Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 1523: Section 1524: Snatching Classes Chapter 1523: Section 1524: Snatching Classes To be precise, it is only when facing Angel that the Colorful Dragonflies exhibit a non-combative stance. Only Angel can perceive the emotions of the Colorful Dragonflies.

By the emotions conveyed by the Colorful Dragonflies, one can understand why they occupied that ruin?

What secrets lie hidden in the ruin?

After listening, Angel hesitated a bit and said: “Although I can sense some of the emotional expressions of the Colorful Dragonflies, they find it almost impossible to convey a complete message.”

“Crimson moon, diamonds, and flowing light; morning dew, quartz, and drifting sparkle.” Suddenly, Sanders uttered a seemingly nonsensical phrase, his hoarse voice echoing within the carriage.

Angel was startled for a moment, but quickly understood Sanders’ meaning.

This phrase, in fact, comes from a classic fairy tale. The story of this fairy tale is cliched, about a young prince who embarks on various adventures to rescue a princess captured by a demon. At one point, the prince must find and unlock the secret room of a Priest of Light to retrieve the sacred weapon to defeat the demon. The key to this secret chamber is not an actual key, but a strange puzzle, which is: “Crimson moon, diamonds, and flowing light; morning dew, quartz, and drifting sparkle.”

Unable to decipher the meaning of the phrase, the prince encounters many hardships and seeks the help of a Prophet in a neighboring country. With the Prophet’s insight, he finally understands what the answer points to and manages to open the chamber and retrieve the sacred weapon.

The fairy tale is widely circulated, and naturally, Angel has heard it too.

The reason Sanders says this at this moment is quite simple.

Indeed, the Colorful Dragonflies don’t express complete thoughts, but that’s not important. Every piece of information they reveal should be treated as a clue or a code, and then various means can be used to decrypt it.

If all else fails, isn’t there still the “Prophet” in the fairy tale? The “Prophet” in the tale is a plot-serving clue character created by the author. Although fictional, in the Wizards’ Realm, there are similar entities.

Such as, scholars who have read extensively; or perhaps, Prophet Wizards who seek the trajectories of fate.

“I understand,” Angel nodded. If it was just to investigate some relevant information, he should be able to do it.

Within Angel’s Nightmare Realm, there is a Five-Color Dragonfly. The intelligence of the Five-Color Dragonfly is somewhat low, and the emotions it expresses aren’t too varied. It sometimes even struggles to articulate praise for the moonlight, praise for the Queen, or praise for Shava. But the Colorful Dragonflies express a richer array of emotions.

Compared to other Nightmare Realm Demons, the Colorful Dragonflies are significantly less intelligent. Creatures like the Frog Crooner, Fox with Harp, and so on, they’re no less intelligent than humans, but their thought patterns and logical directions differ from humans.

Yet, lesser intelligence has its advantages. Creatures like the aforementioned Nightmare Realm Demons, though they revere Angel’s “Shava” identity, sometimes still question Angel’s actions. However, the Colorful Dragonflies are different; their lesser intelligence makes them more naive, or in other words, easier to deceive.

Sanders said, “As long as we can deduce the true nature of the relic, we will always find a way to deal with it.”

Angel himself wouldn’t want a ticking time bomb outside the entrance to the Barbarian Cave. It would be best to find a way to resolve it.

The carriage slowly and shakily made its way back to the estate.

Angel returned to his quiet room, originally planning to continue his study of Transformation Techniques, but after some thought, he instead took out a new piece of paper. At the top of the page, he wrote a word: Lesson Preparation.

Originally, Angel was indifferent to teaching; he just wanted to earn some points and was prepared to give a casual lecture. But today, Horus mentioned his upcoming course, implying that the people of the Alchemy Circle were waiting for the news of Angel’s first class. Lianna also showed great interest, which created some pressure for Angel.

Since it was his first time teaching, Angel decided to treat it with more seriousness.

In the blink of an eye, the pale dawn light tore through the night’s veil, draping the main district of Sky Mechanical City in a bright golden edge.

On Manshi Magic Material Street, the door to Nail Alchemy House was pushed open.

A man draped in a black-embroidered Wizard Robe walked in. He lifted the hood from his head, revealing a handsome and well-proportioned face.

The man was middle-aged, with a face that might not be strikingly rugged but appeared honest and reliable; however, his eyes shimmered cautiously, shadowed with a look of shrewdness and calculation. Clearly, he was not as simple as he appeared.

After scanning the surroundings, the man’s gaze settled on Nail Granny, who was sitting at the table drinking hot tea.

He greeted her with a smile and sat down across from her.

“Marion, what brings you here today? The qualifying round of the New Star Competition is about to officially start, and your shop should be quite busy, right?”

Marion is the man’s name. He runs a shop selling casting materials, located directly opposite Nail Granny’s.

“I need to consult with Granny about something,” Marion paused, looking around. “What’s going on today? Why is there no one else here? Isn’t it usually full of Alchemists here, arguing over some trivial issues?”

Nail Granny did not answer immediately. Instead, she took a sip of tea and looked at the emblem on Marion’s Wizard Robe.

The emblem as a whole was a foggy circular halo, within which was utter darkness, not unlike a solar eclipse.

“Your clothes’ emblem…” Nail Granny frowned. “How did you end up joining the Profound Alchemy Association?”

“I didn’t join the Profound Alchemy Association; I only infiltrated it. Otherwise, I would not have drawn the profound mark on my clothes but instead engraved it directly onto my skin.”

The Profound Alchemy Association is one of the alchemy exchange groups in Sky Mechanical City. Although they don’t cause major scandals, they endlessly engage in minor mischief. People like Nail Granny greatly disdain this alchemy group. Behind the Profound Alchemy Association is in fact an extension of the Abyssal Demon God’s reach among its casual followers. The “solar eclipse” pattern is the mark of the Abyssal Demon God.

“What are you doing with the Profound Alchemy Association?” puzzled for a moment, Nail Granny looked at Marion’s flickering eyes, suddenly realizing, with her years of understanding of Marion, she seemed to grasp why Marion went to the alchemy association: “Looking to take advantage of opportunities?”

“Not to take advantage. Just to recover resources at low prices.” Marion replied seriously. “Speaking of which, the reason I came to Granny has to do with this alchemy association.”

While speaking, Marion took out a disc-shaped object from his pocket and handed it to Granny: “This is an alchemy intermediate product. I’ve calculated, and the material costs would be about 330 Magic Crystals, yet he sells it to internal members for just 350 Magic Crystals. If taken in bulk to sell, I think there’s a profit to be made, but the processing fee of just 20 Magic Crystals seems too cheap, which struck me as odd, hence I wanted to ask Granny about it.”

Nail Granny glanced at it and threw it back at Marion: “It is indeed an intermediate product, and the quality itself is fine, but the refiner leveraged the power of the Abyssal Demon God.”

While saying this, Nail Granny flipped over the disc and pointed to a very small solar eclipse emblem in the corner.

“You can use it, but I don’t recommend it. This is one of the ways the Abyssal Demon God extends its power. If you’re frequently in contact, it’s very easy to become one of its casual followers.” Nail Granny paused, looking at Marion: “You wouldn’t want Sky Mechanical City to become a gathering place for followers of the Demon God, would you?”

Marion took the disc back, hesitation flickering across his face.

Seeing Marion’s hesitation, Nail Granny said: “Even if you make this money, I estimate it won’t be long before Rosen has his eye on you.”

At the mention of Rosen’s name, Marion shivered, his eyes flickering indecisively, finally sighing, “Alright, I’ll pass on this money… Sigh, had I known, I wouldn’t have infiltrated their meeting last night, listening to ’Praise the Abyss’ all night long made my head swell.”

After pausing, Marion continued: “Right, Granny, you haven’t answered my previous question. Why is there no one here today?”

Nail Granny smelled the tea’s fragrance, speaking in a leisurely tone: “They’ve all gone to snatch up classes.”

Snatch up classes? Marion was puzzled for a moment: “I remember the classes by the Water Pattern Witch were snatched up the other day. What, is she preparing to teach again?”

“Or is it Mr. Vannerson’s class? Though that seems unlikely, Vannerson’s classes shouldn’t have everyone rushing to snatch up places, should they?”

Vannerson is a very famous Alchemist at Ashliea Comprehensive College, and it was previously rumored that he and Jelal, the “Mithril Reformer” from Hurricane Tower, were the most likely candidates to be included in the Research and Development Institute. However, Angel unexpectedly came into the picture mid-course.

Although Vannerson has respectable skills in alchemy, he is very much a vanguard of the Reformist School. In the classroom, he often displays contempt towards traditional schools, so traditional alchemists generally do not wish to attend his lectures.

Nail Granny shook her head: “It’s not Vannerson, and the Water Pattern Witch has no plans to teach either. However, the person teaching this time is indeed a member of the Research and Development Institute.”

“A member of the Research and Development Institute? Is it the Master of Magic Potions, or has someone returned from overseas?” Marion asked curiously, having recently heard that only the Water Pattern Witch had returned to Sky Mechanical City.

Nail Granny paused: “The one currently on the crest of public opinion.”

Public opinion’s crest? Marion was stunned for a moment, then his eyes bulged: “Granny, the person you’re talking about, it couldn’t be…” Angel?

Nail Granny nodded: “It’s the one you’re thinking of.”

“He’s already returned to Sky Mechanical City and even started teaching?” Marion murmured before suddenly slapping his thigh and standing up: “Are they snatching up the class now? I got to try as well.”

“What are you snatching up a class for? Your half-baked alchemy skills would be a complete waste of a seat.”

Marion: “I’ve made a bet with Jim, who sells Witch’s Soup next door, about whether Angel has advanced to an Official Wizard, with a wager of a whole hundred Magic Crystals! I have to see it with my own eyes.”

“I can tell you the answer right now,” said Nail Granny.

“No, please don’t tell me. I must witness it myself for the sense of ritual in unveiling the mystery.” Having said that, Marion prepared to dash out.

Nail Granny: “Although today is for snatching up classes, he won’t officially start teaching for another four or five days. If I remember correctly, Angel will be the special judge at the New Star Competition’s replay.”

Marion’s footsteps halted instantly.

“You could have said that earlier.” Marion sat back down at the table. The initial round of the New Star Competition ends the day after tomorrow, and the replay starts on the following day. If Angel is going to be the special judge by then, one could witness whether he has advanced or not without having to go to the trouble of snatching up a class.

“No wonder there’s no one here. He’s not just the talk of public opinion. In the alchemy circle, he’s the center of discussion. Now he’s started teaching, I bet even the alchemists specializing in Potionology will rush to snatch up a class,” Marion often visited Nail Alchemy House. Although his own alchemy skills were mediocre, he was, due to his frequent contact, very knowledgeable about the alchemy circle.

“However, I didn’t expect Angel to be capable of teaching now. I bet he’s probably the youngest of Ashliea’s teaching staff, right? That honor is incredible.”