Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 1364: Section 1365: Luck or Misfortune?

“Welcome to your arrival, young Alchemist.” A low and hoarse voice came from the mouth of a small elderly woman.

The little old lady was hunchbacked, not even reaching Angel’s waist in height. She wore a very fancy dress, her silver hair neatly kept despite its thinness.

Worth mentioning is that her silver hair was secured by a fan-shaped hairpin resembling a peacock’s tail. The hairpin was large, almost half the size of her head, and the “peacock feathers” were particularly special—they were colorful nails.

The nails on the hairpin were exactly the same style as those on the old lady’s hands.

This little old lady was none other than the owner of the Nail Alchemy House—Nail Granny.

When Angel first came to the Nail Alchemy House to buy materials, he had seen her and felt that this Nail Granny was unfathomable.

Seeing her again today, that feeling had not changed, and had even grown stronger than before.

Angel nodded slightly towards Nail Granny: “Hello, I need some demonic materials that can nourish the soul.”

Nail Granny glanced at Angel and took out a list from the counter and handed it to him.

Angel picked up the list and started to look through it.

At that moment, Boli suddenly exclaimed, “Just now, the list Nail Granny took out was golden, wasn’t it?”

Boli’s words made the man who had previously looked at Angel with disdain frown, “How is that possible?”

“Louis, are you suggesting that I am lying?” Boli turned her head and glared angrily.

“I just think you saw it wrong. Golden lists are generally prepared for higher-ranking Alchemists. How could an apprentice like him receive one?” Louis said matter-of-factly.

Boli was taken aback and didn’t know how to respond. Louis wasn’t wrong; the person was clearly an apprentice, and there was basically no reason for him to have received a golden list.

She had once sneaked a peek at the golden list’s demonic materials, which were almost all very high-level and precious materials, definitely not something people of their rank could use.

Could it be that she really saw it wrong?

As Boli doubted herself, she overheard a middle-aged man asking Nail Granny, “I need three standard units of Soul Soothing Stone, one stalk of ‘Last Soul Flower’… and the brittle bones of a dying elder.”

When he listed those materials, Boli and Louis suddenly looked at each other, their eyes filled with incredulity and skepticism.

The Soul Soothing Stone was one thing, but the materials that followed were astonishing, especially the ‘brittle bones of a dying elder,’ which was a top intermediate rank material, with effects comparable to high-tier precious demonic materials.

As Boli and Louis felt surprised, the Speculation Squad behind them also noticed the situation, and someone whispered, “Is that person buying demonic materials for another Alchemist?”

“A low-level Apprentice using materials beyond his rank is simply wasteful. I hope Granny doesn’t sell to someone so overly ambitious!”

“You can’t concoct with this material at your current stage, give it up.” Someone even shouted directly at Angel.

Whispers floated over, but whether it was Angel or Nail Granny, neither looked in that direction, as if they regarded them as air.

“Do you have these in stock?” Angel asked.

Nail Granny nodded: “Yes, just wait a moment, and I’ll have the puppet fetch the demonic materials from the storeroom.”

The reply from Nail Granny made those who had been so certain before feel a sting of embarrassment.

While the puppet was fetching the materials, Angel glanced at the list and found an interesting point. The list not only contained demonic materials, but also some finished products, including alchemical potions, fragrances, and even some magic rune scrolls made by Magic Rune Mages.

However, the magic rune scrolls were mostly for assisting in alchemy rather than direct combat, something Angel hadn’t seen.

Looking at the magic rune scroll column, Angel seemed to think of something and asked Nail Granny, “Granny, I would like to know if there’s a magic rune scroll here that increases the luck attribute?”

Nail Granny had been engrossed in something, but when she heard Angel’s question, she suddenly paused and slowly lifted her head, “You want a magic rune scroll that increases the luck attribute, intending to use it in alchemy?”

Angel did have this intention, but not for alchemy in reality; instead, when the Wilderness of Dreams allowed for infinite alchemy, he planned to use it for experiments within the Wilderness of Dreams.

Thinking this, Angel nodded his head.

Nail Granny looked deeply at Angel, her gaze very complex. Because, at that moment, she seemed to be transported back more than a thousand years ago.

Back then, there was also a genius Alchemist, who came to her excitedly and told her enthusiastically, “I’ve found the way, found the way! But there are too many unfavorable variables interfering, I can’t reach the other shore directly… I’ve thought of a method, which is to use a magic rune scroll that increases the luck attribute to assist me in concoction…”

He joyously shared his ideas with Nail Granny.

The then-young Nail Granny was convinced by him. They travelled together through the Wizards’ Realm, and fortunately in the Northern Territory Wizards’ Realm, they found the Scroll of Fortune.

He had planned to go back to the Southern Domain and then begin concocting.

However, before they could return to the Southern Domain, he couldn’t hold back anymore.

In a remote world, he told Nail Granny that the world made him feel very comfortable and inspired his creativity like a spring gushing forth. If he concocted there and then, he was certain to succeed.

Nail Granny also understood the importance of environment and inspiration. Thus, she immediately acted as an assistant to help him in the concoction process.

When that casket was born, mysterious energy surged through the skies, shrouding that remote world.

Indeed, it was the mysterious energy.

From the very beginning, what he wanted to create was not a common item, but something that pointed to the domain of mystery.

Eventually, with the help of the Scroll of Fortune, he succeeded.

However, the moment of his success was also the moment when a nightmare descended. This mysterious object, unlike other mysterious objects, began to erode the surrounding world as soon as it came into existence, changing rules, ignoring rules, and creating rules.

The joy of advancing to a god-level alchemist had not yet bloomed when he was frightened by the scene before him.

In the final moments, he used all his strength to send Nail Granny away, while he fell into that collapsing, sealed world.

Forever shackled, forever unable to escape.

Nail Granny had thought of rescuing him, but no one could enter that world; all the prophecies pointed to death.

In a blink, a thousand years had passed.

Nail Granny later also learned some insider information from a visitor from the Origin World. It turned out that not all mysterious objects were controllable; there were uncontrolled mysterious objects in this world.

And all uncontrolled mysterious objects were almost always a catastrophe.

The Reincarnation Casket that he had created was clearly out of control in the end.

…

Angel did not know what Nail Granny was thinking. Seeing that she remained silent without speaking, he couldn’t help but call out again, “Nail Granny, what’s wrong? Don’t you have it here?”

Nail Granny came back to her senses and shook her head, “A Magic Rune Scroll that increases luck is extremely rare; indeed, I do not have one here.”

Receiving this answer, Angel was not disappointed; he hadn’t expected it to be so easy to find one. After all, if Sanders had expended so much effort without finding one, how could he possibly be so lucky.

The reason he asked Nail Granny was also because he was inspired by the list of items.

“Does Granny know where I might find one?” Angel asked further.

Nail Granny looked deeply at Angel for a while before saying, “I do not know who has one, but I advise you against using the Scroll of Fortune for alchemy.”

“Why?”

“Luck is about collapsing all the bad possibilities to infinity; the remaining probability choices, that’s what we call opportunity. But you may not get what you want from these remaining choices because some positive opportunities may not be right for you, or even suitable for alchemy itself,” Nail Granny paused—

“Especially when used in the alchemy of mysterious objects.”

At these words from Nail Granny, Angel suddenly raised his head to look at her.

The other Alchemy Apprentices also turned to look, having been eavesdropping earlier. Now, having heard Nail Granny’s words, they could hardly contain themselves.

Why had Nail Granny said “Especially when used in the alchemy of mysterious objects”? Could it be that Granny meant that this shabbily dressed middle-aged man was planning to create a mysterious object? But what qualified him to do so?

“Could he be…” Boli suddenly covered her mouth.

Although Boli didn’t finish her sentence, everyone thought of a possibility.

The alchemist in the Southern Domain closest to the domain of mystery was only one person—none other than Angel, the name that was currently causing such a stir!

Nail Granny couldn’t possibly be lying, so it seemed there was only one possibility.

At this thought, everyone’s eyes blazed with fervent flames. Even though they had been arguing earlier about combining and Enchantment, and even though Angel was a representative figure of Enchantment, this did not stop their admiration for Angel!

Louis was somewhat stunned, unable to believe how bizarre the situation had become. Although he muttered under his breath that it couldn’t be possible, the scales in his heart began to tip.

On the other side, Angel also heard the implication in Nail Granny’s words. Clearly, Nail Granny had already recognized his identity.

This surprised Angel as well. If Nail Granny could discern his identity, it means either her abilities were incredibly profound, seeing through his Disguise Technique, or it meant that Nail Granny’s status in Sky Mechanical City belonged to the core hierarchy.

Possibly even both.

“Although I plan to use the Scroll of Fortune for alchemy, I currently have no intention of creating a mysterious object,” Angel said slowly. “However, I am curious, Granny, do you mean to say that using the Scroll of Fortune to create a mysterious object, even a positive opportunity, might carry unfit risks? Why is that?”

“Since you’re not preparing to create one now, there’s no need to know,” Nail Granny paused. “However, try not to take too big a step. If you truly want to create a mysterious object, I hope you will proceed step by step, and you will reach that pinnacle.”

Nail Granny’s affirmation, along with Angel’s statement “currently have no intention of creating a mysterious object,” indirectly confirmed his identity.

There was a stir among the Alchemy Apprentices. Although they had been prepared, they still felt surprised.

Louis could hardly believe everything before him; the very person he had looked down upon turned out to be a true master.

Boli’s eyes sparkled with light, as if she had thought of something.