Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2155: Chapter 2156: The Burrow

Just as he sighed inwardly, thinking ’I’m doomed this time,’ he realized, after waiting for a long time, that he hadn’t felt any pain.

In fact, he hadn’t even heard a sound of the wind.

He quietly opened one eye and found that Lady Cilla’s swinging forelimb had stopped right at his nose.

”What’s going on?” Little Sam was puzzled when Lady Cilla’s body suddenly softened and collapsed to the ground with a crash.

As Lady Cilla fell, Little Sam finally saw the man standing behind her: ”...Mr. Tyson?”

Frode stood in the shadows, half-lit and half-dark, with one hand still inserted into the gaping wound on Lady Cilla’s spider-like lower abdomen.

He slowly pulled out his hand, revealing it to be blood-stained and semi-transparent.

Lady Cilla was undead, and Frode was a spiritual body, so there shouldn’t have been any blood.

This blood belonged to Little Sam.

”You did well earlier, knowing that the blood of a relative is the key to restraining Lady Cilla. However, you overlooked one issue during your operation. Lady Cilla doesn’t just have a mouth on her head; there’s also one on her abdomen. Or rather, the mouth on her abdomen is the one closest to the soul body core.” Frode explained in response to Little Sam’s confused look: ”Although the mouth on her head can also lead to her soul body’s gradual collapse after ingesting the blood, the process takes longer, and during that time, she might attack again, just like earlier.”

”Only by getting your blood into the mouth on her abdomen can you strike effectively, causing her to collapse faster without the capability to counterattack.”

Hearing this, Little Sam finally understood.

The ’Book of the Undead’ mentioned a blood entry point, which referred not to the mouth on Lady Cilla’s head, but to the abdominal slit lined with sharp teeth.

”You still haven’t left the mortal world, so your thinking and judgment are still based on ordinary human conventions. This mistake isn’t your fault. Once you enter the Wizards’ Realm and encounter various strange creatures, you’ll naturally break free from your current thinking trap.” As Frode spoke, he took out a bottle and collected the increasingly illusory Lady Cilla into it.

Once Lady Cilla entered the bottle, the crumbling illusory transformation halted immediately, as if time had frozen.

Frode shook the bottle with satisfaction, ready to use it for soul tricks later on.

However, before that, he needed Little Sam to nod.

After all, it was Little Sam who killed Lady Cilla. Even though Frode delivered the final blow, the end would have come regardless. Lady Cilla would eventually perish, though at a slower pace.

As Frode was pondering how to get Little Sam to nod in acknowledgement, Little Sam suddenly asked: ”Lord Tyson, you knew Lady Cilla would come to the castle, didn’t you?”

Facing Little Sam’s clearly resentful gaze, Frode was at a loss for words.

”Yes.” At that moment, a clear, strong voice echoed from the corridor in the distant darkness.

With a series of footsteps, a red-haired, golden-eyed man appeared in Little Sam’s view.

Little Sam, recognizing the newcomer, respectfully greeted: ”Mr. Pat.”

Angel nodded and approached Little Sam, extending a finger to point into the air. Little Sam felt as if a rushing stream sounded near his ears, and the dirt on his wounds vanished instantly.

After the wounds became clean, a warm current swept over him, causing the torn wounds to heal rapidly.

”Is this a wizard’s spell technique?” Little Sam gazed in disbelief at the wounds sprouting flesh buds.

”This is a trick, not a spell technique. A level 0 trick Cleansing Spell, and a level 1 trick Healing Technique. These are very simple tricks that you’ll encounter as soon as you cross the apprentice threshold.” Angel explained and then paused before addressing Sam’s earlier inquiry: ”Now I can answer your earlier question.”

”You wanted to know if we knew Lady Cilla would come. Yes, we were quite confident she would appear, and we also knew you would become her hunting target.”

A knowing glint appeared in Little Sam’s eyes: ”That’s why you warned me earlier to be careful and to think more in dangerous situations.”

Angel nodded: ”Exactly.”

Upon receiving a confirmation, Little Sam recalled Adar’s abrupt change of attitude earlier. At the time, he hadn’t sensed anything amiss, but in hindsight, something seemed off: ”Adar said he suddenly needed to rest earlier; was that also...”

Frode: ”We sensed Lady Cilla’s imminent appearance and conveyed to Adar through sound transmission to return to his room with the defensive magical energy array to avoid injury.”

Little Sam fell silent for a moment: ”And what about me?”

Though it was a simple rhetorical question, it was laden with suppressed emotion. If Frode were in Little Sam’s position, he might have exhibited even greater agitation—everyone knew the truth but him. Containing his emotions in the face of such indignation and exclusion was impressive enough.

Angel chuckled: ”Haven’t you already figured it out? Bringing you here was to have you face Lady Cilla directly.”

”Why?” Upon seeing Frode appear and point out that the ’real mouth is on her abdomen,’ Sam guessed that everything—his escape, Lady Cilla’s pursuit—had been under Frode and Angel’s watchful eyes.

”So, was I just an actor in a pre-staged play?”

Angel noticed the shift in Little Sam’s gaze, discerning the implied accusation—he was on-stage while they were the viewers.

Angel gently ruffled Little Sam’s brown hair: ”You’re neither an actor, nor are we the entertained audience.”

Despite Angel’s baseless denial, Little Sam somehow believed him deeply.

Even if he accepted Angel’s words, Little Sam remained somewhat dejected, lowering his head in silent frustration.

Angel understood Little Sam’s disposition and wasn’t bothered by his awkwardness: ”You might find it odd, even resentful, but it all stems from the question you asked me when we arrived.”

Little Sam: ”The question I asked?”

”Didn’t you want to join the Barbarian Cave?”

Little Sam nodded blankly. He had indeed expressed his desire to join Mr. Pat’s wizard organization to Angel before.

Angel: ”In your time at the orphanage, you should have learned its purpose.”

Little Sam continued to nod. Adar previously mentioned that his and Shanni’s roles at the orphanage were to act within the Dawn Killing Illusion Realm, providing entrance trials for the Talented Ones.

With this realization, Little Sam’s eyes gleamed: ”So, this was my trial? By passing the trial, can I now join the Barbarian Cave?”

Angel smiled and nodded: ”Yes, congratulations, you’ve passed. It was indeed a trial, albeit slightly different from what you imagined.”

”Different?”

”You’ll understand the specifics once you enter the Barbarian Cave.”

Little Sam’s eyes sparkled with joy; he wasn’t concerned about what ’different’ meant. What mattered most was... he was joining the Barbarian Cave!

Although the process was painful, the result was good, which was already quite nice for little Sam.

Little Sam couldn’t help but want to stand up and bow to Angel. However, as soon as he moved, his unhealed wound immediately taught him a heartbreaking lesson.

Frode hurried forward to support little Sam: ”You still can’t move now. If you still want to express joy, wait until you’re healed.”

”About Lady Cilla.” When little Sam was helped into a nearby guest room and sat down, Angel’s voice came again: ”Previously, she was taken away by Frode using the Soul Collection Bottle.”

Little Sam nodded, for he had seen Lady Cilla being captured into a small bottle.

”This thing is currently useless to you, but it’s very useful to Frode.” Angel gestured with his eyes for Frode to come forward and explain.

Frode immediately stepped up and stated the matter of him needing Lady Cilla to assist with his practice.

Little Sam was stunned for quite a while after listening, then realized that Frode was actually seeking his opinion.

”Lady Cilla may have been a test, but her appearance, and her death, were all because of you. So, according to the allocation principle, you have the primary right to allocate her,” Frode said.

Based on Frode’s own character, he actually wouldn’t discuss allocation principles with a mortal.

But little Sam was different. He was a near-spirit body with an unparalleled Soul Talent, capable of attracting special souls and special undead. This alone could be very useful for him in the future, or for Adar and Shanni.

Now, maintaining a good relationship in advance is all beneficial and without harm.

Having been a slave for a very long time, little Sam could clearly sense sincerity and hypocrisy. Frode was now candid and didn’t assert his status, but treated him equally, which moved little Sam deeply.

The grievances that little Sam had before had now dissipated and vanished.

He had read many accounts about the undead and understood that in the current stage, and even for a long future, the undead were useless to him. Keeping them around might instead have extremely negative impacts.

Angel was correct in saying that Lady Cilla was useless to him. So handing her over to Frode was acceptable, especially since Frode also promised future compensation.

Thinking of this, little Sam no longer hesitated and nodded: ”I agree to give it to Mr. Tyson. If it weren’t for Mr. Tyson’s help earlier, I guess would have already died.”

Frode chuckled without saying the words ’even if he didn’t act, Angel wouldn’t have let him die,’ playfully toying with the Soul Collection Bottle.

Angel patted little Sam’s shoulder: ”I will first take Frode to practice; you should stay here for the time being; there won’t be further danger.”

After speaking, Angel threw a glance at Frode, and they quickly disappeared into the darkness.

Little Sam then stroked his gradually healing wound, and once it was completely healed, he immediately lit a lamp and took out a blank handbook to record the events of the day.

...

On the other side, Angel and Frode swiftly moved through the mountain forest.

Soon, they arrived at a bare peak, not far from Star Lake Castle, from where they could even vaguely see the castle lights on another mountainside.

Angel: ”Let’s search separately.”

Frode nodded: ”Alright.”

The reason they had come here was that, based on their secret observations, this was the place where Lady Cilla appeared first.

This meant that Lady Cilla had been hiding nearby all along.

Previously, they hadn’t sensed undead energy here, making them curious as to how Lady Cilla had hidden her presence, prompting them to investigate further.

Since the area was narrowed, it became relatively easier to search for anomalies.

Before long, Angel discovered a spot within the mountain where spiritual power could not penetrate, blocked by an invisible force.

After confirming the location, Angel took out a basic Earth Element Magic Rune Scroll used for building structures.

Using the scroll’s power, he directly carved out a tunnel from the mountainside, reaching into the mountain’s interior.

The tunnel finally connected to a massive cave. The area Angel had previously found anomalous was precisely within this cave.

The cave’s air was flowing and moist, clearly indicating an exit was there, likely hidden somewhere in the forest. Though they had spent quite some time without finding the cave, it must have been well concealed. However, no matter how hidden it was, it didn’t matter, as they had entered through alternative means.

Having determined the location, they hesitated not at all and quickly found the spot where spiritual power could not seep through.

It was a ground hole.

This ground hole was not naturally formed; it had prominently chiseled stone steps leading deep into the darkness.

Angel looked at the hole’s entrance, his expression thoughtful.

From an outsider’s perspective, it seemed ordinary, but as an Alchemist deeply versed in magic patterns, he could sense that the hole’s entrance had an invisible membrane created by a magical energy array.

This membrane was what had blocked the previously probing spiritual power.

Although Angel didn’t believe there was anything inside that could harm him, he still spent some time researching the magical energy array of unknown principal location, just in case.

After some time, Angel had basically identified the type of array.

It was a magical energy array used for concealing aura, with no other effects. Moreover, even its aura concealing was substantially weakened, for Angel could faintly sense a sinister death energy emanating from the hole.

The magical energy array itself was intact; its weakened effect was likely due to the lack of energy supply.

This also indicated one thing: there was a high probability that no one was inside.

”Let’s go in.” After confirming there was no danger, Angel and Frode stepped into the ground hole.

Previously, Angel had already felt the sinister death energy, and upon passing through the magical energy array into the hole, the death energy was no longer concealed, surging towards them madly.

”The death energy here is even more intense than at Star Lake Castle,” Frode sensed the overwhelming death energy. His soul force, already saturated, began to stir. He quickly calmed himself to avoid being tainted by the external death energy.

”Such immense death energy; either the undead frequently reside here, or many people have died,” Angel said. To determine which it was, they only needed to go further and look.

While the death energy was fierce, it wasn’t straightforwardly attacking, so it didn’t affect them.

Descending along the ground hole for about twenty meters, the steps finally ended.