Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2594: Chapter 2595: The Fork in the Road

The group of demon god cultists, in the end, didn’t fall to the point of having to sneak through the sewers.

After walking downhill for about two minutes, the group encountered a fork in the road.

And it was a three-way fork.

One path continued downward, one went parallel to the right, and the other went uphill to the left.

They first ruled out the path continuing downward, as the smell of the sewer was coming from below. However, it was only a temporary exclusion, because they were already in the Underground Labyrinth, where paths were numerous, and it wasn’t ruled out that there might be roads beyond the sewer below.

As for whether to go left uphill or parallel to the right, a choice had to be made.

The group each had their own thoughts on which path to take, but the decision ultimately lay with Angel, so they remained silent, casting their eyes toward him.

Angel didn’t think long but took a black short staff from his bracelet and silently muttered in his heart: Speedy, assist me.

A rustling of the breeze was Speedy’s response.

Angel closed his eyes and stood the short staff upright on the ground. With the infusion of spiritual power, invisible ripples spread out from the base of the staff.

The group wasn’t surprised by Angel’s actions.

Angel was casting a very common trick, named ”Echo Location Technique,” similar to a blind person’s cane using sound feedback to perceive the surrounding environment.

This trick is quite versatile, whether exploring ruins or the unknown lands of Conquest, making it very handy. Hence, almost every wizard learns it.

Of course, different wizards have different ranges; some can probe hundreds of meters, while others only tens. Detecting kilometers or even farther is the realm of sound wizards.

The group was curious about how far Angel could detect using the Echo Location Technique, so they used their spiritual power to observe the ripples spreading from the base of the staff.

When the ripples expanded to a radius of some ten meters, jagged lines began to appear.

”Seems like the master’s Echo Location Technique isn’t that great?” Two apprentices somehow connected to the Mind Ribbon, and it was Kaier speaking: ”My Echo Location Technique can even spread tens of meters beyond.”

”What’s there to compare? Master Chaowei is an Alchemy Master and is rumored to be a mentor at Ashiliya Academy, spending all his time in research. This scouting trick obviously isn’t worth his time.” Vay, who was part of the Noah Clan but heart in favor of Angel, couldn’t help but retort.

Kaier, being part of the Academy Faction, felt like Vay might be right. Although Kaier enjoyed exploring ruins, it stemmed from his love of studying history, and if not for that interest, he wouldn’t have needed to learn the Echo Location Technique.

”You seem to make sense, but I still don’t quite understand why the master chose to use the Echo Location Technique now?”

Kaier’s doubt was also Vay’s, but under the idol filter, he automatically ignored it.

And though the two apprentices whispered privately through the Mind Ribbon, the other Official Wizards on-site could easily decipher their conversation.

Dox even jested, ”Even Kaier finds your Echo Location Technique lacking, aren’t you going to show them what you’ve got?”

Angel ignored Dox’s banter and, when the ripples eventually reached their furthest extent, picked up the short staff again, giving a heavy tap to the ground.

This was both a continuation of the spiritual power infusion and a reminder to Speedy.

With a contract ensuring mind unity, Speedy soon acted.

Within the Echo Location Technique, breezes began to diffuse slowly. A small ripple, in the vortex of the wind, gave birth to another ripple.

This way, with Speedy’s addition, the Echo Location Technique reached a new height. Waves of ripples continually emerged and spread outward, even though each ripple only had a radius of about ten meters, as the base number of ripples grew, the exploration range naturally became more extended.

Seeing this, the doubts in Kaier and Vay’s hearts dissolved. They hadn’t expected Angel would utilize Wind Element creatures for assistance, achieving this extent.

”If the ripple continues to grow indefinitely, wouldn’t it surpass a kilometer?” Kaier exclaimed in surprise, no longer using the Mind Ribbon, seeing as their conversation through it was like writing on white paper, clearly visible to the wizards present.

”Theoretically, it’s possible. It could even go farther than sound wizards, to infinity.” Dox surprisingly explained earnestly, ”But that’s just theory. Each added ripple increases the interference exponentially, not just linearly. Initially, it might be fine, but later, when it’s hundreds or thousands of times stronger... even if the ripples spread beyond ten thousand meters, could you trust the feedback given?”

”Simply put, it’s a small trick in the Echo Location Technique, but not for ordinary folks. Only those with high computing power can utilize it.” With that said, Dox glanced at Kaier and Vay, ”Kaier might have a chance to learn, but Vay should give up on it sooner rather than later.”

Kaier, part of the Academy Faction, enjoyed delving into complex space tricks requiring high computing power, making him eligible to learn it.

As for Vay... a homebody, good-for-nothing.

As Dox explained to them, he also observed Angel, being curious about how strong Angel’s computing power was.

For Dox himself, ten ripples would crash his brain. Angel was simultaneously focusing on three exits and numerous ripples spreading; could he sustain it?

Dox observed closely, but ultimately couldn’t find Angel’s limit.

Because when Angel concluded the Echo Location Technique, he was calm, without the signs of mental overuse, looking as relaxed as ever.

In reality... Angel indeed felt at ease.

Without even entering the Super Brain State, just eliminating some interferences and tracing back the feedback. It didn’t even overload his brain’s ”server.”

”Three paths, continuing downward, I probed about three hundred meters, reaching a dead end, leading to a hole - probably the sewer beneath. I sensed various paths in the sewer, too, with very active life signals. To avoid disturbing them, I didn’t proceed further.” Angel paused, ”The sewer shouldn’t be the primary choice, but it still belongs to the Underground Labyrinth. If nothing is gained elsewhere, we might eventually need to explore the sewer.”

After speaking, Angel glanced at the Black Earl. The latter leaned against Angel, as this was the place where the purifying field had the greatest effect.

”If your purifying field can increase by two more levels, then I have no objection to going to the sewers,” said the Black Earl.

That’s what he said, but if Angel couldn’t enhance the purifying field’s level and they had to go to the sewers, the Black Earl would probably still follow while pinching his nose.

After all, the destination is connected to the Noah Clan, and as the head of the Noah Clan, how could he retreat because of such a small obstacle?

Angel also noticed the hint of pride in the Black Earl’s nature. Without saying much, he continued discussing the other two paths.

These two paths were definitely the priority. The uphill road to the left, which Angel had explored for nearly a thousand meters, had no visible end. This road also had forks, possibly leading somewhere in the maze. Of course, they could also be false paths, leading to dead ends after all the branching roads are explored.

”As for the straight path to the right, it should be a dead end.”

”Should be? You haven’t explored it fully?” Dox asked.

Angel replied, ”I have. About six hundred meters straight to the right, there’s no more road. No forks along the way, though there are faint transcendent reactions, but it’s non-living energy, possibly some items imbued with extraordinary power.”

”There’s no more path, so why did you say it ’should’ be a dead end?” Dox wondered. He was only concerned about the oddity in Angel’s words and had no interest in those extraordinary items.

”The uncertainty comes from the fact that the end of the right passage is a door, and behind it is a two-story building,” Angel explained. ”There’s a magical energy array on the door, but I found some loopholes that allowed some sound echowaves to probe inside. It’s not too big inside. Although the echowaves didn’t detect another door, I couldn’t send many echowaves in, so it’s uncertain if there’s another exit in the room that leads to other parts of the maze.”

With Angel’s explanation, Dox understood that since the end wasn’t a wall but a room, there was potential for change.

”Now, can we discuss which path to take?” Angel suggested while looking at the Black Earl, ”The short staff is still yours; how about a lucky pick between the two?”

The Black Earl said, ”I told you, I only use Luck Choice, and I’ve used up all my chances. I don’t know any other divination.”

Angel raised an eyebrow but didn’t say more. However, internally, he was skeptical of the Black Earl’s claim. After all, the Black Earl was quite casual when he used Luck Choice before, giving off a feeling of ”using a one-time divine sword that can slay the Demon King on a slime before the hero even reaches the final Demon King Castle.”

”I did learn some lucky picking, but the probability of error is about fifty percent,” Angel said, fiddling with the short staff and looking eager to try.

Dox, hearing this, laughed in exasperation, ”Fifty percent error on a two-choice, doesn’t that mean learning it is no different from not learning it?”

Though Dox was correct, Angel personally felt there was a slight difference. At least, the ritual process before releasing a lucky pick, he had learned it well. As for the final outcome, that was up to destiny.

”Either I use lucky pick, or you say which path we should take,” Angel said to Dox.

The whole point of the back-and-forth was to ultimately let Dox choose the path.

If Dox also couldn’t choose a path, then it would be a fifty-fifty pick, excluding the sewer route.

Dox didn’t realize Angel was setting him up... because the inspiration advancement experiment had dulled Dox’s sharpness in inspiration.

So, Dox seriously considered which path to take for a while.

After some thought, Dox pointed to the right, ”Let’s try this side first. It’s not far, even if it’s a dead end, we can check it out. After all, there’s a building, there might be some clues inside.”

Kaier asked, ”Will there be murals?”

Dox replied, somewhat exasperated, ”How would I know? Stop going on about murals, you already got one. Greed is taboo when exploring ruins.”

Kaier lowered his head, dejected. He was just hoping for Dox to say: maybe there will be murals.

If he said it, there just might be murals after all.

After all, there’s a superstition about what you say coming true.

”You’re right, since we’ve found a building, let’s check it out...” Angel said and led the way down the right path.

As he walked, Angel continued discussing the results from the sound echowave probes: ”By the way, I also found a few doors in the sewers, not far from that pit. According to the rule of exploring buildings, should we check out the sewers later?”

Dox replied, ”I don’t believe Demon God followers would lose that much dignity, sneaking through the sewers to reclaim a treasure. A thousand years ago, the sewers were completely different from now.”

Angel said, ”You’re right, but since the Demon God followers built a church underground, a little more endurance doesn’t seem too much.”

Dox said, ”...I just don’t want to go to the sewers unless absolutely necessary.”

”Fine.” Angel wasn’t insistent on taking the sewer route; he was just testing Dox’s attitude toward it. If Dox’s intuition was still subtly working, then the sewer route probably wasn’t necessary.

”By the way, if we follow the right path, it’s actually going back. Will we encounter that breathing creature from before?” Kaier suddenly asked.

Kaier’s question reminded everyone. Indeed, considering their journey, this path was backtracking.

However, since they went down a slope earlier and were now on a level path, unless there were upward slopes ahead, it would be difficult to encounter that creature just an invisible wall away.

”Whether we encounter anything depends on whether that building at the end has a second exit,” Angel said. However, personally, he didn’t believe they would meet anything, as the labyrinth’s name comes from its twists and oddities.

A wall apart in the maze could be a world apart.