Warlock Apprentice

“Why should I tell you?”

Angor noticed that Fafnir’s tone didn’t sound as aloof as before, which meant he might have a chance.

“Lord Fafnir, please tell me what I should give in return, should I wish to find the answer.”

The woman seemed satisfied with the offer.

“Fine. I shall ask you to do a job.”

That got Angor really worried. If someone like Fafnir needed help with a “job”, he highly doubted he was up for it.

“Humph. I shall bring you to a certain place, while what you have to do is relay a message.”

“A message?” Angor frowned. If she needs me to pass the message instead of doing it herself, the recipient could be something that even the great dragon feared or despised…

Either way, it’s going to be dangerous.

Angor found it impolite to ask the content of the message, so he decided to do it in another way. “Will the job be risky?”

“Doing anything in this world is risky. When you travel, you run into demons. When you rest, demons come to you. You might even accidentally digest great misfortune when eating. Do you think you are not at risk when sitting in front of me?”

Angor just realized that the woman could have killed him a thousand times over if she meant it. It was not the time to bargain.

“I—I’ll do it. What do I need to tell, and to whom?”

“I’m not threatening you, if that’s what you’re thinking. To relieve the curse from the little one, you have to meet with Eldiclaus.”

Eldiclaus? Angor wondered if that was who Fafnir wanted to talk to.

“There are many individuals who can lift the curse for you, such as the Pilgrim himself or a Grand Demon with exceeding powers. However, are you capable of convincing them to help you?”

Angor shook his head. Even the dragon in front of him couldn’t do these.

“This left you with only a few choices, while the simplest one is finding a sanctuary and waiting out the curse.”

Of course there was no “sanctuary” in the Abyss Plane. And with the curse, he couldn’t travel back to the wizarding world.

“It is usually impossible for humans to cleanse the curse dealt by a Pilgrim of Misfortune, but I happen to know a special group of humans capable of such a feat. They are the Conductors of Tribulation, who lived at the other edge of the ‘Phase’.” Fafnir’s half-shut her eyes as she recollected her old memories.

“Conductors of Tribulation…” Angor quickly recalled a book written by Feinwerder that contained relevant knowledge.

[At the Western Continent, a special clan of wizards inherited the legacy of ancient wizards who could command the power of misfortune upon their foes. Those who do not have the divine protection cast by capable Prophets will have no means of defending themselves from the terrifying arts wielded by Conductors of Tribulation, which will haunt them for the rest of their lives.]

Even though the wizarding world was generally divided into four parts, there were no known ways of traveling between them except for using specialized long-range teleportation tunnels. People said that these regions were separated by countless planes and small extensions of the void. It was beyond difficult for wizards from the southern region to travel to the west.

“But… There are Conductors of Tribulation at the other side of the phase? What is a phase?” Angor wondered.

“I should have never expected a human from the Barrens to know better.”

Fafnir offered to explain the new wisdom, much to Angor’s delight.

Apart from being geographically divided into different areas, both the wizarding world and the Abyss were also subdivided into “phases” using a different set of rules. For example, both of these two planes had “The Barrens” as one of the major phases.

The southern wizarding region belonged to The Barrens. Wizards who traveled to the Abyss from the south would also end up at The Barrens in the Abyss.

As for the Conductors of Tribulation, they usually hung out at another phase called “The Land of Greed”. This meant that the Western Continent probably belonged to this phase. Also, the Eastern Borderline and the Northern Province of the wizarding world also fell within different phases.

Angor just realized that he had never heard of any of this before. Either all the wizards including Sunders did not want to tell him, or they had no idea of it at all.

“Is it difficult to travel to another phase?” Angor asked eagerly. As he remembered, the tunnels for reaching the other regions were no longer accessible. It would be nice if wizards could use the Abyss Plane for this purpose.

Fafnir didn’t seem to care why Angor looked so excited. “Difficult? No. All you have to do is step through a Phase Gate. However, even the smallest Phase Gate should be guarded by a Demon Lord. Are you sure you wish to try your luck?”

Angor silently quenched his ambition. A Demon Lord meant something even the strongest wizard in the south couldn’t carelessly provoke.

Fafnir continued, “You can’t find a Conductor of Tribulation, which means you have only one choice left. You must find Eldiclaus.”

She sounded rather emotional when mentioning this name.

“We used to be of the same kind. Even friends, at one point. Due to some… insignificant matters, we were separated for a long time and did not meet with each other again. Eldiclaus is a master of curses. He even contracted the same curse of misfortune before. That’s your best chance.”

Angor realized that, by the “same kind”, Fafnir was probably talking about another Abyssal Dragon. He surely didn’t want to go there unprepared and get killed by a simple dragon whiff if this second dragon was hostile, which was very likely.