Warlock Apprentice

Three days later.

Angor had completed his meditation session at midnight and was now looking out from the window.

His room was located on the 6th floor of the base, which was the top floor. From this high up, he could clearly see the puppet army lurking around the place.

When they sensed Angor’s gaze, all puppets turned around as one and stared back at him with their emotionless eyes; the pale moonlight made them look even scarier.

The deathly gazes seemed to be warning Angor not to make any sudden moves.

Angor could sense the varied powerful auras coming from them. There were at least several puppets that were as powerful as wizards. Under their pressure, Angor soon gave in and stepped back from the window.

When he closed the curtain, all the pressure that was directed toward him earlier was lifted.

More than once, he attempted to look through the window, but this always happened in the end.

At first, he was extremely uncomfortable at being treated like a prisoner, but later on, he simply decided to use this chance to train his mental resistance.

Still, he felt terrible.

Back in Midnight Sovereign, he had to accept Lydia’s unfair condition due to his lack of strength. When facing against Twilight, he had nothing to fight back, which indirectly put him in this remote place. In Silent Hill, Isabella did spare his life in the end, yet Angor could not forget the great pain and helplessness he went through when he was being hunted down. Now, judging from all the puppets outside, he knew Bogula had imprisoned him.

There were just too many things that kept reminding him of the importance of growing stronger.

He might be relatively better than people of the same level, but there were countless more levels than that in this world.

Instead of being the king of weaklings, Angor wished he could soon learn how to avoid being toyed around by powerful individuals.

During the last three days, he had been perfecting his spirit model. Currently, his model was already showing what “dispersive” meant. If he kept going, his model would soon take on the shape of a spider web that reached into all directions in his mind space.

However, he didn’t proceed further, because he was afraid.

As the strongest channeling method to ever be discovered, the Singularity Dispersive Meditation had no bottlenecks or limits before its user became a wizard.

At this rate, Angor was confident that he only needed enough time to become a level-3 apprentice.

Yet he shouldn’t do so.

He just turned level-2 half a year ago when he was inside the plane passageway, and he did it without fortifying much of his foundations. If he were to keep gaining level like this, it would soon cause his effort to crumble due to the lack of experience.

But…

Time waited for no one. Angor assumed he still needed several years if he were to train at a normal, steady pace. It didn’t sound too long for supernatural beings, but it was a very long time span to mortals.

Jon was still waiting for him; Angor didn’t wish to slow down now.

Angor carefully considered his options. Reaching for something far without minding his foundation was a great mistake. As for how to amend his foundations… he could always study more knowledge as he went. As for the lack of physical strength, he might find something in the purification garden.

When thinking about the garden, he quickly felt depressed again.

Shadow told him something the other day.

“Each time the purification garden is available, people have to fight for the tickets even if it costs their lives. Those rumors you heard about how people get admitted easily are all lies. Such a beneficial garden will have its law energy exhausted if too many people use it. Just think. Floating Mech City can barely satisfy its own apprentices, why would they let outsiders in? My point is, it’s a strange thing that they opened up the garden to anyone who reached the top level of Sky Tower. Before this, they always limited it to those who can challenge the 30th level of Tower of Infinity.”

One had to reach the top level of Sky Tower in order to enter the Tower of Infinity.

The drastic decrease in difficulty suggested something was wrong. Angor already noticed it even without Shadow’s warning.

“I mean, there’s got to be another reason for them to do this; something we don’t know.” Shadow meant to persuade Angor into giving up.

During these days, Angor thought about accepting Shadow’s help to escape from this place first.

However… the benefit provided by the garden was undeniable.

Do I leave, or do I wait and enter the purification garden?

After spending another silent night considering various conditions he could think of, the scale in Angor’s mind began to tip.

…

It was early morning.

Just as Angor was going to find Shadow and tell him his decision, Shadow came to his room first.

“So how’s it going these days?” Shadow asked as he entered Angor’s door casually.

Angor pointed to the window. “Not good. It’s like someone’s trying to put me under siege every night.”

Shadow went to the window and smiled. “That’s their active-defense function. They do this to every stranger they see. Falca’s been experiencing the same thing these days.”

“You mean Mister Bogula didn’t do this to me intentionally?”

“Nah. He’s quite a simple man. He won’t do small tricks like certain wizards.” Shadow slowly closed the curtain again. “So what do you say? Shall we leave now or what?”

“I’ll not leave Floating Mech City for now.”

“So you chose to enter the garden,” Shadow snickered. “Well, maybe it’s a better choice for you indeed.”

Angor gave the man a puzzled look.

“I’ve been trying to talk to my old friends so that we can help you find a private portal or a hideout if you decide to stay.”

From those words, Angor realized that Shadow had been using his connections to get help. The man even considered how to prepare if Angor chose to stay longer.

Angor didn’t openly thank Shadow, but deep in his mind, he decided to pay him back later.

“I said that because I learned a clue these days. Like I said, something strange is going on about the garden. But at the same time, you might find a great destiny out of it.”

“Can you elaborate?”

“Floating Mech City is going to send ten apprentices inside the garden this time. True geniuses. Two of them were children of truth-finder wizards. They are regarded as extremely important human resources by the organization. They learned special channeling methods; someone even possessed really special talents. No doubt they’d become great figures in the future.”

Of course, they can’t compete with YOU when it comes to being talented…

“No way the organization’s gonna send them to their death, so at least we know the garden isn’t a death trap. Instead, you can find something good in there. There’s also something else. All major wizard organizations have sent similar talents this way. My professor is busy running around these days probably because of it.”

Once Shadow said those words, he quickly turned away. The man had grown interested in the matter as well, so he wished to search for more information.

“I can get you a safe spot to hide at the lower side of the city. But I suggest you stay here. The city is kinda in an uproar. However, no one can trouble you while you’re inside the base, not even my professor.”

Shadow told Angor to wait for further clues and left on his own.

Angor thought it over and sat in front of a desk. No matter what became of the garden, he had to train harder.

He was almost done with Fear spell. He assumed he’d finish it in a week. This particular cantrip displayed different effects on different people, and Angor believed that when added with his nightmare illusions, he could use the cantrip as a powerful weapon.

The time passed soon.

At night, Angor noted down the last digit on his draft paper. Next, he was going to build the spell model of Fear by using his axes of the universe and following his calculations.

Before he could leverage his working momentum and proceed, someone suddenly knocked on his door.

It sounded loud and distant in the tranquil night.

Angor checked the wall clock, which suggested it was already the early morning of the next day. Supernaturals might not need to rest much, but they still wouldn’t pay people a visit at such an hour.

“Who is it?” Angor frowned.

Someone responded in a robotic tone, “Dear guest, Kazar wishes to talk to you.”

Kazar?

Shadow mentioned before; Kazar was an upgraded version of Rune Monitor. It now acted as the butler of the puppet base.

Angor said “come in” without moving. He thought the real butler should be able to enter the room without asking for his consent.

The lock on the room door clicked, followed by a giant metal eyeball that slowly hovered toward Angor.

“Do you need something, Butler Kazar?”

“*Beep* *Squeak* Dear guest, Mister Mithra wishes to see you. He’s waiting in the guest room.”