Warlock Apprentice

Toby’s gaze was resolute. Faced with the torrent that surged like towering waves, there wasn’t a hint of fear—he was like a fearless warrior plunging headfirst into a sea of negative emotions.

His movements were agile and graceful, darting incessantly through the turbulent currents formed by complex malicious thoughts.

In the eyes of the Extreme Resentment Thoughts, Toby’s speed showed no signs of being hindered by the torrent. He wasn’t just confronting it head-on; he was surging upstream!

If Extreme Resentment Thoughts could take on human form, it would probably be filled with confusion at this moment: ”Why does this raging torrent have no effect on him?”

The answer to this question lies solely with Toby.

This torrent composed of negative emotions wasn’t entirely ineffective against Toby. Truth be told, he was struggling deeply now. It felt as though countless voices were whispering curses into his ears, and his heart was stifled, aching to erupt. Yet he pressed forward relentlessly, without pause or hesitation—his goal was clear: to reach the luminous shore ahead.

He was able to ignore the psychological oppression, the surrounding jeers, and the tempting lure of resentment because he had separated his core consciousness from his personal feelings.

This was the result of his countless experiences navigating torrents within the House of the Heart.

The torrent was akin to a mud-filled swamp—once entangled with a certain emotion, it was like sinking into the mire; the more agitated or indignant one became, the deeper they sank. After many defeats within the torrent, Toby had summarized his experience: one must neither fight against negative emotions nor be lured by them. The only way to escape this flood of emotions was to charge ahead swiftly toward the goal.

Easier said than done, indeed. It was thanks to the trials within the House of the Heart that Toby eventually discovered the method of separating consciousness from feelings. As long as his willpower remained steadfast and he ignored the desires of his emotions, he could essentially disregard the surrounding negative influences to a large extent.

Of course, such ”disregard” didn’t mean he was unscathed. Negative emotions would still pile up in Toby’s heart; they simply wouldn’t erupt for now. Previously, every time Toby woke up, he would suffer from the ”Conscious Dream Dissonance,” which was essentially caused by a sudden explosion of those bottled-up negative emotions, requiring time and mental effort to smooth them out.

The power of the torrent was undeniable. Without the hundredfold experience from the House of the Heart, Toby’s chances of failure would have exceeded ninety percent. But now, he wasn’t at all afraid of the torrent’s threat—he was confident he could break through!

After an unknown period of time, Toby suddenly felt the surrounding murkiness and darkness vanish. With a popping sound, he emerged like a storm-piercing petrel, spreading his wings wide as he soared through the torrent.

Toby didn’t waste time looking back at the flood disappearing into the Void’s depths; he pressed onward toward his goal.

The emotional torrent was terrifying indeed, but it was just a small segment of this Extreme Resentment Tribulation. Ahead lay more traps and disasters waiting for Toby. So at this moment, the most pressing matter was to race toward his goal while Extreme Resentment Thoughts remained disoriented.

As he soared forward, Toby continued to encounter various traps. The thread-like obstacles in his path hadn’t lessened, but to Toby, they didn’t even qualify as appetizers. He moved with the grace of a butterfly flitting through a dense forest, elegantly dodging amidst the traps while seeking the shortest path.

During this journey, Extreme Resentment Thoughts finally returned to its senses. Watching Toby successfully escape the torrent, it stomped its feet in frustration. Its rage caused the dark mist outside the Void to surge even more violently, with waves of pressure crashing one after another, nearly causing Greya’s heart to leap out of her throat.

At this moment, Toby, having ”snuck away” during Extreme Resentment Thoughts’ lapse, found himself significantly closer to his goal. Earlier, the goal had been like a lighthouse seen from an ocean at night—visible but seemingly unreachable. But now, the lighthouse’s shape was discernible; given a bit more time, he could arrive at his final destination!

However, Extreme Resentment Thoughts wouldn’t let Toby subdue it so easily.

It roared, howled, and cursed—

With the release of an even more terrifying aura by Extreme Resentment Thoughts, the pitch-black Void underwent a sudden transformation. The space began to distort visibly, and within moments, countless whirlpools emerged in the Void.

These whirlpools produced some strange force, attempting to pull Toby’s consciousness. If he got too close, he could be dragged into one and obliterated entirely.

The dark Void was now filled with these whirlpools, forcing Toby to navigate around them as he advanced. With his proficiency, he could easily evade all the whirlpools and quickly find shortcuts.

Nonetheless, as Toby avoided the whirlpools, his gaze became unprecedentedly solemn and cautious.

Because these whirlpools weren’t merely stationary obstacles—they harbored even more horrific traits—

After flying forward for a stretch, a large, hairy, barbed claw suddenly extended from a whirlpool ahead of him.

With an ominous howl, a massive bear-like Magical Creature with glowing green eyes emerged from the whirlpool.

”I knew it would come.” Seeing the massive Magical Creature, Toby’s expression slightly relaxed despite the caution still evident in his eyes.

Thanks to his experiences in the House of the Heart, Toby knew well that these whirlpools weren’t solely designed to shred consciousness—they were also nests for Magical Creatures!

Earlier, when no creatures had appeared, the ”fear of the unknown” had left him uneasy. But now, with the creatures revealing themselves and shedding their masks of mystery, he felt mildly relieved.

As the bear-like Magical Creature emerged, movement stirred in the surrounding whirlpools as well.

Various terrifying Magical Creatures crawled out of the whirlpools: a multi-legged centipede traveling at lightning speed, a grotesque goat demon bearing Devil’s horns, a flame-cloud-like Phantom Firebird, a shapeless mass of flesh with razor-sharp teeth, a Toxic Plant Creature exuding green mist, an electrified long snake... and many more.

The Void was now teeming with countless Magical Creatures, all glaring at Toby with savage intent.

Toby seemed to have become their prey.

With an angry roar from Extreme Resentment Thoughts, all the Magical Creatures launched a massive assault toward Toby.

Toby didn’t know where these creatures originated, but one thing was certain—they weren’t real. After all, this was merely a kind of Mind Space or consciousness realm.

Perhaps these creatures were manifestations of certain ideas, or maybe they were unknown ”ingredients” added by Greya during their creation.

Even though these Magical Creatures weren’t real, being killed by them would still result in the genuine demise of his consciousness.

Therefore, faced with this swarm of creatures, Toby couldn’t afford the slightest carelessness.

In the previous torrent, Toby could separate his consciousness from his feelings to ignore the erosion of negative emotions. But now, that tactic wouldn’t suffice—he either had to evade the creatures or confront them head-on!

If he chose to evade, Toby was confident in his ability to outmaneuver the creatures’ pursuit, given his control over his consciousness.

However, these creatures blocked Toby’s path forward. Opting for evasion—and attempting to lure the creatures apart—would take too much time, causing him to miss his final deadline.

Thus, for Toby to successfully overcome the tribulation, he had no other choice.

He had to—

Fight!