Warlock Apprentice

Angor had to make a choice.

He could either use the treasure to purify his own soul or left it be so that the Krakoks could repeat their routine.

"What will happen to me if I break the convention of Dark Castle?"

The priest considered and shook his head. "I do not know."

"I'll ask something else then. What will happen to YOU if the location is changed?"

The old man shook his head again.

"Didn't you say something about 'revolution'?"

"Your arrival has caused uncertainty in our fate, and so has the change of election ground. Such uncertainty might help us begin our revolution."

Angor thought about someone else who used to speak to him in such an obscured way. Hobson, the apprentice prophet in a white bear suit.

Since the old priest couldn't tell him an answer, Angor had to ponder over the situation by himself.

Profit against risk.

The profit out of this incident was to purify his soul. It sounded wonderful, but there were other ways to achieve it, such as using certain potions.

Compared to this, Angor was more curious about how this would affect his sequence of gravity power.

He couldn't use that power right now. Doing so required huge amount of soul energy, which he couldn't afford to spend.

If accepting the purification could help him wield the power, Angor would want to try it out.

"You said something in my soul needs 'nourishment'. So what kind of effect will the gray energy receive?"

"The gray aura inside you is compressed law power, am I right?"

Angor nodded.

"Ordinary soul purification has no effect on it. After such a long time, the treasure inside Soul Essence has gained a certain level of Soul Genesis power, and it might help your sequence power grow stronger."

Angor thought about it and felt that such a profit was… in fact, not very attractive.

Next was to consider the "risk".

And he didn't really know about what kind of risk awaited him. The priest couldn't tell him how important the ceremony was to Dark Castle.

However, he could try making an assumption by some other means, such as learning about the true value of Soul Orbs.

"So, you hold your ritual once every year. Those who came from Citadel are here to retrieve Soul Orbs?"

The old man nodded slowly.

"What does this thing do?"

"Lady Isabelle mentioned it before she left. A Soul Orb is a special product used by Soul Manipulators as a source of energy that strengthened the Soul Essence. That or they consume them to replenish someone's soul energy without worrying about the risk of being rejected."

The old priest suddenly lifted a finger and pointed at Angor's chest. "That incomplete soul in your pocket can also become whole again by absorbing Soul Orbs."

"Incomplete soul?!" Angor carefully took out Toby from his clothes. "His soul is incomplete?" Angor checked Toby's body and made sure everything looked healthy.

"He's not your summoned familiar?"

"No. He's my… friend."

Grand Priest inspected Angor for a while. "Friend… I see. This avian must be important to you."

"So he has a broken soul?" Angor asked again.

"He's been like that for a long time now, right?"

"Over a week now, yes."

"I can sense his soul. Something that shines with the same amazing brilliance as yours. Oh, wait… even more so…" The old man grew more and more surprised as he spoke. "No… his soul looks avian, yet I cannot sense anything that fits its shape. How… does such a thing exist?"

Angor was surprised too. The priest managed to find so much just by looking at Toby.

Angor quickly spoke again before the old man could begin mumbling on his own.

"You haven't told me why he's 'incomplete'. I thought he's like this because he's breaking through his level?"

"Breakthrough? Perhaps. The creature cannot wake up because his soul is now confronting a certain emotion. Rage. He will succeed if he can defeat it. But, from what I see, your friend is slowly losing the battle. The emotion of rage is beginning to taint his soul. If you don't do anything to help, he will soon become a puppet of primal anger."

Angor understood none of those words.

How could a soul fight with emotion? He could more or less understand that someone's body could become the battlefield between two different souls. But how did "emotion" become an enemy?

The old man noticed Angor's question and continued, "I don't know the nature of that 'rage', but I'm sure his soul is being consumed by it. He… already lost a good portion of himself."

"What should I do then?" Angor was now fully focused on helping Toby. He no longer cared about anything else.

"As I said, he will wake up and achieve a breakthrough as long as he defeats that emotion. But it's difficult now. His soul is weakening."

Angor quickly tried to find a solution.

"He can win if his soul is repaired?"

"Replenishing his soul energy only provides him with the necessary strength. It still depends on himself whether he can triumph in the end."

"And I can use Soul Orbs to give him energy, right?"

"I know what's on your mind," the old man said and lowered his head. "Even if you keep the ritual in its old way and acquire Soul Orbs from it, you will not get enough to repair the soul of your winged friend."

Angor now realized that Toby went for the mountain temple because the bird was seeking help out of instinct.

"There are Soul Orbs ready to be used in the temple, right?"

"How… do you know?" The old man was the one who was surprised now.

Angor explained Toby's "dream walking".

"I see. Yes, he was asking for assistance. It isn't the temple, but the center of the holy mountain, which hid a single Soul Orb within. Your friend stopped on the mountain slope because he sensed the orb."

"Give me the orb," Angor said. He considered and continued, "And tell me a price. I'll try to pay."

"No… The orb inside the mountain was left behind by Lady Isabelle. It contains a trace of her consciousness, and it's of great importance to the queen. Trying to get closer will quickly alarm her. Trust me. You can go steal hundreds or thousands of Soul Orbs from elsewhere and stay well, but not that particular one. The queen will not allow it."

Angor would agree, after witnessing how their queen, Isabella, maniacally loved her former teacher.

Wait… steal from elsewhere?

"Do you mean that I can go steal Soul Orbs from Citadel?"

"I did not say that." The old man shook his head casually.

"Oh, fine. Are there a lot of Soul Orbs in Citadel?"

"Lady Isabelle is a Soul Manipulator. She needs them."

Angor understood that Isabelle had left the southern wizarding region. Telling from how Isabella loved her mentor, maybe Isabelle's stock of Soul Orbs was still there.

He looked at the sleeping bird on his palm and made a determined decision.

In this brutal wizarding world, he would not give Toby up for anything.

"Can we postpone the election?" Angor looked up at the priest again.

"Yes. But only until the day after tomorrow. Evening."

"Let's do just that then. How do I identify a Soul Orb?"

"You are going to Citadel?"

"I must."

According to Shadow, Dark Castle was unprotected since neither Isabella nor any wizard-level guards were there. This was a perfect chance.

He might fail. However, he'd regret for the rest of his life if he gave up on Toby too early.

The Grand Priest explained how a Soul Orb looked like to Angor.

"If his instinct still knows how to protect itself," the old man pointed to Toby and said, "then follow him and you will find the orbs soon enough."

Angor nodded. He then reached out a hand and released some nightmare aura around the priest.

"A safety measure. If you don't mention my name to anyone, the aura will go away in three days."

With that, Angor turned to leave.

The old man looked down and sighed. After considering the greedy nature of wizards, he already asked the clerics to prepare the election inside the palace. He didn't expect for there to be another change in plan.

He suddenly heard Angor's voice again, which was carried by the wind.

"… If I make it before the ceremony begins, I promise I'll return the favor."