Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 1442: Section 1443: Your Grandfather Stone

The renowned “Benz Curve,” a part of Sky Mechanical City, is an entertainment district teeming with various indulgences where several Elysium Pavilions alone could be found.

On this street, nearly everyone wore a smile.

However, as Pride emerged from a corner building, his expression was dour.

Standing before the small building, he heaved a deep sigh and turned to look back at the not-so-tall edifice. When his eyes fell upon the magic neon light at the top that flickered with the words “Sky of Truth,” a sense of helplessness filled his gaze.

If nothing changed, in a few days, he would be removed from his position as chief editor by Mr. Feng.

Once he lost his status as chief editor, perhaps Jolene, his girlfriend, would no longer stay with him. Moreover, he would also lose the chance to save enough money to buy the Frost Night Potion.

In other words, he, Pride, might forever remain a mediocre mortal.

Perhaps his father’s and brother’s influence would prevent him from being utterly out of place in Sky Mechanical City, but since his father and brother were only Wizard Apprentices, they would one day leave Sky Mechanical City. Then, whom could he rely on?

In this dog-eat-dog world, relying on others was never reliable; only self-reliance could bring peace of mind.

But how could he rely on himself? To do so, he would have to become a Transcendent! His Mental Power Value was 9; he just needed to buy the Frost Night Potion, and he would have the chance to become a Transcendent.

But Frost Night Potion cost money!

Discouraged, Pride lowered his head and slowly strode away from Benz Curve.

All the way, Pride pondered: To have money, he must keep his position as chief editor, which required the next issue of “Sky of Truth” to sell well!

But to achieve that, there must be something sensational.

But where could he find something sensational?

Pride passed in front of an Elysium Pavilion reflecting a colorful rainbow light, and two staggering male Apprentices walked out.

“I heard that the ‘Son of the Ocean’ Jiebo has already broken through the tenth level of the Infinite Battle Tower.” “Such a talented wizard is beyond our reach.”

“Right, the rumor has it that Jiebo has a rival; will he participate in the Star of Tomorrow competition?” “You must be joking, Mr. Pat? How could he? You’re drunk, aren’t you, you’ve forgotten that? Mr. Pat is now part of the research institute, how could he possibly demean himself by joining the Star of Tomorrow competition…”

The two male Apprentices walked away arm in arm, and a glint of despondency flashed in Pride’s eyes as he listened to their conversation.

Two years ago, he went from an ordinary employee to chief editor because he reported on Angel’s encounter with the mysterious Domain in Black Castle and Isabel’s return to the Southern Domain.

Now, he was about to be removed from his position because of Angel.

Angel’s renown grew by the day, especially since he became a member of the research institute, practically the most dazzling Star of Tomorrow in the current media landscape.

Just by reporting more news about Angel could definitely boost the magazine’s revenue.

But “Sky of Truth” was just a small magazine with a limited network. Their news was outdated, hardly likely to cause a sensation. Consequently, even when the past three issues featured Angel as the theme, they didn’t sell many copies.

After several failed issues, Mr. Feng was furious, demanding just now that if there isn’t an improvement in the next issue, Pride should be removed from his spot as chief editor!

But how could he revive the magazine?

Could he really use the strategy proposed by his girlfriend, Jolene?

The strategy Jolene suggested was—to write from the opposite standpoint. Because of human nature’s dark side, people love to see someone who has been held high fall from grace.

Angel currently belonged to those who were elevated to the summit.

If they analyzed Angel’s various flaws and portrayed him as a classic example destined to be doomed, perhaps with this contrarian approach, they might indeed make a breakthrough.

Jolene’s strategy was an option, but Pride was hesitant.

He didn’t want to resort to this method.

Not because he was virtuous—in fact, he had used similar writing tactics in the past on others; he just didn’t want to write about Angel this way, simply because…Angel was also his benefactor. After all, it was by leveraging news about Angel that Pride had become the chief editor.

Now, doing so, he couldn’t reconcile it with his own conscience.

Moreover, now that Angel was part of the research institute, if he really wrote in such a manner, would he offend the research institute as well?

If he didn’t use this method, what else could he do to revive “Sky of Truth”?

Pride walked forward with a melancholic expression, his face etched with sorrow as he returned to his own dwelling, a small partition nestled between two towering buildings.

Although the small cubicle was modest in size, if he lost his position as chief editor, he might not even afford this little space.

Pride sighed, exhaustedly opened his door, planning to take a bath before pondering if there were any other viable solutions.

Just as Pride was about to enter, something caught his eye at the mailbox in front of his door.

A corner of a white envelope peeked through the opening of the dark green lacquer-coated mailbox.

“Who would leave a letter for me?” Pride wondered as he approached the mailbox, opened it with his key, and retrieved the envelope lying quietly inside.

Pride curiously looked at the envelope’s cover.

The plain white envelope bore no words; what made Pride feel odd was the pattern on the wax seal. Typically, it would represent an individual or an organization’s emblem, but this wax seal had the imprint of a paw.

It seemed like the footprint of some bird.

“Who sent this?” Pride wondered as he held the envelope, returning home.

He went straight to take a bath, and after coming out from the bathing area, Pride was still pondering how to create a breaking news piece for the next issue of the magazine, but still, he came up empty.

He saw the envelope on the table and thought for a moment before deciding to see what was inside.

He guessed the letter might be from his parents or siblings, maybe they had something to tell him.

When he took out the oil-yellow letter paper, he suddenly paused.

“This handwriting… it looks very familiar?” Pride didn’t look at the contents but quickly glanced towards the bottom of the letter paper, and when he saw the signature, he was stunned for a moment.

‘Your Stone Grandpa’?!

It was a letter from him!

Pride was full of surprise. Despite the odd name ‘Your Stone Grandpa,’ Pride had become the editor-in-chief of the Sky of Truth because of a submission from ‘Your Stone Grandpa.’

The news about Angel coming into contact with the mysterious Domain and Isabel’s return to the Southern Domain—both pieces of news were sent by ‘Your Stone Grandpa.’

Originally, Pride had hoped that ‘Your Stone Grandpa’ would become a regular contributor to the Sky of Truth, even offering to start a column for him, turning him into a professional writer. But after that, ‘Your Stone Grandpa’ never submitted any more pieces, much to Pride’s regret.

Now, ‘Your Stone Grandpa’ had sent another letter. Could it be another submission?

Previously, his submission had made Pride the editor-in-chief. Could ‘Your Stone Grandpa’ save him again this time?

With this thought, Pride excitedly began to read.

As Pride read halfway through, his fat started to tremble with excitement.

His eyes brightened more and more, and by the end, he couldn’t help but jump up from the sofa, “Fantastic, fantastic! Your Stone Grandpa, you really are my grandpa!”

Unexpectedly, at his most desperate and distressed moment, the one to save him from calamity once again was Your Stone Grandpa!

Without waiting to fully clothe himself, Pride immediately grabbed his robe and, clutching the envelope, rushed out the front door.

Once the news in the envelope was published in the Sky of Truth, why worry about not being able to sell out?

Pride was certain that if he could publish this submission exclusively, his position as editor-in-chief would definitely be secure! After all, the news in the envelope was about the currently popular “Angel” and could surely reignite a sweeping fire in the already stabilizing public opinion landscape! And the Sky of Truth would be the one holding the torch!

Pride ran back to the magazine office at top speed and started summoning the staff back with a communicator.

After a while, everyone, grouchy and confused, gathered in the great hall of the Sky of Truth magazine office.

“Pride, what on earth is this all about? Coming here to make a fuss in the middle of the night? If you don’t make things clear, I’ll never let this go!” said a young employee, clearly lower in the magazine’s hierarchy than Pride. However, this person was a Talented One; even when he spoke disrespectfully, no one dared to object, including Pride himself.

Pride’s current girlfriend Jolene also asked with confusion, “Pride, you called us here; could it be that you’ve already decided to use that method?”

Jolene knew Pride must have had an idea to assemble everyone. She didn’t believe that Pride could have gotten any breaking news in such a short time, so she guessed he was probably going to use the method she mentioned.

The others looked toward Pride as well, waiting for him to provide an explanation.

Excitedly brandishing the envelope before everyone, Pride declared, “I’ve just received some major news. We’re going to work through the night starting today… no, starting now, aiming to publish the new issue at most by the day after tomorrow!”

“Rushing this much? What’s the big news?” Jolene asked, frowning.

“Yeah, if your editor-in-chief position is in danger, don’t drag us into your madness!” someone taunted.

Pride ignored their sarcasm; that’s the reality. Talented Ones held more sway than he, a mere Mortal. The fact that these Talented Ones were willing to come to the magazine office in the middle of the night was already showing him a lot of face.

Placing the letter in the middle of everyone, Pride said, “Just look for yourselves. With this news, this round, the Sky of Truth will surely land a stunning counterattack!”

Everyone looked doubtfully at the letter, but the more they read, the more shocked they became.

The young man who had mocked Pride spoke in disbelief, “Is what’s written here true? Mr. Pat has really advanced to Wizard… and even, he’s not far from True Knowledge?”

Pride nodded, “The submission from ‘Your Stone Grandpa,’ the contributor. You should be familiar with him, there’s no falsehoods.”

Upon hearing this, everyone was astoundingly abuzz.

Pride, being a Mortal, didn’t realize the terror in the news of Angel advancing to Official Wizard.

But as Talented Ones, they were very clear on the value of this news. Once it was released, the entire Sky Mechanical City… no, most of the Southern Domain, might be shaken to the core!

Jolene looked at the astonished faces of the magazine staff and then at Pride, a slight smile played on her lips: it seemed Pride’s position as editor-in-chief would indeed be secured.

Jolene was also a Mortal; her reaction was more subdued, and she even had the presence of mind to ponder the odd content of the letter.

Jolene said, “By the way, don’t you find it strange, the last sentence from ‘Your Stone Grandpa’?”

Everyone turned to look, and the last paragraph on the letter read—

“Please be sure to write more words of praise for Angel; this is the key point and my only request for submitting to you! Oh, and remember to put my name there, preferably in a way that Angel can see it, otherwise I’m done for!”

Everyone exchanged puzzled looks. What did ‘Your Stone Grandpa’ mean by this?

Then someone said, “Could it be that ‘Your Stone Grandpa’ had offended Angel before and hopes to use this as a way to seek forgiveness?”