Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2549: Chapter 2550: Noah Family

After waiting for another half day, Kaier finally returned to the cave.

His cloak was wrinkled and dirty, and his travel-weary face clearly showed he had been outside the Sandworm Market area.

"My lord, sorry for the long wait." Kaier bowed respectfully before beginning to recount his materials collection journey.

"I went around several nearby Wizard Markets but still lacked some materials, especially the Nightmare Light Crystal. None of the shops at the large markets had it, and it’s usually found only at auctions in Wizard Markets. With no other choice, I made a trip to Quicksand City. This time I was lucky and met a friend of Mentor Esos who happened to have a Nightmare Light Crystal and sold it to me."

After speaking, Kaier took out various materials from his spatial artifact one by one.

Soon, a small pile formed.

Angel glanced over and roughly confirmed everything was correct.

However, he still checked to see if there were any substandard materials. After a while, Angel withdrew his hand; all materials were qualified, except...

"I gave you a list by grams, and you really bought by grams." Angel raised an eyebrow. "Aren’t you worried about my refining failure?"

Kaier was taken aback, oh right, what if the refining failed?

After pondering for a moment, Kaier cautiously said: "The Lord shouldn’t fail, right?"

While waiting for Angel’s response, Kaier’s eyes showed both anticipation and a hint of worry, fearing the worst outcome.

Angel glanced at Kaier, stood up, and began to collect the materials on the table, saying: "Shouldn’t you tidy yourself up first?"

Kaier looked at his clothing, "Oh," and immediately used a Cleansing Spell to thoroughly clean off the dust.

However, this left his clothes soaking wet, and his hair completely drenched.

Angel was stunned. It was the first time he had seen someone use a Cleansing Spell to get themselves wet. The Cleansing Spell combines water and wind, a 0-level trick; any apprentice can precisely balance the two elements, but Kaier still messed it up.

Kaier felt embarrassed being stared at and hung his head: "Just a moment, I’ll dry using the Firebird Technique."

With that said, Kaier prepared to cast the Firebird Technique.

Seeing Kaier’s familiar actions, it was clear why Dox was so practiced in using Cleansing Spell on him last time; this guy hadn’t mastered the Cleansing Spell yet.

Angel thought about it but didn’t let Kaier release the Firebird; who knows if he would dry himself or roast himself.

Angel casually cast a Cleansing Spell on Kaier, this time with less water and more wind, just enough to dry the moisture on him.

Kaier awkwardly said, "Thank you, my lord... Actually, I can use the Cleansing Spell; it just occasionally fails."

Angel didn’t respond, silently remarking in his heart: Even a 0-level trick can fail; you’re quite the talent.

But upon reflection, Kaier wasn’t relying on the Cleansing Spell for a living; he had great talent in spatial research. With strengths naturally come weaknesses. It’s a kind of balance.

Just like Angel’s Magic Bread, this basic trick also got messed up by him, which shows no one is perfect... Of course, Angel would never admit this, believing someone in the world would appreciate his Magic Bread, though they just haven’t appeared yet.

After Kaier cleaned himself up, he looked at Angel with expectant eyes, the meaning clear.

Angel sat back at the table and said plainly: "Every success comes with the possibility of failure, and alchemy is no exception. What I can do is try to control the variables to avoid failure. Otherwise, you’d have to make another trip."

Actually, Angel had a very high probability of success, but knowing this alone was enough; in case something went wrong, it would at least leave him some room.

Kaier didn’t know Angel’s thoughts and nodded, saying earnestly: "My lord will definitely succeed!"

Whether successful or not wasn’t for Kaier to determine; it was human nature, assuming encouragement, when in reality, it was self-deception, adding pressure for others.

Of course, Angel felt no pressure; with a wave of his hand: "Go out. I’m going to start the preparation now. I’ll call you when it’s over, successful or not."

Kaier nodded and, with prayer, prepared to leave. Just as he was about to step out the door, he suddenly thought of something: "By the way, my lord, don’t you need an assistant?"

In Kaier’s understanding, not only Alchemists but even Magic Rune Mages needed assistants for some menial work. Angel planning to tackle this alone?

"No need," Angel said indifferently.

Kaier said nothing more, nodded, and left the Earth Cavern.

After Kaier left, Angel didn’t immediately handle the materials but pondered for a moment on the "alchemy assistant" issue.

Not only Kaier, but even Master Midora and Dean Muse in Sky Mechanical City suggested Angel seek an alchemy assistant at Ashiliya Academy; it’s a mutually beneficial process.

But Angel was used to alchemizing alone, finding assistants more trouble than help.

However, if he needed to refine large alchemy tools in the future, taking three to five months, or even longer, it would require one or more assistants.

Once back in Barbarian Cave, he might find someone pleasing... or perhaps, try David?

Angel didn’t delve further; there wasn’t urgency regarding assistants. First, he needed to refine the Alchemy Blueprint at hand.

With this in mind, Angel began the alchemy preparation.

Preparation didn’t involve material analysis or blueprint resolution; those were already completed. The only preparation now was...

Angel turned to look at Dangross soaking in the quenching solution, a smile playing on his lips.

...

While Angel was engrossed in alchemy, a major event took place at the Pamiji Plateau.

This incident involved many participants, with almost all major Witcher Organizations joining in, even the "Mechanical Beast Emperor" Rosen Yada of Sky Mechanical City secretly arrived at Pamiji Plateau.

The gathering of so many organization leaders indicated a major affair, yet the entire discussion was kept very low-profile.

Many Wizard journals knew of this matter, but they remained silent.

The reason was simple: this time they banded together to deal with a group of outsiders, and even the big shots of the Origin World found these guys troublesome – the followers of the Seed.

These followers weren’t particularly capable, but they caused plenty of trouble; more importantly, their spread was wide, and their brainwashing speed rivaled some evil cult leaders. They acted recklessly, and no one had a viable solution to deal with them.

Because they rely on a disordered and unsolvable mysterious object: the Seed.

Of course, the Seed can also become a non-believer, or even be used by one’s own side. However, who would touch the Seed’s bad luck without caution? With a slight mistake, being sucked into the Seed means doom.

Only the Seed cult followers, a group of fools concocted by who knows whom, would chant the incantation to unlock the Seed at the slightest disagreement.

They themselves are not afraid of being sucked into the Seed, and often willingly enter it, because they believe the Seed is their Divine Country, their home. But others fear it; no one knows what’s truly inside the Seed, but it certainly isn’t any "Divine Country."

To this day, anyone sucked into the Seed, whether a cult follower or not, has never emerged.

Even those above miracle are no exception.

Otherwise, the Seed wouldn’t be called "unsolvable."

In the past, the Seed cult followers operated in other Wizards’ Realms, especially in the Origin World, and that was fine. After all, it had nothing to do with the Southern Domain, and other places could deal with their chaos.

But now, the Seed cult followers have secretly extended their reach into the Southern Domain, even using the Arrow of the Defeated against City Lord Rosen.

This caused a stir throughout the Southern Domain.

After communicating with each other, all organizations understood that the Seed cult followers are absolutely harmful parasites, and because human thoughts are difficult to fully clarify, dealing with the Seed cult followers is extremely challenging. No one knows if someone seemingly normal around them is, in fact, a Seed cult follower.

The most important thing is that ordinary people who master the incantation to unlock the Seed have the potential to threaten Transcendents.

So, all organizations reached a consensus: anything related to the Seed must not be publicized, as publicity would only benefit the cult followers. After all, there are plenty of fools and lunatics in this world.

Under this consensus, the second step is to find a way to expel the Seed from the Southern Domain.

It’s very difficult to completely eradicate it, even the Origin World couldn’t do it. Why expect the Southern Domain to?

However, the Southern Domain has a benefit: it lacks direct teleportation arrays connecting to other Wizard Level areas, making it significantly isolated.

This makes it very difficult for the Seed sect to send large numbers of followers into the Southern Domain.

Thus, after discussion, the solution they reached was to kill some, release some, control the scale, divide them internally, and achieve mutual checks and balances. Also, even those "deliberately" released must be constantly monitored, ideally achieving anti-brainwashing.

This could prevent the Seed sect from receiving information from this side and continuing to send people, and it could curb the Seed’s development in the Southern Domain.

And this method also requires an opportunity.

Since the high-level Seed cult followers in the Southern Domain used the Arrow of the Defeated against City Lord Rosen last time, they haven’t made a reappearance. Currently, the discovered Seed cult follower outposts are just small fry, mainly consisting of ordinary people.

Their target isn’t these ordinary cult followers but the high-ranking ones from the Seed sect.

To wait for the right opportunity, the various organizations have been lying low, not mentioning the Seed matter, engaging in normal exchanges with alliances and hostilities alike.

Finally, after a long wait, the high-ranking cult followers were tracked by the Prophet Wizard.

Their destination is the Pamiji Plateau!

No matter their purpose, now almost all strong entities have their sights set there... The Seed must be removed, or who can find peace?

...

The storm at Pamiji Plateau is known only among the pyramid’s top wizards, unknown to the external world. Everywhere else, it’s business as usual.

Sandworm Market, Cross Bar.

Everything is as usual, Wandering Wizards with cross symbols stitched on their clothes raise their wine glasses in joy at the bar, yelling "Freedom" at the top of their lungs.

The buzzing bar is a bragging haven for these wandering apprentices, boasting about all sorts of things. However, sometimes some hidden information does spill from the mouths of these adventure-loving apprentices. That’s why many, including some non-wandering apprentices, often visit the bar to listen to stories when they have time.

Unlike the noisy bar, the counter is much quieter due to soundproofing measures. A tall man mixing drinks casually says, "The apprentice dressed like a vampire at the window of the eleventh table is from the Candela Family. The girl apprentice in the pale yellow dress at the eighth table is from the Watson Family."

The bartender speaks while sitting at the bar, and Dox evaluates.

"Candela Family, hehe, since their patriarch died, they’re without successors. The strongest of them can’t even surpass the Third Level Apprentice barrier, yet they dress up as Wandering Wizards with their cross robes. This family basically counts as Wandering Wizards now."

"Watson Family? Haven’t heard of their people wandering abroad in a while. Tsk tsk, truly a family of beauties. I once saw a portrait of ’Red Butterfly Witch’ Ginny, it was unforgettable."

The bartender quietly says, "It’s said the Butterfly Witch has died."

"Isn’t death better? When beautiful things are alive, even if obtained, people will eventually tire. But once lost, gone with life, its beauty remains forever.

After all, the things you can’t have always stir unrest.

The bartender rolled his eyes at the bar owner’s frivolous remarks, unable to agree. Not wanting to continue the topic, he continued discussing those pretending to be Wandering Apprentices.

"The man in the cloak at table twenty-two hasn’t shown his true face, nor has a cross symbol. Strange, not sure who let him in..."

"I let him in, or rather, I invited him," Dox languidly said.

The bartender: "...Alright."

Dox: "Aren’t you even curious about who he is?"

The bartender: "Since you let him in, there must be a reason. This has nothing to do with me, a bartender."

Dox, bored, heavily placed his wine glass on the table: "You’re so dull. Originally, I planned to tease you by saying, ’I won’t tell you,’ if you asked."

"But since you didn’t ask who he is, I just have to tell."

The bartender silently stood, the bartender’s logic was bizarre, probably only Dox could conceive it.

"I won’t say his name, but I can mention his origins. He comes from... the Noah Family."

Upon hearing "Noah Family," the bartender’s hand mixing the drink paused momentarily. After a while, he resumed.

"No wonder, it’s that family."

When the bartender raised his head to speak, he found that Dox had already left the bar, moving towards table twenty-two.