Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 332: "Dead" Water and "Living" Water

Angor went back to the dragonfly nest and cleaned out a usable house nearby to use it as a temporary shelter and spend the night.

He didn’t sleep. He lit up a fire inside a stove in the middle of the house, then stared into the wavering orange light quietly while he thought about his future plans.

Toby, on the other hand, had no problem bringing out his tiny bed and a comfortable blanket, both of which had been kept inside Snowy Feather. The bird gently pecked at Angor’s cheek before it fell asleep quickly.

Toby’s carefree way of life somewhat dispersed Angor’s uneasiness for coming to this unknown land.

At least he wasn’t alone.

He chuckled slightly and put aside his concerns for which he’d never figure out any answer for now. He stretched a little and came to the window to watch the dreamy rainbow dragonflies that were flying outside.

He didn’t feel sleepy at all, so he took out the tablet again and began to read The Mystery of Nightmare Domain.

Life continued. As a future wizard, he wouldn’t give up on learning just because of some tiny setback.

Time went by quickly as he was immersed in the book.

When dawn arrived, he put away the device and began to consider today’s plan.

Apart from being joyful for getting out of desperation, there was a second reason why he couldn’t sleep last night.

He could only use the coloring of the mist to tell night from day. It appeared grayish-white when it was daytime and bluish-black when it was night.

Observation told him that the day lasted for about 14 hours, while the night was 9. It more or less obeyed the average day-night cycle in Month of Harvest.

The clock on his tablet also suggested that day and night were arriving at almost the correct times.

From these details, it was very possible that he was in the wizarding world. Probably the southern wizarding region.

Even though it was only an assumption, it was already good news. And it kept him in a high spirit for the rest of the day.

When he didn’t find the exit by evening, he no longer felt anxious about this. Spending more time in this desolated village wouldn’t do him harm anyway.

Also, he expected that Sunders would help him this time. He fell into this situation while “saving the lives of many”. Maybe Sunders would really ask a prophet for his location and come save him!

He didn’t know where that confidence came from. And he was only half-right—when he escaped the plane passageway, Sunders quickly learned about it.

The gentleman did go find a Prophet. He didn’t visit the Starliege Temple in Brilliance Plane for any top-class Prophet, but an ordinary one. It had nothing to do with Angor’s value. It was just that, Angor was too weak to require a high-leveled Prophet.

Besides, Sunders wasn’t trying to find Angor. He only asked the prophet one question: “Is Angor alive?”

The prophet failed to tell him anything for half a month, during which Sunders always kept a stern face. Until Angor left the plane passageway.

When he left, the prophet finally sensed something changing on the strings of fate.

“He is alive and fine. Moreover, he’s very likely to gain something out of the misfortune, and you need not worry about him now.”

Since Sunders’ expression looked so terrifying, the prophet gave Sunders a straight answer instead of “beating around the bush” like how prophets usually did.

And the gentleman finally resumed his plain posture upon learning the news.

When the prophet asked whether he should get Angor’s position, Sunders declined. “I only need to know his survival. How he proceeds from now on is his own to decide.”

Sunders ended his request here. He believed that Angor needed the challenge. The boy should not live a carefree life inside an ivory tower.

…

Since Angor’s “confidence” only worked halfway, he still needed to get out of here on his own.

Angor didn’t totally depend on Sunders’ help either. He didn’t rush his way around because he needed time to settle his condition.

The previous destiny helped him to become a level-2 apprentice but without the necessary foundation skills. He should at least study the level-1 cantrips he needed and read The Mystery of Nightmare Domain carefully.

These plans all required time. Staying inside this abandoned village seemed to be a good choice.

He spent the next few days as a lone learner.

Studying The Mystery of Nightmare Domain was at top of his priority list. He kept researching the book without catching much sleep, and he began to know more about his Nightmare Domain.

Also, something in the book convinced him to stay at the abandoned village for a longer period of time.

“A Nightmare Domain can be improved and further fused, on condition that sufficient nightmare aura is present.”

Sunders once mentioned to him that Nightmare Stones contained nightmare aura. However, he was going to save these stones for the right conditions, such as when fighting powerful foes.

Since the mist was full of nightmare aura, staying here was a very good choice to quickly improve the amount of nightmare aura in his Nightmare Domain.

More nightmare aura to command meant more powerful nightmare illusions. Also, nightmare aura could be used to sustain nightmare monsters. According to the book, he could even tame nightmare monsters and command them at his will as long as he could provide enough nightmare aura.

He didn’t really need to go through this step now, since the wanderer dragonfly he left in his Nightmare Domain, the parasite, the musical teacups, and the toy soldiers were pretty obedient to him.

The only problem was they were pretty weak.

He thought about getting some of the guard dragonflies to strengthen his little army, but his Nightmare Domain couldn’t sustain these near-wizard level monsters at its initial state. Forcefully putting the guards inside would cause them to starve slowly.

Two months went by. Angor stopped his learning when it was the first day of Month of Looming Frost. He mostly mastered the nightmare illusions he could use, and the nightmare aura in his Nightmare Domain was abundant enough.

The abandoned village was like a lost paradise, which was safe and quiet. But it didn’t have any food source. No crops, no wild animals. He had been living on his Mana Bread, and his mouth now smelled like socks.

He planned to leave now.

…

He had checked through every single building during these months, and he got… completely nothing. Any written record, if there was any, was blurry beyond comprehension. More observations convinced him that the place had been in this state for a thousand years. Nothing on paper could survive such a long time without proper preservation.

Now that he was trying to get away for real… the major concern had returned. How?

Once again, he left the village to search the forest for a cave or something. Most of the trees had withered away, while rotten branches covered the dirt. He used his spirit feelers to sweep every corner he could find.

Circling for two rounds yielded no result. He went back into the village while trying to find another tactic.

How would a local resident get out of here if one were here?

Judging from the finely-crafted villas, those who once dwelt here enjoyed an abundant lifestyle. There had to be a way for them to receive resources from the outside.

Angor tried to imagine himself as a villager without minding anything else. For a while, he would live like how a common villager would.

After spending three days in this way, he found a place. A lake, which was situated on the outskirts behind the village.

As a “common villager”, he needed water during certain times such as getting washed in the morning, cooking, and bathing. Without casting “Create Water”, the lake was one of the most common spots he had to visit.

The black lake water was giving out the stink of rot. Previously, he thought about fishing for something out of the lake to eat. But the gloomy substances floating on the surface of the water discouraged him.

Usually, a water source could lead him to an underwater passage which meant a way out.

But the condition of the water didn’t suggest such a case. Angor believed it was still water or dead water. Probably a large pool manually dug out by people or natural crater filled with rain.

The latter was unlikely. Angor once asked Toby to fly and check the sky. There was a hard stone wall above with light-absorbing plants growing on it. It couldn’t rain here.

This place was an underground space like Darkivil Empire. Just a lot smaller.

And he got another question—since the water didn’t come from rain, then where?

He found no other water spots or wells in the other places, which meant this lake was the only thing to provide water to the villagers.

And… here came yet another question.

How could a “dead” lake be used as a water source for daily usage? There was no way the villagers lived on stagnant water.

Assuming that there were no other water sources, the only explanation was that the lake was once filled with running water.

He looked at the black water again, which probably had been like this for a thousand years. In order to learn something new, he had to go in there.

He lowered the brim of his top hat and fully activated the Purification Field. With a faint, white barrier covering him, he hopped inside the fetid and murky liquid…