Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2208: Chapter 2209: Chasing the Trails of Clouds

When Angel heard the name Salmado, a flash of realization crossed his eyes. Not long ago, when they first entered the Wilderness of Stone, they encountered the Wind Sand Brigade, among whom was a member named Salmado.

Could it be that Arnott’s sister is a member of the Wind Sand Brigade?

Soon, Arnott confirmed it.

”A while ago, my sister met a friend from the Baya Desert. Then she told me she was going on a faraway adventure... I love adventures too. My sister could take me with her, but she didn’t. Instead, she left alone with that despicable Sand Hawk!” Arnott gritted his teeth with anger when mentioning the ”Sand Hawk.”

Hearing this, Angel was basically sure that Arnott’s sister was indeed Salmado from the Wind Sand Brigade. And the Sand Hawk traveling with her was none other than Aguado, who lit up at the mention of ”faraway.”

His sister’s departure left Arnott very sad.

Without his sister, White Cloud Village felt lonely and indifferent to him. He disliked such a life. So he made a decision to search for his sister and follow in her footsteps.

Less than twelve hours after Salmado left, Arnott flew from the heart of White Cloud Village toward the direction of the Baya Desert, hoping to catch up with his sister.

But after all, he was only an Elemental Sprite, much slower compared to an adult Elemental Creature. It wasn’t until today that he arrived at the Baya Desert.

As soon as he entered the Baya Desert, he saw the Sand Hawk flying alongside the Gondola, then remembered Aguado who ”abducted” his sister.

In his anger, he took the initiative to fight the Sand Hawk, leading to what happened next.

After Arnott finished recounting his experience, Dangross also told him about their encounter with Salmado on the journey.

For this, Angel deliberately used an Illusionary Realm to present the situation back then in front of Arnott. Upon seeing the figure of his sister, Arnott immediately understood that they were not lying to him.

Listening to Arnott muttering ”to see my sister,” Dangross sighed and put on a mature tone, saying, ”That was several days ago. Now they might... no, not might, but surely have flown out of the Region of Fire. At your speed, if you’re even one beat slower today, the accumulated distance will only grow, and you’ll probably never catch up with your sister.”

Hearing Dangross’s words, Arnott’s eyes immediately filled with overflowing water, and tears of sadness streamed down.

Angel could only present the Illusionary Realm of the encounter with the Wind Sand Brigade once again.

Upon hearing his sister Salmado’s voice once more, Arnott stopped crying and watched the scene where Angel met with the Wind Sand Brigade—

”Salmado and I have dreamed since childhood of seeing different sceneries in faraway lands. Now, we’ve finally decided to travel, so we formed a Wind Sand Brigade to tour the entire continent!”

”Would you like to join our Wind Sand Brigade? Trust me, on this long journey, we will surely gain the most beautiful scenery!”

”I must go, the faraway lands are waiting for us to conquer!”

There weren’t many words from Salmado, but Aguado’s voice filled the entire Illusionary Realm. Initially, Arnott glared angrily at Aguado in the Illusionary Realm, but later, when Aguado started gesticulating and talking about dreams, Arnott was visibly drawn in, listening to those words of longing for the ”faraway.” Arnott also remembered the deep desire hidden within its own heart.

Finally, Aguado and Salmado laughed as they embraced the unknown journey, disappearing into the distance. This scene was deeply imprinted in Arnott’s mind for a long time...

Seeing Arnott stop crying, Dangross hurriedly comforted him to prevent him from crying again later.

Listening to Dangross’s rambling, Arnott had calmed down considerably by now. It also understood that Dangross’s reasoning was correct: as long as the Wind Sand Brigade’s pace remained continuous, at its current speed, it would never catch up with his sister.

”If you really want to catch up with your sister, you can’t impulsively leave home like this. Do you know the rules of the various regions? Do you know the distribution of elements in each region? You don’t know any of this, so how do you pursue them? Just like before, in the Baya Desert, you touched a taboo. If it weren’t for encountering us at that time, you’d probably have been captured into the Sandstorm’s dungeon by now.”

”The Baya Desert is just the beginning of your journey, and you’ve already suffered misfortune. How far do you think you can fly on such a journey?”

This time, although Dangross was still nagging, Arnott listened attentively.

”Then, what should I do?” Arnott asked in confusion.

”First, you need to learn from your sister, under the guidance of The Sage, to understand the common knowledge of various places in the Tidal World. If possible, it’s best to study with sages in different regions so as not to make the mistakes you made before in the Baya Desert.”

”Also, before traveling, it’s best to find a group of like-minded companions, just like your sister, so you’re not too lonely on the road. Moreover, your individual strength and knowledge are limited; having more partners allows pooling of wisdom and mutual supervision.”

”Lastly, you also need to have strength...”

Dangross seemed to speak wisely giving these suggestions, but in fact, it was all made up on the spot. It didn’t know if it was right or wrong, just wanted to bluff Arnott, making him temporarily give up chasing his sister and follow them back to White Cloud Village for further study. This way, they could smoothly connect with Gentle Breeze, thanks to Arnott’s relationship.

Dangross’s words really left Arnott dazed.

When Arnott accepted Dangross’s initial warning, it instinctively believed everything that followed was correct.

Indeed, he shouldn’t head out without any preparation. If he encountered a situation like the Baya Desert again, not only would he fail to follow in his sister’s footsteps, but he himself would probably be lost as well.

The more he listened, the more rational Arnott found it.

So, faced with Dangross’s suggestion to return to White Cloud Village first to ”accumulate knowledge,” Arnott no longer resisted.

Seeing Arnott was convinced, Dangross immediately began a new round of inquiries about the current situation in White Cloud Village.

Arnott candidly shared all he knew.

In summary, everything was calm.

Though Arnott wasn’t fond of the other wind-element beings in White Cloud Village, he had to admit it was very peaceful, with hardly any strict rules, unlike the Baya Desert where conflicts could erupt suddenly.

Which means that other Sages’ evaluations of White Cloud Village and Lord Gentle Breeze were correct, and Angel shouldn’t face too much trouble when he gets there.

Even so, ever since Dangross previously set some sort of expectation, Angel had developed a bad premonition about the path ahead.

Let’s hope everything is as peaceful as Arnott said.

Considering Arnott hadn’t left the heart of White Cloud Village too long, nothing should have gone wrong in such a short time. Angel temporarily set aside the vague unease in his heart.

”Let’s continue the journey.” Angel started the Gondola, speeding towards the Green Wilderness.

”What about my little Peter Pan?” A small voice came out from the sandy cage at this moment.

Angel could hear the tremor in Arnott’s voice. If he really refused, Arnott would probably burst into tears again. Angel, intending not to deceive the child, directly used the Power of Nightmare Illusion, reactivating the floating Illusion Node around Arnott, letting it fall once again into Peter Pan’s Neverland.

Dangross saw Arnott fall into the Illusionary Realm and immediately rushed to Angel’s hand, holding onto his finger, looking at him with expectant eyes.

Dangross’s earlier misleading of Arnott could be considered a contribution.

Angel thought for a while and acquiesced to its wish, setting it up with a Peter Pan series marathon.

As both Dangross and Arnott stayed in a ”dazed” state, the Gondola, under full speed, shot into the bounds of the green plains like an arrow leaving the string.

Upon stepping into the range of the green plains, Angel immediately felt a sense of comfort.

Since coming to the Tidal World, he had witnessed scorched earth, wastelands, and deserts, all extreme environments where only the corresponding Elemental Life would enjoy staying, unsuitable for humans to thrive.

But the green plains were different, filled with lush vegetation and ample water vapor, with streams and lakes frequently in sight.

Most importantly, the green plains nurtured many Wood Creatures. The wood element, on the elemental side, is an exceptionally unique presence; wizards who cultivate it are called Nature Witches, and nature signifies endless vitality.

So, when stepping into the green plains environment, Angel could sense a vast and vigorous vitality.

This vitality didn’t carry a sense of aggression, like a gentle, soothing hand, wiping away the fatigue.

For this reason, Angel felt very comfortable within the green plains.

Having witnessed the vibrant energy of the green plains, Angel began to anticipate the future destination of the ”Green Forest Domain.” Knowing that most life in the plains belongs to the grass element, a branch of wood creatures; the forest domain is the true home of wood creatures, similar to the Region of Fire, encapsulating the main stream of wood elementals.

The vitality of the green plains was so abundant that Angel imagined the Green Forest Domain wouldn’t be inferior to it.

Amidst Angel’s musings, he continued to pilot the Gondola forward.

He actually already saw many Wood Creatures below but didn’t intend to go down and talk with them yet. Following Dangross’s earlier suggestion, since White Cloud Village and the green plains were mutual allies, it would be fine to have His Highness Softwind transfer the drama shadow box to His Highness Prosperity later.

Now, his most important and anticipated task was to first meet His Highness Softwind.

According to Mr. Magu, Softwind Uranos was one of the three Elemental Life forms that had interacted most with Feng. Perhaps, through it, Angel could learn of Feng’s deeds and the secrets he hid within the Tidal World.

With this in mind, Angel was even less willing to delay, setting his target straight toward White Cloud Village.

Finding the heart of White Cloud Village wasn’t actually hard. According to The Sage Platinum’s advice, one only had to look for ”clouds” to find the direction.

Wherever there were more clouds, fly that way. The densest cluster of clouds would be the core of White Cloud Village—Wind Island.

The green plains’ environment made the sky above crystal clear, so following the cloud trails proved no challenge.

Angel followed the ”cloud path,” continuously flying toward the densely clouded areas.

After an hour of flying in the Gondola, Angel stopped above a cloud deck swirled in mist.

He hadn’t reached Wind Island yet; he stopped because he sensed something felt off.

Throughout the journey, he encountered no obstructions. This seemed a bit odd, yet feasible to explain, for instance: With White Cloud Village’s wind elementals under His Highness Softwind’s rule, they might not be like Baya Desert with layered defenses.

No obstruction, that could be explained. But another matter was hard to reconcile.

He hadn’t encountered a single wind elemental the entire way, and that felt strange.

Or perhaps all wind elementals lived around Wind Island? This didn’t match what The Sage Platinum mentioned... Although Platinum didn’t explicitly state it, its words suggested that wind elementals lived within clouds, meaning once in the cloud range, he should encounter them.

But on this cloud path journey, Angel hadn’t met a single wind elemental.

Could it be, he was simply unlucky, consistently avoiding them?

Angel pondered this, looking down at the two small beings on the table.

He reached out and dismissed the Illusion Nodes surrounding Dangross and Arnott.

As Dangross exclaimed and Arnott remained puzzled, Angel said, ”The Peter Pan tale, let’s pause it for now and pick it up later... I feel something’s off about White Cloud Village.”

Angel’s words made Dangross sit upright immediately, and Arnott’s near-tears expression froze.

Is something wrong with White Cloud Village?

Angel briefly explained the situation he encountered, looking intently at Arnott, hoping to obtain specific information from it.

After listening to Angel, Arnott’s eyes also displayed a hint of confusion.

Arnott: ”No, as long as it’s within the green plains, every cloud has wind elemental life.”

Angel: ”Then why didn’t I encounter any?”

Arnott also felt puzzled, looking around: ”I think I do smell kindred spirits’ scent, but it’s faint. Can you let me out first?”

Arnott was currently confined in a sand prison, unable to see their exact location.

”I don’t know how to undo the sand prison, so let’s do this: I’ll fly you with the prison outside, and you’ll have a clearer look.”

It was simple for Angel to undo the sand prison, but he couldn’t guarantee Arnott had genuinely repented. Moreover, having the sand prison present would serve as proof of Arnott’s misconduct in Baya Desert when they met Softwind Uranos.

Unaware of Angel’s capabilities, Arnott believed his reasoning.

Angel, using the Hand of Magic, deployed a technique to prevent energy dissipation and lifted the sand prison.

With a light step, Angel landed on the cloud with the sand prison.

”How about now?”