Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2117: Chapter 2118: Repairs Complete

As soon as the assistants gathered, Regina couldn’t wait to open the Alchemy Workshop.

The doors of the Alchemy Workshop were ajar, and the smell of earth wafted out. Regina felt no discomfort, and she was the first to step inside after pushing the door open. The eight assistants followed her into the workshop.

The large laboratory instantly became empty.

Angel turned around, intending to leave, but before he stepped out of the laboratory, he heard someone calling him.

Turning back, he saw Regina, who had first entered the Alchemy Workshop, now inexplicably stepping out again and leaning against the doorframe to look at him.

”Lady Regina, is there something you need?” Angel asked in confusion.

Regina waved her hand: ”Nothing, really. It’s just, I suddenly forgot about something. I’m not sure how long the experiment will last, so before it starts, I wanted to tell you the situation.”

Regina paused, then continued: ”Last time when you contacted me, Portia spoke with you alone later. It was likely about Enchantment, correct?”

Angel nodded: ”Yes, Lady Portia consulted me about certain special Magic Patterns.”

”And how did you respond to her?” Regina quietly stared at Angel, the fatigue on her face suddenly disappearing.

”The Magic Pattern information she asked about is quite obscure. I haven’t found any useful information yet.” Angel was telling the truth; he really hadn’t found anything useful.

Regina pondered for a moment: ”It’s good you haven’t. I hope you don’t find anything in the future either.”

After Regina finished speaking, she noticed Angel’s calm and undisturbed gaze. She realized, ”You already know what she intends to do, don’t you?”

Angel: ”I’ve guessed a bit.”

Regina: ”Since you’ve guessed, you should know that what she intends to do is extremely dangerous. I came over here to tell you that you should not assist her.”

Regina sighed and continued: ”Portia is a much more outstanding Alchemist than I am, and in the Research and Development Institute, she is the person I trust the most. Because of this, I’m aware of many things about her... The more outstanding someone is, the more they feel the pressure and the urgency to break through their limitations, which has led her astray.”

Regina: ”Life Alchemy is extremely dangerous. You’d better not help her, and definitely don’t get involved, or you might fall into the abyss.”

Angel could see that Regina had no hidden intentions; she sincerely advised him not to help Portia, which was what she could do as Portia’s friend.

Angel was silent for a moment, then nodded: ”I understand. However, if Lady Portia doesn’t find a breakthrough here with me, she will look elsewhere. When determined, clues will eventually be found.”

Regina rubbed her temples, troubled: ”That’s exactly what I’m worried about right now.”

”Have you thought of telling Dean Muse?” Angel asked.

Regina sighed: ”I haven’t mentioned it yet, but there’s no need to; they probably already know Portia’s intentions.”

The fact that Angel quickly guessed Portia’s involvement in the field of Life Alchemy was actually because Nail Granny had mentioned something similar before. If Nail Granny could guess, it’s impossible Dean Muse wouldn’t know.

”Although Life Alchemy is a forbidden field, it’s not absolutely banned. If the higher-ups of the Research and Development Institute intervene, it might even intensify Portia’s thoughts, so I agree with the current hands-off approach.”

”There’s no other way for now; we can only hope she can’t find any information related to Life Alchemy for the time being. Hopefully, during this dragged-out time, she might gain other insights.” Regina said this and looked at Angel: ”No matter what, I hope you won’t dance to Portia’s tune.”

Angel: ”Naturally.”

Although it was just a verbal promise, Regina believed in Angel. After all, Angel was excessively young, with a long time to find the right path, unlike Portia, who was taking the wrong route.

”As long as you understand. I won’t say more. I’ll go study the Mysterious Fluorescence, hoping to get results soon.” Regina nodded to Angel and walked back into the Alchemy Workshop with a heart full of emotions.

Angel stood still for a moment, then turned to leave.

...

The following days were unusually calm. Rhein and Tree Spirit hadn’t come to find him, seemingly still digesting the impact of the Dream Conch.

Ironclad Granny and Lianna remained absorbed in the novelty of the Wilderness of Dreams, each conducting different observations in their own way.

Only Wallace had come to see him, with the intention of asking Angel for several more monocles.

He seemed to have taken a stand against virtual Magic Power research and planned to bring several apprentices into experiments using virtual Magic Power to overcome the obstacles of learning Tricks in reality.

Although Angel hadn’t planned to fully open access, giving away a few monocles wasn’t an issue.

After Wallace left satisfied, another person came to see him. And this person was ”Redemption of the Dead” Nis.

Little old man Nis had noticed that everyone at the Star Pond Ruins had been engrossed in the monocle. Curious about its effects but unable to borrow one from anyone, he had been itching with curiosity for days. So, he came to Angel hoping to solve the problem at its source.

Facing Nis’s wheedling expression, Angel didn’t hesitate and directly handed him a monocle.

Initially, the five monocles Angel had Tree Spirit bring to the Star Pond Ruins had included one for Nis. What Angel hadn’t expected was that Lianna had been at the Star Pond Ruins at the time, taking Nis’s place.

Since Angel had originally intended to let Nis enter the Wilderness of Dreams, he naturally wouldn’t refuse now. Moreover, Nis had lent him Insercott’s notes, a favor Angel hadn’t forgotten.

Nis took the monocle joyfully and ran back to the Star Pond Ruins. After a round of bragging, he too entered the Wilderness of Dreams.

Thus, yet another person was added to the immersion at the Star Pond Ruins.

Over the past few days, Angel spent most of his time deciphering Magic Patterns. After learning that the Magic Patterns used the Wenluns Sequence Method and Bailuoka Encryption, his decoding speed increased significantly.

Originally, he thought it would take a week to complete the deciphering, but in reality, it only took him five days.

At this very moment, Angel finally managed to complete the fragmented Magic Pattern on parchment paper.

Now, he only had one final task left: to inscribe the complete Magic Pattern onto the Knight’s armor.

The key element in completing the Magic Pattern wasn’t the pattern itself, but the Blood Ink needed for inscribing it. If the Blood Ink didn’t match the Magic Pattern itself, the repair wouldn’t progress.

Angel carefully sniffed the crimson bloodstains on the Knight’s armor, muttering to himself, ”It seems like blood ink made from the prefrontal blood of a cerebellum whale?”

To confirm his suspicions, Angel scraped off a bit of the blood-colored powder from the damaged magic pattern.

He then placed this blood-colored powder into a vial etched with a response magic pattern, conducting a light reception reaction. As the blood ink powder was activated by the response magic pattern, the vial immediately flickered with a yellowish-green light, forming concentric circles of ripples.

”It is indeed the prefrontal blood of a cerebellum whale.”

Angel was about to note down the spectral pattern when he noticed that at the last moment, the yellowish-green light suddenly turned dazzling white.

Though it was only for a second, Angel managed to capture it.

”Could it be mixed blood ink?” Angel questioned in surprise, ”The dazzling white light afterward should be... sample 1108 display.”

Angel quickly took out the ”Blood Ink Response Atlas,” flipping to the page corresponding to sample 1108. On the smooth book page was clearly recorded a line of words: Blood from under the fin of the near-sea white-finned whale.

”It is indeed mixed blood ink,” Angel thought with relief. It was fortunate that he had conducted the blood ink response experiment, as relying on experience alone might have led him to incorrectly identify it as just prefrontal blood of a cerebellum whale.

From the light reception pattern observed earlier, it seemed prefrontal blood of a cerebellum whale was the main blood, with just a small amount of fin blood from the near-sea white-finned whale added as a secondary element. However, even a minimal effect from the secondary element was necessary, as its absence would mean that the blood ink would not meet the standard of the damaged magic pattern on the Knight’s armor, ultimately failing to properly unlock the hidden room, even if repaired successfully.

With this in mind, Angel started preparing to concoct new blood ink.

Unlike the nearly extinct prefrontal blood of a cerebellum whale, the current population of near-sea white-finned whales was abundant, making it easy to obtain their blood.

He recalled that Promy Alchemy Shop should have some in stock.

Indeed, after inquiring with Baruba, it was confirmed that there was a portion in stock. Angel immediately sent Baruba back to the Barbarian Cave to retrieve well-preserved fin blood from the near-sea white-finned whale.

With all materials prepared, Angel began the concoction.

About two hours later, a bottle of brand-new blood ink appeared in Angel’s hand. Based on feedback during the concoction, Angel could ascertain that the effect of this blood ink was to enhance the energy-bearing capacity of the ocean system.

This didn’t imply that the repaired damaged magic pattern was related to the water system; rather, it suggested that the person etching the magic pattern might be an Ocean Mage.

An Ocean Mage using this blood ink for etching would achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Of course, it was also possible that the person etching the magic pattern wasn’t an Ocean Mage but merely used a random blood ink due to the lack of alternatives.

After all, unless it was for repairing magic patterns or certain special patterns, blood ink was generally versatile in the etching of magic patterns.

Angel did not speculate whether the creator of the ruins was an Ocean Mage, as it wasn’t important anyway. This ruin was essentially confirmed to originate from the Outer Domain and was unrelated to the oceanic lineage of the Southern Domain Wizard World.

After concocting the blood ink, Angel carefully proceeded to repair the magic pattern.

To ensure no mistakes were made, Angel took every step slowly. Yet despite this, he successfully repaired the magic pattern in less than half a day.

As a radiance flashed, the magic pattern on the Knight’s armor began to shine brightly.

This extremely unique short-range teleportation magic pattern had now entered a pre-heated state. As soon as Angel input a bit of energy, it could formally activate and transport him to the hidden room, whose true appearance remained unknown.

However, Angel did not immediately activate the magic pattern.

No one knew what might be inside the hidden room; whether there would be danger or if the Alchemist who originally occupied it had never left... Therefore, to be safe, Angel decided against rushing in.

He went to the ruin’s door and summoned the Tree Spirit through its avatar.

Soon, the Tree Spirit, emitting a white light, emerged from the tree trunk, ”I was watching a match, and suddenly you called for me, what’s up?”

”A match?” Angel paused, surprised.

”At the Stone Pillar Colosseum, two Demon Hunters were dueling; I must say the power system of Demon Hunters is quite interesting. Currently, they seem to be more effective than virtual magic power, and judging by their combat performance, it appears they haven’t reached their limit yet,” the Tree Spirit remarked.

After expressing his admiration, the Tree Spirit turned his attention to Angel. He was comfortably situated in the Wilderness of Dreams, unsure why Angel suddenly called him back to reality. The one-way glasses have a limited number of logins, and while others have used only a few, he was close to exhausting his hundredth login.

Angel: ”I wonder if Lord Reine is currently...”

The Tree Spirit waved his hand, giving Angel a meaningful look, ”He’s in seclusion pondering, and unless he’s figured it out, it’s difficult for him to emerge. You should know what he’s contemplating.”

The Dream Conch had stimulated Reine, and surely he was reflecting on the Dream Conch, the Wilderness of Dreams, and the future development of the Barbarian Cave.

”If there’s anything you need, you can tell me. Although I’m not completely out from it, I’m certainly in a better condition compared to Reine,” the Tree Spirit said proudly, raising his chin. However, he suddenly stopped as if realizing something, and his smug expression vanished, replaced by a look of nervousness as he gazed at Angel: ”You aren’t about to drop another bombshell, are you? The Wilderness of Dreams and the Dream Conch are enough; I can’t handle anything more at the moment.”

The Tree Spirit, halfway through his boast, remembered he was dealing with Angel and knew that if another major announcement was made, he might end up shutting down like Reine.

The Tree Spirit was genuinely alarmed. Though the news Angel brought was always fantastic, even excellent news needed time for digestion...

Seeing the complicated expression on the Tree Spirit’s face, Angel pondered for a moment. The matter of the hidden room could be seen as a significant development from a certain perspective.

However, since it had been hinted at for quite a while, the Tree Spirit probably wouldn’t be too shocked, right?

With this in mind, Angel finally spoke, ”It’s about the hidden room, the damaged magic pattern on the Knight’s armor. I’ve already repaired it...”

After listening to Angel, the Tree Spirit let out a slight sigh of relief.

Although the hidden room was considered major news, the Tree Spirit thought that it was a trivial matter compared to the Wilderness of Dreams and the Dream Conch.

Yet, despite being seemingly trivial, its significance was extraordinary.

There could be hidden secrets within the hidden room, possibly even information related to the Star Pond Ruins.

Considering this, the Tree Spirit didn’t hesitate to say, ”I’ll go with you!”