Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2233: Chapter 2234: Harvest

Leaving the Storm Cloud Sea, the grey mist enveloping the Gondola slowly retracted into Toby’s body.

"I didn’t expect that after the wind creatures of Wind Island returned to their positions, the winds above the Cloud Sea would become even stronger... Fortunately, Lord Toby was here; otherwise, our boat would surely have been blown away." The speaker, Dangross, leaned against Angel’s hand, initially expressing this sentiment normally, though at the end, it reverted to his sycophantic essence, his eyes gleaming as he looked at Toby.

But Toby completely ignored Dangross, instead focusing his gaze on another elemental sprite on the boat.

"Mr. Pat, where are we heading next?" The speaker was Cubic, a flying piglet with fluttering little wings.

"Gentle Wave Sea," Angel looked towards the distant horizon and said.

Cubic was silent for a moment but couldn’t help but remind, "Mr. Pat, the direction you’re looking at is south; the direction of Gentle Wave Sea is to the north."

Angel: "..." You talk too much.

...

The Gondola continued to fly leisurely, now half a day since Angel left Wind Island.

Ever since Mr. Magu told him that the gentle breeze Urano of White Cloud Village was one of the elemental creatures that spent the longest time with Mr. Feng, Angel had been filled with anticipation about coming to Wind Island.

He thought he would obtain a lot of information related to Feng from the gentle breeze Urano, but in fact, the intelligence gathered was much less than he imagined.

Moreover, it was not very important.

Although the gentle breeze Urano indeed spent a long time with Feng, their interaction was not the intimate kind that Angel had imagined. Their so-called time spent together was merely because Feng chose to rest on Wind Island.

According to the account of the gentle breeze Urano, Angel reconstructed the situation at that time.

When Feng arrived at White Cloud Village and saw Wind Island, he very much admired the inherently unique environment and the beautiful, dreamy ecology. On top of that, inspiration for painting emerged, so he chose to settle on Wind Island for a while then.

Thus, on the Forbidden Peak, Feng created that palace-like Mana Hut.

During Feng’s residence on Wind Island, besides occasionally sightseeing, he mostly painted in the Mana Hut.

The walls of the palace were covered with paintings, which were the works Feng created during that period.

So, even though Feng stayed on Wind Island for quite some time, his interaction with the gentle breeze Urano was minimal, mostly dedicating his time to painting.

However, Mr. Magu did not know the inside story and assumed that Feng, having spent so much time with the gentle breeze Urano, must have had some involvement, which was why he suggested Angel come to White Cloud Village. In fact, Feng’s relationship with the gentle breeze Urano was ordinary; although slightly closer than with other elemental creatures, it wasn’t by much.

Therefore, the useful information Angel obtained from the gentle breeze Urano was not much.

More so, it was about Feng’s daily life on Wind Island and the occasional murmurs and sighs. Among them, words such as fate and destiny were often on Feng’s lips.

Though the details described by the gentle breeze Urano about Feng mostly consisted of life details, having accompanied Feng for a year, listening to his musings frequently, sometimes still gleaned some valuable intelligence.

Among this, one piece of news vaguely hinted at the reason for Feng’s arrival at the Tidal World.

This intelligence might relate to Feng’s layout, so Angel listened very carefully.

"At that time, the location of Wind Island had not yet drifted above the Cloud Sea; it was nestled in the mist, occasionally experiencing torrential rain and lightning. I still remember there was a rainstorm lasting half a month, which replenished the somewhat dried-up Wind Island Lake. Half a month later, the sky cleared up, and the windless and rainless Wind Island Lake reflected the sky’s colors, which were very beautiful."

"Because of the rare fair weather, Mr. Feng also came out from the palace on the Forbidden Peak to quietly enjoy the rain-cleared landscape of Wind Island. Later, Mr. Feng set his gaze on Wind Island Lake."

Mr. Feng, looking at Wind Island Lake, said to me: ’A still pond, after the storm, can also revive with stunning beauty. It’s much like the Tidal World; you see only calamities, yet I see gentle ripples. The calamity might not have brought desolation to the Tidal World but rejuvenation, much like the Wind Island Lake."

"Such rejuvenation is also a refreshing spring to my dried-up pool of inspiration."

Saying this, Mr. Feng softly sighed, "Although my arrival is merely a Chapter in that book of fate, I must say everything here nourishes my inspiration... I feel like painting again."

Afterward, Mr. Feng turned back to the palace, took out canvas, and began painting once more.

These were the scenes narrated by the gentle breeze Urano from that time.

Away from lengthy background narration, the most crucial sentence in the entire discourse was Feng’s self-reflection. He clearly expressed "his arrival is a Chapter written by that book of fate." Although this sentence seems a bit mystical, it clarifies why Feng came to the Tidal World.

Just as the gentle breeze Urano initially mentioned, Feng might not have actively come to the Tidal World; he arrived here under the guidance of fate. And this fate guidance, related to a book?

This book could be a literal reference, to an actual book, or it might be metaphorical, using the imagery of "book" to express a sentiment towards fate.

Which one it actually is remains unknown for now. Angel personally leans towards the second interpretation because most of the prophet wizards he has encountered like to express determinism, often using imagery like "lines," "gears," and "books" to describe it.

"Line" signifies that fate is quietly pulled along, offering no escape from destiny.

"Gear" symbolizes that fate is interconnected, regardless of which direction it turns; you can only dance alongside other gears within the constraints of the teeth, another depiction of destiny.

And "book" is favored by mystical types for it metaphorizes words set down onto Chapters, comparing human fate to book-text: seemingly alterable by any means, suggesting a future diverse with alterations, but ultimately, no matter how you modify, you can’t escape the "page" constraints. So though the future seems directionally innumerable, it’s actually confined initially by the concept of "book," another form of determinism.

It’s because Angel understands the essence of mystical thinking that he suspects the "book" Feng mentioned might be just a metaphorical reference.

What Feng genuinely intended to express is probably just this: he didn’t come of his own will but under the guidance of fate to the Tidal World.

This piece of intelligence might be one of the most useful pieces of information spoken by Feng, though it’s unfortunate that while it confirmed Feng’s possible fate-guided arrival, it didn’t elucidate why fate guided him to the Tidal World.

And this might be the key to Feng’s arrangements in the Tidal World.

Later, Angel went with the Gentle Wind Uranus to the Forbidden Peak, as he wanted to inquire about the painting titled "Path of Light."

The Gentle Wind Uranus was surprised to see the painting that Angel had selected, because it was the only one in the entire palace not painted on Wind Island.

Therefore, the Gentle Wind Uranus couldn’t recount the story behind the painting.

However, the Gentle Wind Uranus provided a useful clue: this painting was completed before Feng settled on Wind Island. Prior to settling, Feng had spent a long time with two other elemental creatures.

Those two elemental creatures were Frost Iser and Nami Midori.

In other words, if Angel wanted to learn more about Feng and the "Path of Light" painting, he would have to inquire with Frost Iser and Nami Midori.

Afterward, Angel bid farewell to the Gentle Wind Uranus.

He stayed on Wind Island for another day to organize the group of wind-element creatures at Storm Ridge before leaving.

...

As the Gondola moved forward, Angel organized the gains from this journey to White Cloud Village.

Although the intelligence gathered on Wind Island wasn’t as much as Angel had hoped, the overall gains from other areas were substantial.

Angel established a fairly amicable relationship with the Gentle Wind Uranus. Even though the Gentle Wind Uranus hadn’t agreed to Angel’s futures plans, its body language gave away certain thoughts.

Furthermore, the Gentle Wind Uranus informed Angel that Hurricane, after viewing the Shadow Box, also agreed with the Gentle Wind Uranus’ approach. Hurricane even promised to persuade His Highness the Hurricane upon returning to Storm Ridge.

Angel was initially surprised by Hurricane’s agreement, but upon reflection, it made sense. Although Hurricane is fierce and aggressive, it deeply cares about the lives of its kin and subordinates. If the Tidal World opens and humans and elemental life are in opposition, there will be inevitable bloodshed. Hurricane doesn’t want to see this, so the advocacy of peaceful coexistence with humans by the Gentle Wind Uranus garnered Hurricane’s support.

Perhaps Hurricane has other thoughts, but at least on the surface, it agrees with the Gentle Wind Uranus.

As a result, Angel later allowed Hurricane to meet with its subordinates.

The above represents Angel’s ideological gains.

Hurricane’s subordinates were the tangible gains from this visit to White Cloud Village. Nearly a hundred wind-element creatures, plus three powerful wind generals; they amount to a considerable force.

For the time being, they couldn’t be immediately utilized, so Angel left them on Wind Island, entrusting their support to the Sage Kamil and the Gentle Wind Uranus.

However, not all wind-element creatures were left on Wind Island; Angel selected two useful ones to accompany him.

One is the Tri-headed Lionhound, Lobal. The tailhead of Lobal is very wise, bearing a sage-like demeanor and is familiar with the Tidal World. With it at their side, they might avoid many detours.

The other isn’t a wind general but a minor subordinate named Speedy. Its strength is roughly akin to Dan Vine Jack. However, as its name implies, Speedy’s talent is speed, reaching unimaginable swiftness, with a constant flight speed almost matching Toby’s activated Gravity Meridian state.

Due to its speed talent and being a wind-element creature, Speedy can seamlessly integrate into the wind and had traveled across the Tidal World early on.

Angel took Speedy along for two reasons: first, it acts as a living map, ensuring no fear of getting lost; second, Speedy can integrate with the Gondola, becoming its "engine," boosting its speed multiple times without consuming energy.

Thanks to the engine boost from Speedy, they reached the Gentle Wave Sea in merely half a day, saving several days from their original plan.

In every aspect, whether Lobal or Speedy, Angel was extremely satisfied.

Besides these two, Angel brought along one more wind-element creature, which was Cubic, still in its sprite phase.

Upon first meeting Cubic, Angel only perceived it as a "problematic child." Later, when the Sage Kamil requested Angel to take Cubic away, he fleetingly thought Kamil was passing the buck.

At that time, although Angel didn’t directly refuse Kamil, he wasn’t keen on taking Cubic along.

However, after a few days of interaction, Angel realized Cubic was much better than he initially thought.

He thought Cubic was a problematic child, but in fact, during their interactions, Cubic was rather steady, showing more maturity than Dangross by a significant margin.

At first, Angel thought Cubic was just pretending, but later realized that Cubic’s initial overly restrained demeanor was due to nervousness around Angel. Even after relaxing, Cubic’s steadiness persisted, indicating that gravitas is indeed a significant part of Cubic’s personality.

Regarding why Cubic acted problematic at their initial encounter, Angel couldn’t decipher any reason, potentially due to some unknown reason, which Angel didn’t delve into further.

After confirming Cubic’s personality wasn’t as problematic, Angel didn’t consider taking Cubic along.

Yet, as Angel prepared to leave, the Sage Kamil approached him again.

Kamil candidly expressed to Angel the hope for Cubic to become Angel’s "elemental partner."

Angel had never encountered such a proactive proposal before; however, Angel’s interest in wind-element creatures was relatively low. Even if he did want one, he would prefer one that matched his compatibility.

Angel didn’t know Cubic’s talent, skills, or thoughts; hence, even if Kamil was proactively offering, Angel couldn’t commit to a definite answer.

Nonetheless, given this was the first instance Angel encountered a parent willingly agreeing for their child to partner with a wizard, Angel regarded it as a milestone event.

He gave it some thought and ultimately reached a compromise.

During this time, he decided to bring Cubic along to observe its abilities and character. If they matched, then he would consider discussing the matter of becoming elemental partners.

Even if they didn’t match, Angel would introduce Cubic to a wizard with a compatible temperament, fulfilling Kamil’s wish to let Cubic explore the vast human world.