Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2187: Chapter 2188: Earth Mark

Dangross was quick in action. Angel had barely rested for ten minutes in the Illusionary Realm’s small cabin when Earl Mi, standing watch outside, reported the arrival of an Elemental Sprite.

Angel stepped outside and saw an Earthfire Grub about the size of an adult’s lower leg, slowly inching its way to the cave entrance.

This Earthfire Grub was an Elemental Sprite, not possessing high Spirit Intelligence, so Angel didn’t greet it; he simply watched quietly to see what it would do.

The Earthfire Grub moved forward with a ”crawl,” at a fairly brisk pace.

Curiously, it glanced at the entrance, slightly irritated by the icy aura coming from inside, but the fire within its body from Dangross urged it to enter.

The Earthfire Grub hesitated for a moment, then continued crawling inside.

As soon as it stepped into the icy cavern, the Grub shivered from the cold, suppressing its instinct to flee, and crawled up to Angel.

The Grub raised its flame-topped head with pea-sized eyes, glancing at Angel. It seemed to convey, ”Is this the person that the big guy told me to see?”

Whatever impression the Grub had of Angel was unknown to him, but Angel clearly saw the Grub spit a puff of slightly gray flame onto the ground before him, then turned around and sped away at an incredible speed, disappearing out of sight.

Standing at the entrance, Angel felt somewhat disheveled. The earlier scene gave him the impression that a bratty child was forced to meet a parent’s friend, only to spit disdainfully and leave brusquely.

The feeling was peculiar, and this wasn’t the first time.

After the Grub departed, it wasn’t long before a small lizard covered in Magma appeared before him. Similarly, the lizard circled Angel once, then left.

Though the Magma Lizard didn’t spit at him, Angel still sensed a subtle disdain...

”I clearly asked Dangross to summon his underlings for a look, so why do I feel like I’m a Joker being gawped at in a Circus?” Angel shivered, deciding not to think about it further. Even if he was being watched, at least he could see different Fire Sprites and maybe find one that suited him, right?

Angel wasn’t impressed by the Earthfire Grub or the Magma Lizard. It wasn’t that they lacked Potential, but both were mixed with some earth elemental energy. While such Elemental Sprites could be trained for cross-realm elemental tricks, they were less useful for Alchemy support.

So, even as they left, Angel didn’t stop them.

He waited a bit longer, and seeing no other Elemental Creatures approaching, he returned into the Illusionary Realm’s small cabin to meditate.

After meditating, Angel checked his surroundings and found no Elemental Creatures outside. He contacted Earl Mi to confirm that in the three hours of his meditation, not a single Elemental Creature had come.

”Didn’t Dangross say he had hundreds of underlings? Could it be that Dangross was lying and only has a few underlings?” Angel muttered to himself. Reflecting more, it didn’t seem right, since he witnessed Dangross recruiting underlings at the Lava Lake firsthand—using sheer charisma and allure—it shouldn’t be lacking in followers.

Unable to figure it out, Angel decided to stop dwelling on it and turned his focus to another matter—

The Earth Mark bestowed by Little In-Ba.

The Earth Mark was given to Angel by Little In-Ba at Big In-Ba’s behest, as gratitude for Angel’s Ghostfire Butterfly gemstone sculpture.

In essence, the Earth Mark is somewhat similar to the Flame Mark given by Odeclass, both being seals of one’s power and aura. The condensing force in Angel’s surrounding aura was Little In-Ba’s earth aura.

However, in terms of level and effectiveness, the Earth Mark falls short of Odeclass’s Flame Mark.

The Flame Mark can release powerful flame forces, form a shield, and even borrow part of Odeclass’s dragon might to intimidate opponents. Little In-Ba’s Earth Mark, however, provides only a trace of its aura, neither useful for defense nor attack, and doesn’t leave any marks on Angel’s body, purely an ”aura mark” recognizable by those familiar with Little In-Ba.

Indeed, Big In-Ba could make Earth Marks too, even more powerful than Little In-Ba’s. The reason it requested Little In-Ba to provide the Earth Mark was simply that Little In-Ba’s mark was more favored.

Little In-Ba is a very clever earth elemental creature with ideals, ambitions, and an adventurous spirit. Hence, it chose to study abroad, learning more knowledge from sages in other regions. Big In-Ba was actually brought along by Little In-Ba.

Such a disposition is extremely rare in the earth elemental tribe.

Because of Little In-Ba’s personality, it had visited many other elemental creatures’ territories. As earth creatures are generally non-confrontational and inherently powerful, Little In-Ba faced no hostility and even made many friends in those regions.

It can be said that during its travels in the past decades, Little In-Ba has made friends all over the world.

Big In-Ba knew that Angel’s future would take him not only to the Wilderness of Stones but also to other elemental creatures’ territories. If Angel were to meet Little In-Ba’s friends, Little In-Ba’s Earth Mark could bring Angel many conveniences.

This is why Big In-Ba insisted on Little In-Ba giving him a mark.

Though a bit reluctant, Little In-Ba eventually, with some shyness, merged its aura mark into Angel’s aura field.

Now, Angel can manifest the earth aura within his field to allow others to recognize it, simply by channeling it. Even without channeling, the earth aura continually surrounds Angel, though it takes high Perception to detect it.

However, this Earth Mark constantly consumes its energy, and according to Angel’s calculations, if not frequently activated to manifest, it remains for at most three months.

This might be a limitation set by Little In-Ba itself, as it doesn’t particularly favor Angel. In its view, the Tidal World is vast, and Angel probably wouldn’t traverse beyond the Wilderness of Stones within three months. The time limit helps meet Big In-Ba’s request without offering too much aid to Angel.

What Little In-Ba doesn’t realize is that, at Angel’s pace, three months is more than enough to traverse the Tidal World multiple times. So the three-month stipulation is perfectly sufficient for Angel.

After clearing up the situation with the Earth Mark, another two hours passed.

Earl Mi, who had been quiet all this while, finally sent word again.

To Angel’s mild surprise, the newcomer wasn’t an Elemental Sprite but a mature Elemental Creature.

Although a mature body, this Elemental Creature wasn’t large, appearing as a Flame Sparrow engulfed in bright orange flames, comparable in size to a typical adult peacock.

Angel noticed the Flame Sparrow had a long tail feather, one of which burned with a brighter shade of orange-red flame.

It looked very much like the Flame Sparrow he had seen at the volcano, used by Magicfire Midir to convey messages?

”Are you one of Dangross’s underlings?” Angel asked curiously.

The Flame Sparrow flew into the cave, not acting like the unruly Elemental Sprites, calmly standing outside the Illusionary Realm’s small cabin. Hearing Angel’s question, a barely perceptible awkwardness flickered in its flame-lit eyes. After a while, it nodded and said, ”I used to be. I’m now part of the Royal Guard. You may call me Fespanra, sir.”

Royal Guard Squad? A look of realization flashed in Angel’s eyes, thinking it must be the group of Flame Sparrows hovering around the volcano’s crater.

So, is this Flame Sparrow really the one he saw before?

Angel voiced his doubts, and Fei Spanrui nodded, ”Yes.”

Upon hearing Fei Spanrui’s answer, Angel felt a slight sense of disappointment. This particular Flame Sparrow happened to be the type of pure fire creature he was searching for. Its flame temperature was especially suitable for him, and its bright orange-red tail feather, if fully unleashed, could rival High Order Fire Melting Methods, saving him much effort in alchemy... Unfortunately, this sparrow belongs to Midir the Ghostfire’s subordinate. Convincing it to leave would be difficult unless by force.

For Elemental Sprites, even if force is used, their spirit intelligence can be slowly guided in the future. However, an originally intelligent elemental creature can easily backfire if forced, especially since elemental creatures can guide elemental side cultivation, and if it sabotages during cross-discipline cultivation, it could affect one’s entire life.

”So, you’re not here because Dangross called you, but because His Highness has something for me?” Angel asked.

Fei Spanrui shook his head, ”His Highness has gained much in the World’s Harmony and hasn’t yet come out. It’s Dangross who asked me to come and help control its group of... little brothers.”

Through Fei Spanrui’s explanation, Angel finally understood. It turned out Dangross knew its little brothers had somewhat troublesome personalities, so it asked its former subordinate, Fei Spanrui, to come and help keep watch.

Although Elemental Sprites have low spirit intelligence, it doesn’t mean they’re truly dim-witted. They have a desire to express, can receive external messages, but their comprehension and cognitive efficiency are very low. Coupled with their inability to speak, they appear particularly bewildered.

As a human, Angel certainly couldn’t discern the intentions of Elemental Sprites, but Fei Spanrui, as their kin, could understand these mischievous youngsters and control them to some extent.

Therefore, it was assigned to assist.

Angel just needed such an assistant because he couldn’t determine the potential of Elemental Sprites himself and had to rely on flame temperature and properties. If Fei Spanrui could manipulate the Elemental Sprites to unleash their talent abilities, a suitable target could be found more quickly.

Angel conveyed his needs to Fei Spanrui.

Fei Spanrui gave Angel a deep look, seemingly understanding what this human intended to do.

However, Fei Spanrui didn’t refuse, gathering its scattered thoughts and smiled while nodding, ”No problem, I can have them exhibit their talent abilities. If you have other requests, feel free to tell me.”

Since Fei Spanrui’s arrival, the Elemental Sprite that had stopped coming for a few hours started to appear again.

Apparently, the sudden absence of Elemental Sprites earlier was indeed the result of Dangross’s restraint.

With Fei Spanrui’s assistance, Angel witnessed many wonderful talent abilities.

For example, this Poisonfire Toad in front of him.

It had just arrived and was arranged by Fei Spanrui to display its talent ability.

This toad’s talent ability wasn’t traveling or treasure seeking, but—Poison Flame Swamp.

It could transform the five-meter radius around itself into fiercely burning poison fire, and as long as the toad lived, this poison fire was nearly impossible to extinguish. Whether by frost or gale, it was hard to quench the poison fire, the only regret being its limited range.

This was far more formidable than other poison fire creatures breathing poison flames, showing hints of a ”domain” quality. As an elemental companion, it would definitely be a high-quality choice with great growth potential.

Even Angel was a bit tempted. Although poison fire as an ability wouldn’t benefit him much, if cultivated well, it could become a very formidable combat force.

However, after weighing the options, Angel decided to let it go. While strong combat forces were good, Toby and Earl Mi were sufficient, adding another seemed redundant. Rather than high combat power, he preferred a supportive one.

After the Poisonfire Toad left, several dozen more elemental creatures arrived one after another. Most were Elemental Sprites, but few were useful to Angel, and even those suitable had weak talent abilities.

They were not as promising as Dangross’s newly taken underling, the Flame Traveling Frog.

Nightfall arrived in the blink of an eye.

For the elemental creatures of the Region of Fire, there wasn’t much distinction between day and night, as flames burned everywhere and the sky was shrouded in thick smoke, making it hard to discern day from night.

Yet for newly born Elves, the night seemed to possess a magical quality, allowing them to rapidly gain energy while in deep sleep, so at night, Elemental Sprites almost all went into slumber.

Most of Dangross’s little brothers were Elemental Sprites, so Angel was somewhat relieved.

Having observed a whole day’s worth of little elves, Angel planned to rest inside.

Returning to the Illusionary Realm house, Angel first set up a small bed for Toby, then changed it into a themed fire-patterned pajama, and Toby obediently went to bed.

Angel also intended to take a short break before heading to the Wilderness of Dreams.

However, just as he was about to close his eyes, Earl Mi, merging with the ambient shadow, conveyed a thought to him.

The thought contained an image.

In the image, Fei Spanrui flew to the high skies outside the cave, gently waved its wings, and sparks floated out, drifting towards the volcano crater in the distance under an inexplicable breeze.

Previously, Angel might not have caught the subtlety in this scene.

But after Dangross’s explanations, he knew that flame beings could communicate using sparks with their kin, and Fei Spanrui was clearly transmitting a message.

Moreover, judging by the direction where the sparks were drifting, it was very likely being sent to Midir the Ghostfire.

Angel pondered deeply as he sensed the picture.

”Was it the desire for an elemental partner during the day, shown too overtly?”

Fei Spanrui likely was conveying intelligence, and the main subject of the intelligence must have been himself. He had done practically nothing all day apart from being an appreciator. Although Fei Spanrui said nothing, it obviously realized things weren’t right, probably having guessed Angel’s intentions.

So, it began conveying intelligence as Angel rested.