Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 3068: Chapter 3069: Peculiarities

”Aex is the main reason?”

Upon hearing this, Angel and Dox couldn’t help but exchange a glance. They were both very interested in Aex, although for different reasons, but their views of Aex were generally the same.

The Black Earl: ”Aex may indeed be a Wizard of a good and lawful alignment, but it is precisely because of his lawful nature that some of his behaviors appear very peculiar.”

Angel: ”Peculiar?”

The Black Earl nodded: ”You should still remember, Lucia previously mentioned one thing clearly about Aex. Although he received teaching assignments and was very patient with apprentices seeking instruction, there was one specific type of apprentice he did not favor, and he absolutely would not teach this type of person.”

At the mention of this by the Black Earl, Dox instantly recalled and said, ”I remember, it seemed that Aex displays bias towards the Bloodline Type in his teaching assignments.”

Angel also added: ”To be precise, the Bloodline Type apprentices Aex is willing to teach are either those who have not yet integrated their bloodline, or those who have integrated Abyss Blood.”

The Black Earl: ”You are both correct. I once asked Lucia, apart from these two categories, do the other apprentices have any common traits?”

”Lucia’s answer was: no.”

”Moreover, Aex has never interacted with these types of people. Since they are all strangers, why is he willing to teach others but not this type of person?”

The Black Earl posed a question, but neither Angel nor Dox knew the answer.

They had thought about it before, but more from a subjective conjecture, guessing that perhaps Aex had some enmity with certain Bloodline Type individuals in his past, leading to his aversion to them.

As for why he would teach Abyss Blood apprentices, perhaps it’s because... someone who has integrated Abyss Blood once saved him?

The Black Earl continued: ”Among the Bloodline Type apprentices Aex is unwilling to teach, some are generally defined as bad people, but a larger portion are apprentices of the lawful alignment.”

”If Aex is also a Wizard of a good and lawful alignment, then why does he treat apprentices of the same alignment differently?”

”Is this a trait completely inconsistent with his character setting?”

Angel and Dox fell into deep thought. Previously, they concerned themselves more with Aex’s character traits and somewhat overlooked this point. Upon reevaluation, Aex’s behavior in this matter was indeed quite strange.

But strange as it might be, what direct connection does this have with the ”assault on Bilun Tree Court”? Why did the Black Earl bring it up specifically?

After contemplating for a moment, Angel and Dox simultaneously thought of one thing: ”Shark Star Pureblood Society?”

Upon hearing this name, the Black Earl said softly: ”It seems you’ve thought of it.”

Angel: ”Does Aex have connections with the Pureblood Society in the guild district?”

The Black Earl shook his head: ”Currently, there is no direct evidence of their connection, but on my return from the Birlos Family, I learned of a death count. Over seventy percent of the total deaths, and the place with the most deaths was the Shark Star Pureblood Society in the guild district.”

”The buildings in the guild district are very numerous and densely packed, but only the Shark Star Pureblood Society was almost destroyed. Other surrounding buildings, though damaged, were not severely so.”

”It is evident, the attacker specifically targeted the Shark Star Pureblood Society.”

”In the Birlos Family’s inference, the attacker committed such heinous actions for only one reason: they held a grudge against the Shark Star Pureblood Society, or some people within it.”

”However, as I learned from Lucia, the Shark Star Pureblood Society is filled with apprentices, although supported nominally by Official Wizards, they rarely visit the headquarters. And during the period when the three attackers were in the Starry District, they did not exhibit hatred towards the Shark Star Pureblood Society, plus they are Official Wizards, statistically speaking, they should have no major enmity with the apprentices of the Shark Star Pureblood Society.”

”Since there is no grudge, why go to such lengths to utterly destroy the Shark Star Pureblood Society?”

”Connecting Aex’s peculiar behavior... the only relation I can think of involves the bloodlines these people have integrated.”

Dox looked at the Black Earl in puzzlement: ”Isn’t this leap a bit big? How did you make this connection?”

After a moment of reflection, Angel replied, ”Perhaps because neither Stop nor Sharon the Witch lack reasons for attacking Bilun Tree Court. Only Aex lacks such reasons, and during his stay in the Starry District, his only peculiar behavior was his discriminatory stance on Bloodline Type teachings. Therefore, from the perspective of the Black Earl, perhaps there’s some connection between these two matters?”

Angel merely organized the entire situation, from his angle, these two matters might be related, but at most, it’s a weak connection.

The Black Earl nodded: ”Angel is not wrong. I’m not making random guesses, I performed a ’relation divination’ on Aex and the Pureblood Society.”

”The result of the divination was quite intriguing... it was neither affirmative nor negative.”

”Under normal circumstances, the result of a divination is either positive or negative, or the outcome is obscured by anti-prophecy interference, or simply, the divination fails. However, this time I succeeded, and it wasn’t disturbed by any anti-prophecy forces, yet the result was neither positive nor negative.”

”In other words, it can be said: it is both, yet neither.”

”How to interpret this result is open to personal opinion, but it undeniable that Aex certainly has some kind of connection with the Pureblood Society, perhaps latent or direct, otherwise the divination result wouldn’t be so ambiguous.”

Hearing this result, although Dox and Angel were curious about the two-faced nature of the result, the Black Earl’s explanation left no doubt that it indicated Aex unquestionably had some unresolved connection with the Pureblood Society.

Dox: ”If there is divination involved, then it makes sense.”

Angel pondered for a moment and said: ”Even if there is a connection, it cannot be a valid reason for Aex to attack Bilun Tree Court. In reality, Aex not only did not participate in the attack but also saved people.”

The Black Earl said lightly: ”I never said he had a reason to attack Bilun Tree Court.”

”If it wasn’t him, then...” Angel paused halfway through a thought, then continued: ”Hmm, does the lord mean that the attack on Bilun Tree Court was predetermined, while the Pureblood Society was just a contributing factor, perhaps even unbeknownst to Aex himself?”

The Black Earl indeed never said Aex had a reason to attack Bilun Tree Court, but rather, ”Aex was the main reason that motivated Stop and Sharon the Witch to commit the crime here.”

Reading it this way, Aex’s likes and dislikes became a ’non-official yet latent’ evaluative standard during the attack on Bilun Tree Court by Stop and Sharon the Witch.

Aex had bias towards Bloodline Type apprentices, so when Stop manipulated the Shallow Sea Strongman to pass through the guild district, on a whim, they targeted the Shark Star Pureblood Society?

The Black Earl: ”Indeed, that’s exactly what I think.”

Angel: ”Human thoughts and actions are hard to control, often having unpredictable traits. So from a behavioral standpoint, it barely makes sense. But on a logical level, I still haven’t found a common point.”

The Black Earl: ”Sometimes, logic is not what’s important, what’s important is the current thought.”

After a pause, the Black Earl changed the subject again: ”However, if you have to talk about the attacker’s behavior logic, then I can mention two points... First, Stop and the Witch Sharon must know that Aex has a dislike for a specific Bloodline side.”

Angel nodded, from a motivational standpoint, this is an inevitable result. He had analyzed this too, but it doesn’t seem to serve as logic?

The Black Earl did not explain, instead, he continued: ”Second, Stop and the Witch Sharon also have an aversion towards specific Bloodline Transcendents.”

Hearing the second point, Angel was taken aback.

If Stop and the Witch Sharon also hated a certain type of Bloodline side, then it makes sense.

They might not do something for Aex, but they would certainly do something for their own likes and dislikes.

So, if they both hate a specific type of Bloodline Transcendent, then the matter of Stop manipulating the Shallow Sea Strongman to destroy the Shark Star Pureblood Society is very likely.

But... where’s the evidence?

Why does the Black Earl think they also hate a certain type of Bloodline Transcendent?

Aex showed obvious prejudice against the Bloodline side in teaching; but Stop and the Witch Sharon showed no such signs.

”Evidence? I have no evidence.” The Black Earl gave a direct negative answer: ”But, although I have no evidence, don’t you forget there is another unignorable existence among the attackers besides Stop and others.”

Angel immediately understood: ”Shallow Sea Strongman.”

The Black Earl nodded: ”That’s right, the Shallow Sea Strongman. Wizard-level Shallow Sea Strongmen are basically not found in the Southern Domain; and they have clear inscriptions and the aura of World Consciousness erosion, which indicates a problem.”

Angel: ”The Shallow Sea Strongman comes from the Otherworld.”

The Black Earl: ”Yes, this wizard-level Shallow Sea Strongman comes from another world. In addition, there was also an Island Strongman that appeared, which like the Shallow Sea Strongman, has an aura from beyond the domain.”

”Lastly, Stop also summoned a monster with a crocodile head. And this monster is identified as the guardian magic monster of the Reed Garden.”

Angel asked in confusion: ”Reed Garden?”

The Black Earl: ”In the Wild Realm, there is a Wild God called the Yalu Deity. Meaning, the Deity of the Reed Garden, or it can also be called the managing deity of the Fertile Grounds. And the Reed Garden is the residence of this Wild God.”

”Guarding the Reed Garden is a crocodile-headed magic monster that holds the power of fairness and order.”

Angel hesitated: ”So the monster summoned by Stop is a creature under the Wild God? Is this certain?”

The Black Earl said calmly: ”Stop admitted it himself.”

After hearing this, Angel felt a bit dazed. Since Stop admitted it himself, it is highly likely to be true. Angel never expected this matter to be related to the Wild God of the Wild Realm?

Previously, Angel had considered a possibility: Could this attack be- Otherworld powers eroding the Wizards’ Realm.

But that was just wild speculation, and now it seems really connected to an Otherworld Deity.

However, what shocked Angel even more was not just this, as the Black Earl continued: ”Shallow Sea Strongman and Island Strongman all belong to the Strongman race. Although the Strongman race is distributed in all heavens, most were brought there by wizards, and the real birthplace of the Strongman race is in the Wild Realm.”

”And in the Wild Realm, there is a rumor... It is said that the God of the Reed Garden, also known as the Yalu Deity, created the initial Strongman race.”

Angel: ... The Yalu Deity again?

Not only does the crocodile-headed magic monster race come from the Yalu Deity, but the Strongman race is also connected with the Yalu Deity. Now, to say that the three attackers are unrelated to the Wild God of the Wild Realm, it’s really hard to say.

The Black Earl: ”So, it can be basically determined that both the Shallow Sea Strongman and the Island Strongman, like the crocodile-headed magic monster, come from the Wild Realm.”

At this point, the Black Earl suddenly smiled: ”And an interesting piece of news, I obtained some personnel records of the Shark Star Pureblood Society from the Birlos Family. Among them, 90% of the apprentices have integrated the bloodline of magical creatures from the Wild Realm.”

”And in the past month, the guild district held four bloodline seminars. The first three were all led by the Shark Star Pureblood Society, and the principal bloodlines discussed were all Wild Realm magical creatures; only the fourth seminar, taken over by the Alchemy Bureau, discussed the development of the mermaid bloodline.”

The Black Earl’s voice abruptly stopped, without offering any evaluation, but words inside and outside the words conveyed one meaning.

——Isn’t this a coincidence?

At this time, Dox also slowly spoke: ”Pureblood Society, is it referring to a gathering of Pureblood Wizards? Indeed, Pureblood Wizards have a deep preference for Wild Realm bloodlines. Among the Bloodline Wizards within the Wild Realm, Pureblood Wizards constitute the majority... Although I haven’t integrated the Wild Realm magical creature bloodline, for my next bloodline replacement, there’s a high chance I will go to the Wild Realm.”

Whether it is the words of the Black Earl, or Dox’s supplement, they both unveil a curtain on the truth.

Stop and others have an unknown connection with the Wild Realm. By the fact that they can bring the Reed Garden guardian magic monster, perhaps they themselves stand on the side of the Wild Realm.

Even though they are humans, it doesn’t mean all humans have to stand on the Wizards’ Realm’s side.

Humans exist and spread across many worlds, and some humans born in the Wild Realm don’t feel an affiliation to the Wizards’ Realm, which is normal; and some are lured by Wild Gods and become pawns against the Wizards’ Realm.

No matter the reason, the Wizards’ Realm never lacks such antagonistic humans.

If Stop and others truly stand in opposition, and they have deep feelings for the Wild Realm, then their aversion towards the Pureblood Society is not groundless.

After all, the ”Floating City” built by humans stands tall above the clouds of the Wild Realm. Bloodline Wizards come in droves, and the Wild Realm is even called a ”backyard” by Bloodline Wizards.

Especially dominated by Pureblood Wizards.

Thinking this way, those standing on the Wild Realm’s position hating Pureblood Wizards is understandable.

After figuring this out, Angel understood why the Black Earl believed that all three attackers hated specific Bloodline Transcendents.

This is a logical base point.

Looking at the previous situation through this logical base point, whether it’s the attackers’ destruction of the Pureblood Society or Aex’s strange behavior, there is now a reasonable explanation.

Angel originally had some doubts, but now he was also convinced by the Black Earl.