Warlock Apprentice

Hanmu is a very ordinary Dixaian, now thirty-five years old, unmarried, and still single.

But there is something unusual about him—his birthplace: Windmill Town. This is because it is close to Barbarian Cave.

Just like the others in Windmill Town, the more he understands the world of the Transcendents, the more he realizes how magnificent and fantastical this world is. As such, his heart also increasingly yearns and hopes, with everyone harboring their own secret fantasy: how wonderful would it be if I could become an Honorable Wizard.

Hanmu was no different. He dreamed of becoming a wizard since he was a child, but to his despair, his Mental Power Value was merely 6. This is a number that is difficult to supplement, even with potions.

Knowing that he could not become a wizard, Hanmu, with a slight discomfort in his heart, went to earn a living in Night Demon City, the capital of Earth’s Heart Kingdom.

After mingling for more than twenty years, Hanmu still hadn’t made a name for himself. Hanmu had almost foreseen his own future; it would still be ordinary and uneventful, remaining that way until death.

However, Night Demon City suddenly underwent a significant change.

Everyone seemed to have become different, shouting praises to the Queen, performing bizarre actions in the mist-filled capital, like a group of Jokers.

Luckily for Hanmu, he happened to return to Windmill Town to visit his parents, thus avoiding that calamity. Later, upon learning about the situation in Night Demon City, Hanmu’s parents persuaded him to stay in Windmill Town.

Twenty years ago, Windmill Town was a place where his dreams had fallen apart, to which he did not dare to return, fleeing in embarassment. But now, Hanmu had long since come to terms with reality and no longer harbored the extravagant hope that the world would revolve around him. Instead, he hoped for a peaceful and mundane future. Therefore, he reconciled with his adolescent self, accepted his parents’ proposal, and stayed in Windmill Town.

With the money he had earned over the years in Night Demon City, Hanmu opened a textile workshop and a small dyeing shop in Windmill Town, starting a fabric business.

His main clients were the Honorable Wizards of the Mirror World.

In the past two years, Hanmu’s life primarily revolved between Windmill Town and the underground trading market in Mirror World. Although it was exhausting, the money he earned kept increasing.

When Hanmu thought his life was finally getting on track, Windmill Town, like Night Demon City, underwent another transformation.

Some people suddenly went crazy for no reason.

Moreover, this madness seemed contagious.

Though the wizards from Barbarian Cave arrived on the scene promptly, establishing a hospital to accommodate the insane, they could neither find the cause of the disease nor save the patients. This gradually altered the atmosphere of the entire Windmill Town.

How did the madness come about? Is there something unclean in Windmill Town? Had they come into contact with it? Would they go mad too?

Amidst such an atmosphere of worry, many residents did not dare to go outside, except the merchants still trading with Barbarian Cave.

Hanmu was one of them.

Every day, Hanmu went out with concern, but after two weeks, nothing happened.

When Hanmu thought everything was getting better, today they saw someone who shouldn’t have been there in the tunnel leading to Barbarian Cave.

Yva!

A person infected by madness!

Wasn’t he supposed to be in the hospital? Why was he here?

The people surrounding him exclaimed and ran away, and Hanmu also followed in a panic. But before he could reach the tunnel’s exit, Hanmu stepped on something and slipped.

As Hanmu struggled to get up, he suddenly felt some weight on his shoulder.

Trembling all over, Hanmu turned his head and saw... Yva smiling eerily at him.

The next moment, Hanmu’s vision darkened, and he fell into a whirlpool of darkness.

...

”Please, sir, save us!” ”Yva is here!” ”We don’t want to go crazy!”

This group of people who had run out of the underground tunnel knelt directly on the ground upon seeing Sanders and others, voicing all kinds of pleas.

Usually, when they saw the Transcendents, they would be very respectful, using the highest etiquette. But now, they couldn’t care about that anymore.

Sanders looked at this group of people kneeling on the ground, a difficult-to-read mysterious light flickering in his eyes.

Under normal circumstances, given Sanders’ character, he wouldn’t bother with the trivial matters of mortals. But today, perhaps because of Zithraide’s words, Sanders felt somewhat uneasy.

Although everything seemed calm at the moment, Sanders still felt something was wrong.

The appearance of this group of people seemed to be signaling something.

”Should we go over and take a look?” Angel looked at Sanders.

”Let’s go take a look.” Sanders pondered for a second, then put away his cane, turned, and walked towards the group of people.

On the way over, Greya said, ”There seems to be something unusual in the hole they came out of.”

Angel nodded. He had already seen the situation inside through his spiritual power: ”That person in the hospital gown inside is very strange.”

As Sanders approached, the people kneeling on the ground had hope in their eyes. They seemed to want to say something, but Sanders didn’t give them the chance and just walked past them.

”I’ll go inside and take a look. You ask them about the situation.” After saying this, Sanders strode quickly into the dark hole, disappearing from sight.

Angel glanced again into the hole: ”Does it seem like someone has already been attacked?”

”Is that considered an attack? It looks more like resting a chin on a shoulder and then touching a face with a hand. It looks like a very normal interaction.” Greya was observing the situation inside with spiritual power, and upon hearing Angel’s words, chimed in.

”Is that considered normal interaction?”

Greya: ”Isn’t it normal? There’s no neck snapping involved... Oh, are we really talking about snapping necks? I thought it was just a moment of intimacy.”

Angel: ”...”

While they were conversing, the people kneeling exchanged glances.

”It seems like we’re missing someone?”

”Yes, Old Hanmu seems to be absent.”

”The person the Honorable Wizard mentioned having their neck snapped... Could it be Old Hanmu?”

As they whispered among themselves, Greya glanced askance: ”When did I say a neck was snapped?”

The crowd, swept by Greya’s gaze, lowered their heads, not daring to speak.

”Alright, all of you stand up.” Greya said, somewhat exasperated. Once everyone stood, Greya asked, ”Tell us the situation inside. What’s going on?”

Everyone looked at each other, seeming unsure of how to describe the situation or, rather, how to face speaking with a Honorable Wizard. Finally, an old man with a smoke gun at his waist stepped forward and said, ”Sir, we’re not really sure what’s happening. Yva was supposed to be confined in the hospital...”