Warlock Apprentice

Originheart City, top floor of Sky Tower.

”Are we sure... it’s really okay? It’s completely motionless, its expression looks so blank, it seems almost deranged,” Frode asked Angel while keeping his gaze fixed tightly on Toby on the table.

”In reality, the Extreme Resentment Thoughts inside Toby’s body have already shown signs of a suppressed rebound. If it truly surpasses the limit, it will undoubtedly face the Extreme Resentment Tribulation. So, I had no choice,” Angel replied helplessly.

Toby was sitting blankly on the table at that moment, its gaze unfocused, as if it hadn’t come back to its senses.

Just as Frode had said, it looked almost deranged.

The cause of Toby’s state was Angel’s forced intervention in the operation of the House of Heart, releasing Toby prematurely.

Time rewinds to not long ago—

Angel took Toby into the Wilderness of Dreams and explained the function of the House of Heart to him, along with the possible dangers, before allowing Toby to enter.

When Toby was enveloped by the power of the House of Heart, he started off fine, but soon things took an unexpected turn.

In the eyes of Sanders and Frode, Toby showed no changes.

However, Angel, using the Authority of the Gate of Dreams, sensed something amiss. Shortly after Toby entered the House of Heart, some sort of strange creature—or perhaps a force—seemed to connect to him.

Through his Authority, Angel probed further and discovered this so-called strange creature was actually an aggregation of immense negative emotions.

Angel immediately understood that this was likely the projection of Extreme Resentment Thoughts.

This confirmed to Angel that the House of Heart had indeed awakened Toby’s latent Extreme Resentment Thoughts. This was what Angel had hoped for—it meant Toby could face his Extreme Resentment Thoughts ahead of time.

However, since the connection to the Extreme Resentment Thoughts was established, there was a high likelihood of a rebound occurring in reality.

Thus, Angel briefly returned to reality.

Reality turned out to be just as he had suspected—the Extreme Resentment Thoughts had begun to emerge from Toby’s body. The faint silver lining was that the extent of the release remained within manageable limits.

If not dealt with promptly, however, the Extreme Resentment Thoughts could potentially break through the seal set by Frost. At that point, Toby would be unavoidably forced to confront the Extreme Resentment Tribulation.

It was unthinkable for Angel to send Toby into the tribulation unprepared.

So, to prevent the Extreme Resentment Thoughts from truly breaking through the seal, Angel returned to the Wilderness of Dreams and immediately used the green Pattern to forcibly pull Toby out from under the power of the House of Heart.

Because the operation of the House of Heart was interrupted so abruptly, Toby likely hadn’t had a chance to process it, resulting in his current deranged state.

Fortunately, Angel could sense that the Extreme Resentment Thoughts previously connected to Toby had now disappeared again, presumably repressed back into place.

Angel believed Toby’s condition might simply be an acute stress response. But five minutes had passed, and Toby still hadn’t recovered, leaving Angel slightly worried.

Angel turned toward Sanders, who was sitting nearby flipping through the ”House of Heart Experiment Records.” ”Mentor, is this situation with Toby normal?”

Sanders slightly raised his eyebrows. ”It seems your understanding of the nature of Illusion Techniques still needs improvement.”

After a pause, Sanders explained, ”The power of the House of Heart is essentially the power of the Heart Illusion. Right now, Toby is caught in the aftermath of the Heart Illusion. Whether he can recover depends on what he experienced.”

What’s referred to as the ”aftermath of the Heart Illusion” can actually be understood as ”residual fear.”

A timid person bitten by a snake may later fear snakes at just the sight of them—this is what we call lingering fear.

The ”aftermath of the Heart Illusion” is similar. Since the Heart Illusion involves psychological issues, it inevitably triggers certain emotions tied to the heart. If you manage to overcome the Heart Illusion on your own, there won’t be a problem. However, if external forces pull you out of the Heart Illusion, it’s likely you’ll experience lingering unease.

For some, this unease may fade quickly; for others, it could cast a shadow over their entire life.

Toby was currently in this state.

Nevertheless, since Toby was an Extraordinary Creature, the aftermath of the Heart Illusion shouldn’t persist for too long.

As Angel thought this, Toby on the table finally showed some reaction. Its gaze shifted from daze to focus, trembling slightly at first, then darting around as if searching for something.

When Toby realized it had left that pitch-black world behind, it exhaled in relief and darted toward Angel at lightning speed. It appeared that only by staying close to Angel could Toby feel safe.

Angel gently stroked Toby’s feathers. The moment he touched Toby, it trembled noticeably. Yet soon, Toby closed its eyes, indulging in Angel’s soothing touch.

Once Toby was properly comforted, Angel finally asked, ”What did you experience just now in the House of Heart?”

Toby’s body stiffened suddenly, and a fleeting trace of panic crossed its crimson eyes.

However, the panic didn’t last long.

Perhaps Angel’s warm hand made Toby feel secure. After a moment’s hesitation, Toby began to chirp softly.

In Frode’s view, Toby was just chirping repeatedly while flapping its wings occasionally, seeming to express something. Yet Frode couldn’t understand any of it, while Angel, on the other hand, was nodding thoughtfully and responding, alternating between human speech and bird language, conversing effortlessly.

After a long time, Toby stopped chirping, seemingly done speaking.

Frode looked toward Angel, asking about Toby’s account, eager to record it for his report.

Angel pondered briefly. ”After Toby entered the House of Heart, it saw two doors along a long corridor. One door contained its obsessions.”

During their exchange, Toby spent over 80% of the time talking about his obsessions—like dried fish snacks, music boxes, various outfits, and so forth, dropping subtle hints and blatant mentions alike.

Only a small fraction of the time was spent talking about the other door.

”What was behind the other door?” Frode asked curiously.

”... A dark Void,” Angel paused. ”But within this dark Void, it saw the aggregation of Extreme Resentment Thoughts.”

”The Jealous Snake Bird.”

...

When Toby faced this colossal entity, he was utterly stunned.

It wasn’t the sheer size of the Jealous Snake Bird that shocked Toby, but rather the indescribable connection that arose between them.

As the Snake Bird cast its wicked gaze upon Toby, an endless surge of negative emotions rushed toward him like a flood.

These negative emotions not only made Toby deeply uncomfortable but also amplified Toby’s sensory perceptions.

For instance, it plunged Toby into certain memories filled with jealousy, resentment, and envy, magnifying those emotions.

Toby felt like a tiny stone, completely drowned by the onslaught of negative emotions.

Darkness, helplessness, fear.

And the irritation brought about by the negative emotions permeated Toby’s senses.

It wasn’t until Angel forcibly interrupted the House of Heart that Toby was rescued from this terrifying torrent. Yet even then, he remained immersed in the ”aftermath of the Heart Illusion” for a long time before recovering.