Warlock Apprentice

“Mouth flowers…” Sunders repeated. He then revealed a smile as he said, “Now that’s a pretty good name for them.”

Sunders crossed his arms and stared at Angor with a questioning look again as he asked, “Tell me more about these ‘mouth flowers’. How did you meet them? Didn’t they attack you?”

Angor tried to remember, thinking about what to tell and what to hide. He took some time before speaking, “I couldn’t see anything in the darkness, so I flew in one direction along the ceiling wall. I felt a strange emotion on my way. Yes, I felt it, not heard it. I don’t know… it was a weird feeling.

“There were a lot of emotions mixed together, but most of them told me to stay, or don’t go forward. I didn’t listen to them because I was afraid, and I didn’t know where they came from. I kept flying ahead, and… something went wrong. I saw a shining wall.”

Angor told Sunders everything about running into the wall, including the pain which almost killed him, and being dragged away from the wall by a plant and the mouth flower that was floating above him when he woke up.

“A strange wall? And, the Glutton Flowers saved you?” Sunders’ expression was weirder now.

“Glutton Flowers? That’s how you call the mouth flowers?” Angor asked.

Sunders nodded but did not explain further. The man kept asking his questions, “We’ll talk about the flowers later. Tell me about the wall.”

The Glutton Flower Tunnel was the most terrible place in this part of the Nightmare Realm. Sunders never tried to go there. Now his new pupil just went there, and he even reached the end of it! Sunders was really curious now.

“The wall was shining, but I was too far so I couldn’t see what exactly was shining on it. Once I was less than a hundred meters from it, I felt unbearable pain, so I couldn’t make out many things about the wall,” said Angor. He paused a little before adding, “Thanks to the light, I could see the mouth flowers.”

Angor explained how he saw the flowers in order to conceal his flashlight. However, Sunders never paid attention to this “light source problem”. The man was too focused on the Glutton Flowers and the strange wall.

“Anything else you know about that wall?” Sunders persisted eagerly.

“Anything else?” Angor considered it for a moment. He then said, “The mouth flowers—I mean, Glutton Flowers, so those emotions I felt on my way, came from them. They weren’t intelligent, but the one that could fly was relatively clever, and it could speak simple languages. It told me that they were planted there by their master, to protect the wall.”

Angor’s description immediately confirmed Sunders’ idea that the particular Glutton Flower was the Glutton Flower Lord. A legendary monster, or maybe even stronger!

“I asked who their master was, or what was that wall. It didn’t tell me or didn’t want to tell me. I think it didn’t understand my question,” Angor explained.

Sunders nodded and thought to himself. The wall must be a really valuable treasure… perhaps the best treasure in these parts!

“Anything else yet?” Angor already told him everything, but Sunders did not give up.

Angor shook his head and hesitated, “No…”

Sunders raised his eyebrows and said, “You are holding something back, Angor, tell me what’s on your mind.”

The boy thought for a while before saying, “There is something. But I don’t know if it has anything to do with the wall. After surviving the near-death situation and being saved by the Glutton Flower, I lost consciousness and slept for a long time. When I woke up, I felt my body in an amazing condition, and I felt so refreshed. I can move faster, and I can see better in the dark.

“I don’t know if it was the wall that improved my body or was it because the flying Glutton Flower put its ‘spit’ into my mouth?” Speaking of this, Angor vomited a little. But nothing came out, again.

Sunders smiled at Angor’s failed vomit attempt and explained, “You can’t do that. You’re a soul now, any physiological reaction on you won’t affect your soul. Just think, did you eat anything these days? No. Your soul does not feel hunger.”

Angor understood now. He was a soul, so he did not need to eat, and could not throw up… Also, he was badly hurt after being attacked by younger Sunders, but he did not bleed at all. That was because he did not have a body.

Sunders remained silent for some time before he said, “You felt your physical abilities improved. It was because your soul became more condensed. It might be the wall’s doing. Looks like you found a pretty good destiny this time. Once we leave, take the spiritual power test again, and you will see a better result.”

Wizards could not cast spells easily in the Nightmare Realm, so Sunders did not waste his mana to observe Angor’s spiritual power indicator now. Seeing how Angor’s soul was condensed, the man could already deduct his conclusion.

To improve one’s spiritual power was a really rare destiny. Even Sunders was a bit jealous.

“The wall did this to me? Not Glutton Flower’s spit?” asked Angor. He was puzzled.

“What you consumed wasn’t Glutton Flower’s spit. It was the essence of Glutton Flower Lord,” said Sunders. He failed to hold back his laughter as he said, “Now I know how you come all the way here in one piece. You have the aura of the Glutton Flower Lord on you, and all weaker monsters will never approach you now. So that’s where the sweet smell came from.”

I have a sweet smell?

Angor sniffed his arm and did notice a faint fragrance.

“When will this wear off? Can it follow me back to the wizarding world?” asked Angor. He revealed a sad face as he did not want to carry the smell at all times.

“I don’t know about that. Maybe it will, and maybe not,” answered Sunders. He spread his hands and said, “Don’t worry too much. Flora will certainly envy you. Besides, the essence of Glutton Flower Lord was an extremely valuable treasure. It mends one’s soul and can keep the user in a high spirit for a short while. Don’t complain now. The small side effect will go away in time.

“It seems the wall is a curious artifact. It put you in great pain, but it also improved your spiritual power. If it could keep doing that, its value is beyond anyone’s imagination. Once you become stronger, let’s come here and check out that wall together. Maybe we can learn something from it,” said Sunders. He patted the boy’s shoulder as he added, “Of course this is on the condition that those Glutton Flowers are still friendly to you. Otherwise, within the first minute when we step into the flower tunnel, we will become their fertilizer.”