Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 1421: Section 1422 Controlled and Semi-Uncontrolled

“Speaking of being out of control, that brings me to my main work. I am a Mystic Hunter affiliated with the Orderly Guild, and my main responsibility is to recover uncontrolled Mysterious Objects,” Frost began from his own experiences.

As Frost narrated, a previously unseen tapestry was gradually unveiled before their eyes.

The so-called Orderly Guild is a super star-level federation in the Origin World, open to anyone from Witcher Organizations, including wandering wizards. The primary function of the Orderly Guild is to retrieve uncontrolled Mysterious Objects to prevent even greater disasters.

And Frost is one such Mystic Hunter of the Orderly Guild. While called a Hunter, his only prey was the uncontrolled Mysterious Objects.

“Currently, Mysterious Objects are mainly categorized by their level of stability into three types: controllable, which belong to the state of order; semi-uncontrolled, which are on the verge of chaos; and uncontrolled, which are in a state of disorder.”

“Controllable Mysterious Objects are actually those in a containment phase, which don’t actively affect the outside world.”

“Semi-uncontrolled Mysterious Objects can still be managed under certain specific conditions. If these conditions are lost, they will become uncontrollable.”

“As for uncontrolled, as the term implies, these are difficult to control under any circumstances. If you meet the invasion criteria for this kind of Mysterious Object, it will ceaselessly spread disorder.”

After Frost finished explaining, Angel was still in a state of chaos, not completely clueless, but there was a veil of haziness as if separation lingered.

Frost pondered for a moment and explained, “Let me give you an example for each, which might help you understand better.”

“Controllable means in a state of order, like most of the Mysterious Objects discovered in the Southern Domain. More than eighty percent fall under this category. Take for example, the Mystery of the Stars from the Crown Star Church.”

“The Mystery of the Stars is very powerful, but its main controller is the Prophet Wizard of the Crown Star Church. Its nature is very stable, and there is no possibility of it getting out of control.”

When Frost mentioned the ‘Mystery of the Stars,’ a glint of awe flashed in his eyes; he knew too that all four corners of the Wizards’ Realm possessed incredibly powerful Mysterious Objects, many of which had no substitutes even in the Origin World. And the Mystery of the Stars was one of them.

Unfortunately, due to the ancient covenant, they dared not venture within the Wizards’ Realm to snatch them away, within the binding scope.

Angel was also aware of the Mystery of the Stars; it was an artifact that projected future star patterns, serving as a medium for the Prophet Wizard to perform smoother astrology. It was such a powerful artifact that it required a ‘cooling period.ʼ”

The stargazing day of the Crown Star Church was actually when the Mystery of the Stars was activated. And as this day occurred every half-year, it represented both the preparation and the cooling period for the Mystery of the Stars.

Having provided the example of the controllable type, Frost continued, “Semi-uncontrolled refers to the Mysterious Objects in a state that is on the brink of chaos. This form of semi-uncontrolled existence is in a very special state; although restrained, it doesn’t mean it’s stable.”

“Most Mysterious Objects with ‘sole ownership’ properties fall under the semi-uncontrolled category.”

“‘Sole ownership,’ in another sense, means recognizing a master.”

At this point, Frost suddenly extended his hand and plunged it into his own chest.

Angel was startled, but when he took a closer look, he realized that although Frost’s hand entered his chest, there was no blood; moreover, at the intersection between his hand and chest, there was a faint ripple of spatial attribute.

Frost rummaged in his chest cavity for quite some time, a scene that was extremely horrifying for ordinary people.

After a while, Frost pulled out a completely black flute from his chest cavity.

The material of the flute was hard to identify, and while Angel felt awkward about employing the Alchemy Eye to pry, to the naked eye, it emitted a cold and rigid sensation, as if made of bone. The flute seemed to be carved from one piece, with no added decorations or materials, which, despite its simplicity, gave Angel, as an Alchemist, a distinct sense of refined workmanship.

As soon as the flute appeared, Angel noticed that without any manipulation by Frost, the keys on the flute began to move on their own.

Then, a bizarre melody, grand yet filled with ludicrous twists, flowed forth.

Listening to this tune, Angel felt his mind plunge into chaos, his body swaying dizzily, as if an evil shadow full of malevolent thoughts was about to emerge from deep within his heart.

At that moment, the music abruptly stopped.

Angel suddenly regained clarity, and when he looked up, he saw Frost twirling the flute like one would a pen, and then firmly grasping it. Not only did the music cease, but he also firmly held the flute in his grasp.

The dark shadow in Angel’s heart disappeared along with it, and the boiling malevolence within him subsided.

Angel looked warily at the flute in Frost’s hand, having already guessed the identity of the flute; it was probably the Dark Melody, which had caused Rolando to display his most evil personality. The mere thought of the flute’s effect sent chills down his spine.

Unimaginable fear crept at the idea of another evil personality emerging within him.

Indeed, Frost pointed to the flute and said, “This is the Dark Melody, also a semi-uncontrolled Mysterious Object.”

Frost used the Dark Melody as an example to concisely explain what “semi-uncontrolled” meant.

Semi-uncontrolled originally means that under certain specific conditions, it still remains controllable. And for the Dark Melody, that “specific condition” is its sole recognition of Frost—no one else.

Simply put, the Dark Melody remains controllable only in Frost’s hands. Should it be lost by Frost, or should Frost die, the Dark Melody would become entirely uncontrollable.

“This is the property of sole ownership, only I can control it,” Frost remarked, looking at the Dark Melody with a fondness akin to one’s gaze upon a lover.

“Basically, most Mysterious Objects with mastery effects are in a semi-uncontrolled state. And those semi-uncontrolled Mysterious Objects must also be registered with the Orderly Guild, because there’s a high chance they’ll go out of control in the near future, causing irreversible consequences,” said Frost while adding to Angel, “Now you should understand why I specifically went to see King Gumman for the Crimson Authority, right?”

The Crimson Authority also has a mastery effect, but this is due to the Mana Array of bloodline tracing engraved on it, which is a type of mastery through blood origin.

And it is highly probable that this was a concoction of the creator himself, unrelated to the mystery at hand.

But after all, because of the “recognizing its master” effect, it’s no wonder Frost made a point of seeking out King Gumman and insisted on seeing the Crimson Authority, even if it meant trading for it.

Twirling the flute in his hands, Frost asked Angel, “By the way, would you like to try the effects of the Dark Melody?”

Angel quickly shook his head and repeatedly said there was no need.

However, Frost smiled and said, “The effect of the Dark Melody is to gather the negative energy within the body and forcibly spawn the most evil personality. This can be both good and bad for a wizard. The evil personality brings tremendous strength, but you will also lose control.”

“But don’t forget, the Dark Melody recognizes me as its master. As long as I’m the one giving orders, even if the most evil personality within you is born, it can still be controlled by your primary personality. This could add quite a bit of strength to you out of thin air~”

“Think about Rolando. When his evil personality took control of his body, he became much more powerful. Are you sure you don’t want it?”

Angel also remembered what Rolando had said: the evil personality only obeys the orders of the implementer, that is, Frost’s commands.

Back then, the command that Frost gave to Rolando’s evil personality was, “Obey King Gumman’s orders and ensure the Crimson Authority is not lost!”

If that command were changed to “Obey the primary personality’s orders,” that indeed would add a substantial amount of strength from nowhere.

However, there was a premise to consider: the evil personality was controlled by Frost.

It meant that if he spawned an evil personality, it would be under Frost’s control. Angel was still wary of Frost, so how could he dare to agree.

Seeing the look of resistance plastered all over Angel’s face, Frost added, “Are you really not interested? Actually, I noticed a dark shadow inside your mentor, which also seems to be some kind of evil personality. Even your mentor has it, don’t you want to give it a try?”

Frost’s tone was persuasive and coaxing, but Angel steadfastly refused.

In the end, Frost did not force Angel, “Well, if that’s how it is, then fine.”

However, his words planted seeds of doubt in Angel’s mind, especially the mention of the shadow within his mentor, which reminded him of what happened back in Night Demon City… that person who, although their voice, personality, and tone were drastically different from Sanders, bore a striking resemblance in appearance.

“Was ‘he’ really Sanders’s evil personality?”

As Angel fell into contemplation, Frost did not disturb him.

When Angel came back to his senses, he saw that a cocktail glass had appeared in front of Frost.

Noticing Angel looking over, Frost picked up the empty glass and from nowhere poured in half a glass of a transparent liquid.

The liquid looked just like ordinary water but emitted an enchanting scent. This scent made Angel feel a craving emanating from the depths of his Mind Space to every extremity of his body.

He longed to drink this water.

This unprecedented desire was almost overpowering Angel’s rational thinking.

Angel closed his eyes, reminding himself repeatedly, but at that moment, Frost passed the glass over, “This was prepared especially for you, it’ll benefit you tonight.”

Frost’s words, tinged with mockery and secrecy, only made Angel even more uneasy.

What did he mean by it being beneficial for him tonight? Could it be some strange type of liquor?

Absolutely do not drink!

Definitely cannot drink!

“Really delicious!” Just as Angel was resisting, the words suddenly slipped out of his mouth. By the time he came to his senses, he found that the glass in his hand was empty, with a lingering sweet taste in his mouth.

When did I drink it?

My mind was refusing, but my body acted on its own!

Angel’s face was filled with panic as he quickly began to check his physical condition, fearing some sort of mishap had occurred.

At this point, Frost suddenly said, “Relax, this water is to be used in conjunction with Kou Feng, and it won’t harm you. Don’t believe me, use your Alchemy Eye to check.”

After hesitating for a bit, Angel activated his Alchemy Eye, conducting an examination of the remaining water in the glass.

He could identify most of the materials; the few unknown ones didn’t seem to have any negative feedback. So Frost’s words were mostly true, and it shouldn’t incur any serious harm… The specific effect seemed similar to some protective class potions, and the efficacy of this water was very short, lasting only one day.

After examining the residual water in the cup, then checking his own condition and sensing no discomfort, Angel started to relax a little.

Upon reflection, with Frost’s capabilities, if he really wanted to kill him, there would be many ways to do so – it shouldn’t come down to something as crude as poisoning.

Nevertheless, Angel’s heart was still uneasy, he could only wait for the day to pass to see if there would be any effects.

Frost didn’t bring up the glass of water again and treated it as if it was just a small interlude, continuing with the previous topic: “We’ve talked about semi-loss of control, now let’s talk about what concerns you the most, as well as what I’m hunting for—”

“Complete loss of control.”