Warlock Apprentice

It had been two days since they arrived at Brute Cavern.

Angor had been very busy handling all sorts of matters, most of which were strange visitors.

The news about the garden challenge as well as the exaggerated stories about Angor was already known by people in Brute Cavern. Since he arrived at his rented manor, Angor barely had a chance to rest as different people with various intentions kept coming to his doorstep.

Back when his alchemy omens attracted this many visitors, he could more or less remain undisturbed because nobody would actually invade his privacy. But now, each time he left his house, he would immediately be surrounded by people who either came alone or represented other groups or clans.

No matter who they were, Angor wasn’t going to accept any of their invitations. With so many people constantly bugging him, Angor felt that his villa was no longer suitable to live in. Therefore, he simply carried everything to the laboratory inside The Tributary and stayed there.

The Tributary was a large pocket dimension with a total of 138 lab facilities scattered about. The most important point was that less than 20 individuals would come here often.

Angor stayed in his Lab #13, which included the area of a hundred kilometers around his lab. This place was the best choice in the entire Brute Cavern if he wanted to enjoy some peace.

By the time he finished arranging all his unfinished matters he left behind, a week had already passed.

Next, he had to work on things that involved others, such as giving the Krakoks a new home and where to send Dodoro to.

Before all that, he had to take Dodoro to Tree Spirit’s palace to ascertain Dodoro’s talent as well as getting him a bone card.

He thought about returning to the entrance of The Tributary by riding his Gondola, but as soon as he left his lab, he heard loud noises created by colliding metal. He could tell that the noises were quickly approaching his position.

A giant shadow emerged from a mountain nearby. The iron house could move swiftly despite its huge size. Within seconds, the house reached Angor’s lab and opened its door, after which a small wooden ladder was dropped in front of him.

Angor accepted the gesture by climbing the ladder with Dodoro following closely behind him.

Inside the iron house, a kind-looking old woman with silver hair was slowly enjoying her rose tea.

“You saw me about to leave, Iron Granny?” With a smile, Angor took a seat. He did not forget to put on his polite manners. “I can always walk on my own if you’re busy.”

“Ha ha ha, I see that I came just at the right time.” The old witch’s eyes narrowed into slits while smiling. “I’m here to deliver a message for Sunders. He can’t get your transmitter when you’re in this dimension.”

“Professor is looking for me?”

“I think he wants you to meet someone.”

Angor considered what the gentleman could possibly be planning. “Alright, since I’m heading to Mister Tree Spirit for a talent test anyway.”

Next, he introduced Dodoro to Iron Granny.

The old woman said “he has pretty good spiritual power level” and remained quiet.

Dodoro’s spirit power couldn’t suggest anything yet since he was still a mortal waiting to discover his supernatural talent. There wasn’t much to say right now.

While traveling inside Iron Fortress and enjoying Iron Granny’s tea, Angor offered to tell his adventure inside the purification garden.

Soon, they arrived at the portal of The Tributary.

Angor activated Infinite Reticence and stepped out of the “portal lake”. The lake wasn’t far from Tree of Eternity. To stay as low as possible, Angor took Dodoro on a sky bus and moved toward Tree Spirit Palace.

Before a receptionist could greet Angor in the main hall, a handsome, half-naked man came into everyone’s view. “Oi, Angor! You messed up someone’s business in Dark Castle, and you went to the purification garden and scared the hell out of Flunza’s dear student? Man, you’ve been busy!”

“Mister Tree Spirit.” The other workers bowed politely.

So did Angor.

“Please don’t listen to rumors passed around by irresponsible reporters and magazines, sir.”

“Alas… when you’re as old as me, you’ll begin to like these gossips. Speaking of Flunza… I meant to teach him a lesson since a very long time ago. Hey hey, tell me, what did you do to his student? And did little Isabelle return to Dark Castle for real?” The ancestor soul as well as a group of workers nearby all pricked up their ears while waiting for answers that could satisfy their curiosity.

Angor sighed helplessly. “Sir, it’s complicated. I don’t even know the student of ‘God of Seas’. Why would I scare him off? As for Lady Isabelle… it’s not convenient for me to speak of her.”

“Not convenient?” Tree Spirit glanced around and thought Angor didn’t want to talk about the news in public, so he teleported both of them to the top of a giant tree leaf where he usually enjoyed the sunlight from.

Dodoro hurried to catch Angor’s arm and made it into the teleportation in time.

This was when Tree Spirit finally noticed a mortal following behind Angor. He wanted to chase the intruder away at first, but didn’t do so after checking Dodoro’s face closely.

“You are—”

“He’s Dodoro,” Angor quickly explained. “Mister Tree Spirit, I brought him here today to request help for examining his talent.”

The great spirit looked at Dodoro up and down with a strange expression.

Angor noticed something was wrong when the Tree Spirit no longer seemed to be interested in the fun news. He knew Dodoro possessed some big secret, but he didn’t think anyone would know since even someone powerful as Sunders never mentioned anything.

“Sir, is there something wrong with him?” Angor decided to ask.

“No… I think I mistook him for someone else for a moment. No biggie.” The spirit turned around. “Follow me. I’ll do the test for you.”

Someone else? Angor frowned. Don’t tell me Tree Spirit met with Dodoro before? Well, this is very likely since Dodoro was alive and walking around 1,000 years ago…

They arrived at a patch of bright sunlight where Tree Spirit usually slept. His armchair was still there. Judging from the soft texture that was still recovering from its bent shape, Angor could tell that Tree Spirit was still sleeping on it not long ago.

“Where did he come from?” Tree Spirit asked a question first.

The great spirit pretended that it was random chitchat, but Angor knew something was off since Tree Spirit never asked extra questions when testing out most of the apprentices.

“I don’t know, sir. I found him in some woods in Fairy World, and he lost his memories. He insisted on following me for some reason. And when I learned that he was talented as a supernatural, I decided to bring him back.”

“Fairy World?…” Tree Spirit muttered doubtfully. “I see. Wait here while I check him out.”

Tree Spirit waved an arm and created the same leaf house used by Angor’s peers when they first arrived at Brute Cavern.

Before entering the small house, Tree Spirit tossed a bone card to Angor.

“Use this anonymous card for him. Lady Mirror already registered this one, so your partner can enter or leave from Mirror World freely. After the examination, his info will be updated in it.”

Angor gladly accepted the card. It seemed that he didn’t need to travel the extra distance to visit Lady Mirror later. Also, he still “owed” her an illusion creation. Every time he thought about Lady Mirror’s nasty requirements, he felt reluctant about meeting her again.

While left alone outside, Angor hunkered down and waited patiently.

Did Tree Spirit meet with Dodoro before or did he see someone that looked similar? What is Dodoro’s talent anyway?

Bored, he moved his spirit feelers inside his bracelet, where the Krakoks were still busy with their farm work. Meanwhile, Nano looked as bored as him; he was creating silk again while sitting in the small area restricted by Angor.

Next, Angor shifted his attention to a gray bag placed at a corner. The bag contained Dodoro’s possessions—some clothes and a water bowl with the mark of “a black serpent coiling on a rod” engraved on it.

The mark could be found on every medical kit scattered around Pocratee. According to the Grand Priest of the Krakoks, the mark was called the “Snake Emblem of Immortality”, while the rod shown in the picture was the Staff of Immortality.

Angor once thought that Dodoro’s bowl was actually the staff since Dodoro’s extremely long lifespan seemed to be something related to “immortality”. Angor checked the item many times before, but he did not find anything peculiar with it. However he looked, it was just an ordinary water bowl.

It seemed that despite his memory loss, Dodoro considered the bowl to be something dear to him. He had been keeping it close to him until Angor took him along on their travel. It was then that Dodoro carefully put it away in his luggage.

Maybe that thing’s related to Dodoro’s secret? Angor wondered.

Soon, the door of the green leaf house was pushed open, and Dodoro slowly walked out of the house.

At the same time, the bone card in Angor’s hand glowed brightly for a second, which suggested Dodoro’s information was now stored in it.