Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2275: Chapter 2276: Traces Discovered

In the following days, Angel stayed in the Vine House and went nowhere.

Although he himself did not leave, he sent Toby out of the Lost Forest once to deliver a message to Lobal and others outside, telling them to wait for his return in the Green Forest Domain.

When Toby returned, he also brought back a reply from Lobal and the others.

Lobal and the other wind creatures had no complaints. Even Cubic waited obediently outside. On the contrary, Dangross was clamoring to enter the Lost Forest. Naturally, Angel ignored this, treating it as the occasional tantrum of a spoiled child, choosing to disregard and tolerate it.

Besides having Toby deliver messages, Angel spent most of his time in thought.

He kept pondering whether there was a way to bypass the Spatial Tempest and take a look at the Treasureland.

Even if he could only see from afar, he wanted to know if Treasureland still existed at all.

If it were still there, it would at least calm him down; if Treasureland had already been completely destroyed by the Spatial Tempest, he could make an early decision to leave.

However, despite his intense contemplation, he couldn’t come up with any method.

Not to mention entering the Spatial Tempest, it was impossible even to let his spiritual power into it.

Time flowed by in bitter meditation.

Three days later, on a clear night.

Angel sat statue-like in front of a painting, unmoving. His mind was filled with swirling thoughts, imaginative and boundless ideas, yet no matter how novel or outlandish these ideas were, they were like a gust of wind dissipated before even rising in the face of the unshakable Spatial Tempest, utterly ineffective.

Angel rubbed his somewhat tense temples: ”Is there truly no way at all?”

No external factors, no intrinsic values, the Spatial Tempest was like an eternal canyon in front of him, impossible to cross.

This even made Angel start questioning: Could the Spatial Tempest be the fluke in the grand scheme of fate?

Did Feng fail to calculate the occurrence of the Spatial Tempest?

Frustration, helplessness, and confusion.

”Alas...” Defeated once more by this unsolvable puzzle, Angel couldn’t help but sigh.

He felt he had sighed more in the past few days than in the entire preceding year.

Just then, a chilly wind seeped through the woven walls of the vines, lightly blowing into the room. The gentle moonlight, fractured and torn by the vine cracks, cast a patchwork glow throughout the room.

Angel shivered in the cold wind, his muddled thoughts clearing slightly.

He thought, since he couldn’t come up with anything at the moment, rather than sitting here in helpless sighs, he might as well go out, get a breath of fresh air, and calm down.

With this in mind, Angel stood up, pushed open the creaking vine door, and walked along the thick stems of the vines.

As soon as he stepped out, he saw the high clouds beneath the night sky, rolling in with the blowing night wind, like a tidal wave rushing from afar. In an instant, the garden atop the vine tower, which was originally clear and distinct, was covered by richly nuanced clouds, forming once again the breathtaking Cloudtop Garden.

Toby, who had been napping in Angel’s pocket, was also awakened by the sudden cold wind from outside, looking at the tide-like clouds with excitement, chirping, and fluttering through the rolling mists.

As clouds paved the ground and the stars filled the sky, while Toby’s eyes were captivated by the pure beauty, Angel leaned against the door, gazing at the very tip of the vine tower.

Behind the Vine House, there was another slender vine, three meters taller than the rooftop, currently tightly coiled by a green snake. If not for the raised snakehead, it would be totally indistinct from the vine, as they seemed to merge seamlessly.

That green snake was, without doubt, Nami Midori.

During Angel’s three days at the Vine House, Nami Midori had come three times, each time arriving at night and leaving by dawn. It didn’t disturb Angel, merely coiling atop the vine tower, gazing at the starry sky.

Just as the first time they met, gazing at the stars in wonder.

Angel didn’t know why Nami Midori was so fond of watching the stars. Perhaps, as it said, looking at the vast starry sky made it feel its own insignificance more deeply, kindling a greater desire to escape the plight of insignificance. And this became the driving force behind Nami Midori’s relentless practice.

Angel quietly watched Nami Midori, pondering insignificance and greatness, while the snake stared at the starry sky.

This calmness lasted for a long while.

Angel didn’t greet Nami Midori. Instead, as he felt a bit clearer, he prepared to return to the Vine House to continue looking for possibilities from different angles to enter the Spatial Tempest.

Before re-entering the Vine House, Angel glanced at Toby in the distance.

Originally intending to ask Toby if he planned to keep playing or come back with him, what he saw made Angel frown.

Toby, wearing a pure white lace nightdress, fluttered through the mist like a little elf, but for a moment, Toby suddenly froze, hesitantly gazing at a certain spot, eyes flickering with familiar confusion.

Angel noticed Toby’s gaze and, knowing Toby so well, immediately sensed something was wrong.

Following Toby’s line of sight, there was nothing but wafting mist, nothing visible.

Just as Angel felt puzzled, an imperceptible gaze quietly settled upon him.

”This feeling... it’s that observer!” Angel immediately understood what was happening.

The fourth time that hidden creature he had been waiting for had finally come!

Moreover, judging from Toby’s condition, the observer might have initially focused on Toby until Angel glanced over, which shifted the gaze to him. Otherwise, Angel reckoned he wouldn’t have sensed the presence of that gaze.

In previous instances of being watched, Angel’s reactions had been swift and intense, but this time he was much calmer, showing no movements, his eyes as serene as if nothing had happened.

Yet beneath the calm exterior, there were hidden ripples echoing one after another.

Since Angel was already leaning against the door, he naturally used the Vine House as a medium, releasing a wave of information slowly and steadily.

Others couldn’t see it, but Nami Midori, the creator and owner of the vine tower, sensed it first.

Nami Midori didn’t react excessively either, merely directing its golden vertical pupils towards the shared line of sight of Angel and Toby.

However, like the memory from the last time with the floating flower, nothing was found within Nami Midori’s sight.

The subtle spores in the air didn’t give any feedback of anything amiss.

Since there were no traces in reality, it was undeniable that the Watcher seemed to be looking from that direction, but in fact, it was positioned in the void corresponding to that location.

Nami Midori slightly lowered her snake head, and an almost imperceptible ripple was sent back through the fine vine to Angel, who leaned against the door.

Nami Midori was telling Angel through this that the action is about to begin.

Upon receiving the ripple, Angel did not hesitate and swiftly released the spell he had already prepared.

An ancient light gate appeared in front of Angel.

Angel could feel that the gaze cast upon him fluctuated slightly. The other party also apparently sensed that the light gate Angel had opened led to the void!

The Watcher immediately withdrew the gaze focused on Angel.

However, Angel didn’t care about these details. With the help of soul projection and the acceleration of the Gravity Meridian, he darted into the light gate like a bolt of lightning.

Nami Midori, who was originally coiled at the top of the Vine Tower, also transformed from a stationary state into a flying arrow, following Angel into the light gate with no delay.

After experiencing a brief moment of weightless suspension, Angel and Nami Midori both found themselves in the endless darkness of the void.

However, once they stabilized, Nami Midori looked around and found that the Hider had already vanished.

But the fluctuation of energy in the air was crystal clear. This time, not only could Nami Midori sense it, but even Angel could detect the elusive yet unmistakable fluctuation.

”He was indeed here a moment ago, but he escaped very quickly.” Nami Midori’s senses extended far and wide, yet she could not find a trace of the other party. Evidently, the other party had fled once the light gate was noticed.

Since they had planned beforehand, from the moment they opened the light gate to entering it and traveling through the void, it was actually only about a second.

In just that short span of a second, the other party not only reacted but also managed to escape beyond Nami Midori’s sensing range, indicating that the speed of the other entity was extraordinarily terrifying.

It might even be faster than that wind-type being called Suboril taught by Isel.

If it really had such terrifying speed, capturing it would be incredibly difficult.

As Nami Midori sighed in her heart, she noticed the furrowing brows of Angel beside her, seemingly disappointed at not managing to capture the Watcher.

”Although the other party ran very quickly, at least this time, we can find out who he really is.” Nami Midori comforted Angel, telling him that the hidden Void Flower remained unharmed and the Watcher hadn’t discovered its presence. With the records of the Void Flower, they would be able to know who was watching Angel.

Even though they couldn’t catch him for now, once they determined his identity, they could strategically set up a trap and might capture him next time.

While speaking, Nami Midori came to a certain point in the void, gently waved her green tail, and a softly glowing Void Flower slowly emerged from the darkness, rotating slowly in the void.

Nami Midori didn’t choose to backtrack immediately but brought the Void Flower over to Angel, who was still in a daze.

Seeing that Angel still hadn’t responded, Nami Midori said nothing and directly activated the Void Flower. The emitted light points enveloped both Nami Midori and Angel, taking their visions back several seconds in time.

After watching the scene from a few seconds earlier, even Nami Midori’s usually calm and serene eyes couldn’t help but reveal a hint of astonishment.

What did it see?

The answer: it saw nothing.

Just like the last time when they watched the Void Flower in the Cloudtop Garden, even after backtracking a few seconds, the surroundings were still a vast, empty void with no sign of the Watcher or a clue to its identity.

Were it not for Nami Midori’s clear sense of the remaining energy traces in the void, she might have thought it was all just a dream.

Filled with doubt, Nami Midori reviewed the Void Flower’s record again, then once more. No matter how many times they watched, they still saw no silhouette.

Yet, despite the endless replay, Nami Midori couldn’t definitively determine the other party’s identity, but some results were obtained. At least, Nami Midori sensed a weak energy fluctuation feedback at a certain point in the void. The energy fluctuation began just as Toby was being watched in the outside world.

But though Nami Midori could sense the location of the energy fluctuation, that place remained empty.

”Could the other party be invisible?” With this suspicion, Nami Midori replayed the moment from several seconds ago once more.

After a careful analysis, Nami Midori concluded that there was a ninety percent chance that the hidden Watcher was invisible.

Having determined the invisible form, Nami Midori began limitless backtracking, attempting to outline the silhouette of the invisible one by utilizing different mediums of information in the void, including the pollen emitted by the Void Flower for guiding.

After countless attempts, Nami Midori still had no success. Just as she was about to perform another backtrack, Angel, who had been silent the whole time, finally spoke: ”No need to backtrack anymore, I know who it is.”

Nami Midori was taken aback for half a second. At first, she wanted to question how Angel could identify someone invisible, but then she reconsidered. Since the party had been so focused on Angel, there must be some connection, and Angel might have encountered him before and recognized his identity from the clues.

Nami Midori thought for a moment and decided to ask, ”Someone you know?”

”Not exactly familiar, but I’ve heard about them and once unintentionally encountered them.”

Although this matter wasn’t directly related to Nami Midori, she had been genuinely helping with the Watcher’s issue. Angel had no intention of hiding anything and straightforwardly shared what he knew.

Angel: ”Actually, I entered the light gate slightly before Your Grace, and at that moment, I happened to catch a glimpse of the other’s form as they left.”

”You saw his form? Isn’t he supposed to be invisible?” Nami Midori questioned.

”He is indeed invisible, but only in terms of optical feedback.” Angel continued, ”In the higher energy spectrum, it does have a form.”

As he spoke, Angel casually conjured an illusion in the void. To make it clearer for Nami Midori, he deliberately made the illusion emit a gentle glow.

Nami Midori saw clearly that the illusion depicted a very peculiar creature.

It looked like a semi-transparent slime, or rather a kind of mucus-based being.

Its body seemed soft and limp, and with each movement, the sticky liquid within it would jiggle with a reticence reminiscent of elasticity.

”What kind of creature is this?” Nami Midori saw such a strange creature for the first time.

Angel: ”This is a very unique and rare species. Hardly anyone in the Wizards’ Realm has seen them. They live in the void and are known as—”

”Void Travelers.”