Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 3090: Chapter 3091: Theater Visitor

In the empty grand theater, gentle piano music echoed.

The notes drifted through the windows covered with green vines onto the streets of Originheart City. Everyone passing by the theater couldn’t help but stop and listen to the lively notes.

Beautiful music always brings delight, even a brief moment can add motivation to a busy schedule.

The only pity is that music always seems fleeting.

Accompanied by the ticking sound of a bubbling spring, the piano music reached its conclusion, fading into silence.

The pedestrians on the street resumed their lively bustle amidst the lingering resonance.

Inside the Ocean Grand Theater, Jon lifted his hands from the piano keys, exhaling deeply while pondering: Tomorrow’s assignment for Luigi will be this piece.

Indeed, the person just playing the piano was Jon. His performance wasn’t for self-appreciation but an experiment with various styles, solely to initiate a new round of Sea of Questions Tactic for Luigi.

However, today’s assignment had already been given to Angel; the piece he played was chosen after estimating Luigi’s progress for tomorrow’s assignment.

Playing in advance was a form of rehearsal, to avoid mistakes when Angel came over tomorrow.

”Not bad, although I haven’t played this piece for ages, my fingers were fairly warm, didn’t hit any wrong notes by surprise.” Jon muttered as he stood up from the piano bench.

The piano bench was terribly uncomfortable; better to lie back in the recliner.

Jon stretched his slightly sore spine while moaning comfortably.

Despite the inelegant gesture, Jon didn’t mind. After all, there was no one in the theater now...

Yet, as Jon was thinking this, a familiar sound reached his ears.

Clap clap clap—

It was the sound of applause.

Jon paused, turning to look at the seats below the stage.

First row, empty; second row, empty; until Jon’s gaze reached the second-to-last row near the theater entrance, he saw a silhouette.

The applause was coming from this person.

Jon remembered clearly that there was no one earlier, so how could there be someone in the theater now? As Jon was puzzled, he saw the theater door... slightly ajar.

He realized that this person likely slipped in through the gap of the ajar door, and he hadn’t noticed someone coming due to his absorption in the performance.

Jon sighed inwardly but maintained a smile outwardly, quickly switching from a lazy to an upright and capable posture.

Jon smiled and nodded towards the figure, then calmly prepared to descend the stage steps on one side to head backstage.

As for chasing the guest away, that wasn’t his job. Besides, the other person had applauded, which made them his fan, and no idol would drive away a fan.

However, before Jon could leave through the passage beneath the stage, the person sitting in the back had already stood up and approached him.

”The piano piece played just now was excellent. I heard there’s a musical performance called ’Night Cats’ soon; was this a rehearsal piece?”

With the fan coming over, Jon naturally couldn’t leave immediately, so he stopped, turned, and said: ”It’s a rehearsal piece, but whether it will be used in ’Night Cats,’ I can’t disclose.”

Jon said as he sized up the newcomer.

The newcomer was an elderly gentleman dressed in a suit, with neatly groomed white hair, exuding a presence.

Jon wasn’t familiar with all of Originheart City’s residents but could recognize them. This white-haired old man was an absolute stranger.

Jon could confidently say he’d never seen this old man in Originheart City.

If not from Originheart City, he probably came from New City? So he was a Wizard?

Jon had visited New City and met numerous Wizards. He could sense the distinct aura Wizards exuded, but this white-haired old man didn’t have that unique aura; he seemed more like a mortal.

While Jon silently speculated about the stranger’s identity, the white-haired old man was scrutinizing Jon as well.

He had heard in the tree grove that this person was Angel’s Enlightenment Mentor. Though Jon was a mortal, he left a good impression, and the demeanor he developed was much like Angel’s.

No wonder he was the first to guide Angel in shaping his worldview.

”Is the old gentleman here to watch the ’Night Cats’ musical? Routine performances are scheduled every weekday at eight PM. There is one today, but you’ve arrived early.” Jon said.

The white-haired man replied, ”I did come to see ’Night Cats.’ I originally planned to come later, but upon hearing the piano on my way, I ventured into the theater.”

Jon waved his hand, ”It’s not an intrusion; the theater belongs to everyone.”

The white-haired man asked, ”There’s still some time before eight; can I stay here to wait for the musical performance?”

”Of course,” Jon responded warmly to the white-haired man, who exuded a noble presence without the nobility’s arrogance, reminiscent of Angel’s father, who took him in, Old Pat.

Because of this positive impression, Jon couldn’t help but add, ”According to theater protocol, there’s another stage rehearsal shortly. If the old gentleman doesn’t mind spoilers, you can stay here. If staff consults with you, just say I arranged it, and they’ll understand.”

The white-haired man nodded with a smile, ”I’ll close my eyes then so no spoilers affect me.”

Listening to a musical involves music; how effective is closing eyes? Jon inwardly grumbled but kept a gentle smile, ”Then I wish you a pleasurable musical evening.”

Jon then gave the white-haired man an apologetic look, ”I have some errands to run, so I’ll be off first.”

The white-haired man said nothing, watching with a smile as Jon left from the stage side.

After Jon left, the white-haired man picked a seat at random, sitting down with a contemplative look, ”Jon, Angel’s Enlightenment Mentor. He seems like an Indigenous Person of the Wilderness of Dreams but not quite... but reportedly he’s never been offline.”

”His physical condition is far weaker than other Indigenous People, an unusual situation in the Wilderness of Dreams.”

”As far as I know, anyone entering the Wilderness of Dreams has little disparity in physical condition. Even those gravely ill share this trait.”

”But he’s different, his frail condition overly pronounced... either affected in the Wilderness of Dreams or nearly violated by rules in reality.”

”Yet Angel’s Enlightenment Mentor is just a mortal, how could he experience rule violation?”

”Quite peculiar.”

”Never mind, at any rate, he remains a mortal. Moreover, Angel has harnessed that power, maybe that’s why he influenced Jon?”

The old man with white hair mumbled to himself, and if Jon were here to hear him, he’d probably be quite startled. From just one meeting, the old man inferred a lot of information.

He had even conducted a detailed investigation into the differences between the Wilderness of Dreams and reality, instantly recognizing that Jon’s frail body was abnormal.

Not to mention Jon, even Angel would be surprised if he heard it.

Because according to the white-haired old man’s deductions, the next step would be to speculate whether it was world erosion. And there’s only one scenario where the world will erodes ordinary people: an otherworldly visitor.

If the old man with white hair were really to pursue the truth, Jon’s identity might not stay hidden.

However, if Angel were truly here and saw the face of the old man with white hair, he’d understand his keen insight.

After all, this was the only Legendary Being in the Southern Domain Wizard World.

Yes, the white-haired old man was indeed the Observer.

...

The Observer had been in the Wilderness of Dreams for quite a while and had gained a general understanding of the situation here.

And the more he understood, the more the Observer found Angel to be remarkable.

In the Origin World, he had once heard the Greenwald Institute of Magical Research propose a concept: to establish a ”Magic Net” capable of seamless connection in the Origin World.

It was said that the institute intended to use a specific frequency of magic power as branches to connect various major regions. But in the end, the Magic Net was never realized; there were too many difficulties, and even starting was challenging.

Yet Angel’s Wilderness of Dreams perfectly achieved the Magic Net’s original concept, and furthermore, he directly projected people from reality into this ”Magic Net,” constructing a special consciousness world.

This is a genius work surpassing the Magic Net!

It’s as though a special world similar to the Soul Plane and Mirror Domain was created, turning everyone into beings akin to ”Spirit Realm Walkers” and ”Mirrortravellers.”

Although the Wilderness of Dreams is limited to the Southern Domain Wizard World, its limitless potential is evident.

In the eyes of the Observer, if the Wilderness of Dreams could be replicated in the Origin World, it might trigger a new wave of wizarding revolution.

And it was precisely because he saw the potential of the Wilderness of Dreams that the Observer was filled with curiosity about Angel, the suspected creator of the Wilderness of Dreams.

He knew that Angel held the power ”there,” likely with deep waters behind him, so he couldn’t directly inquire of Angel and could only peek into the secrets through the people around Angel.

He wasn’t necessarily bent on uncovering the truth, just... curious.

Curiosity, in itself, is the driving force for wizards.

As a seasoned Legendary Wizard, he had, in fact, lost curiosity for many things. It was rare now that curiosity arose, and he naturally wanted to explore.

This time, he appeared at the Ocean Grand Theater to take a look at Angel’s mentor.

However, based on his observations, although Jon had some peculiar situations, they probably had little to do with the Wilderness of Dreams.

Moreover, digging too deeply into Jon’s peculiarities might inadvertently offend Angel.

He did not wish to fall out with Angel.

That’s why he didn’t engage in much conversation with Jon earlier, only secretly memorizing some information before withdrawing.

He didn’t leave immediately; having said he would watch ”Night Cats,” he couldn’t go back on his word. Furthermore, as the Observer, he was almost idle in the Southern Domain when no mysterious disasters occurred... and he couldn’t expose himself to the Southern Domain Wizard World.

He actually didn’t have much to do each day.

Listening to musicals and watching plays are, in themselves, his interests.

”Night Cats,” reportedly scripted by Jon himself, tells the story of family, human nature, and love from the perspective of a cat. It received critical acclaim when performed in Originheart City by Fuyi.

While using an animal perspective to metaphorize humans isn’t novel in scripts, in musicals, it’s the first time the Observer has heard of it, so he’s genuinely interested in seeing how ”Night Cats” could unfold.

However, with some time left before the musical starts, he couldn’t just sit idly by.

After pondering a bit, the Observer took out his Mother Tree Interlinker to pass the time.

Speaking of the Magic Net, the Observer actually thought the Mother Tree Network might resemble it more. Yet, the functionalities of the Mother Tree Network are more refined than the Magic Net concept proposed by the Greenwald Institute of Magical Research.

He quite enjoyed using the Mother Tree Network to see what others thought.

Especially the Mother Tree Forum, where he encountered many interesting ideas, with topics varying widely, providing him with much insight.

As usual, the Observer browsed the Mother Tree Forum, checking if there were any comments on his past replies, or if certain watched threads had updates.

After his routine browsing, the Observer began to look at newly posted threads.

In doing so, he spotted a thread with a laurel insignia in the title.

From the Observer’s days on the forum, he understood that the laurel insignia signified a high-quality post, indicating that the officials—the review team—considered the post extremely valuable.

Typically, there were more laurel-quality threads in the non-transcendent sections, but none previously in the transcendent section.

It was said that most review team members were part-time apprentices, with no authoritative wizards, making it difficult to evaluate the content in the transcendent section.

Yet now, the Observer found a laurel-quality post in the transcendent section, which surprised him.

Could it be... the review team expanded? Did the Academy Faction from the Barbarian Cave join the review team?

Although not clear on the specifics, the Observer was still highly interested and opened the thread: ”Wilderness Traveler News” Issue One.

Upon opening the thread, the Observer glanced at the poster’s name, understanding why it was a premium post.

The poster was Angel.

Whether it was the review team or development team, the initiator behind them was Angel. How could his post not be marked premium?

Moreover, it was the first time the Observer, after mingling on the Mother Tree Forum for so long, saw a post from Angel.

Brimming with curiosity, the Observer started reading through it bit by bit, from the main publication to the supplement.

Soon, the Observer finished reading the entire post.

After reading it, he roughly understood why Angel was initiating a ”newsletter,” as it could both educate participants of the Wilderness of Dreams and lay a foundation for its potential future expansion.