Warlock Apprentice

Hidden clues?

Greya’s words caught Angel off guard. The illusion itself was constructed by Angel, so he basically understood the clues in the painting, what could be hidden?

However, since Greya brought it up voluntarily, Angel decided to listen to what she had to say.

Greya took out the Glass Bead, gently rubbed it, and the image of the Doomsday Eye appeared before them.

Greya reached out her finger and pointed to the lower right corner of the image: ”What do you think this is?”

Angel followed her gaze and saw that where Greya pointed was one of the numerous crevices in the painting. Within this crevice, the faint outline of a semi-circular object was visible.

To be precise, it should be a circular object, but half was swallowed by the pitch-black crevice, leaving only a semi-circular appearance.

Angel did notice this object when constructing the illusion, but it didn’t draw his attention due to its dark and unremarkable nature. Now that Greya highlighted it, Angel began to ponder.

”A gray-black semi-circular object, it doesn’t seem to have any distinct features, is it some kind of sphere?” Angel murmured softly.

Greya shook her head: ”Not a sphere; its cross-section is actually flat.”

Greya did not intentionally keep him in suspense; under Angel’s suspicious gaze, she directly provided the answer.

”I am a Gourmet Sorcerer, so I am very familiar with my tools. If I’m not mistaken, this semi-circular object should be a pot.”

”Pot? A pot used for cooking?” Angel asked in surprise.

Greya shook her head: ”Although it is a pot, it’s likely not used for cooking.”

Angel looked at Greya in confusion, waiting for her to explain how she determined that this pot had nothing to do with cooking.

”Intuition.” Greya tapped her forehead: ”Though there’s no direct evidence, after using pot-like tools for so long, I can easily judge their purpose even without observing their shape. This pot, though having no obvious features, my intuition tells me—it isn’t for cooking but a refining tool.”

Refining tool? Angel seemed to have thought of something; this type of refining tool shape... ”Could it be a potion cauldron?”

”Yes, I also think it might be a potion cauldron.” Greya confirmed definitively.

The so-called potion cauldron is a specialized tool from a branch of Potionology. The potion refined by this branch is uniformly known as Witch’s Soup.

Witch’s Soup is a creation of the Gypsy School in Potionology. Generally, only witches can inherit the Witch’s Soup, and all Witch’s Soups are named not in affiliation but after the name of the witch who crafted them. For instance, Selian Witch’s Soup is crafted by Selian; Kaling Witch’s Soup is crafted by Kaling...

Greya’s clue provided great expandability.

Once it’s confirmed that this pot is indeed a cauldron for refining Witch’s Soup, it could lead to identifying some definitive clues. It indicates that someone who knows how to refine Witch’s Soup appears in this image.

”Someone related to you, who can refine Witch’s Soup.” Greya looked at Angel: ”Does anyone come to mind?”

Angel carefully recollected the women he knew, none seemed to explicitly indicate they could refine Witch’s Soup. Perhaps Lianna might? But Lianna specializes in the Scent branch. As for other female Alchemists, only the members of the Research and Development Institute like Phalina, Portia, and Kimberly from the Black Castle remain.

These are the ones whom Angel is somewhat acquainted with; there are others with no relationship or actual enmity, such as the Basket Witch or the Grafting Maniac, whom Angel doesn’t include.

But even when considering everyone, Angel knows none are proficient in Witch’s Soup.

Kimberly is a Mechanical Alchemist, with a brief period of practice, so can be excluded; Basket Witch Shalu and Grafting Maniac Dong La are Biological Alchemy enthusiasts, both can be excluded; Portia is versed in Scent, Phalina specializes in aqueous solutions... perhaps they do know some Witch’s Soup, but Angel is not well-informed.

Furthermore, Angel doesn’t think he will have any interaction with them in the near term.

”Any thoughts?” Greya asked again.

Angel shook his head: ”I know a few female Alchemists, but none seem proficient in Witch’s Soup.”

Greya shrugged: ”Then it seems this clue isn’t helpful for you at the moment. Let’s look at another clue.”

Upon finishing, Greya pointed to the lower left corner of the image.

Angel looked over and found that Greya pointed to a fragmentary land; beneath the rubble, a blood-stained boot was faintly visible.

Maybe someone was trapped under the rubble.

This clue, Angel, as the illusion creator, definitely noticed it. He also observed carefully but found nothing unusual about this boot. The only thing noteworthy was perhaps the boot’s craftsmanship was rather ancient, rough in both material and leather tanning, reminiscent of old-time methods.

Besides the boot clue, Greya also found several clues like a long-nosed animal that had fallen, along with a piece of human bone tumbling into the crevice.

These clues were quite evident, Angel had seen them as well. He even located information about the long-nosed animal; a common herbivore living in temperate regions. This animal is widely distributed, thus making it hard to ascertain its exact geographical location.

As for the piece of human bone, it’s impossible to identify, nor does it provide any clues.

Angel thought the potion cauldron might be the most useful clue; then Greya spoke: ”I’ve found something else that seems anomalous, but I’m not sure it’s a clue, you can determine that yourself.”

With that, Greya pointed to the sky in the image.

Angel looked without much expectation but saw Greya pointing not to the gigantic eye in the sky but to the skyline that appeared like blood mist or fading clouds.

This area was not identified as abnormal during Angel’s construction.

Why did Greya suddenly point here?

”Look closely, at the edge of this cloud-like area, is there a tinge that slightly differs in red?” Greya pointed to the edge of the sky.

Angel looked closely, quickly locating the spot Greya mentioned.

Yes, it’s indeed there!

The entire skyline is red, though unevenly distributed, yet this unevenness transitions with a noticeable gradient.

What Greya marked is different.

The sky’s red is crimson, slightly darkened like remnants of blood.

But the spot Greya indicated is bright red, almost fluorescently vivid.

Both are red, but transitioning from crimson to bright red with no gradient is what makes Greya’s observation peculiar!

Angel continued observing this bright red region quietly, attempting to probe the anomaly’s significance behind it.

No clues emerged initially until he gradually outlined the shape of the bright red region in his mind...