The Hero Turned Into A Potato And The World Fell To Ruin

Streams of water slowly rose from the pond, snaking up into the air and converging. Before long, a humanoid figure made of liquid appeared above the pool, curiously examining itself.

By the water's edge, Myza watched the spectacle with his mouth agape.

"Goodness, it actually formed…" he murmured. "And the magic concentration in this water elemental… My gosh… Could it be that a thousand years of growth as a plant manifests in the transformation?"

That's right, the humanoid mass of water floating in the air was Liu Ji, who had transformed into a water elemental spirit.

At this moment, he was experiencing a sensation he had never felt before—a miraculous feeling of being spiritually connected to the world and being given a green light with everything related to water.

With just a thought, Liu Ji could manipulate the water molecules around him to do anything he could comprehend.

Well… That said, this comprehension seemed to be related to the use of magic. Liu Ji was still too much of a newbie in this aspect—like a beginner programmer who had learned coding for only two days, staring blankly at a supercomputer.

Currently, the only things he could do were condensing water and controlling water flow. However, he could perform these two tasks to perfection.

Liu Ji even felt that with a single thought, he could draw all the water from this area and condense it together.

However, he couldn't really do that; otherwise, all the plants in this underground space might wither.

After experiencing this strange sensation for some time, he suddenly remembered that Myza was still waiting below. Thus, he looked down… though he didn't actually need to lower his head. In this state, he could sense all the information around him without using his eyes.

He could sense that Myza was looking up at him, waving his right hand sporadically as if testing whether Liu Ji could see him.

Liu Ji flew down to his side and, with a thought, reverted to human form.

"How does it feel?" Myza casually tossed Liu Ji's clothes to him.

"It feels amazing," Liu Ji said, putting on his clothes while describing the sensations he felt during the transformation.

"I see." Myza nodded while listening to Liu Ji's account. "This ability of yours is truly remarkable. In all my years, I've never seen anyone able to transform into an elemental spirit."

"Really? Too bad I'm still a novice in magic. I can't do much even as an elemental spirit." Liu Ji scratched his head. "But it should probably be useful for escaping, right?"

"Yes, indeed. If you dive into the water, no one will be able to find you," Myza agreed. "By the way, since you can eat a water elemental spirit, you ought to be able to eat other elemental spirits, right?"

"Well… I haven't tried." Liu Ji blinked several times. "But what other elemental spirits are there?"

"There are only four basic elemental spirits: earth, fire, water, and wind. Others are derived from these," Myza said, stroking his chin. "But now that I think of it, the other three do seem a bit hard to consume."

"Aha. That's true. I can't exactly chew on stone." Liu Ji shrugged.

"Hmm… Not necessarily." Myza smiled slightly. "Come, follow me. I want to show you something."

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On the surface.

Yaine raised her staff slowly. Following her movements, a stone city wall steadily rose from the ground. Within a few minutes, a wall nearly 10 meters high was completed.

Lowering her staff and looking at the perfect wall, Yaine let out a soft sigh.

"What's wrong, are you tired?" Osar placed his chubby paws on Yaine's shoulders, massaging them. "Do you want to rest for a bit?"

"No, I'm not tired," Yaine said, but then sighed again. "Do you think Liu Ji will stay here or come with us?"

"That…" Osar gave a wry smile. "Um, do you hope he comes with us?"

"No, I'm fine, really." Yaine shrugged. "We don't even speak the same language, and coming with us, a bunch destined to wander the world, isn't really a good choice for anyone."

"But he might not stay here either," Osar said. "After all, this vast desert can get pretty boring after a while."

"Maybe…" Yaine said. "But there's nothing to worry about. He's never called me 'teacher' before. Perhaps it was just my wishful thinking all along."

"No, I don't think so. I can tell he takes learning from you very seriously," Osar responded. "Didn't he come to find you right after talking with Mr. Myza that time? If he didn't take you seriously, he would have forgotten about us as soon as he met someone who spoke his language."

"Tsk, I know, I know. I just don't want to get my hopes up too much…" Yaine shook her head. "Enough about this, let's continue. The sooner we finish rebuilding this city, the sooner we can leave. I hope the others are doing okay and haven't run into any danger…"

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BAAM!

Nox delivered his final straight punch.

The burly earthwalker clutched his crotch, whimpering as he collapsed to his knees, glaring at Nox with a face full of resentment.

"Heheheh! Don't glare at me like that. It's not like I intentionally aimed for there," Nox said, raising an eyebrow. "I'm just this tall and that's all I can reach."

The burly earthwalker didn't make a sound, continuing to glare at Nox with tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Tsk, you guys are a pain," Nox said irritably, stepping around the incapacitated thug and approaching Chick, who was still inside the protective bubble. "I heard them calling you Chick?"

"Ah, yes, hello! I'm called Chick," Chick said, hastily bowing in gratitude. "Thank you so much for helping me. B-but you should run; you hurt them and the boss will come after you. I'll hide and wait for the army to pick me up, so don't worry about me…"

"Hey, don't say that," Nox said, dispelling the bubble with a wave of his hand and extending a hand to Chick. "Who cares about this so-called boss? I can't stand these shady thugs… Oh, by the way, since he's the boss, does he have a lot of money?"

"Huh?" Chick was taken aback. "Well, he has oppressed us for years and has indeed amassed a lot of gems…"

"Gems?!" Nox's eyes lit up. "Quick, tell me where he is, and I'll take care of these scumbags right away!"

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In the underground space beneath the desert city.

"Here, try this," Myza said, placing a plate of roasted meat in front of Liu Ji.

"Ah? What's this? I'm not even hungry now." Liu Ji was taken by surprise.

"I'm not having you eat to fill your stomach," Myza said, smiling as he pointed to a small enclosure nearby. "This is meat from those creatures."

Liu Ji's eyes immediately followed where Myza was pointing.

It was a small pen, with a bunch of small armadillo-like creatures inside.

"These were once a special product of the desert. We call them burrowrats," Myza explained.

"These creatures have one remarkable characteristic: they can consume rock and sustain themselves on the magic within."