form.
Of course, Levi would never do that!
The witch who cursed him believed that only someone who truly loved him would be willing to do such a thing.
And for someone like the Frog Prince, no one would genuinely love him—so naturally, his curse would never be broken.
Little did she know, this curse was riddled with loopholes.
The witch who cast the curse on the Frog Prince was probably outdated in her thinking.
Levi shook his head. With a thought, he lightly touched the Frog Prince.
As expected.
The Origin Energy within his body stirred again. It circulated once through the Frog Prince's body before returning.
Deep within Levi's mind, a new spell crystal appeared.
Polymorph: Frog!
And his Sea of Souls became even more solid with the arrival of this new spell crystal.
In other words, Levi's upper limit of Spiritual Power had increased once again.
At this moment, within Levi's Sea of Souls, there were already six spells: Detection, Conversion, Gathering Technique, Wizard's Hand, Polymorph: Greater Demon Owl, and Polymorph: Frog.
He could feel that his upper limit of Spiritual Power was approaching the level of a Third-Ring Wizard. In other words, before his Spiritual Power reached that level, his meditation process would encounter neither bottlenecks nor restrictions.
This was something countless Second-Ring Wizards could only dream of!
The standard for a First-Ring Wizard was to possess one spell crystal at the First-Ring Spell level within the Sea of Souls.
The minimum standard for a Second-Ring Wizard was to have two spell crystals, with at least one of them reaching the level of a Second-Ring Spell.
Levi had already met that requirement.
As for a Third-Ring Wizard, the minimum standard was to have four spell crystals in the Sea of Souls, with at least one reaching the level of a Third-Ring Spell.
Of course, Spiritual Power also had to meet the required standard.
Levi already had six spell crystals in his Sea of Souls, fulfilling one of the three conditions for becoming a Third-Ring Wizard.
What remained was for his Spiritual Power and Magic Power to reach the required level, and for one of his spell crystals to attain the level of a Third-Ring Spell.
For Levi, this was not difficult—it only required time.
When that moment came, Levi would be a Third-Ring Wizard.
At that point, even if he still could not defeat the Magic Mirror Queen, he would at least have the power to protect himself. Only then would he truly possess freedom and be able to cast off the heavy burden in his heart.
Thinking of this, the corner of Levi's mouth lifted slightly.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the Frog Prince Romdis grew anxious when he saw that Levi had yet to respond. He called out to Levi: "Sir, please help me!"
"I possess fiefdoms within the Kingdom of Amtyr. Help me return to the kingdom and reclaim what is rightfully mine, and I will grant those lands to you, making you a respected noble."
"Glory will begin from this moment."
"Kind sir, as long as you are willing, all of this will be yours!" The Frog Prince's voice carried a sobbing tone. He had truly had enough of this life and desperately clung to Levi as his lifeline.
"Really?" Levi's gaze turned playful. He let out a light chuckle and said, "Of course I'm willing."
"However, as you know, I need some time to take care of my own matters."
"If you don't mind, please get into this basket. I will take you back and, at an appropriate time, return you to your country, Your Highness," Levi said.
He took out a basket.
The Frog Prince glanced at it, then at Levi. A trace of malice flickered deep within his eyes—
That damned commoner, showing me such disrespect. Once I regain my human form, I will surely…
Of course, on the surface, the Frog Prince spoke to Levi in a grateful tone, "Thank you. Of course I don't mind."
"May I know your name?" the Frog Prince asked.
"My name is Levi," Levi said with a slight smile.
"Very well, Mr. Levi," the Frog Prince said to Levi. "Thank you!"
"I will enter it now."
"I'll leave everything to you!"
"I swear in the name of my family that I will repay you," the Frog Prince emphasized.
"I believe you, Your Highness," Levi said to the Frog Prince, a hint of amusement flashing in his eyes.
With Detection at his disposal, how could Levi fail to see the malice hidden in the Frog Prince's heart?
But he did not expose it. Instead, he watched the Frog Prince act, putting on a tearful and grateful performance before jumping into the basket.
Levi casually closed the basket, and darkness instantly enveloped him.
"Lord Levi, Lord Levi…" the Frog Prince's voice came from inside the basket, but Levi paid him no attention at all.
He directly stood by the well and cast Polymorph: Frog.
A deep blue light covered Levi's entire body. His figure rapidly shrank, and in the blink of an eye, he turned into a frog. "Ribbit…"
[You have cast Frog Polymorph once. Experience +1. Current Experience: 1/100.]
"Not bad at all!" Levi felt the changes in his body and discovered that he could breathe through his skin as an auxiliary method. This meant he could remain underwater for more than twenty minutes.
Ever since Levi learned about the existence of the Silver Arrowfish in the underground waterways, he had been eyeing them, but he had never found a suitable method.
Now, the appearance of Polymorph: Frog gave him hope of hunting those Silver Arrowfish.
However, a mere twenty minutes of diving time might not be enough for Levi to enter the city's underground river.
At the same time, after transforming into a frog, all of Levi's abilities—including his Great Knight physique and several spells—could not be used. This could lead to danger if he encountered threats in the underground river.
Therefore, Levi's plan was to first raise the level of this Polymorph: Frog.
The higher the level of this spell, the stronger he would be after transforming, and the more helpful it would become.
At present, this spell was still very low level—merely an apprentice-level spell, not even reaching the standard of a First-Ring Spell. The Magic Power it consumed was negligible for Levi, who currently possessed over ten thousand points of Magic Power.
With a thought, Levi dispelled the state of Polymorph: Frog, returning to human form. Then, he consumed Magic Power again and cast Polymorph: Frog…
[You have cast Polymorph: Frog once. Experience +1. Current Experience: 2/100.]
...
[You have cast Polymorph: Frog once. Experience +1. Current Experience: 100/100.]
[Your Polymorph: Frog has reached the upgrade requirement. It can be upgraded.]
"Upgrade."
...
[You have cast once…]
[Your … has reached the upgrade requirement. It can be upgraded.]
"Upgrade."
...
From day to night, Levi remained in this secluded place, undisturbed by anyone, continuously practicing Polymorph: Frog.
He successfully raised this spell to Level 3, gaining a drastic transformation in power—comparable to a Third-Tier Wizard Apprentice, or even stronger.
However, it was already late at night.
There were still people waiting for him at the Golden Fleece Inn.
Levi picked up the basket containing the endlessly noisy Frog Prince and returned to the inn.
When Yalina saw Levi return, she let out a long sigh of relief and stepped forward to ask him about it.
Levi only said that he had been busy with something. He casually handed the basket to Yalina and instructed her and Miss Nightingale Odelle to take good care of it—do not open it, do not respond to it, and do not lose it.
Yalina and Miss Nightingale Odelle were very curious, but seeing that Levi had no intention of explaining, they nodded and agreed.
After all, Levi must have his reasons.
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