Warlock Apprentice

As he walked into the corridor of the ruins again, it was still pitch black, with the path ahead unseen.

Although Angel could see in the dark, the long road shrouded in darkness still gave rise to a sense of unease.

He remembered that Tree Spirit had mentioned before, there were candleholders on the walls... Angel slowly turned his gaze toward the direction of the walls and indeed saw wall-mounted candleholders surrounded by black grilles.

In the darkness, Angel’s eyes emitted a faint glimmer, and a flame ignited within the candleholder.

As the first flame lit, it was as if a mysterious mechanism was activated; subsequently, all the candleholders in the corridor were lit. Every five meters, a candleholder illuminated, lighting up the entire corridor.

”A linked mechanism?” Angel murmured softly, not thinking too much before he began to walk forward.

After Angel walked about a hundred steps, he slightly furrowed his brows. He hadn’t noticed earlier, but upon entering the corridor, he sensed something amiss.

The direction of the airflow was unusual.

Angel was very sensitive to environmental changes, and before stepping into the corridor, he hadn’t felt any airflow ahead. Yet, as he walked forward, it seemed as if there was a vent deep in the corridor, gradually blowing a gentle breeze toward him.

Though the wind wasn’t strong, it gave the illusion that there was an exit ahead.

Although Angel felt something was off, he didn’t halt his steps; instead, he walked faster. According to his thinking, if it was indeed an illusion, continuing forward would reveal the truth.

Tap, tap, tap—

The sound of footsteps echoed in the narrow corridor. Perhaps due to the excessive silence or the confined space causing echoes, as Angel walked, he seemed to hear multiple footsteps overlapping.

This oppressive atmosphere persisted for ten minutes.

”This is peculiar,” Angel halted his steps, a thought flashing in his mind.

According to the information obtained from Tree Spirit, passing through the corridor would lead to the central laboratory of the ruins. He had walked several miles down this corridor yet hadn’t arrived at the laboratory, which was obviously suspicious.

He didn’t believe there was something eerie or that other transcendent life had intervened in the ruins, especially since Tree Spirit said it hadn’t been opened since being sealed, which undoubtedly had its reasons. He suspected the peculiarity stemmed from perhaps activating some mechanism within the ruins.

Having mechanisms in the ruins was quite normal. However, if it truly was a mechanism, how did he trigger it?

Unable to comprehend it immediately, Angel decided to continue walking a bit further to see if he could find any clues.

Walking another few hundred steps, Angel discovered another odd point: the airflow ahead was becoming more intense.

Did this mean he was closer to the vent?

Was he approaching the end? With this doubt, Angel walked forward again. After two more minutes, Angel saw the so-called ”vent.”

A tightly closed door.

Angel gazed at this door, paused for a moment, then walked forward and gently pushed.

Upon the door being pushed open, it revealed a well-lit area.

Outside the door was a vast wilderness, nearby he could see the large tree Angel had previously obscured with Nightmare Illusion. Clearly, this was the entrance to the ruins.

Instead of finding the endpoint, he had taken a large detour back to the entrance.

The entire journey lacked danger, aligning with what Tree Spirit had mentioned earlier. Hence, through this bizarre roundabout, Angel became more certain that he had triggered some mechanism.

But, how did he trigger it? Why hadn’t Tree Spirit warned him earlier? Was it intentionally trying to see him make a fool of himself?

While Angel stood at the doorway, contemplating quietly, his gaze inadvertently fell on the candleholder on the wall.

Inside the black grille was a tray with patterns, the tray filled with specially crafted lamp oil that could burn for hundreds of years.

”Candleholder... was it because of the candleholder?” Angel suddenly recalled something; upon entering the ruins, he had only interacted with the candleholder.

Moreover, once the candleholder was lit, all candleholders immediately illuminated, clearly indicating a linked mechanism. This linked mechanism might be the main reason for his ”roundabout.”

The more Angel thought, the more he felt his suspicion was correct. Furthermore, he remembered Tree Spirit had once said: ”There are candleholders on the wall that can be lit. But I don’t think it’s necessary.”

Tree Spirit’s words were meant to dissuade Angel from lighting the candleholders.

In other words, if the candleholders were not lit, this mechanism wouldn’t be triggered?

Angel wasn’t certain whether his assumption was accurate, but he decided to test it.

He approached the initial candleholder, extended his hand with a sweep, and the flaming light vanished. As the fire diminished in the candleholder, all other candleholder flames also vanished, returning the corridor to pitch-black darkness.

Angel decided this time not to do anything unnecessary, nor use the Light Spell, simply to move forward, shrouded in darkness.

This time, after Angel took more than ten steps, he clearly sensed a difference from before.

He didn’t sense any airflow ahead, meaning he hadn’t stepped into the former ”strange cycle,” and was truly moving forward.

It appeared his assumption was correct. As Angel pondered silently, suddenly, he saw a shadow ahead.

He abruptly halted and stared keenly. With the faint glow and night vision ability, he could clearly see a standing silhouette ahead.

Was it a person? But Tree Spirit had said no one had entered here in hundreds of years?

Though Angel was puzzled in his heart, he didn’t stop his steps; instead, he quickened his pace, wanting to see what that silhouette truly was.

As Angel approached the silhouette, he could clearly sense there wasn’t any trace of a living aura around, and the silhouette wasn’t moving.

In other words, it was either a lifeless object or an undead.

As Angel came near the silhouette, he finally confirmed its truth.

It was merely a full-body Knight armor deliberately placed in a human form.

There was no trace of transcendence on the armor; it seemed to merely be an ordinary object. However, the armor’s texture was odd, seemingly not made of metal.

Though Angel couldn’t discern what material the armor was made of, he didn’t delve further as his attention was wholly captivated by something else.

At the very center of the breastplate, a faint blood pattern was easily visible.

This blood pattern seemed to be drawn with some sort of paint, lacking energy feedback. It captivated Angel’s attention simply because he was too familiar with this pattern.

A Magic Pattern, and it was an Alchemy Magic Pattern!

However, it was merely a broken Magic Pattern, without any assembly, simply depicting a corner of some Magic Pattern on the breastplate.

Moreover, the depicted Magic Pattern corner wasn’t connected, as if an apprentice learning Magic Patterns was recording the significance of each Magic Tattoo Horn.