Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2008: Chapter 2009: When Will the Verdict Be Made

Angel’s so-called spending a few years meant dedicating all his time and energy solely to the restoration of the damaged magic patterns on the Knight’s armor. Only in this way could he find that sole glowing truth among countless data combinations.

Spending a few years is a crucial point.

It’s not that he can’t afford this time. Many wizards spend decades researching a single subject, so comparatively, just a few years doesn’t seem so long. Plus, having become an Official Wizard now, as long as he doesn’t court death himself, he has a long enough lifespan to afford the wait.

But is everything really that ideal?

Suppose everything goes according to the best outcome, where he spends several years successfully uncovering the secret of the hidden chamber within the Knight’s armor, gains entry to it, and discovers the hidden chamber’s relationship with the Star Pond Ruins...

Even if everything goes smoothly, the passage of time is real. So much time has already passed; can the Star Pond Ruins really maintain their current calm facade?

If the Star Pond Ruins were devoid of Nightmare Realm creatures, it wouldn’t matter, but now they are teeming with them, having become a paradise for such creatures. Situated next to the Barbarian Cave, it must be resolved promptly, or should the Nightmare Realm creatures launch a full-scale attack, uncontrollable repercussions might arise.

”Is there a way to quickly repair the magic patterns?” Angel muttered under his breath.

Actually, once before in the Wilderness of Dreams, while pondering the damaged magic patterns, he felt a fleeting spark of inspiration, but he failed to capture it in time.

Assuming the lost inspiration back then was about quickly repairing the magic patterns, perhaps there were methods he hadn’t considered?

In the absence of any productive thoughts after lengthy pondering, Angel finally decided to set it aside temporarily and wait to check behind the Star Pond Ruins’ door to see if there was really a map.

If there was indeed a holographic map, there might be information on it that could benefit him.

As Angel had just put away the Knight’s armor, a disturbance was sensed outside the ruins.

A quick sense revealed that Rhein and Tree Spirit had arrived at the ruins.

Angel glanced at the time; the exchange on the third day of the Star Observation had nearly ended, so their arrival was timely.

”Sanders didn’t come today?” Rhein didn’t find Sanders in the study upon arriving.

Before Angel could answer, Tree Spirit said, ”Yesterday, I received an illusion technique transmission from the outside world. This transmission vanished into the Illusion Demon Island upon entering the Mirror World. Judging by the traces on the illusion transmission, it’s likely sent by Sumishe.”

”Sanders returned to the Illusion Demon Island from the Puppet Hospital last night and hasn’t come out yet. It’s been so long without any news being spread, possibly because Sumishe encountered some trouble outside.”

Hearing Tree Spirit’s words, Rhein nodded in understanding, ”I see. Hopefully, the trouble Sumishe is facing isn’t too severe.”

After all, matters concerning the Illusion Demon Island are considered internal affairs, making it inappropriate for Rhein to comment excessively.

Angel remained silent on the side, fully aware that Sanders not having sent out any messages wasn’t due to worry over Sumishe, but because he was still in the Wilderness of Dreams...

”Since Sanders is occupied with his matters over there, let’s not mind him,” Rhein paused, shifting the topic away from Sanders, and brought up the matter of the Star Pond Ruins.

Even though Tree Spirit had already informed him, Rhein still wanted to hear Angel’s feelings directly.

Angel recounted the sense of spiritual prescience he had when leaving the Star Pond Ruins the previous day.

After hearing it, Rhein said, ”A wizard’s inspiration omens generally come with precursors in the ambient atmosphere. Your kind of spontaneous feeling seems akin to an omen, yet slightly atypical.”

Rhein pondered for a moment, ”Perhaps, as you speculated, it’s related to the aura. You’ve stayed here relatively long, capturing the aura here. If the Star Pond Ruins are indeed connected to this ruin, it might have triggered your spiritual sense.”

Tree Spirit: ”If everything aligns with our speculation, perhaps the ruins over at the Star Pond were also built by the original owner of this ruin?”

Rhein nodded, ”It’s possible. After all, both ruins are not native to the Pamiji Plateau. Perhaps these two ruins drifted from the Void here simultaneously, only for the ruin where Angel resides to have been prematurely opened a thousand years ago due to various reasons; whereas the ruins beneath the Star Pond have only become visible recently, affected by realm integration.”

”To confirm, the simplest current method is to check behind the Star Pond Ruins’ door to see if a map is present,” Rhein said this, then turned to Angel, ”Tonight, I’ll enter the passage in the center of the Star Pond to verify if the shoe-wearing creatures you previously saw are still there. If everything is safe, I’ll inform you.”

Angel nodded.

Rhein gave Angel an intense look. In his heart, there was something left unsaid — if the conjecture is verified, they might need to find the hidden chamber of this ruin, and then perhaps turn to Angel to act. However, that would be a later story, to be discussed after confirmation.

After discussing this somewhat heavy topic, Tree Spirit, grinning, asked Angel, ”The variability you mentioned yesterday, when will you reveal it?”

”Variability?” Rhein curiously looked at the duo, ”What variability?”

”He mentioned it to me in the Spirit Tree Hall yesterday; I don’t know the specifics,” Tree Spirit shrugged, ”But from Angel’s words, it seems related to the Tea Party.”

Rhein directed his gaze at Angel, ”What? Are you also planning to interfere in the Tea Party?”

”Nothing is decided yet,” Angel said calmly.

Rhein’s eyes flickered with light, although Angel hadn’t disclosed much, his words seemed to suggest an intention to intervene in the Tea Party.

The Tea Party is the major event of the Southern Domain, so what is Angel planning to achieve by meddling?

And Rhein was very curious as to why Angel felt confident that he could meddle in the Tea Party.

”When will you make your decision on the conclusion you mentioned?” Rhein didn’t voice his inner doubts but, like Tree Spirit, asked when Angel would reveal the ’variability’.

”Just in the next few days; I still need to refine it a bit.”

Refine? Refine what? Rhein and Tree Spirit exchanged a glance, clearly reading the curiosity in each other’s eyes. Angel seemed to be truly prepared, determined to introduce a variable into the current layout of the Tea Party.

It’s just unclear whether his so-called variability would be like dropping a pebble, causing tiny ripples, or hurling a boulder, creating huge waves? Rhein couldn’t help but feel a trace of anticipation.