Merlin waved his staff and conjured a full-body water mirror, then clearly saw mushrooms sprouting all over his head, face, neck, and hands!
There were mushrooms under his clothes too Merlin could clearly see the fabric bulging where mushrooms pushed up against it.
“These detoxifying mushrooms have been certified by the Mages’ Association completely safe with no side effects. All you need to do is snap off the mushrooms growing on your body. However, you’ll need to destroy the mushrooms you pick, because they’ve absorbed the toxins from your system.”
Merlin immediately wrapped himself in a cocoon of flowing water to block Ang’s view, then used his staff to remove his clothes before reaching down to pluck the mushrooms from his body.
Surprisingly, pulling the mushrooms off didn’t hurt at all it felt as easy and pleasant as peeling off a flake of dead skin. Where the mushrooms had grown, there wasn’t a trace of residual mycelium; his skin was perfectly intact, just as it had been before!
This Ang really does have a talent for mushroom research, Merlin thought to himself.
“Don’t just focus on picking those mushrooms can you let me go first? It’s all your fault for trapping me with water magic! Otherwise, I could’ve dodged when you leaned in! Wait… no, could it be that you did this on purpose? You’re just a pervert looking to take advantage!”
Merlin, falsely accused yet again:
Merlin nearly let out a cold, mocking laugh. He wanted to take advantage? It was all because of those mushrooms you put on me, if it weren’t for them, how could I have kissed you?
The moment he thought about how he’d kissed that liar, and even considered going further, Merlin felt like he was about to gag.
He immediately summoned water elementals to thoroughly rinse his mouth and wash his lips, then cleansed his entire body from head to toe before putting his clothes back on and dispelling the curtain of water that had been blocking Ang’s view.
As for the mushrooms, Merlin had already reduced them to nothing with a single spell.
But when facing Ang, Merlin still swallowed his discomfort and disguised himself as a shy little puppy wait, why was he animalizing himself now? He’d definitely been brainwashed by that liar!
Keeping his guard up internally, Merlin nonetheless wore a shy, slightly pleased expression as he waved his staff and released the magic binding Ang. “I’m sorry, I didn’t expect to fall for it again. Good thing you had those mushrooms, or else…”
Merlin’s entire face flushed red as he trailed off.
“Honestly, when William’s handsome face shows that shy expression, it’s actually pretty easy on the eyes,” Ang thought to himself. “But that doesn’t mean he can just take liberties just because he’s good-looking! This time it was an accident, so I’ll let it slide.”
Merlin: Heh.
“It’s the least I could do. Let’s hurry up and free that puffball too,” Ang said, quickly changing the subject, because what had just happened was far too embarrassing for him he didn’t even dare look directly at the other man’s face.
Even as he hurried toward the puffball, brushing past Merlin, Ang felt his heart suddenly race, his limbs stiffening so much he nearly walked with the wrong arm swinging with the wrong leg.
It wasn’t until he finally stood before the vine-entangled puffball that Ang breathed a deep sigh of relief.
“Good thing I didn’t fall just now.”
Merlin was full of question marks upon hearing Angel’s inner thoughts.
But Angel gave him no chance to ask, because he had already pulled out another antidote mushroom.
However, this antidote mushroom was much smaller than the one Merlin had eaten before, because the size difference between the two was simply too vast a big mushroom might not even fit in the fluffball’s mouth, especially since it had already eaten one mushroom earlier.
This time, Merlin was finally able to clearly see how the antidote mushroom worked its magic.
The fluffball accepted whatever mushroom was stuffed into its mouth without complaint, chewing it up and swallowing it directly. It even stuck out its soft pink tongue, trying to lick Angel’s hand, but this time Angel reacted quickly and completely avoided being licked.
Recalling what he had done earlier, Merlin thought: He really had licked Angel’s hand before, but that was nothing compared to the kiss that came after!
These past two days were practically a collection of Merlin’s most embarrassing moments. He wished he could erase all memories of what had happened to him from everyone’s minds!
Ha, the only one who knew all his embarrassing secrets was this liar!
Merlin narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze toward Angel turning dangerous.
Angel felt a chill run down his back and instinctively turned to look, only to see Merlin’s moist blue eyes brimming with warmth and affection.
“Was that just my imagination?”
Angel turned back around and saw that several mushrooms had already popped out of the fluffball’s body with soft puff sounds.
Seeing Angel turn back, Merlin finally relaxed. This liar had extremely keen senses he couldn’t let even a hint of his negative emotions leak out!
Angel personally reached out to break off the mushrooms growing on the fluffball, dispelling them with magic. Only after seeing the creature’s glossy black eyes return to normal did he wave his staff to untangle the vines wrapped around it.
The fluffball dropped to the ground and shook its fur, which had been tangled into a mess, but the effort was barely effective.
This forced the fluffball to turn around and start licking its own fur clean.
“Let’s hurry and leave,” Merlin said.
He felt he had developed a bit of a phobia toward the fluffball. He used to think this type of magical beast was cute, but now it didn’t seem cute at all. No wonder his teacher didn’t keep one as a pet!
Angel didn’t want to linger here either. Unaware of the emotions Merlin was hiding, he quickly followed Merlin away from the area.
Hearing the sound of their departing footsteps, the fluffball merely looked up at them, blew a few round pink bubbles from its mouth, then turned back to stick out its tongue and lick its disheveled fur.
Angel looked up at the sky, now approaching evening, and said directly, “I’ve almost finished collecting the magical plants I need. Let’s head back to town now.”
Merlin naturally didn’t refuse. Staying in Les Forest at night was very dangerous, because with the lighting conditions, nocturnal hunting beasts were experts at hiding themselves, making attacks more likely.
Although there was a spell called night vision, its principle involved transforming a person’s eyes into those of a magical beast with night vision capabilities something they couldn’t cast at their level as third-rank mages.
After handing in his magical plant quest at the Mages’ Association and watching Merlin part with him reluctantly, Angel didn’t even eat. He turned and headed straight for the best hospital in town!
He couldn’t wait any longer. The problem with his body was far too severe the moment he had skin contact with that bastard William, he instantly became completely vulnerable, at the mercy of others. He absolutely refused to let his life rest in someone else’s hands!