Warlock Apprentice

”To be able to open a stable Space Gate amidst such chaotic energy, your mastery of the Space Series is getting deeper and deeper,” Greya said to Angel with a smile as she walked out of the door.

Just as she stepped out, Greya saw Asaz standing not far away, looking dazed.

”Why are you standing there in a daze?” Greya asked, puzzled.

Asaz greeted her absentmindedly, then curiously pointed at Toby: ”Is Toby okay now?”

”What do you think?” Greya replied with a mischievous smile. As she answered Asaz, Toby hopped around and turned its head towards Asaz, staring at him with its small eyes.

Asaz and Toby quietly stared at each other.

For some reason, although Toby seemed unchanged in appearance, Asaz felt a heavy and frightening aura when they locked eyes.

It was like an undercurrent, invisible yet surging beneath the surface of the sea.

Seeing Asaz staring at it without speaking for a long time, Toby seemed to get a mischievous idea. It appeared motionless, but secretly stirred the aura of the Snake Bird.

Asaz felt a sudden panic, retreating a few steps, his legs starting to tremble slightly: ”Is this... the aura of an Official Wizard Level?”

In that instant, Asaz saw a terrifying giant snake raising its head. But the next moment, the giant snake disappeared, as if it was just a hallucination caused by his eyes.

However, Asaz knew it was all real. Because even if the illusion of the giant snake vanished, that eerie, terrifying feeling still lingered in his heart.

Asaz suddenly remembered what Sebastian had told him not long ago: ”Your strength can’t even compare to a single hair of Toby.”

Is this the truth?

”Toby, advanced?” Asaz asked with some difficulty. Although it was a question, his tone carried a hint of certainty, his heart already convinced of the answer.

Greya did not hide it, nodding with a smile: ”That’s right.”

After Greya gave the answer, Asaz was stunned, turning his head bit by bit to look at Toby.

Toby now looked like a flickering flame—in the literal sense, because when Greya introduced its advancement, it started to wag its tail proudly. The small red cape fluttered up and down with its movement, looking like a red flame.

Asaz’s heart was extremely complicated at this moment, with various doubts and emotions bubbling up like newly formed foam, appearing and disappearing. Yet in the end, he could only squeeze out a question: ”Then, how should I address you in the future?”

Seeing Asaz’s dazed expression, Greya couldn’t help but chuckle: ”What do you think?”

It took Asaz quite a while to return to his senses: ”I understand now, Toby... sir.”

While speaking, Asaz respectfully performed a half-kneel bow.

The title ”sir” and the half-kneel bow made Toby even more pleased, its small eyes showing emotions that seemed to break through the sky. Angel didn’t need to turn his head to see Toby to hear the joyful sounds of its fluttering wings and swaying tail.

Seeing Toby’s pleased look, Greya couldn’t help but chuckle and shake her head, then she looked at Asaz: ”You’ve got your answer, so continue with your work, we’ll be leaving now.”

With that, the group bypassed Asaz.

Asaz remained half-kneeling on the ground until he felt no more movement, and he let out a long breath. Then, feeling a bit weak in the legs, he sat down on the ground.

The half-kneel bow he performed earlier was not only to show respect to Toby; in truth, there was another reason—his legs really had gone weak, and even though Toby had only slightly revealed its aura, that aura felt like a dense and lingering pressure that wouldn’t dissipate.

Up till now, Asaz still hadn’t completely recovered.

After a long while, Asaz struggled to get up from the ground. The first thing he did after standing up was to say silently in his heart: ”You knew, didn’t you?”

However, there was no response in his heart.

”You knew Toby had advanced, so you deliberately told me to treat it as a gourmet offering?” Asaz solemnly called out the other person’s name: ”Sebastian!”

This time, Asaz finally got a response. A graceful yet cold voice echoed in his heart: ”Yes, I did know. However, I just wanted you to face a reality; you can’t even compare to Toby now. My dear Miloris, shouldn’t you work harder?”

”Of course, if you could indeed make Toby into a gourmet dish, I would be very satisfied.”

”As a side note, I’ll tell you a piece of news. Didn’t you just ask where that terrifying aura came from?” Sebastian said slowly: ”You have already seen Toby earlier. Do you know the answer now?”

...

After Angel and the others returned to the hall, Butler No. 1 put down the flower-trimming tools and flew in with a large tray.

On the tray was a set of exquisite Baroque-style tea sets, aside from the steaming teapot, there were also three large teacups and one small teacup, placed in front of everyone. The smallest teacup was, of course, reserved for Toby.

The aroma of the black tea, along with the slowly rising white steam, began to slowly diffuse.

After pouring the tea, Butler No. 1 left. It originally should have prepared accompanying snacks, but with Greya around, there was no need for it to bring out its snacks and make a fool of itself.

Indeed, after Butler No. 1 left, Greya casually waved her hand. Exquisite snacks appeared on the plates in front of everyone.

It was unknown whether she made them beforehand or conjured them out of thin air.

At least from the smell of it... they weren’t bad. Angel sniffed the faint aroma of cheese, nodding with satisfaction.

While sipping tea, everyone’s attention was focused on Toby.

Waiting for Toby’s explanation.

At this moment, Toby was content from the tea and snacks, and with Asaz’s respectful behavior earlier, its ego was infinitely inflated, feeling extremely pleased. Seeing everyone looking at itself, it remained oblivious for quite some time.

When Toby finally came to its senses, its expression changed immediately; from being previously full of pride, it turned to one of grievance.

However, the change was so rapid that it appeared somewhat insincere.

”Chirp chirp chirp—”

Toby spent ten minutes complaining incessantly, trying its hardest to express the grievance in its heart. But for the most part, it avoided the main points, repeating only one main theme with different trills:

I feel so wronged!

Seeing Toby about to repeat the same thing again, Greya quickly interrupted it: ”You say you’re wronged, but you have to explain why you’re wronged, right? What happened during your trial?”

Toby nodded vigorously like a chick pecking at rice.

Then Toby began to recount what happened to it, but instead of starting from the eerie voice during the ”suspected new trial,” it began from the very start of its trial.

Everyone listened for a long time, only hearing about how Toby praised itself, how it maneuvered like a general through various traps, creating a path to survival.

Terms like linear region, Mist Trap, emotional currents, magical creature army...

Toby’s storytelling was very vivid, and the entire hall was filled with the varying pitches of chirps.