Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2500: Chapter 2501: Abulei and the Crowned Parrot

Gumman Kingdom, border.

The dense dark clouds of the night turned this endless forest pitch black.

Above this dark forest, suddenly, a faint light flashed by, but soon, that faint light fell into the depths of the forest.

As the faint light vanished, a large area of firelight appeared in the distance, quickly converging towards the place where the faint light fell.

At the spot where the faint light landed, a girl covered in dust, with messy hair and her glasses shattered like a spider web, groaned as she climbed out of a large pit in the ground.

”Another problem... Is it the flying broomstick’s fault, or my operation failure?”

The girl looked at the large pit caused by her fall from a height and the broomstick standing in the pit, a feeling of helplessness welled up in her heart. She deeply missed her Tricolor Deer... If the Tricolor Deer were here, how could she have fallen halfway during the flight?

Yes, this girl is none other than Abulei, who parted with Angel less than two days ago.

Although Abulei was full of complaints, the flying broomstick had cost her quite a lot of money, so she still jumped into the pit to retrieve it.

Just as she got hold of the flying broomstick, Abulei heard a commotion not far away.

Abulei’s face turned pale, as if remembering something. In her Mind Space, she quickly assembled a trick model and then pressed her hand to the ground, causing a summoning hexagram to flash beneath her.

The summoning circle emitted a bright light, and shortly after, a crowned green parrot emerged from the circle.

”Huh, I clearly summoned the Keen-eyed Magic Falcon, why did a Crowned Parrot appear? Did I make a mistake in the summoning circle?” Abulei murmured softly, but soon, she dismissed her distracting thoughts. Whether it was a Keen-eyed Magic Falcon or a Crowned Parrot, it was all the same.

”Lend me your eyes and fly up into the sky!” Abulei reached out to the Crowned Parrot. The parrot rolled its eyes at her in a very human-like manner, not even forming a primary contract with her.

Abulei anxiously reached out again, but the Crowned Parrot simply flew up.

”I can help you, but I don’t want to form a contract with you,” the Crowned Parrot shared its vision with Abulei, though the contract remained unformed.

”Why? It’s just a primary contract, lasting less than a day,” Abulei asked, puzzled.

The Crowned Parrot soared into the sky, and a voice tinged with slight mockery echoed in Abulei’s ear: ”Because you are too weak.”

The Crowned Parrot’s words struck Abulei’s heart painfully.

But soon, Abulei composed herself. As one of the three rejects in the Summoning System of the Barbarian Cave, it wasn’t the first time her summoned creature disdained her.

Though her mind had grown resilient enough to momentarily ignore her summoned creature’s mockery, she still felt a slight grievance, and her longing for the Tricolor Deer deepened. The Tricolor Deer would never mock her and was like a sister to her. If it hadn’t been injured heavily when borrowed last time, she would never have allowed it to return to its original realm.

While Abulei was missing her Tricolor Deer, the Crowned Parrot had already flown high up. Its vision was completely shared with Abulei, allowing her to clearly see what the Crowned Parrot saw.

Although the Crowned Parrot’s vision was not as powerful as the Keen-eyed Magic Falcon’s, it wasn’t far off.

With that powerful sight, Abulei could clearly see a blaze of fire approaching her current position, roughly two or three kilometers away.

The Crowned Parrot, taking advantage of its small size and the dark weather, flew even closer to the fire.

Now Abulei could see the situation with the fire more clearly. What seemed like fire wasn’t a forest fire but individuals holding torches in red robes.

The red-robed individuals had an emblem of a crown and scepter intertwined on their clothing, representing... the Gumman Kingdom’s Royal Knights.

Judging by their direction, it was certain they were coming for Abulei.

”Old Porter wasn’t wrong, those people really are wolves sniffing out blood, they’ve caught up!” Abulei felt some regret. If she had known, she wouldn’t have gone to see Old Porter... But without seeing Old Porter, there was really no hope.

Abulei felt conflicted inside, but now wasn’t the time to think about that.

Although the Royal Knights of the Gumman Kingdom weren’t stronger than her individually, from the Crowned Parrot’s vision, it wasn’t one or two people; it was at least a squad of twenty. How could she fight them?

Moreover, they were already very close to her, and she needed to escape quickly.

Abulei anxiously considered riding the broomstick for the fastest escape by air. However, it was during flight that she had exposed her position earlier, and the flying broomstick was unreliable. If she fell again, she would be doomed.

Gritting her teeth, Abulei cast a Cat Movement Spell on herself and dashed into the pitch-black forest.

The Cat Movement Spell, a Level 1 trick, granted the Summoner the agility and movement speed of a cat, enhancing speed to some degree, allowing silent and traceless movement.

The Cat Movement Spell also had an advanced version, a Level 3 Trick - the Leopard Movement Spell. It would be even faster, even comparable to some wind element apprentices.

Unfortunately, Abulei had not yet mastered the Leopard Movement Spell and could only rely on the Cat Movement Spell to move through the forest.

With a nimble leap, Abulei landed on a tree branch, and with a gentle push, she became a phantom shadow, landing on another tree.

The dense forest provided a significant advantage for the Cat Movement Spell, silent and maximizing the agility of a cat.

Abulei moved swiftly between the trees, her speed slightly slower than the flying broomstick, but more concealed, and the release of pheromones could be tightly locked down by the Cat Movement Spell.

Abulei believed that as long as the opponent’s tracking capabilities were based on pheromone tracking, she could surely escape them with the Cat Movement Spell.

While Abulei was moving swiftly across tree branches, a familiar sound suddenly rang in her ears.

”Are those torchbearers coming to chase you?”

Turning her head, Abulei saw that, at some point, the Crowned Parrot had returned and was now keeping pace with her.

”You haven’t returned to the original realm?” Abulei asked in surprise.

The Crowned Parrot replied crossly, ”I haven’t signed a contract with you; I can return whenever I want!”

In truth, this was just idle talk from the Crowned Parrot. Creatures summoned by Summoners, if not contracted, couldn’t restore energy within them, and would be rejected by the World Will, increasing energy consumption. Soon enough, they would voluntarily return to their original worlds, or original realms.

Abulei knew this and didn’t expose it. Instead, she sincerely said, ”You can travel around the Southern Domain, but it’s better not to play in the Gumman Kingdom. Head east to the Arie Principality; it’s peaceful and beautiful there.”

The Crowned Parrot found it a bit odd that Abulei was earnestly providing a travel guide for the Southern Domain, thinking, although this Summoner was weak, she seemed rather well-intentioned?

Wait, now wasn’t the time to talk about sightseeing. The Crowned Parrot asked seriously, ”You still haven’t answered my question. Are those people chasing you?”

Abulei nodded.

The Crowned Parrot said, ”Then you better run quickly. They have several energy-sensing hounds over there. They are closely following you right now, and the distance is getting shorter.”

Abulei was shocked. Earlier, she had optimistically thought the opponent might be using pheromone tracking, but she hadn’t expected them to have energy-tracking hounds.

Avoiding these hounds was simple: stop using the Cat Movement Spell and suppress pheromones. But without the Cat Movement Spell, relying solely on running on foot, how could she compare with them?

In Abulei’s moment of severe anxiety, the Crowned Parrot suddenly flapped its wings, and a stream of green energy swirled around Abulei’s feet.

With the infusion of green energy, Abulei found her speed instantly increased by a significant margin! Almost as fast as the Leopard Movement Spell, perhaps even faster.

”Is this, the Wind’s Force?” Abulei exclaimed in astonishment.

The Crowned Parrot, looking somewhat fatigued, replied, ”Anyone with sight can see this is Wind’s Force.”

Abulei was filled with gratitude: ”This, this is so timely, thank you so much.”

The Crowned Parrot waved its wing: ”If you’re truly grateful to me, let me rest on you. Using Wind’s Force tires me out.”

Abulei readily nodded without hesitation.

The Crowned Parrot’s eyes lit up, and it flew to perch atop Abulei’s messy hair, like a master in a high position commanding its servant: ”All right, I’m seated, now hurry and escape.”

Although Abulei felt a bit awkward, being inherently kind and pure-hearted, she didn’t think much of it and nodded before sprinting forward as fast as she could.

The high speed of Wind’s Force combined with the agility of the Cat Movement Spell was simply a perfect match.

Abulei had never experienced such speed in her life—she meant experiencing it firsthand, not while aboard a vehicle.

After sprinting for about fifteen minutes, Abulei panted, ”I’ve been running so fast, they should be left behind, right?”

The Crowned Parrot yawned and glanced back: ”You’ve definitely left them farther behind than before, but if you stop, they’ll catch up in at most half an hour.”

Upon hearing she still hadn’t completely shaken them off, Abulei could only muster all her strength and continue forward.

After running for a while longer, she heard a lazy voice from above: ”By the way, I forgot to tell you, my Wind’s Force can last for another half hour, you’d better lose them within two hours.”

”Huh? Two hours?” Abulei asked, ”Do you think I can lose them?”

The Crowned Parrot: ”If they’re persistent, probably not. Do you think they’ll persistently pursue you?”

Abulei: ”I don’t know, but I seem to have offended the Grand Princess of the Gumman Kingdom...”

The Crowned Parrot sighed with a wing to its brow, ”Then you might as well prepare to meet your end.”

Though it didn’t know how much authority the Grand Princess of the Gumman Kingdom had, anyone born into royalty wouldn’t easily let things slide.

Abulei felt utterly defeated, ”Then what should I do? Maybe I should find a hole to hide in.”

The Crowned Parrot: ”That’s a possibility, but are you alone? Do you have no friends or mentors? Why not seek their help?”

The Crowned Parrot had been summoned by Summoners before and clearly knew something about the Wizards’ Realm.

Abulei murmured, ”I have friends and a mentor... but they’re far away from here. Even with Wind’s Force and the Cat Movement Spell, it would take a day and a night to reach them.”

The Crowned Parrot: ”Then if you have no one else to turn to for help, find a place with beautiful scenery to bury yourself.”

”Why a place with beautiful scenery?”

The Crowned Parrot: ”If you survive this ordeal, it’s another story. If not, that’ll be your grave, at least dying in a beautiful place is dignified.”

Abulei’s face grew paler at the Crowned Parrot’s words.

However, when the Crowned Parrot mentioned ”if you have no other help,” Abulei suddenly thought of someone.

Someone she had parted with just yesterday.

A Transcendental Wizard!

”Let me think, we’re at the border of the Gumman Kingdom, not far from the Laksum Principality, and I can run there in at most half an hour. But the place the Master is headed is the Sandworm Market, which is very far from the Laksum Principality’s border, I absolutely can’t reach the Sandworm Market in an hour and a half.”

The hope that had just emerged in Abulei instantly extinguished.

Is there really no way?

Just as Abulei was in despair, a picture appeared in her mind—

The day before yesterday, as she parted with Angel, Angel called her, extended her finger towards her, with a flash of light at the fingertip, it vanished into her brow.

Unconsciously, Abulei touched her brow; Lord Pat had left something in her brow. Could it be activated in a dream?

Abulei recalled hearing a rumor in some gossip wizard magazine that wizards have a certain perception of the abilities they cast, and the closer they are, the stronger the perception.

Then, if she activated the unknown spell technique in her brow, could Lord Pat sense it?

Abulei didn’t know, but maybe this was her only chance.

With this thought, Abulei suddenly turned, aiming for the Laksum Principality!

”What? Do you have a plan now?” The Crowned Parrot asked curiously upon seeing Abulei’s determined expression.

Abulei replied very calmly, ”I want to go to the Laksum Principality, it’s a desert land, I feel burying myself in the desert might have a better chance than burying myself in the forest.”

The Crowned Parrot remained silent, it thought Abulei had a plan, but in the end, she could only rely on digging holes to evade tracking.

However, the chance of this working was too low. As long as the enemy conducts a range coverage search, they would definitely be found, delaying the inevitable at best.

The Crowned Parrot silently sighed in its heart.

Initially, it thought this girl was quite promising and might even qualify to become its servant. But now, there’s no choice.

How can a dead person serve as a servant?

Nonetheless, the Crowned Parrot found Abulei pleasing to the eye enough that it didn’t plan to return to its original world immediately, deciding to witness this servant’s death with its own eyes.

Consider it the last act of kindness of a master towards its servant.

Abulei naturally didn’t know the musings in the Crowned Parrot’s mind, but if she did, she definitely... definitely... wouldn’t care.

No help for it, that’s just how Abulei’s personality is.

Angel had stored the true nature of Gu Yina within Abulei’s brow using the Nightmare Illusion, wanting to see what choice Abulei would make upon learning the truth, and whether it would change the weak aspects of her personality.

Otherwise, with Abulei’s current personality, it really doesn’t align with the existing ecosystem of the Wizards’ Realm, making it very difficult to live peacefully.