Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2692: Chapter 2693: Bonds of the Heart

"I didn’t bring it out; it wanted to come out on its own..." Angel was mid-sentence when he suddenly noticed a slender shadow darting past him. He looked back instinctively and, sure enough, the Wood Spirit had run off again.

However, because Angel had already blocked the door of the Hanging Jail Stairway, the Wood Spirit couldn’t go back. In addition, the earth wall created by the Black Earl prevented the Wood Spirit from escaping quickly, so it could only circle around the edge.

As it ran, the Wood Spirit shouted, "Ahhh! There’s a monster! The nose, the nose talked!"

Black Earl: "..."

Undoubtedly, the Wood Spirit was frightened by the Black Earl.

Ordinary people seeing the Black Earl’s nose would probably be startled. However, to be scared to the point of running around wildly was quite rare.

Moreover, if an average person witnessed the scene before them, they would likely not be scared by the Black Earl but rather by the Wood Spirit. After all, from a distance, the Wood Spirit resembled a scarecrow with no clothes. Since scarecrows look like humans, they often remind people of something eerie and are a favorite archetypal image for playwrights.

In truth, the appearance of the Wood Spirit was indeed more frightening than the Black Earl’s nose.

Black Earl: "...I was clearly inside earlier."

Angel: "I previously asked the Wood Spirit, and it said it was hiding in the center core. When you went in, it sensed you but didn’t come out to look."

Until someone personally went in because they got that piece of round wood from the painting. The Wood Spirit sensed its derivative part had moved, so, mustering the courage, it secretly peeked out.

That was when the Wood Spirit saw the "wooden staff," which led to what followed.

If Angel hadn’t gotten that round wood, hadn’t found the staff ornament, or discovered the staff handle prototype mentioned by Butler Good, the outcome would have been different. The Wood Spirit wouldn’t have shown itself, wouldn’t have trusted Angel, and certainly wouldn’t have followed him away.

It could be said that everything was interlinked, with not a single link missing.

"So what do we do now? Should we catch it back?" The Black Earl didn’t ask where the center core was, as he was not interested in the situation of the Hanging Jail Stairway. He asked purely to interrupt Angel’s continued self-destructive behavior regarding the glasses issue.

"Or should I constrict the earth wall to limit its range of activity?"

Angel shook his head: "No need, as long as it doesn’t go back, it’s fine, and..."

Angel paused at this point, lifted the wooden staff, and waved it.

The Black Earl, instinctively following Angel’s gesture, was suddenly stunned. At the end of the wooden staff, an unknown tendril of a vine with tender buds had tied itself there.

The vine was firmly fastened to the staff, yet its body wobbled up and down incessantly. Because... it was attached to the runaway Wood Spirit.

"When did this get tied up?" The Black Earl questioned. He had been beside Angel the whole time but hadn’t noticed a thing.

Angel: "It was like this from the beginning."

The Black Earl grew more puzzled, as did the others who heard their conversation. They, too, hadn’t noticed the vine until Angel lifted the staff, drawing their attention.

Perhaps sensing the Black Earl’s thoughts, Angel explained, "This is probably its ability, to reduce its presence."

Angel wasn’t unfamiliar with this sort of ability to lower one’s presence. He knew an alchemy mana array called "Boundless Solitude," which had a similar effect. His bracelet was engraved with this very array.

However, there was a slight difference between Boundless Solitude and the Wood Spirit’s ability. Boundless Solitude tended to reduce presence more from a visual perspective, whereas its resistance to spiritual power observation was somewhat lower. The Wood Spirit’s ability, on the other hand, focused more on reducing presence from an energy perspective.

This was why the Black Earl didn’t detect the Wood Spirit’s vine at first. Because he was just a nose at the moment and, while he did have ordinary vision, his visual range was limited, the Black Earl was more accustomed to using an energy perspective to observe the world, which directly confronted the Wood Spirit’s talent.

As for why the others didn’t see it initially, the reason was simple; their attention was diverted. The Wise Sovereign’s emotional outburst, the Wood Spirit’s running and shouting—all sorts of external information distracted them from noticing the vine.

But when Angel shook the wooden staff, everyone’s attention was drawn back, and they immediately saw the vine, revealing that the Wood Spirit’s talent for reducing presence was only moderately effective on the naked eye’s perspective.

However, this doesn’t mean the Wood Spirit’s talent is average.

It’s important to note that after the Wood Spirit left the Hanging Jail Stairway, it hadn’t actively released this talent. Its reduced presence was purely passive.

Once the Wood Spirit actively triggers this talent, it would be very hard to discover it.

Previously, on the second floor of the Hanging Jail Stairway, the Wood Spirit vanished directly in front of everyone. It had actively activated its talent at that time, and neither the present Angel nor the Wise Sovereign observing through a mana array could find the Wood Spirit. It shows how terrifying this talent is.

This kind of ability would be a cherished weapon for wizards who love adventure and travel. Unfortunately, the one who acquired this ability was ironically a super recluse spirit afraid of the slightest disturbance.

Seeing the Wood Spirit clutch the vine tightly on the wooden staff, the Black Earl knew the Wood Spirit was unlikely to run away. Given this, he no longer concerned himself with the Wood Spirit and instead held up the stone slab, aiming the nostrils at the earth wall outside.

The Wise Sovereign had already arrived at the edge of the earth wall and didn’t destroy it; he just watched the escaping Wood Spirit quietly through the faint yellow shield.

Perhaps sensing the Black Earl’s "gaze," the Wise Sovereign turned to look in this direction. But the Wise Sovereign didn’t look at the Black Earl; instead, he focused on Angel.

The Black Earl gently nudged Angel with the stone slab.

Prompted by the Black Earl’s reminder, Angel looked towards the distant Wise Sovereign.

"Come out and talk." The Wise Sovereign mouthed silently.

Angel thought for a moment and didn’t refuse. Although staying inside the earth wall was relatively safe, they couldn’t remain there indefinitely. If they were to go to the remains, they would need to speak with the Wise Sovereign face to face eventually.

Furthermore, if the Wise Sovereign truly wanted to harm them, there had been many opportunities during the Hanging Jail Stairway incident. But he hadn’t done so, which at least indicated that, in the short term, the Wise Sovereign held no immediate murderous intent towards them.

What was most important and convinced Angel to decide to converse with the Wise Sovereign was Dororo’s prophecy.

— "The wise are not foolish."

Although the meaning of this prophecy was still unclear, it was evident that their journey this time was inextricably linked to the Wise Sovereign.

Angel’s decision allowed the Black Earl to breathe a sigh of relief. Although Angel had hinted before, he was still worried that Angel might suddenly decide to leave, after all, the Legacy Land is "not important" to Angel.

Now that Angel decided to confront the Wise Sovereign directly, it signifies his stance.

"Don’t worry about danger, he won’t make a move against you for a short time. I’ll go with you, and if a real confrontation happens, I’ll make sure to get you out." The Black Earl’s tone was sincere, especially the latter half which he said with certainty.

Given the status of the Black Earl, his words naturally carry weight and won’t be broken.

Even if it’s just a nose avatar, the Black Earl has a multitude of methods, and if he has to forcibly send Angel away, he can do it. However, at that time, he might not be able to protect everyone else.

But if it really comes down to that point, and he has to choose one to protect among everyone, the Black Earl will still choose to protect Angel. As for the reason, merely being a "member of the Research and Development Institute" is enough.

Angel was indifferent about it, as long as the Wise Sovereign doesn’t suddenly make a move, Angel has ways to handle it. However, facing the Black Earl’s kind intentions, Angel still thanked him with a nod.

"By the way, don’t mention the glasses." The Black Earl thought for a moment before reminding Angel about the glasses issue.

Though the Wise Sovereign had already curbed his anger, who knows if he might rage again over his "wound being ripped open"?

Angel didn’t understand the Black Earl’s meaning but still nodded.

Afterward, Angel and the Black Earl walked out of the earth ring wall together.

As they left the ring wall, two shadows emerged from within the ring wall, one was the Wood Spirit, and the other was Earl Mi.

The Wood Spirit and Earl Mi just brushed past each other, and the Wood Spirit looked at Earl Mi doubtfully, the next second, its expression turned into one of terror.

But before the Wood Spirit could be scared away, Angel directly grasped its hand: "Alright, it’s my shadow. If you’re even scared of shadows, how do you plan to venture out?"

As Angel spoke, Earl Mi had already merged back into his shadow. Seeing Earl Mi disappear, the Wood Spirit let out a sigh of relief.

However, the Wood Spirit’s expression remained startled and uneasy, especially upon seeing the Black Earl floating nearby, it couldn’t help but try breaking free from Angel’s grasp to find a secluded place to hide.

Yet, Angel had learned from earlier occurrences, how could he let the Wood Spirit escape easily?

After struggling for a while, the Wood Spirit conceded. Instead of running away, it ran behind Angel to hide.

"The nose is scary, the eyes are scary too, so scary..." The Wood Spirit hid behind Angel, still shivering. But the words it murmured caused everyone to pause slightly.

The "scary nose" naturally referred to the Black Earl.

And the scary eyes, this was quite intriguing. The Black Earl didn’t have eyes, and Angel’s eyes weren’t the source of the Wood Spirit’s fear, then the only possible one was... the Wise Sovereign.

"Alas..." The Wise Sovereign sighed softly, then lightly stroked his forehead, and the eye on top of his head disappeared.

It was only then that the Wood Spirit timidly peeked out, using a voice almost like a whispered mosquito’s, it said, "Teacher."

Calling the Wise Sovereign teacher wasn’t unexpected. The Wise Sovereign had stated from the beginning that he accepted the Wood Spirit as a student.

What took them by surprise was that the Wood Spirit seemed very afraid of the Wise Sovereign’s three eyes, but once the Wise Sovereign reverted to two eyes, that fear disappeared.

This implies that the Wood Spirit wasn’t afraid of the Wise Sovereign, but feared his third eye. Could it be that this third eye hid some cunning trick?

While everyone harbored doubts, the Wise Sovereign spoke up: "It’s quite sensitive to all non-human appearances. Only when facing human appearances does its fear slightly decrease... perhaps it’s a common trait of spirits."

The birth of spirits generally satisfies two conditions: firstly, their true form embodies a deeply ingrained meaning; secondly, it requires long-term presence in a harmonious energy environment.

Of course, there are exceptions, but generalizing with induction, objects satisfying the above two conditions have a higher chance to give birth to a spirit.

The so-called "deeply ingrained meaning" is actually the heart’s yearning, the binding of thoughts from wise beings.

In Jon’s words, it’s "what one constantly thinks of, there will be a response."

This also means the birth of spirits is closely related to wise beings. In the Wizards’ Realm, especially the Southern Domain Wizard World, where non-human wise beings are oppressed by extreme sects, the birth of spirits is almost invariably connected to humans.

So, the Wood Spirit being more fond of human appearances is quite normal in the Wise Sovereign’s view.

Yet, the Wood Spirit has exaggerated its "heart’s longing." Being fond of humans is one thing, but its fear of beings even slightly different from human appearances is magnified many times, terrifyingly so.

It is precisely for this reason that the Wood Spirit to this day remains frightened by the true body of the Wise Sovereign.

Before encountering the Wood Spirit, the Wise Sovereign always adopted the "Triclops Blue Demon" prototype for his appearance: burly stature, skin of eerie blue, fearsome tusks, and three intimidating eyes.

But as he gradually interacted with the Wood Spirit, the Wise Sovereign started modifying his appearance slowly.

The current youthful look is the result of these changes.

However, until now, the Wise Sovereign couldn’t always keep the third eye closed because this third eye is the central hub for most of his body’s energy. Once closed, many abilities would temporarily vanish.

Using illusions to mask it, the Wood Spirit wasn’t buying it because it could see through the illusion.

Only when the third eye is closed does the Wood Spirit reluctantly consider the Wise Sovereign as "human." But even so, the Wood Spirit was still too timid to face the Wise Sovereign. It had a flawed personality, not a lack of intelligence; it was acutely aware the Wise Sovereign wasn’t human. Closing one eye merely made the Wood Spirit feel more comfortable, but each time it thought of the true body of the Wise Sovereign, it couldn’t help but shiver.

The Wise Sovereign temporarily set aside his inner emotions, his gaze sweeping across the distant individuals still within the earth ring wall, before finally looking toward Angel nearby.

"Shall we talk here, or go to my abode first?"

"The bonus condition was achieved in the Hanging Jail Stairway, the necessary condition doesn’t need to be completed here?" asked Angel.

Previously, the Wise Sovereign hadn’t mentioned what the necessary condition was, but now, after a brief silence, he finally spoke: "The necessary condition...is in the Legacy Land."