第47章 水元素结晶

When Benjamin first saw the name "Tree of Time and Space," he was actually quite dismissive.

What the hell?

This damn thing was just a ginkgo tree; it had absolutely nothing to do with time and space. Giving it a name that sounded impressive and edgy didn't stop it from being a ginkgo tree.

The Kingdom Plant Encyclopedia didn't have much to say about the "Tree of Time and Space" ginkgo. It mentioned that the species was extinct in the kingdom and rare across the entire continent, with only a few of its leaves preserved. Legend had it that some could use them to craft a Time-Space Beacon, allowing one to traverse time and space to reach different worlds.

Upon reading "different worlds," Benjamin's eyelids twitched involuntarily.

Could it be...

He carefully recalled the last night before he transmigrated: he had been sitting at his desk with his computer, his phone on his right, a stack of books on his left, and that ginkgo leaf he'd picked up to use as a bookmark should have been tucked into one of those books.

If he had accidentally fallen asleep, it was possible he'd knocked the books over and caused the leaf to fall out...

"..."

So, the ginkgo leaf was to blame for all of this?

Benjamin felt this was highly unscientific. A ginkgo leaf could carry someone through time and space? That was too absurd. But then again, he had already transmigrated, so what was the point of worrying about science?

The die was cast, and whether the leaf could actually transport people no longer mattered to him. His top priority was solving the curse on his body. Therefore, he needed to focus on where to find the leaves of this so-called "Tree of Time and Space."

The book didn't say.

It seemed that in the Hori Kingdom, ginkgo leaves had become a thing of legend—not even a popular legend, but a niche one. People occasionally saw them mentioned in obscure books or stories, but no one had ever actually seen one.

Consequently, the description in the Kingdom Plant Encyclopedia was extremely brief.

Damn it... this was going to be the death of him.

How was he supposed to get his hands on something that was only a legend?

Benjamin's quest to break the curse had hit a dead end.

Michelle was truly something else, finding such a rare item to use as a medium for her curse. Was it really necessary? Couldn't she have just picked up any random leaf? Now she had him in a real bind.

...Wait.

If ginkgo leaves were so rare, how did Michelle get one?

Suddenly, Benjamin thought of something and said to the system, "Quick, bring up that image of the ginkgo leaf you showed me earlier—the one Michelle was holding. I need to take another look."

The system seemed somewhat reluctant. "Why? That consumes a lot of memory."

Benjamin urged it immediately, "Don't stall, hurry up! Memory sitting there isn't going to sprout into anything."

"Fine, fine, just wait." Under Benjamin's prodding, the system finally acted. Accompanied by the mechanical whir of the system at work, the image finally appeared before Benjamin half a minute later.

Benjamin stared intently.

"Zoom in, zoom in more..."

Sure enough...

When the image was magnified and the details of the ginkgo leaf became clearer in Benjamin's eyes, he finally realized where the leaf in Michelle's hand had come from.

It was the bookmark he had picked up before he transmigrated.

So, the whole story probably went like this: he picked up the leaf and used it as a bookmark; the bookmark then carried him through time and space to this place, where he became Benjamin. The leaf that brought him here must have fallen nearby, only to be picked up by Michelle, who then used it to cast a curse on him.

So, Michelle really had just picked up a random leaf to use as a medium.

Who could he blame?

Blame the leaf; it was the source of all his trouble. If he ever wrote a memoir, he would definitely title it A Bloodbath Caused by a Ginkgo Leaf.

After researching the curse for ages and then the ginkgo for just as long, only to end up with this result, Benjamin felt like crying.

It was clearly going to be difficult for him to break the curse on his own. Ginkgo trees were extinct in this world, so he couldn't find a leaf to use as a medium, and the only one he knew of was in Michelle's hands. How was that any different from not knowing about it at all?

After thinking it over, Benjamin decided to temporarily abandon the idea of breaking the curse. He didn't have the ability to do it right now, so he shouldn't waste his energy on it. They said that planting a willow branch unintentionally could lead to a shady grove; perhaps if he put it out of his mind, he would stumble upon a new ginkgo leaf one day.

Better to focus on other things for now.

He tossed the Kingdom Plant Encyclopedia aside and pulled out the Introduction to Magic he had hidden away.

Aside from the curse, Benjamin was also quite interested in enchanting and the creation of magical items.

After a moment of thought, he flipped the book to the section on crafting magical items.

As for enchanting, his bullets were already blessed, so he didn't need it for the time being. As for magical items, he knew the least about them and was quite curious.

The cross the bishop had given him probably counted as a magical item. Of course, The Church certainly wouldn't call it a "magical item"—something like a "divine artifact" would be more their style.

If he could learn how to craft magical items, his strength would definitely see a leap in progress.

He began to read with anticipation.

However, after finishing that section, he was disappointed once again.

The book stated that crafting magical items was quite difficult and required some extremely rare materials, but that wasn't the main point. The point was that the methods for crafting magical items had been mostly lost due to the purges by The Church. This book only recorded the method for one type of magical item—the robes worn by Michelle and those mages at the Silent Academy, which were said to slightly amplify the power of magic.

To this, Benjamin only wanted to say: what the hell was the use of that robe to him? Putting on that robe would be like announcing to the world, "I'm a mage, come and catch me!" The Church would be thrilled.

Benjamin shook his head helplessly.

Having gained nothing in the realm of magical items and suffering two disappointments in a row, he found it hard to keep an optimistic mindset.

He didn't even have the energy to look at the enchanting section anymore.

Forget it, he wouldn't look at it for now. He needed to do something else to change his mood.

Benjamin closed the Introduction to Magic and tucked it away. After a moment, he took out the stone known as the "Water Element Crystal"—thankfully, when he was collecting his medical fees from those two, he had asked for this as well.

He hoped this thing wouldn't let him down.

As the name suggested, this was a crystal of pure water elements. According to them, this item had extremely wide applications: it could be used to train elemental affinity, assist in casting water-attribute magic, and serve as a material for crafting magical items... They said that if Benjamin hadn't saved their teacher, they would never have been willing to give this to him.

Since they had said as much, Benjamin couldn't let this item go to waste.

A Water Element Crystal...

Such a precious item—if possible, Benjamin naturally wanted to use it to increase his own strength. Ordinary mages usually used it that way, but the problem was that Benjamin wasn't an ordinary mage; the methods everyone else used didn't necessarily work for him.

Benjamin's way of increasing his strength was simple: just strengthen the Triangle Glyph.

But could this thing be brought into his consciousness space?

The fact that he couldn't put items into his consciousness space had always been a great regret for Benjamin. He looked at those transmigrated protagonists who easily had portable spaces where they could store anything they wanted, and could even farm inside them to grow entire worlds. Yet, he couldn't put anything in his consciousness space.

He had tried before; the only things that could enter his consciousness space were himself, the water elements, and the system's voice that he couldn't turn off no matter what.

Although the Water Element Crystal was essentially water elements, it had formed a physical entity, so he didn't know if it could be brought in.

Thinking about it wouldn't help, so Benjamin decided to give it a try.

He held the Water Element Crystal in his hand, closed his eyes, and entered his consciousness space. But when he opened his eyes to look, his hands in the consciousness space were empty; there wasn't a trace of the crystal.

Damn it, he couldn't bring it in.

Benjamin returned to reality and stared at the blue, glistening stone in his hand, unable to stop worrying.

Wasn't it said that this stone was just water elements? Since it was water elements, it should be able to enter the consciousness space. Why couldn't it get in?

Water elements...

Suddenly, Benjamin slapped his forehead, realizing where the problem lay.

Since it was water elements, he should use the method of water elements to put it into his consciousness space! The method he used for his own entry definitely wouldn't work.

That was it! That had to be it!

Benjamin immediately adjusted his state, putting himself back into that strange condition where one foot was in the consciousness space and the other was in the real world.

Then, he focused his spirit onto the Water Element Crystal.

Whoosh! The Water Element Crystal vanished!

Suppressing the joy in his heart, Benjamin entered his consciousness space again. He saw that blue, glistening stone now floating in mid-air, emitting a faint, moist aura, with many water elements swimming happily around it like a school of fish.

Seeing this, Benjamin let out a sigh of relief.

He had finally managed to get the Water Element Crystal inside.

If this thing hadn't worked either, he would have had to storm the gates of the Silent Academy and complain that they had paid his medical fees with counterfeit currency.