Warlock Apprentice

“Forget about her. She’s got a really strange character,” Kanter said while his eyebrows flicked around, which looked quite funny. “I’m pretty sure she won’t come if I tell her too much, so I left a note to tell her to look for me. Nothing else. She might show up later.”

“I see your student’s still a burden on your mind.” Sunders chuckled.

“You tell me about it…”

While they talked, Angor tried to search for anything he learned about Lilith’s Clan. He already knew a lot about major organizations in the southern region but not so much about the rest. Lilith’s Clan, however, was an exception. He once looked into this relatively smaller clan before.

Despite its size, Lilith’s Clan was an all-inclusive organization that possessed just as much combat power as most major clans.

The clan master was called “Eventide”, a level-2 “truth finder” wizard who would soon gain another level.

Angor looked at the old man in front of him with great respect. This figure was just another famous wizard like Sunders.

Kanter noticed Angor’s gaze and returned a kind smile. He was interested in the boy who somehow made Sunders make an exception. Earlier, Kanter planned to bring Keely and visit Sunders once everything settled down. But when he realized that Sunders exceptionally valued Angor, he got a new idea.

It was too difficult for Keely to make friends in the wizarding world thanks to her nature. Now that Angor was a valued student of Sunders, the boy was bound to develop considerable relations with a number of people. Getting to know Angor earlier would benefit Keely much.

Besides, Kanter also had high expectations about Angor’s alchemy skills and his gentle character.

Kanter sighed when thinking about his student. He was probably the only wizard in this world who actually worried about his student’s personality.

“You must be Angor, right? I’ve seen you in the newest magazine. To experience Mystery power at such a young age… You may well become a true master in the coming years.”

Kanter didn’t believe what he read from the article at first. It was obvious that Bogula didn’t make Angor into a puppet, which meant at least half of what “Stoney Granddaddy” said was fake. But later, Mithra himself claimed that the boy had an extremely promising talent for alchemy and that he might possibly create Mystery miracles in the future.

Mithra had proved Angor’s skills indirectly. Undoubtedly, there were already people who planned to take advantage of Angor’s potential at this moment.

“You flatter me, Mister Kanter.” Angor displayed his usual manner.

Kanter took out a small box with a smile. “It isn’t easy to meet with a future master alchemist. Here, a gift to celebrate our pleasant encounter.”

Kanter placed the box on a desk nearby, but Angor wasn’t sure what to do. To him, Kanter’s words had another meaning hidden behind—When you actually become a master alchemist one day, I’ll come and get the payment for my gift.

Kanter was putting his bet on Angor’s future without knowing the result for certain.

Angor didn’t know whether he should accept the gesture. As common sense, he, as a youngster, should not openly deny an elder’s offer without a good reason. But at the same time, he feared that accepting it would bring him troubles with which he couldn’t bear.

Angor threw a concealed glance at Sunders who then picked up the small box and scanned it.

“The egg of a Soft Larva. Pretty good. But we’re yet to see if it grows up properly. Mister Kanter, you’ll need more than this to buy the ‘future’ favor of an alchemist. Besides, you don’t need to wait for the future.” Sunders pointed to Angor’s wrist. “The items he created today are already attractive enough to even some of the most famed wizards. Maybe you should elevate your price?”

Kanter also checked the bracelet on Angor’s wrist.

“It’s more than a space bracelet. Angor, show the old man your trick,” said Sunders.

Angor nodded and quickly activated Infinite Reticence. Kanter was sure that he would have lost trace of Angor’s presence if he had not kept his eyes on the boy.

“Weakening the sense of presence to achieve invisibility?” Kanter widened his eyes a little. Conventional invisibility spells could be countered using sight-enhance spells. However, Angor’s ability could trick most of such detection means. This could be regarded as one of the most efficient hiding skills apart from Dimension Cloak.

“You created this?” Kanter looked at Angor in the eyes.

Angor nodded.

Kanter then began to reevaluate what he thought of Angor. The boy could already create items helpful to wizards. It was true that he couldn’t earn a promise by using something with uncertain results.

With this in mind, Kanter took out another box that was bigger than the last one.

“You can have this too. I scavenged the nest as well when I found the egg. The egg will hatch better when the nest is close to it. This larva nest is also a treasured material suitable in crafting space-related items. Is this enough now?” While speaking, Kanter was looking at Sunders instead of Angor.

“This is quite sufficient, so I suggest you accept the offer.” Sunders finally nodded to Angor.

Angor chose to agree. He was still at a loss at what a “Soft Larva” was, but since Sunder said yes, it had to be something good.

Kanter watched as Angor placed the gift inside the space bracelet with a gentler look. As the clan master, Kanter just brought Angor into their social network. From now on, Lilith’s Clan would consider Angor as a potential ally. As for how much the clan would provide Angor… that would depend on what they could receive from the boy first.

Sunders and Kanter spent another ten minutes talking about insignificant things when Kanter suddenly looked toward the window.

“Finally… my student has come.”

It was about five in the afternoon. The outside was pretty dark since the sky was troubled by thick clouds and constant drizzle. The view wasn’t as obscured as night, but close.

Angor saw a tiny light spot approaching the house.

He wondered if someone was going this way with a Light spell in use, but then he noticed the figure was simply using an oil lamp with a nice design, which gave out bright orange firelight.

The lamp wasn’t being carried by hand. Instead, it was fixed at the tip of a flying broomstick. The tip was bent a little to ensure the lamp wouldn’t drift off.

The broomstick was clearly a flying vehicle. Angor saw many witches in Brute Cavern who loved riding these things. Perhaps they believed the thin stick allowed them to show off their bodies?

It was a young woman in deep-blue overall dress on the broomstick. She had a bright-red bowknot on her head and red dance shoes. Angor couldn’t see her face well across the distance, but he did find her colors to be… atypical.

Also, there was a black kitten sitting on top of the lamp; it drew Angor’s attention.

Rain, clouds, wind, a bright lamp in the dark, a bizarre-looking broomstick, a lady in red dancer shoes accompanied by a black cat.

Such fanciful sight was what Angor saw.

The lady moved around for a while, and when she saw Kanter in Sunders’ manor, she descended from the sky.

“Professor,” she said as she leaped into the manor through the opened window while carrying the lamp in one hand and her broom in the other. The cat swiftly landed on the floor and settled down beside her feet.

“This is the student I accepted the other year, Keely Lordran Lilith,” said Kanter. The old man was mainly introducing the woman to Angor.

Those who joined Lilith’s Clan would all get a new family name, while their original family names would become their middle names instead.

Keely glanced at Angor. She quickly realized what was going on and prepared to leave.

Kanter’s expression turned harsh. “Learn some manners, Keely. How dare you enter Mister Phantom’s residence by the window. And you should at least greet him!”

Keely froze up upon hearing Sunders’ name. She might act freely and willful in front of her teacher, but she certainly couldn’t when Sunders was around.

She moved back somewhat unwillingly and said hello to Sunders with her eyes fixed on the floor.

Sunders, as a traditional nobleman who always followed the creed of his family, felt irritated at the impolite visitor. However, he didn’t say it in front of his old friend.

Keely sat down beside Kanter, still looking at her feet.

Angor tried to take a better look at the woman. Her young and delicate face went well with that giant bow on her head. Judging from her previous behaviors, Angor believed this was another young girl with little self-composure. Still, she seemed timid when dealing with strangers.