Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2209: Chapter 2210: Anomalies

Arnott looked around for a moment, then examined the terrain layout of the green plain below before hesitantly saying, ”I feel like I’ve been here before.”

”You’ve been here? Were there other wind creatures here at that time?” Angel asked.

”I, I...” Arnott hung his head, his voice growing weaker, ”I don’t remember either.”

Angel: ”...You don’t remember?”

”I was just focused on finding my sister before, and didn’t pay attention to my surroundings at all.” Arnott seemed to find a reason, and his tone became a bit more justified: ”Besides, they like to make fun of me, so I don’t want to bother with them.”

In short, Arnott’s mind had been entirely focused on chasing Salmado, with no room for other distractions.

Angel couldn’t afford to be too harsh, otherwise, he would start crying again, and Angel didn’t want to have to comfort him.

Angel: ”Then try sensing it now, is there anything unusual around here?”

Upon hearing this, Arnott opened his mouth and took a deep breath, inhaling the floating wind elements nearby like a cloud of smoke into his stomach.

After swallowing the surrounding wind elements, Arnott smacked his lips, as if savoring the taste.

”There are many similar auras around; judging from the residual information in the auras, they must be mature kindred. However, their auras have become very thin, so they should have left long ago.” Arnott said as he sensed the wind elements he had inhaled.

”So, there are no wind creatures around here?”

This time, Arnott didn’t answer assertively. After hesitating for a moment, he manifested two translucent little hands and pointed in a direction below the clouds: ”Over there, I sensed a faint trace of kindred movement, but it seems a bit weak.”

Upon hearing this, Angel flew without hesitation towards the direction Arnott pointed.

Once inside the clouds, he was surrounded by fog mixed with refreshing moisture, and his range of vision began to drop rapidly, as gusts of wind continuously howled past his ears.

In this place where wind elements were dense, it was not easy to find elemental creatures that could conceal themselves in the wind.

However, with Arnott’s guidance, it was no longer a difficult task.

Two minutes later, Angel arrived at a cloud-filled realm, where according to Arnott, the aura he sensed was nearby.

Walking through the void as if on solid ground, Angel slowly moved through the fog.

After taking about twenty steps, Arnott pointed to a spot: ”Over there, I see it!”

Angel immediately turned to look.

The place Arnott pointed to was filled with clouds of varying density, making it difficult to detect the wind creature inside without careful observation.

It was a white dove whose body had nearly become part of the mist; it didn’t conceal its movements but was completely camouflaged by the surrounding clouds.

The dove stood with its eyes closed on a natural cloud platform, resembling a statue.

Judging from its size and energy fluctuations, the dove hadn’t reached maturity and should be an elemental sprite.

”It looks like it’s sleeping?” Angel asked.

”Not looks like; it is sleeping.” Arnott paused: ”Can I get a little closer?”

Angel nodded, and as they moved towards the sleeping dove, when they were about three meters away, the dove suddenly opened its eyes.

The pure white pupils appeared initially disoriented but then shifted to a big question mark upon seeing Angel approach.

Angel was about to say something when Arnott said, ”Let me try to communicate with it.”

With that, Arnott started conversing with the awoken dove, asking questions like who it was and why there were no elemental creatures nearby.

But the dove didn’t respond at all, remaining full of innocent bewilderment.

Initially, the dove was drawn to Arnott’s voice, but soon its gaze was entirely captivated by Toby on Angel’s shoulder, tilting its head for a closer look.

Toby also tilted his head, signaling with his eyes: What are you staring at?

The dove didn’t sense Toby’s aura at all. After staring for a while, it squinted its eyes as if smiling. Suddenly, it spread its wings and dashed towards Toby with a gust of wind.

The dove targeted Toby, who, not understanding what was happening, could only flap his wings to dodge the dove’s pounce.

The dove seemed to be playing a game with Toby, fluttering around for another attempt.

A chase and dodge ensued, as if they were playing around.

Angel glanced at Arnott, asking with his eyes what was going on.

Arnott looked dejected: ”Its spirit intelligence is still low, not at a level where it can communicate with me. However, it doesn’t seem malicious; it’s probably curious because the bird on your shoulder looks similar to itself.”

Angel also sensed that the dove was not hostile; otherwise, he would have already driven it away.

Having finally discovered an elemental creature, only to find it was an undeveloped sprite, Angel could only sigh helplessly.

Since he couldn’t get any information, the next thing to consider was how to handle the current situation.

Should he drive this dove away? Or should he, as in the Baya Desert before, take these little sprites to see The Sage? After all, elemental sprites are important to elemental creatures in various territories... huh?!

As Angel pondered how to handle the dove, he suddenly realized something.

”Elemental sprites are very important to Wind Island, right?” Angel looked at Arnott.

Arnott tilted his head, muttering: ”Who knows. I’m not important anyway.”

Seeing Angel still watching him, Arnott, after a moment, continued: ”But I remember Gentle Wind Lord mentioned that if a newly born elemental sprite is found outside and there are no other elemental creatures to care for it, it should be brought back to Wind Island.”

Angel’s eyes flashed with understanding: So it was indeed the case. Elemental sprites are highly valued, akin to newborns in the human world, requiring care and protection.

Angel believed that this dove must have stayed nearby for a long time. Previously, it must have been cared for by the local elemental creatures, much like Salmado took care of Arnott, otherwise, Gentle Wind Uranus would have already ordered the dove to return to Wind Island.

But now, the dove was still here, while the nearby elemental creatures were missing.

This seemed to indicate a problem.

Something might have happened suddenly here, and the change occurred so quickly that the elemental creatures didn’t even have time to take the wind sprite away.

Angel speculated this not only because of the dove’s appearance here but also because of... Arnott.

Angel: ”You haven’t encountered any other wind creatures since you left Wind Island?”

Arnott thought for a moment: ”I don’t remember, I didn’t pay attention to the surroundings.”

”Did you encounter any obstacles along the way?”

Arnott shook his head confidently this time: ”No.”

Just as expected.

Arnott is also an Elemental Sprite; it left Wind Island with a very clear trajectory. Given Wind Island’s care for Elemental Sprites, it’s impossible to let it leave on its own.

Initially, there might have been a lack of attention, and no one stopped Arnott. But when Arnott flew to the edge of White Cloud Village, Elemental Creatures here would certainly pay attention to Arnott’s direction and intercept it. Even if they couldn’t stop it, they would at least advise it.

But Arnott was not stopped from beginning to end, which once again proves a point.

White Cloud Village might really have undergone unforeseen change.

This unforeseen change left them unable to monitor the Elemental Sprites anymore.

Thinking about this, Angel couldn’t help but rub his temples. He had a vague premonition when Dangross made a declaration earlier. Although it’s not yet certain, this ominous premonition seems likely to be proven.

As expected, such declarations should not be ignored.

Angel sighed inwardly and said to the still bewildered Arnott: ”I think White Cloud Village has likely experienced some changes... Anyway, I’ll take this pigeon to Wind Island and hand it over to Her Highness Gentle Breeze.”

Angel pointed into the void, causing the pigeon to fall into an Illusion, flying unconsciously into Angel’s palm.

”An unforeseen change in White Cloud Village?” Arnott couldn’t be bothered with the pigeon’s condition, full of doubt: ”What’s going on?”

”Let’s talk after we return.”

A while later, aboard the Flying Boat above the clouds.

Angel first placed the pigeon caught in the Illusion aside, then shared his speculation with Arnott.

Although Arnott hadn’t thought of this, it wasn’t completely clueless. Angel laid out his reasoning and analyzed every situation, leaving Arnott with no ground for rebuttal after hearing it.

Under the current circumstances, Angel’s guess seems very likely to be real.

Even though Arnott had always expressed dislike for Wind Island, upon hearing that White Cloud Village might have undergone unforeseen change, its expression immediately turned panicky, and its eyes welled up.

Seeing Arnott about to cry, Angel quickly said: ”Everything is just speculation for now; we need to confirm what exactly happened in White Cloud Village.”

Arnott looked at Angel with teary eyes, confused: ”How, how do we confirm?”

Arnott’s question not only left Angel feeling helpless, but across from him, Dangross also sighed, saying: ”You’re silly, convey the information and ask!”

”Huh?”

”We Fire Element creatures use sparks to convey information, Earth Element creatures can use sandstorm techniques to communicate; how do you Wind Element creatures transmit information?” Dangross saw Arnott’s bewildered look and muttered ’idiot’ inwardly. Then he said: ”Mage Magu once said, the most covert and speedy way to convey information is through Wind Element beings, your communication medium is the invisible wind.”

Upon hearing this, Arnott finally understood Dangross’s meaning.

It immediately said: ”I’ll transmit the message and inquire now.”

After transmitting the message, Arnott lowered its head, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Angel looked at Arnott without excessive reproach. It wasn’t entirely Arnott’s fault; it was inexperienced, and according to its own accounts, it was very isolated on Wind Island, only communicating with Salmado, and rarely used information transmission.

Time passed slowly, five minutes, ten minutes, twenty minutes...

Half an hour gone by, Dangross questioned: ”Why is it so slow? Have you not received a reply?”

Arnott nodded: ”No, not yet.”

”That’s strange; with such abundant Wind Elemental Power here, the message should be quick.” Dangross said, ”The speed is even slower than when I transmit messages in the Region of Fire. Who did you send the message to?”

”The Sage Kamil.”

”I remember the Sage of White Cloud Village also resides on Wind Island; for such long silence, could Wind Island have faced problems?” Dangross doubted.

Just as Dangross finished speaking, it felt a wave of moisture spread.

Turning around, he saw two lines of tears flowing from Arnott’s big eyes again.

”I was just speculating, don’t take it seriously.” Dangross hurriedly soothed, but it was obviously too late as Arnott found Dangross’s words accurate; with no message back for so long, it indeed seemed something happened on Wind Island.

Thinking about his hometown’s trouble, Arnott immediately felt sad.

As Arnott’s sobs turned into wails, Angel spoke: ”There’s actually another possibility; maybe the Sage never received your message and it got intercepted halfway.”

Arnott brightened at Angel’s words: could such possibility exist?

Angel noticed Arnott listening intently but sighed inwardly; he didn’t tell Arnott that if it were intercepted halfway, the situation might be even more dire.

To avoid Arnott continuing to cry, Angel didn’t say these things out loud but continued to comfort: ”You don’t need to worry too much.”

”Although the situation is unclear now, since you, as an Elemental Sprite, and the pigeon are unaffected, it means things aren’t too terrible.”

If Elemental Sprites were targeted, then the situation would indeed be grave.

Hearing this, Arnott felt assured; although it didn’t brighten into a smile, its sobbing stopped.

”Since the Sage hasn’t replied, let’s leave it aside for now. I recall White Cloud Village cooperates with Green Wilds; perhaps Wood Creatures from Green Wilds know what’s happened.” Angel said, ”So, let’s go and ask them on the ground? However, as outsiders, you might need to inquire.”

Arnott certainly didn’t refuse: ”Okay, I’ll ask.”

Angel didn’t hesitate, maneuvering the Gondola directly to lower altitudes.

Earlier from above, he’d noticed Green Wilds were in normal condition, with many Wood Creatures wandering around.

As he landed, he saw a disturbance in the nearby bushes moving toward the Gondola’s position.

Soon, Angel saw directly beneath the Gondola, a group of small green grasses with feet, known as Walking Grass, curiously hopping around the Gondola.

Though these Walking Grass are Elemental Sprites, they aren’t awakened, so they couldn’t be questioned directly for specific information.

Angel was about to continue ahead to seek other Wood Creatures when, suddenly, beneath the Walking Grass, a thick green vine emerged from the soil, resembling a magical vine from fairy tales that can grow up to the clouds, rapidly rising until it approached the height of Gondola.