Warlock Apprentice

This is a tower shrouded in clouds, located at the pinnacle of the Mirror World.

The grayish walls, under the light, faintly reveal a tinge of stone blue. As Angel Fuyi walked to the entrance of the tower, he heard a fluttering sound of wings.

Looking up, he saw a flock of white doves, originally resting quietly on one of the tower’s windowsills, all taking off into flight.

Circling the tower in a mysterious trajectory.

Not long after they circled, one of the white doves flew out alone from the flock, fluttering its wings as it landed in front of Angel.

Angel held out his hand, and the white dove immediately perched on the back of his hand. Simultaneously, an extremely dense magic aura began to emanate outward, centered on the white dove.

Angel stroked the dove’s feathers, enjoying the aura of magical infusion for a few seconds, then whispered, ”It’s not time to take you away yet, you should go back first.”

With that said, Angel released it, allowing it to rejoin the flock.

Once the white dove merged with the flock, Angel touched his slightly rough face and softly sighed, ”The legends say that Illusory Spirits don’t recognize people by appearance but by the scent of their energy. Indeed, it’s true.”

Before entering the Mirror World, Angel had used a shapeshifting technique to change his appearance—

A man in his thirties, with a face somewhat like a mature version of Lyon, with extremely sharp brows. However, his demeanor didn’t have the dashing and fierce aura of Lyon, looking rather laid-back. His red tousled hair was tied up casually, sideburns blown askew by the wind, dressed in a loose leather coat, with a stubbled chin lending him a playful and unrestrained appearance.

Greya thought this image was a bit sloppy and strongly recommended a few other images to Angel, but among the ten recommendations, six were Meat Mountain Demon King, two were non-mainstream characters from dark fairytales, and the last two were normal, though one was a sweet witch, and the other was a noble youth similar to Angel.

The witch was definitely out of the question; as for the noble youth image... Angel didn’t choose it, simply because he didn’t want to.

When a person takes on an image, they inevitably have to act in ways that fit that image. A noble youth must pay attention to every detail of speech and behavior. From clothing, from the roots of their hair to the belt at their waist, down to the polished shoes, everything has its rules.

It’s too complicated and exhausting. Moreover, Angel used to have this image before, even if he changed his appearance, maintaining the same etiquette would still make people who knew him recognize him.

Hence, the noble youth image wasn’t necessary.

The uncle image he chose for himself was because he had previously played similar roles on the Cloud Conch, giving him some experience. Moreover, in this untamed guise, he didn’t have to mind worldly manners, his idleness didn’t matter, allowing Angel to step out of the constraining shell of nobility and catch his breath.

Under this guise, Angel walked into the Mirror World, and no one discovered his true identity. During this, Angel even encountered an Official Wizard, who did notice Angel but was merely drawn by Angel’s prowess, somewhat puzzled as to when such a wizard arrived at the Barbarian Cave.

After deceiving the Official Wizard, Angel felt somewhat complacent, yet upon arriving at the Cloud Tower, he was recognized by this group of Illusory Spirit doves.

The white dove that had earlier landed on Angel’s hand was exactly one of the Illusory Spirits from the ”Path of Mana Absorption.” The Path is a gigantic Magical Energy Array that envelops the entire Mirror World, also the source of the Mirror World’s magic concentration. The white doves are the Illusory Spirits of this Magical Energy Array, each representing a node of magic, and wherever a white dove is, that is the extension of the Magical Energy Array.

In other words, wherever there are white doves, the concentration of primordial magic in that area will naturally rise.

Each Official Wizard of the Barbarian Cave has a similar white dove, and the one just now belonged to Angel, a gift given to him by Rhein before he was promoted.

Once Angel acquires a base similar to Illusion Demon Island, the white dove can go to the base and improve the mana illusion there. However, Angel currently has no intention of establishing a base, so the white dove can only remain here.

After being recognized by the white dove, Angel put away his pride and walked into the Cloud Tower—Lord Rhein’s place of cultivation, with a slight sense of frustration.

Behind the ancient door lay a long passage. Entering it, Angel was immediately enveloped by a silent force field.

He couldn’t speak now.

This silent force field wasn’t created by Rhein, but emanated from the statue of the Speechless Deity in the pool located at the center of the first level inside the tower.

After walking past the Speechless Deity’s domain, Angel climbed the interior stairs of the tower, spiraling upwards until he reached a large door.

This is Rhein’s room for cultivation.

Angel had been here once before; this time he found that some decorations had been added to the door. Previously plain iron doors now featured several varying-sized transparent crystal balls, appearing like irregular bumps on a smooth skin.

Angel’s expression remained unchanged, but inwardly he sighed: Lord Rhein’s obsession with crystal balls really hasn’t waned in millennia.

This reminded him of Lianna’s prior request, hoping Angel could persuade Rhein to change the standard communicator from a crystal ball design. Judging from this, convincing him might be quite tough.

Upon opening the door, Angel immediately saw Rhein sitting in front of a crystal ball. Shadows flickered across the crystal ball, with Rhein’s mouth moving as if he were conversing with someone.

”Wait for me for a few minutes,” Rhein’s voice reached Angel’s ears.

Angel didn’t respond, merely sitting opposite Rhein, waiting for his situation to conclude.

About two minutes later, the glowing crystal ball dimmed, and only then did Rhein look up at Angel across from him.

Rhein scrutinized Angel’s attire up and down, smiling as he said, ”The way you look now reminds me of my younger self.”

”Lord Rhein in his youth?”

Rhein nodded, ”Indeed, at that time, the thing I did most often was to take off my well-behaved coat and seek the freedom I pursued amidst indolence and lassitude.”

”Did you eventually find freedom, my lord?”

Rhein neither affirmed nor denied, instead saying, ”Freedom isn’t something found that easily; the freedom defined in my youth differs from what I pursue now.”

”After some time of carefreeness, I eventually put on that well-behaved coat. For later on, I realized it never constrained my freedom, but rather served as a hedgehog armor with thorns, guarding my initial faith.”

Rhein’s words, though appearing to talk about himself, seemed also aimed at Angel.

Angel listened too but didn’t truly empathize. Because he and Rhein were somewhat different. Taking on this uncle guise, he clearly understood his purpose, merely an act, not his real self.

Even if he’d opted for the witch disguise recommended by Greya, it would be the same as now. He never intended to seek freedom with a facade.