Warlock Apprentice

“Are you saying there was an extra painting I told you to bring?”

Angor nodded.

Sunders frowned and tried to remember their exploration earlier, yet he failed to recall anything regarding it.

Angor realized that this was similar to when he took Singularity Dispersive Meditation from Nether City. Back then, Sunders at least knew there was “a certain channeling method book”. Now, however, Sunders completely forgot about the painting. It was as if it was entirely removed from his memory.

“You… Tell me about this item again, in detail.”

Using illusions, Angor described what happened around the strange painting as well as the picture on it.

Sunders’ expression turned stern as he listened.

“I still remember that witch, but not the painting… This told us that the item must be something very special, perhaps more so compared to Singularity Dispersive Meditation.”

Angor would agree. He also felt something not quite right when looking at the painting.

Previously, he thought it was because of the old witch. Yet what Sunders said suggested otherwise. The painting might be the biggest mystery instead.

“I mentioned that I and Flora once killed most of the monsters in Witch’s Town. After that, I planned to consider that place our forward operating base for further expeditions. But now…” Sunders moaned. “The cottage, the witch, and the painting; they’re all something I never encountered before. And I do believe they aren’t the only surprises.”

And I still need Angor to find out more about these secrets… But the boy is still not strong enough. I wonder if he can manage himself in the coming crisis that is about to happen to the wizarding world…

Angor was still thinking about the painting, and so, he didn’t notice Sunders’ strange expression.

“What exactly was that, professor?”

Sunders shook his head to get rid of the extra concerns. “Since it slipped from my memory, I assume it’s very likely another Mystery item. But we cannot tell its purpose or origin yet.”

“Mystery item?” Angor was confident that he knew how to sense one. He failed to do so probably because he couldn’t do that in his soul form.

Argh, such a pity! Only if I can take it back and get a better look at it…

“Since you cannot bring Mystery items back yet, so let’s drop the matter. That witch must be how the town got its name. I’ll look into her later, and maybe I can find something about the strange painting along the way.”

Angor nodded and decided not to worry too much about losing the painting. He didn’t have it and thinking about it wouldn’t change that.

Since everything was settled, Sunders was going to make a report for their travel as it might be able to facilitate their next expedition.

Before leaving, Angor asked another question, “How long are we going to remain in Floating Mech City, sir?”

“There’s an auction at the end of the month. I heard that an ancient scroll that contained information about the Nightmare Realm is going to be presented, so I’ll attend the auction.”

It’s still the beginning of this month… Angor pondered. I have time to finish that alchemy task.

“An ancient scroll with Nightmare Realm information? But, wasn’t Nightmare Realm first recorded by Expedition into Endless Planes 200 years ago? Ancient?”

“I’m not sure about that. Auctions, they always make up beautiful words to attract customers. True or not, I still need to see it with my own eyes. I believe the Nightmare Realm has existed since ancient times, but people just discovered it recently for various reasons.”

Angor was interested in the auction, but he wasn’t going for the scroll. He wished to check how an auction in this traders’ heaven would look like and maybe sell his Bloodrose vine while at it.

Sunders didn’t have objections when he heard Angor’s request. He would allow this student of his to tag along.

Angor returned to his room and saw Toby still sleeping. Just as he thought, the time in reality didn’t elapse very much while he traveled inside the Nightmare Realm.

He wondered whether he could spend all his training time inside the Nightmare Realm. Would he be able to get really strong “overnight”?

From what he had learned until now, this was impossible. There was no primal mana in the Nightmare Realm, and it was unlikely to gain levels in his soul form.

Without waking Toby up, Angor stepped into the soundproof room. He still had to finish the red-haired woman’s request.

He spent the next few days reading the book. Finding the correct runes by looking at portions of them was a very taxing job.

It took Angor an entire sleepless week to finally discover all six runes used on the crown. However, there were still several extra lines that he didn’t recognize.

Is there a seventh rune?!

If so, it was almost impossible a task to ascertain the rune using these few lines.

Angor considered and decided to figure out which magic array was established by the six known runes first. Perhaps he could find the last rune in this way. Thankfully, this step wasn’t as exhausting as before.

Before that, he planned to catch some sleep first. The last week had drained him out.

When he opened the door of the soundproof room for the first time this week, he saw something huge flying past the window.

It was Toby, who had turned into his Fury Griffin form. For some reason, Toby was looking at Angor with teary eyes.

Just as Angor wondered what was going on, he heard a familiar voice speaking right outside the window:

“Toby! Sweetie! Don’t run. Show me your Fury Flame or I’ll force you to!”

Angor was momentarily confused until he saw a short figure standing below his window. It was a young girl in her teenage years.

None of her possessions sat well with her image. A large purple skirt, heavy makeup, a tamer whip…

“Oh ho! Hey, Angor, you finally came out!” The girl saw Angor through the window and called out.

“Lady Greya?!”

Angor quickly jumped out of the window. At the same time, Toby swiftly landed beside him. Despite his size, he did not make any sound.

“What did you come here for, Lady Greya?”

The girl was just Greya, the famous Gourmet wizard he met in Dark Castle not long ago. Angor thought Greya was going to attend to important matters and that they wouldn’t be meeting again for at least a few years.

Greya patted Toby’s giant beak and giggled. “Which old man taught you about freaking seclusions? Is it Sunders? I came here a week ago, and you’ve stayed indoors all the way until now!”

“I… accepted a quest from someone,” Angor explained as he scratched the back of his head. “I need to do a lot of alchemy research these days.”

Greya inspected Angor up and down. “I’ve been hearing rumors about you these days. I mean, according to the magazines, you’ve become a pioneer that represents an entire new generation of young men.”

“Oh, um, you know how magazines work, ma’am, you can’t take their words too seriously.”

“Now now, a level-3 apprentice already? How long did it take you, a few months? And you tell me that the magazines were wrong?”

Despite her cheerful attitude, Greya was truly admiring the amazing training speed displayed by Angor. She still remembered the mortal boy being all timid and jumpy back in her restaurant.

“I guess I was lucky, Lady Greya.”

“Yeah right, luck, pfft. There are several wizards who came here looking for your alchemy service. I guess that’s luck too?”

“Wait, wizards want me to craft for them?” Angor widened his eyes. Sunders never mentioned anything like this to him.

“They’re looking for you alright, but I don’t think they seriously want your help. As far as I can see, they’re looking to expand their business relations and you’re a good choice.” Greya pointed to Sunders’ position. “That teacher of yours chased them away.”

Angor nodded. “Professor did the right thing. I’m not good enough to provide alchemy items to wizards yet.”

Greya rolled her eyes. She was there in Dark Castle when Angor almost created a Mystery weapon! Even though it was true that Isabelle seized half of the Mystery spirit Angor created, the weapon was still considered a great achievement by many wizards.

“So um, Lady Greya, did you come here to visit Toby?” Angor saw Greya’s expression getting threateningly strange and quickly changed the topic.

“Oh, no no. I have something to discuss with your teacher. Might as well check on Toby since I have time. Also, I think I’ll remain here for a while. You can leave Toby to me so that I can give him some proper training. Go mind your own business. Now off you go. Shoo.”

Angor didn’t wish to question the business between two wizards, so he simply nodded.

Toby’s going to have a good time with his old master—

He turned around only to see Toby still giving him that pleading look.

Then Angor looked at the whip in Greya’s hand and somewhat understood what was going to happen.

“Now that Toby gained such wonderful power, I’m not going to see it go to waste,” Greya said before Angor could say anything. “Just so you know, Toby can be a better partner for you if he learns more.”

Angor decided not to protest for now. Greya was Toby’s master and creator after all.

In the end, he gave Toby an apologetic look and turned away.