Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 3249: Chapter 3250: Red Cat Ears

There is one more point that Laplace is very concerned about.

What about the effect of the blessing?

Wasn’t the blessing supposed to increase the taste of the food? Why does it smell so bad instead?

Laplace isn’t the only one with the same question. Luigi couldn’t help but ask, ”Why is it like this? What happened to the effect of the blessing?”

Angel calmly replied, ”The effect of the blessing didn’t take effect.”

”Didn’t take effect?” Luigi looked puzzled. Why?

”No need to be surprised.” Angel explained calmly, ”There was a small mistake while constructing the Psychic Model, and the energy output was delayed by 0.1 seconds.”

”In short, it failed.”

Angel emphasized one more thing: ”It was the casting that failed, not the culinary creation.”

Upon hearing this, Luigi roughly understood. Angel’s casting failed, so the blessing effect didn’t work, which made sense.

Moreover, Angel is an Illusionist Wizard, so there’s a probability of failure when casting abilities from other branches, which also makes sense.

The only thing that puzzled Luigi was that, if he remembered correctly, wasn’t Magic Bread just a trick? Meaning it was a Level 0 trick... Even with a slightly broader classification, it’s at most a Level 1 trick.

Angel, as an Official Wizard, failed to cast a Level 1 trick? This wasn’t a trick from the Time Series... Besides, there aren’t any tricks this low-level in the Time Series.

Though Luigi had continuous doubts inside, he still nodded to Angel in front of others, ”Understood.”

After a pause, Luigi continued to ask, ”Do you want to try again now?”

Angel was silent for a while, then flipped his hand, scooping out a delicate box with a Hand of Magic in a pale blue shade.

”Let’s continue, this time I’ll use the Secret Ceremony Box.” Angel silently added in his heart: for insurance.

Luigi said, ”This is also good, with the Secret Ceremony Box’s help, the food should be more delicious.”

Just as these words finished, Pika Sage curiously asked, ”Is this ceramic box an Alchemy Tool?”

Luigi nodded, ”Sort of.”

With a glance at Angel to confirm he wasn’t hiding anything, Luigi briefly explained the general situation of the Secret Ceremony Box.

”Four elements activation, used to enhance the taste of food with the ’Sweet Wind Honey Fire Sugar Vine’ ceremony.” Pika Sage murmured, ”Related to ceremony, this is rare knowledge... such a shame.”

Luigi asked, ”A shame about what?”

Pika Sage sighed, ”A shame there’s currently no research related to culinary ceremonies in the academic library...”

If it was just unfamiliar knowledge, Pika Sage would be very interested in recording it.

But now, this is completely unknown and unverified knowledge, so even if he wanted to record it, he had no way to start. This is what he felt was a shame.

”What’s there to be ashamed of? Your Pi Luoxiu never researches food anyway.” Luigi couldn’t help but add a critique, ”I don’t know if your Pi Luoxiu Clan is just idle, but you research tooth dyeing thoroughly while food hasn’t made any progress at all. It’s been years, every time I visit Baba Ragon, all I see is gruel being eaten. How do you even swallow it?”

Luigi shook his head, his face exasperated.

Pika Sage awkwardly smiled, ”Mainly because of poor teeth...”

Luigi sneered, ”What’s the reason for poor teeth? Isn’t it because of tooth dyeing?”

Pika Sage remained silent.

Regarding tooth dyeing, it’s also difficult for him to make a judgment, as it’s something Pi Luoxiu themselves created. On the bright side, this matter didn’t cause external harm, nor angered other races, plus being a national trend, it can stimulate economic circulation... So, even though Pika Sage knows it’s a bad account, he has to swallow it.

Luigi didn’t continue dwelling on the tooth dyeing issue.

Because he knows well enough, which race doesn’t have a few bad accounts? For example, the Turul people’s dandelion obsession, the Changhuo Clan’s self-differentiation, the Yingji Clan’s war casino...

Even to say, the Mirror Sea Scholars also have a famously bad account: hollow economics.

They use fallen kin who accidentally turned into ’hollow tooth fairies’ in the Sea of Void Mirror for piling stones, becoming the economic soil.

Count them up, every single one is a bad account.

Luigi took the Secret Ceremony Box and said to Angel, ”The activation of the Secret Ceremony Box requires four elements. Laplace and I can help, we each handle two elements.”

After Luigi finished speaking, he looked at Laplace.

Laplace didn’t respond immediately; she silently gazed at the small Secret Ceremony Box, with a hint of reminiscent recollection.

It wasn’t until Luigi inquired within their mind synchronization that Laplace returned to the present.

She stood up, gracefully spun, and two ”Laplace” figures identical to her appearance, just dressed differently, emerged from her body.

The Laplace in the fire-feathered short skirt, with Fuyi’s appearance, instantly added some heat to the air. Even the faint sparks escaping from the hearth scattered more densely.

This is the Laplace Avatar representing the Fire Element.

The other Laplace Avatar, in a water-colored long gown like transparent glass, quietly stood on one side. Though her expression was also calm, unlike the indifference of the original body, she leaned more towards peacefulness and tranquility.

This one, also Angel’s old friend, represents the Water Element of Laplace.

Following the appearance of the Fire and Water Element Laplace Avatars, Luigi also took out a harp, gently plucking its strings.

Two contrasting melodies transformed into Luigi’s identical-looking avatars.

The crisp notes turned into wisps of breeze, swirling around the figure in a green poet’s robe.

The powerful life symphony transformed into a phantom of a tree, hidden behind the figure in a green poet’s robe.

Four avatars, each with their own characteristics.

However, in essence of avatars, Laplace’s were superior.

Because both Water and Fire Laplace, entirely resemble real people. Meanwhile, Luigi’s two avatars are significantly ”illusory,” much like phantom shadows.

Nonetheless, whether illusion or reality, all four elemental avatars were in place, standing around the Secret Ceremony Box.

Remaining was Angel’s task.

Angel looked at the four avatars and glanced at the suspended Secret Ceremony Box while his fingers, hidden in his sleeve, trembled slightly.

After the previous ”failure,” he had a hunch that even with the Secret Ceremony Box, success might still elude him.

... actually perhaps that’s not entirely right. Because in essence, the earlier Magic Bread was ”successful”, and while he stated it was a casting failure, only Angel himself knew that Magic Bread was successful, and probably the most successful in recent years.

Its appearance almost identical to bread sold in stores, with the only unchanged factor being the fragrance.

Or rather, even the fragrance had slightly improved.

With the blessing enhancement, and in such a ”successful” state, the Magic Bread’s odor remained unchanged. This transformation of Angel’s confidence into trembling hands...

”Is it starting?” Luigi asked.

Angel had actually decided to take a leap of faith, but just as he was about to speak, he noticed that whenever Luigi spoke to him, his gaze would subconsciously drift upward.

This strange behavior left Angel a bit confused: ”Wait, is there something on my head?”

Angel instinctively reached out his hand and tugged twice at his head.

He didn’t catch hold of anything odd.

Yet Luigi’s gaze grew even stranger, and even the nearby Pika Sage and Pi Wu kept glancing at the top of Angel’s head. Only Laplace remained steadfast and didn’t shift her gaze elsewhere... However, this only made Angel even more puzzled.

Angel thought about it, extended his spiritual power, and began to observe his own head.

Then, he saw... a pair of perfectly sized red cat ears.

The furry cat ears stood erect on either side of his hair.

Although Angel had mentally prepared for ’beastification,’ at this moment, actually seeing beast ears growing on himself still startled him a bit.

Angel reached out a trembling hand, attempting to touch the cat ears.

But as before, when his hand touched the cat ears, it passed right through.

Just a phantom shadow.

Having reached this conclusion, Angel breathed a sigh of relief. No wonder he felt nothing earlier; if it’s just an illusion, then that’s... acceptable.

However, although the phantom shadow was indeed a shadow, when Angel’s hand touched them, the furry ears still twitched slightly, and one of the ears even drooped down.

It had quite the pitiful grievance vibe—if this scene wasn’t happening on Angel himself.

”It’s just an illusion, don’t worry.” Luigi noticed Angel was silent for too long, approached, and patted his shoulder to comfort him.

Angel: ”...”

Laplace also spoke up, but she wasn’t offering comfort; she said plainly, ”I have a feeling these ear shadows are somewhat extraordinary.”

Angel turned his head: What do you mean?

Laplace: ”Perhaps it’s because Pi Wu is here and your perception is clouded. Dive deeper with your spiritual power into those ear shadows, and you’ll understand what I mean.”

Angel hesitated for a moment but decided to proceed as Laplace suggested.

Then he found...

Although these cat ears were shadows, inside, they contained a faint hint of mysterious aura.

At this moment, Laplace’s voice came through again, but this time not spoken aloud, but directly transmitted to Angel’s heart through the Mind Ribbon: ”Don’t you think these ears and the tentacles in the Heart Space; the wings and borders on Cha Cha’s mirror body are quite similar?”

Angel instantly understood what Laplace meant.

Mysterious Concrete Object!

Indeed, this ear resembles a Mysterious Concrete Object! However, the mysterious aura within the cat ears isn’t substantial; most of the mysterious aura still surrounds Angel.

However, Angel could clearly sense that the mysterious aura around him and the aura of the cat ears were of the same lineage; they were connected.

In fact, Angel had a clear enlightenment: as long as he continued creating food and activated the blessing effect, the mysterious aura within those ear shadows would become more and more intense.

Eventually, it will reach a level comparable to a Mysterious Concrete Object.

That is... transforming the virtual into reality!

Angel suddenly became quite excited; this was the first time he encountered something resembling a Mysterious Concrete Object.

Mysterious Concrete Objects were something he had concocted by combining Nightmare Illusion. Angel couldn’t determine whether Mysterious Concrete Objects were unique, but encountering something similar here still surprised him greatly.

He wanted to see, when those cat ears truly evolve to the level of a Mysterious Concrete Object, what differences there would be compared to the Mysterious Concrete Object he created?

Originally, Angel was a bit edgy about these cat ears, but after Laplace’s ”prompting,” that slight edginess disappeared.

However, prompting aside—

”Just a correction, it’s the Indestructible Heart Mirror, not Cha Cha mirror.”

...

Disregarding the pair of red cat ears, Angel refocused his attention on the Secret Ceremony Box.

He now felt much more relaxed.

At worst, it’s just ’stinky.’

Anyway, it won’t affect the ’charging’ of the cat ears; once the cat ears evolve to a level where virtual and real intermingle, he’ll be able to compare them to Mysterious Concrete Objects.

Perhaps he could even learn a thing or two, benefiting the Mysterious Concrete Objects in return.

With this hopeful vision, Angel said to Luigi, ”I’m ready to start; get ready, the feast is coming!”

Upon receiving the message, Luigi and Laplace immediately took action.

The Elemental Avatars representing four elements gathered around the Secret Ceremony Box, waiting for Angel’s command, preparing to activate the ’Sweet Wind Honey Fire Sugar Vine’ ceremony.

Initially, everything seemed fine.

But as Angel watched the four Avatars gather, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right; it was as if he was overlooking something.

Yet when Angel tried to recall, he couldn’t for the life of him remember what it was he was overlooking.

Meanwhile, the four elements were now already within reach and couldn’t be held back, so Angel could only put that sense of unease aside for now...

It wasn’t until the model of the Magic Bread was injected into the Secret Ceremony Box, the ceremony activated, and the dazzling light illuminated the inside of the room scorchingly bright like daytime that Angel suddenly remembered what he had overlooked.

Previously, when he used the Secret Ceremony Box at the Hundred-Dragon Divine Kingdom outpost, the effects mutated.

Surrounded by black mist, with rancid stench spreading, disasters were breeding.

Luckily, the palace was empty at the time, and those foul vapors were swiftly eliminated; otherwise, it could have truly led to a falling out with the Mirror Dragon Clan.

And this time, he chose to use the Secret Ceremony Box again; and unlike before, this time it’s at the bustling Pi Luoxiu outpost.

Granny Kekoruo’s Secret Ceremony Box should hold up, right? Not mutate again, right?

Surely not, right?

Angel was originally quite confident, believing last time was just a fluke, an unlucky coincidental mishap.

But when he found that even the blessing of a mysterious object couldn’t completely save his Magic Bread, his confidence started feeling shaky...

So he couldn’t help but start worrying now.