Warlock Apprentice

Faced with Greya’s questioning, Angel’s gaze flickered slightly, refusing to answer directly.

Greya could see through it—Angel clearly had no intention of revealing anything.

She sighed. ”Fine, let’s set aside your experiment full of holes for now. What I want to know is, what were the results?”

”As I said earlier, there were some minor issues with the experimental process. Even in the dream, Toby still triggered the Extreme Resentment Thoughts...”

Greya: ”So, in other words, the experiment was completely useless?”

Angel: ”Judging by the results, that’s accurate. However, the experiment I designed wasn’t entirely a failure. If we can address the issue of Toby triggering Extreme Resentment Thoughts in reality, we can let Toby repeatedly undergo tribulations in the dream. By then, Toby’s issues can be resolved smoothly.”

Greya raised an eyebrow and sneered. ”Then tell me, how exactly do you plan to solve this problem?”

For now, Angel hadn’t figured out a solution. He could only draw a makeshift conclusion based on his current thoughts: ”For the time being, the method I’m considering is to use some external force to suppress Toby’s emotional surges in reality. If we can stop it from breaking through Lord Frost’s sealing in reality, then I can do something about it in the dream.”

Greya: ”And this so-called ’external force’ is... what exactly?”

Angel spread his hands and shrugged. ”I haven’t figured that out yet.”

”You haven’t figured it out? Haha...” Greya: ”Then everything you’ve said so far is just nonsense.”

Angel: ”Not entirely nonsense. At the very least, we’ve found a potential pathway, haven’t we?”

Toby’s situation was incredibly unusual; its tribulations were something only it could face—no outsider could assist. Even someone as extraordinary as Lord Frost, whose power far exceeded that of a Legend, couldn’t provide a truly safe method to help Toby endure the tribulation. The only viable option was to suppress the Extreme Resentment Thoughts and delay the time of Toby’s tribulation.

As such, their only feasible idea now was to increase the likelihood of Toby’s success when it eventually faced the tribulation head-on. But after all their efforts, they hadn’t come up with any effective way to boost Toby’s odds, leaving Greya no choice but to resort to rigorous ”devil training” to push Toby forward.

That said, even the devil training offered limited benefits for Toby. While its physical body might grow stronger during training, physical strength was of little use during the tribulation. Therefore, the impact was negligible.

The primary objective of Greya’s devil training was to strengthen Toby’s willpower. Unfortunately, the results were underwhelming.

But now, Angel had proposed a new pathway. If they could resolve the issue of Toby’s emotional surges in reality, they could use dream-based trials to truly increase Toby’s success rate for the tribulation.

Greya could admit that this was a relatively sound approach. However...

”At the time, it was only thanks to Lord Frost’s power that Toby’s emotional turbulence could be suppressed. Do you think we have any chance of finding another figure as strong as Lord Frost?” Greya paused. ”Or do you think you can get in contact with Lord Frost?”

Angel shook his head. ”No, I can’t.”

”Then this path remains impassable.” If the path was doomed, she might as well just stick to her devil training for Toby.

”I’ll look around. Maybe I can find a way to suppress emotions,” Angel said, unwilling to give up on this path.

Greya sneered. ”Then I’ll look forward to your good news.”

Though Greya said she was looking forward to it, her tone carried heavy sarcasm. She didn’t believe Angel could find anyone capable of suppressing Toby’s emotional surges. After all, up to this point, only Sharley could even sense Toby’s emotions, let alone suppress them.

Thinking of this, Greya glanced at Sharley.

Sharley, however, was resting her chin on one hand in contemplation, while the other held a magician’s staff... raising it high.

”Why are you raising your hand?” Greya asked in confusion.

Sharley hesitated for a moment before replying slowly, ”If we’re talking about suppressing emotions... I might be able to help a little.”

”You can suppress emotions?” Angel stepped forward, his face full of doubt as he looked at Sharley. ”Didn’t you say before that you could only sense emotions?”

Greya also turned her gaze toward Sharley. If Sharley could truly suppress emotions, then perhaps Angel’s proposed pathway might indeed become viable.

Sharley: ”Because I have a natural talent for sensing emotions, I’ve developed a fondness for collecting objects tied to deep obsessions, intense emotions, and strong bonds.”

Angel was aware of this—after all, it was for this reason that Sharley once tried to steal Allen’s Beast-Slaying Knife.

”At one point, I accidentally acquired a pigeon blood ruby. This gem carried an overwhelming aura of killing intent, so intense that everyone who came into contact with it met with misfortune. At the time, I was merely a Junior Apprentice. While the ruby had some influence on me, I couldn’t bear to discard it. So, I tried to find a way to suppress that killing intent.” Sharley paused. ”Perhaps because of my talent, I eventually succeeded.”

As she spoke, Sharley reached into her spatial pouch and pulled out a ruby.

The ruby wasn’t an unmounted gemstone but a brooch. The ornate setting of the ruby was crafted from exquisite mithril, its curves imbued with an elegant grace. Embedded within the mithril setting were tiny sparkling crystals that gleamed like blood-red stars from afar.

Even from its appearance, Angel, as an Alchemist, couldn’t help but nod in approval. This ruby brooch, clearly crafted by mortal artisans, was of such remarkable artistic quality—it had to be the work of a master craftsman.

”This is the pigeon blood ruby whose killing intent I suppressed.” Sharley handed it to Greya.

Greya examined it closely, a flicker of doubt crossing her face. ”This ruby brooch... it looks somewhat familiar.”

As a witch, Greya would occasionally pay attention to ornaments. The design of this ruby brooch reminded her of something she’d heard about a decade ago.

Greya muttered under her breath, ”Could this be the Crimson Heart of the Sithu royal family?”

”I remember the Crimson Heart was stolen by a phantom thief during a grand ball hosted by the Sithu royal family.” Greya’s gaze sharpened as she turned to Sharley.

Sharley had earlier claimed to have ”accidentally acquired” the pigeon blood ruby. Was it truly an accident?

Under Greya’s intense gaze, Sharley showed no change in expression and replied matter-of-factly, ”It is indeed the Crimson Heart. During one of my magical tour performances, I happened to see a lady place this ruby in a drawer. Thinking she might no longer want it, I brought it back with me.”

Greya: ”That drawer... it wasn’t locked, was it?”

Sharley nodded confidently. ”It was. But just because it’s locked doesn’t mean she still needed it. It’s like how people often lock impossible dreams away in their hearts, claiming they’ll revisit them one day, but they probably never will before they die. In such a case, isn’t it essentially abandoned?”

Locking something away in a chest and locking it away in one’s heart are two very different things! Greya sighed, rubbing her temples in exasperation.

This Sharley was a complete egoist. Her values revolved entirely around herself. Even others’ possessions could be twisted into a justification for her to take them through her twisted reasoning.

There were plenty of such people in the Wizards’ Realm, and Greya didn’t feel like correcting her. Instead, she reached out and started examining the ruby.

Just as Sharley had described, an aura resembling a ”curse” of killing intent faintly lingered within the ruby. However, this killing intent was tightly confined, as though encased in a protective layer that kept it sealed entirely within, not leaking a single trace.