Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2623: Chapter 2624: First ”Livestream

To avoid damaging the painstakingly repaired and recreated decorations, Angel decided to forgo direct contact and opted to use spiritual power to investigate the various traces here.

Earlier, he simply used ’Danger Perception’ to scout a bit, but found no traps.

Upon closer examination, considering the fragile and clever designs everywhere, it was indeed difficult to set up any traps here. Even the training of the two Armored Knights was just the simplest static embrace.

Moreover, the Ghosteye Witch obviously feared excessive alterations to the room might trigger backlash from the Magical Energy Array. Thus, it covered the walls with drapes and the floor with Rain Flower Stone with a plush carpet.

After roughly investigating, Angel also found nothing unusual... Hmm, and no treasures either.

The only item showing signs of extraordinary traces was a slightly old, yellowed square box by the pillow on the soft bed with curtains.

This box felt icy cool to the touch, not made of metal, but a bone box. Which creature’s bone it belonged to was indeterminable, but the bone had a property of isolating energy probing, presumably from an Extraordinary Creature.

Although the box could isolate energy probing, the effect was insignificant, perhaps weakened over time.

If Angel truly wished to explore the situation inside the box, spiritual power could still be used to investigate. However, this object was already old and yellowed, even showing faint cracks. Angel feared forcibly probing might directly cause the box to crumble, so he refrained from investigating inside.

Moreover, the box itself wasn’t locked, there was no need for vandalism.

Angel wasn’t particularly interested in the contents of the box for now, as no traces of energy emanated from inside, suggesting it stored mundane items.

However, some patterns and text on the box’s shell caught Angel’s attention. The lid was engraved with a simple hollow logo, half of it broken, but from the other half, it seemed to depict ”A sunlit garden city.”

Beneath this logo was a row of similarly carved text, though a significant portion was damaged, Angel could barely recognize ”XX Forbidden Prison XXX Building XXX.”

These were words at the front, and the last few appeared to show numbers, though mostly worn away.

From these words and subsequent number code, it was basically ascertainable that this was a box produced in large quantities. Presumably allocated to many institutions, this box belonged to a certain ”Forbidden Prison.”

Angel had no idea where the Ghosteye Witch found this box. If it was indeed discovered here, perhaps this place was the so-called ”Forbidden Prison’s certain building?”

Angel examined the other sides of the box again, finding no traces on the sides, but a familiar engraving appeared on the back.

— A silver snake coiling around a bone staff.

If seen for the first time, Angel might be surprised. But in previous lab equipment fragments, Angel had seen identical logos.

Therefore, upon seeing this logo seemingly related to ”Baiyuanians” again, Angel’s emotions remained relatively unmoved.

Perhaps Baiyuanians really were related to Naraku City, even involved in some experiments there... But these were matters of the past, Angel wasn’t inclined to delve into it now.

However, this discovery could be shared with Dororo.

Dororo was a person without a past, which was a rather woeful matter. Not knowing where you came from, why you exist, or your future path. If Dororo wished to pursue his tribe’s past, his own past, perhaps the garden labyrinth could be a starting point.

Yet currently, Dororo, though unrivaled in prophecy abilities, lacks personal strength. Even if informed, Angel would advise him to wait until fully grown before making any decisions.

As for concealing from Dororo now and revealing later, Angel had not considered such a scenario.

Firstly, he did not want to hide from Dororo, nor did it seem feasible to conceal; secondly, based on his understanding of Dororo, he still hasn’t regarded himself as Baiyuanian, paying little heed to tribal identity. Even if informed, Dororo likely wouldn’t pursue it now.

Perhaps only when Dororo became an Official Wizard, accepted the Primeval Flame’s ceremony, would he gain further insight? By then, Angel believed Dororo would be capable of making his own choices, whether choosing to pursue the past or continue his own path, Angel would support him.

”Is there any treasure after all?” Angel’s contemplation was finally interrupted by Dox’s repeated questioning in the Mind Ribbon.

Dox: ”Where are you? I need to come and have a look too. You’re the leader, can’t keep things private!”

Previously, Dox had been shouting; Angel hadn’t responded, but now that he had basically finished investigating, he could reply.

”I inadvertently found a room, which should be the room of that Ghosteye Witch outside. The furnishings look like an ordinary girl’s boudoir...” Angel paused, rephrasing: ”Or rather, it is an ordinary girl’s boudoir.”

Dox: ”Ordinary girl? You mean that Ghosteye Witch?”

Angel: ”You could interpret it that way. Since this is an ’ordinary’ girl’s boudoir, it wouldn’t have the various treasures you previously speculated.”

Excluding the two Armored Ghosteye Witches, Angel roughly described the situation here.

”Fragile yet carries the Ghosteye Witch’s pursuit of beauty?” Dox listened, smirking: ”I think you needn’t be so cautious. Brokenness is beauty. Like those ruins and ruins, they’re quite beautiful, right, Vay?”

To prove his crooked theory, Dox even roped in Kaier. However, Kaier truly was a ruin enthusiast, so he agreed with Dox. But he dared not speak in the Mind Ribbon.

”Coward.” Dox cursed Kaier, then turned to Angel on the other end of the Mind Ribbon, saying: ”Back to the point, according to you, the only treasure there is the box you’re holding now?”

”This isn’t considered treasure, just has some faint extraordinary traces, not very useful.” Angel said offhandedly.

”What’s inside the box then?”

”Don’t know.”

Upon learning Angel hadn’t opened the box yet, Dox’s voice turned excited: ”Then hurry and open it, maybe something valuable is inside.”

Angel: ”Personally, I think... you might be dreaming.”

While Angel hadn’t opened the box, he could hear clinking sounds while handling it.

The sounds fell into two categories: one like muffled scraping when metal collides with glass, the other reminiscent of glass hitting glass.

Ignoring the former, Angel was very familiar with the latter.

The collision sound between potion bottles was exactly like this... Hmm, still the low-level, generic glass potion bottles.

Based on these two sounds, Angel could already guess what was inside.

— Scent bottles and some metal item... perhaps jewelry?

This room had a faint fragrance, yet its origin remained elusive to Angel, who initially thought the Ghosteye Witch carried the scent personally. But hearing the sound of potion bottles clinking, it was basically confirmed that there was scent inside.

”I’m dreaming? Although I know you’re cursing me, as long as you truthfully explain what’s in the box, I can admit I’m dreaming.” Dox was extremely bored now, his only interest was Angel’s unknown box.

Curiosity about the unknown is innate to humans, and an unknown box can further stimulate exploration desires.

This situation isn’t exclusive to the Wizards’ Realm; it’s present in human culture on Earth too.

In mythology, it’s called Pandora’s Box.

In reality, it’s called blind box opening.

Now, what Angel needs to do is called... live streaming unboxing.

Angel can sense Dox’s fervent emotions and also sense Vay and Kaier silently anticipating the contents of the box.

Since they are so curious, Angel thought about it and decided to try remote live streaming.

Although everyone is enveloped in Angel’s fixed Illusionary Realm and not far from him, Angel is currently in a closed building and also in an extended space within the building.

With heavy Magical Energy Arrays blocking him, controlling the Illusion Nodes in the outside Illusionary Realm is really not easy.

This makes Angel admire the Black Earl; the Black Earl’s Mind Ribbon is still very smooth, if it were Angel’s Mind Ribbon, it would probably be directly isolated by the Magical Energy Arrays as soon as he entered the building.

You can only say, the Black Earl deserves to be a big shot, detail shows true skill.

Angel tried several times, yet was unable to mobilize the outside Illusion Nodes until he began using the Power of Nightmare Illusion, which finally got a response from the outside Illusionary Realm.

However, the responding Illusion Nodes were still weak, which may be due to the limited Power of Nightmare Illusion Angel left outside.

But, if it’s just live streaming an unboxing and not displaying all the details of the entire room, it should be okay... right?

With a testing attitude, Angel started his first live stream unboxing.

...

At this moment, the people who were excitedly waiting for Angel to tell them the contents of the box suddenly felt a slight change in the surrounding Illusionary Realm.

Accompanied by the Black Earl’s ”huh,”

an illusion screen as small as a dining plate appeared in front of them.

Angel attempted to control the Illusion Node to simulate a wave of his hand.

”Can you see my hand waving?” Angel’s voice came through the Mind Ribbon.

Dox stared blankly at the scene before him: ”...Is this your hand?”

”Yes, it seems you should be able to see it. Since you can see it, I’ll get ready to open the box.”

After Angel’s words, he quickly controlled the illusion screen to simulate the appearance of the box.

Although Angel could just reveal the answer directly, he thought about it and decided to go through a ”ceremony-like” process.

He simulated his hands again, pointing at the box as he explained: ”This is the box you’ve been longing for, looks ordinary right?”

”Indeed, it’s quite ordinary and many parts are worn out.” Angel started to adjust the ”camera,” zooming in to let everyone see the carvings on the box lid.

With the Shadow Box manipulation experience, Angel’s camera transitions were extremely smooth, and these changes in the scene, combined with verbal explanations, indeed engaged everyone’s sense of participation.

Even the Black Earl, at this moment, watched Angel’s ”live stream” with a look of amazement and curiosity.

Of course, the Black Earl knew Angel was merely manipulating illusions, not actually transmitting the current scene, but he couldn’t deny that this was the first time he’d seen this format, and with Angel continuously explaining alongside it, the sense of involvement really emerged.

However, though there was a sense of involvement, remembering that Angel was just performing Illusion Transmutation... or monkey tricks, the Black Earl felt slightly peculiar. The most important thing is, Angel explained in the Mind Ribbon, as meticulously as if really sharing insights with everyone.

”How do you manage not to feel embarrassed?” The Black Earl really wanted to ask this question at this moment.

Understanding Angel, he believed Angel should be unlikely to do such embarrassing things... though the format is indeed interesting, it’s a bit odd for Angel to do it.

What the Black Earl didn’t know was, Angel’s initiation was totally different from others. Under Jon’s guidance, he understood many Earth cultures, based on this premise, Angel didn’t consider this format embarrassing.

Moreover, Angel himself had created many Shadow Boxes, in his view, the Shadow Box and the current situation were quite similar, the only difference is probably him adding self-dialogue here to enhance others’ sense of involvement.

Besides, Angel could control few Illusion Nodes, that illusion screen was just as large as a dining plate, not even showing Angel’s face, what’s there to feel embarrassed about?

The Black Earl initially wondered if Angel would run out of conversation topics, but Angel spoke very steadily, like a classroom Mentor, gradually sharing his personal insights on the box, not feeling embarrassed, the Black Earl instead found himself embarrassed.

The Black Earl didn’t want to feel embarrassed for Angel, after forcibly holding back the embarrassment, he came to terms with it, as long as Angel’s illusions produced was actual imagery, it won’t be a monkey trick.

If Angel faked it, treating them like fools, they could perceive it. When Angel returns, there would naturally be a corresponding ”reward.”

After coming to terms, the Black Earl wasn’t embarrassed anymore and watched quite attentively. Meanwhile, he felt Angel was becoming increasingly interesting... unfortunately, the only flaw was that he apprenticed under Sanders as his Mentor.

On the other side, Dox and the others, however, didn’t feel Angel was monkeying them. They hadn’t ruled that out, just thought Angel didn’t need to deceive them in this way.

Moreover, satisfying their curiosity about the unknown wasn’t a bad thing in itself.

...

”The outside of the box is pretty much inspected, now I should open it. Frankly, I roughly know what’s inside, unfortunately, there are few special Illusion Nodes outside, can’t simulate sound. Otherwise, you could guess the contents just by hearing the sounds.”

At this moment, Angel sitting cross-legged on the Rain Flower Stone, not only self-chatting but also genuinely presenting the real situation as the illusion displayed.

He did not fabricate illusions, because there was no need. Moreover, simultaneously fabricating illusions and doing real-time explanations in the Mind Ribbon, for Angel who tried ”live stream” for the first time, it was a bit challenging.

In everyone’s eyes, and also in Angel’s own eyes, he reached out, slowly opened the box.

No abnormalities or traps, the box was easily opened, revealing its contents.

The box contained only three items.

Exactly matching Angel’s guess, two bottles of scent and a metal ornament.

Angel: ”See, I told you you’re dreaming, yet you didn’t believe. Now, is the dream over?”

Dox: ”...Are you sure you didn’t cheat?”

Angel did not respond to this, instead he snorted lightly. Cheating or not, if deeply investigated, with their abilities could they not see through it?

Moreover, the Black Earl is watching the illusion screen too, Angel certainly wouldn’t dare to treat the Black Earl as a fool.

Dox sighed: ”Okay, I believe you. Indeed I was dreaming today...”

Dox admitting defeat was something Angel anticipated, so he wasn’t surprised. Nor did he continue to mock Dox, instead he took out the three items from the box.

Although they were unimpressive things, like the carvings on the lid, there might be some residue information on them.