Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2444: Chapter 2445: The Birth of Mystery

”This kind of good luck seems even greater than Reynaud’s situation.” Angel said in surprise.

”No need to compare, my story isn’t finished yet.” The Observer, perhaps having gone a long time without normal social interactions, was eager to continue now that he found someone to talk to.

”When you hear the story up to this point, does it sound like a perfect story of turning one’s life around?”

Angel nodded; transforming from destitute to a wealthy tycoon family could indeed be called a reversal of fortune.

”But, this story isn’t truly perfect.”

”Oh?”

”The only perfection belonged to Charles’ family, but Charles himself was the single blemish.”

The Observer continued, revealing more truths about the story to Angel.

As the Observer mentioned, luck did exist but it did not extend to Charles. He was not fortunate; from the moment of his birth, misfortune started to follow him.

Even in swaddling clothes, Charles suffered from parental negligence, either falling off the bed or being scalded by boiling water.

These were mere minor misfortunes. Yet, as Charles grew, more misfortune befell him.

His wickedly venomous elder sister, married out of the family, would often steal food from him when Charles’ parents were farming. To prevent Charles from speaking out, she even forced him to drink juices of a paralytic herb. When their parents returned, thinking Charles had eaten, they wouldn’t give him more. Over time, Charles lost his ability to speak clearly, reduced to skin and bones from starvation.

Later, when the second sister learned of these deeds, she not only did not assist Charles but joined in cahoots. As Charles became emaciated, they maliciously accused him, saying he was cursed by the Divine, an unwanted outcast.

During this period, social stratification intensified, elite classes manipulated from behind the scenes, leading to pervasive illiteracy and anti-intellectual sentiment among the poor, with religion as the only authority outside the royal family. Charles’ parents, victims themselves of anti-intellectualism, easily believed the daughters’ words, estranging their own son Charles ever more.

Due to encountering several strokes of luck, the elder and second sisters further spread rumors that this divine favor came from disowning Charles.

Charles remained in his family as the despised one, while others grew ever luckier by freely tormenting him.

The humiliation piled upon Charles, paired with his deeply ingrained inferiority, meant he couldn’t resist nor even understand the term ”dignity.”

And thus a longer vicious cycle began.

Over a decade of abuse rendered his family’s luck utterly overwhelming.

The elder sister, vicious and cunning, noticed many details over the years. For instance, whenever she traveled far, her luck vanished, even at home if Charles wasn’t nearby, her luck returned to normal levels.

Though the elder sister didn’t know of the Transcendent, she realized vaguely that their good fortune was likely linked to Charles.

Yet, even understanding some truths indirectly, she did not treat Charles better, instead worsened the situation, treating him as livestock and imprisoning him.

While claiming ’divine grace’, she manipulated their parents into utterly revering her. Despite initial disbelief, with time she convinced even herself, growing ever harsher towards Charles.

The Observer paused here, asking Angel, ”At this point, what do you think the ending is?”

”If following a script’s template, Charles’ family surely faces a backlash, ending tragically.” Angel smirked, adding, ”Yet my first Mentor taught me fairy tales need only their first half read; usually the author’s first-hand experiences shared, with later developments woven dreams patching reality’s regrets. Scripts akin to fairy tales merely please readers’ preferences; the true ending lies beneath the facade of... tragedy.”

The Observer nodded, ”Your Mentor was right, but whether tragic or fairy-like, it depends on your perspective. If experienced as Charles’ family, it is clearly a fairy tale. If as Charles, then the opposite.”

”Because Charles’ ultimate ending, as you mentioned, isn’t pleasant.”

In the elder sister’s scheming, Charles ended up isolated, dying from an infected whipping wound unnoticed, in a corner of their lush household’s dog cage.

As for Charles’ family, they did not face severe retribution.

Only shortly after Charles’ death did a cloud of misfortune briefly linger. Eventually, after discarding his body in the cemetery pit beyond town, the misfortune naturally dissipated.

However, with Charles gone, their absurd good luck also vanished, leaving them with normal fortune, which mattered little since their wealth deepened, even buying nobility titles; provided they don’t sabotage themselves, their legacy shall endure.

”Is this the story’s end? Quite a truthful one,” Angel remarked, ”but surely there’s more to it?”

The Observer smiled, nodding, ”Indeed, Charles’ tale has ended, yet his influence profoundly affected, even leading to a Legendary Wizard’s encirclement, compelled to adapt hopelessly to an item of chaos and losing his life.”

”Guess why that happened?”

Angel pondered deeply.

His thoughts not on the question, but the story reminded him of another matter.

Lucas’ Lies.

Lucas wove numerous falsities into a journal, depicting absurd tales like tears forming a Sea of Flowers, eternal clear waters in Devil’s Sea, towering terrifying Island Spirits, glowing Wish Tree... all initially untrue and non-existent.

Yet after Lucas’ death, these lies materialized one by one. Although some barely manifested, they are still astonishing.

After thorough investigations, Angel confirmed the truth.

Lies remained lies, but through Lucas’ lips became reality. And Lucas’ lips bore not any ”prophetic” talent, but... a Mysterious Object.

Lucas’ case and Charles’ story, while unsubstantial, shared hidden parallels.

Pondering these disparate events, an answer quietly surfaced in Angel’s mind: ”Is it a Mysterious Object?”

The Observer raised an eyebrow: ”Your intuition is sharp. Yes, it is a Mysterious Object.”

The Observer continued with Charles’ story, though this one no longer concerned him, rather after his death.

After Charles died, his body quickly decayed, and suppressed misfortune began to dwell in the cemetery.

Anyone who entered the cemetery area found themselves afflicted with misfortune upon leaving, ranging from minor losses of wealth to severe instances of death.

The locals thus called it the ”Misfortune Cemetery.”

The cemetery’s reputation grew; a Wizard Family went to investigate but failed to retrieve any Apprentice sent therein. Reporting to nearby Wizard Organizations, they assumed any relation of misfortune to Cursed Wizards, dispatching a branch to handle it.

Thereby, a Cursed Wizard was sent to the Misfortune Cemetery for examination.

Cursed Wizards are a special category of wizard in the West Continent Wizard World. They are barely considered part of the prophecy system, but they are not Prophet Wizards and do not explore fate. Instead, they hide behind fate, manipulating misfortune.

Everything related to misfortune and curses is their forte.

Yet, a Cursed Wizard who has long been accompanied by misfortune and curses could not withstand the misfortunes of the Misfortune Cemetery and ultimately ended in death.

This caused an uproar among the Cursed Wizards. Many went to investigate.

Then they discovered that no Cursed Wizard could ward off the misfortunes of the Misfortune Cemetery. This misfortune even exceeded the limitations of the rules, akin to an unreasonable fundamental logic flaw where mere contact inevitably brings bad luck.

The more powerful the Cursed Wizard, the easier they find death in the Misfortune Cemetery.

Later, this matter reached the Origin World, and after a large number of Legendary Wizards went to investigate, it was eventually confirmed that the cemetery’s shroud of misfortune was caused by a mysterious object.

Due to the misfortune, the mysterious power was concealed, hence it wasn’t discovered immediately.

A Mystic Hunter from the Orderly Guild unearthed the mysterious object from the soil and finally confirmed its presence.

”And this mysterious object, you probably already guessed, comes from Charles. It’s a small circular bone fragment that fell after his skull cracked.”

”The emergence of this circular bone fragment led many Legendary Wizards to act. Previously mentioned was a Legendary Wizard forced into a disordered rhythm because he obtained the fragment and was besieged. Helplessly, he decided to go all out and entered the disordered rhythm of other chaotic objects with the fragment.”

”Unfortunately, he was captured by the disordered rhythm, but the fragment remained.”

”Later, this bone fragment was acquired by a Level 5 Cursed Wizard. This wizard is on good terms with the Orderly Guild and is also a registered Mystic Hunter. He handed the fragment over to our Orderly Guild for a period of study.”

At this point, the Observer mentioned an off-topic comment.

——The Orderly Guild can analyze the effects of mysterious objects at a minimal cost. If you acquire a mysterious object and are unclear about its effect, you can hand it to the Orderly Guild for analysis.

The Observer also kindly suggested to Angel that if he acquires a mysterious object in the future, he could seek help from the Orderly Guild’s technical personnel for analysis. Mentioning his name would lower the cost significantly.

Angel used a smile to replace his response.

He believed the Observer might mean well, but once he handed a mysterious object to the Orderly Guild for analysis, he would inevitably bear the corresponding cost. For instance, the analyzed mysterious object would certainly be recorded by the Orderly Guild; also, his own background would be uncovered by the Guild.

No matter how objective and fair the Orderly Guild is, one cannot withstand the change of human thoughts. If someone harbors malicious intentions and his background is known, it would place him in a very perilous situation.

Skipping this topic, the Observer continued.

”After the Orderly Guild’s research, Charles’s bone fragment was ultimately named: Misfortune Coin.”

”As for the effect of the Misfortune Coin, it remains consistent with the situation encountered by Charles initially.”

Angel: ”The holder will cause misfortune?”

The Observer nodded: ”Yes, the Misfortune Coin can only be held by humans, and whoever holds the Misfortune Coin will continue to be unlucky, and this misfortune increases over time.”

”Correspondingly, once someone holds the Misfortune Coin, the luck of other people around them will improve. The better your luck, the worse the luck of the coin holder.”

This means that the degree of misfortune increases in two ways: first, the longer the holding time, the deeper the misfortune; second, the greater the fortune gained by other people nearby, the stronger the misfortune of the holder.

At first glance, this appears to be a mysterious object that sacrifices oneself to benefit the masses. Used properly, it seems rather admirable.

But in reality, one must consider many factors, such as the holder’s strength.

The outcome of misfortune backlash will ultimately be death. If the holder’s strength is insufficient, they may die within seconds.

It’s even more impossible to allow ordinary people to hold the Misfortune Coin while transcendent beings enjoy the fortune.

For a transcendent to gain fortune, it must be a being of the same level receiving the misfortune’s punishment.

This restriction significantly reduces the value of the Misfortune Coin. After all, many users of the Misfortune Coin are Legendary Wizards, and to enjoy the blessings of luck, another Legendary Wizard must hold it. No Legendary Wizard would willingly hold the Misfortune Coin...

”Furthermore, once the Misfortune Coin isn’t held, it’ll form a thousand-meter range of misfortune field.”

”This misfortune field, similar to the situation at the Misfortune Cemetery, afflicts anyone who enters it with bad luck, the stronger the person, the worse their luck.”

Overall, while the Misfortune Coin has good effects, it has many restrictions and can rarely be put to use.

Currently, the Misfortune Coin is housed by the Orderly Guild. Of course, the Orderly Guild only possesses containment rights and partial usage rights—the actual ownership still belongs to that Level 5 Cursed Wizard.

...

After listening to the Observer’s story, Angel seemed to vaguely understand the Observer’s intended message.

”Are you suggesting Reynaud’s situation might be similar to Charles?”

Observer: ”I’m just speculating, purely personal intuition, without evidence.”

”So now, if Reynaud were to die, would a mysterious object be born from his corpse?” Angel mumbled in a low voice.

The Observer waved his hand: ”It’s not as simple as you think. Although Reynaud appears to have a Luck Talent, it’s actually not very apparent and is somewhat different from Charles’s situation.”

Reynaud’s luck isn’t particularly strong, just within a reasonable range of luck.

If it were truly strong, Reynaud wouldn’t have been quickly defeated in the New Star Competition, but rather would’ve triumphed, reaching the top directly.

Moreover, over a decade ago, Reynaud escaped from the laboratory, and if he were really lucky, he wouldn’t have been captured back.

Evidently, his luck isn’t as powerful as imagined.

”If his luck were really as apparent as Charles’s, then it would be easy to confirm. Right now, it’s still difficult to say, perhaps he’s just lucky?”

”Furthermore, if Reynaud were killed, it doesn’t necessarily result in the birth of a mysterious object. After all, I’ve never heard of anyone creating a mysterious object by killing a being with a special talent.”

”What I’m telling you is merely a direction for thinking, a possibility. It’s not an absolute answer.”

”As for mysterious objects, aside from those refined by humans, let them naturally come into being.”