Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2753: Chapter 2754: Strange Sheep

”Can Lord Black Earl discern the situation with Speedy?” Angel asked.

Angel’s question carried a hidden implication: Why is Black Earl suddenly interested in Speedy’s situation?

It’s worth noting that Black Earl has never shown much concern for the war situation before, even when Vay, a descendant of Noah, took the stage. Black Earl simply watched silently without offering any opinions.

In the Mind Ribbon, apart from Dox’s chatter, no other voices could be heard.

This time, however, Black Earl suddenly joined their discussion and directly inquired about Speedy, which aroused Angel’s curiosity. Did Speedy encounter something that attracted Black Earl’s attention?

Black Earl mused, ”I only see that it did not actively attack that group of strange sheep.”

Black Earl’s answer was concise, but Angel detected two layers of meaning in his words.

First, why didn’t Speedy attack these four black-faced sheep?

This was also Angel’s confusion. So far, those four black-faced sheep were still frolicking on the arena, which indicated that Speedy had not attacked them. In fact, Speedy was even trapped by them.

Speedy is not an unintelligent being. As a mature elemental creature that has lived for a long time, its wisdom is no less than that of humans; its only shortcoming is its lack of experience with human society.

But in dealing with these four black-faced sheep, the so-called ”experience” isn’t required. Moreover, having accompanied them all along, Speedy is aware of the importance of this duel. Suddenly going offline at this moment is clearly strange.

However, what concerned Angel more was another point of doubt he discerned from Black Earl’s tone.

Second, strange sheep?

Listening carefully to Black Earl’s words, it was clear that his focus was not on Speedy, but rather on the group of black-faced sheep. This suggested that Black Earl was more concerned not with Speedy but with those black-faced sheep.

Furthermore, it was rare for Black Earl to describe the group of black-faced sheep as ”strange.”

Although Black Earl is not famed for his encyclopedic knowledge, his experience certainly belongs to the top tier of the Southern Domain. If even he describes them as ”strange,” it’s worth investigating.

Angel himself hadn’t paid much attention to this group of black-faced sheep, as the Shepherd had previously summoned a black-faced sheep to the edges of the arena, simply to sleep.

At the time, Angel glanced over and didn’t find anything particularly remarkable, only noticing that the black-faced sheep didn’t seem like ordinary life forms. Other than that, there wasn’t anything noteworthy. Plus, Angel wasn’t about to delve into researching a sheep summoned by an apprentice.

As for whether having ”sheep” on the arena seems a bit abrupt?

Not really. The name ”Shepherd” suggests sheep, so wouldn’t it be normal for him to have a few sheep?

Moreover, the Shepherd had previously summoned a large number of insects hidden in the dark through a whistle, indicating that he had expertise in controlling life forms. Controlling a few sheep wouldn’t be difficult.

From the name, to the ability, to the logic, everything checks out. Therefore, Angel naturally wouldn’t overly focus on this group of black-faced sheep. But now that Black Earl has highlighted them, it suggests there really might be something peculiar about them.

Angel took another close look at those four black-faced sheep.

Initially, Angel still couldn’t discern anything special about these four black-faced sheep. The only noteworthy thing was that they could all manipulate the Wind’s Force, and from an efficiency standpoint, they were nearly identical, working together with incredible coordination, which elevated their combat power by a whole level. However, comparing their overall strength to Speedy, it was still lacking.

But as Angel began to focus on the energy flow patterns of these black-faced sheep, he suddenly discovered that they were somewhat different from ordinary extraordinary creatures. The energy they manipulated came almost 90% from the external environment.

In other words, they were more like wind element messengers, being the endpoint of energy release in the entire energy cycle.

Ordinary extraordinary creatures generally absorb external energy into their bodies, transform it, and then release it back into the external environment, functioning more as an intermediary.

There is a fundamental difference between the two.

After realizing this, Angel began to investigate the reasons behind the black-faced sheep’s method of energy manipulation. This observation brought about even more mysteries.

Angel couldn’t see inside the black-faced sheep!

To be precise, the inside of the black-faced sheep was too ordinary. It was indistinguishable from regular sheep, with no detectable traces of the extraordinary.

All the Wind’s Force seemed to exist outside the black-faced sheep.

Previously, he thought the black-faced sheep had arranged the Wind’s Force externally, but now it seemed the external Wind’s Force might actually be the black-faced sheep’s ”true body”?

If that’s the case, what species do they belong to? Are they even extraordinary creatures?

Angel studied them carefully for quite some time but still couldn’t accurately determine the black-faced sheep’s species.

Even further, he couldn’t even determine if the black-faced sheep were physical beings or energy beings, leaving him unable to give a definitive answer.

This was truly an incredible phenomenon.

After all, distinguishing whether something is a physical being isn’t a difficult task. Wizards possess a Spirit Sea and can cultivate spiritual power. By using the vision granted by spiritual power, one can clearly differentiate physical beings from energy beings.

Even without using spiritual power, the degree of interference with the Material Realm can provide a rough assessment.

But these few black-faced sheep, whether viewed from the perspective of physical or energy beings, exhibited some characteristics of both yet didn’t fully adhere to either.

In such an ambiguous situation, Angel found it truly challenging to make a judgment.

This was likely the reason Black Earl referred to these black-faced sheep as ”strange.”

”Strange sheep?” Dox also heard the conversation between Angel and Black Earl. He pondered for a moment, then, after observing the black-faced sheep on the arena, suddenly realized Black Earl’s intention.

”They do seem a bit strange,” Dox murmured, frowning as he gazed at the black-faced sheep.

Though Vay’s expression was vacant at the moment, he did not miss the conversation in the Mind Ribbon. He followed Dox’s gaze, looking towards the black-faced sheep on the field.

”Sir, is there something wrong with these sheep?” Vay couldn’t discern the anomaly of the black-faced sheep and approached Angel to inquire in a low voice.

Previously, Vay would have certainly asked Dox outright, but given the current unique circumstances, he trusted his idol over Dox, who would certainly highlight his shortcomings.

Vay had consistently made a good impression on Angel, so in response to his inquiry, Angel didn’t hold back, sharing his observations and speculations.

After hearing Angel’s explanation, Vay still couldn’t perceive the anomaly of the black-faced sheep, but he at least understood the current situation.

”Now that you mention it, it does seem a bit strange. But could it be that those few unidentifiable sheep are summoned creatures brought by the Shepherd from the outside?”

Summoned creatures of Summoning Wizards are a very unique kind of existence in the Wizards’ Realm. Its uniqueness can basically be summarized into two points:

First, summoned creatures come in all shapes and sizes, big, small, living, dead, organic, and inorganic. Among these, the inanimate objects make up the majority. Even if they are lifeless, if used properly, they can be of great use.

Second, it relates to the origins of the summoned creatures. The mainstream method is for Summoning Wizards to find suitable summoned creatures and sign a contract with them. But there are also some non-mainstream methods, which involve random summoning through a summoning ritual.

This is like drawing a blind box; as long as there is a willing respondent, they can be summoned. However, this method has significant drawbacks, mainly because inanimate objects are more likely to be summoned as they basically do not resist; and the utility of inanimate objects is limited, so if they are useless once summoned, it’s essentially a waste of precious materials.

Even if strong summoned creatures are brought forth, it doesn’t necessarily mean you can sign a contract with them, and there is also a chance of backlash.

Therefore, this kind of random summoning is essentially a gamble, mostly chosen by Summoning Wizards who have compelling reasons.

However, there are exceptions. The Academy Faction wizards enjoy using random summoning, not for battle, but to witness various different groups, which also enriches the research of species.

Because only about a ten-thousandth of the Otherworld, where the summoned creatures reside, is known to wizards; most of it comes from unknown domains.

Moreover, even if it’s a well-known domain, it doesn’t necessarily summon known creatures.

So, summoned creatures that appear randomly sometimes cannot be judged with common knowledge.

From the known definitions of summoned creatures, Otherworld summoned creatures are considered ”infinite,” while wizard’s knowledge about them is ”finite.” Measuring infinity with finiteness is inherently unreasonable, so it is normal for some anomalies to appear occasionally among the summoned creatures.

The black-faced sheep might just belong to this category.

Vay’s speculation isn’t without reason, at least Dox kept nodding after hearing it. But at this point, the Black Earl gave a negative.

”As long as they are summoned from the Otherworld, whether living or dead, they will be tainted with Otherworldly aura, which is an aura that is incompatible with the Southern Domain Wizard World. If you have ever visited the gray trading market of Pan-Dimensional Plane creatures, or the Loren Bill on Lujima, you can sense this aura being rejected by the World Will on those Otherworld entities.”

”Even if the aura is concealed through Inscription, if you carefully discern, you can still sense something odd.”

The odd aura the Black Earl mentioned is something Angel is all too familiar with, as it was this aura that caused Jon’s predicament.

The Black Earl said, ”I can smell it; they are not from Otherworld.”

The Black Earl currently has only a nose, but his nose is the most sensitive one at present, definitely reaching the level of a peak Southern Domain wizard. Since the Black Earl dares to give such a definitive answer, he must be confident. This also means Vay’s guess is wrong.

But since they are not summoned creatures, nor are they Otherworldly beings, and it’s unclear if they are tangible or intangible, it’s quite odd.

Just where did these four black-faced sheep come from?

As Angel analyzed this, he suddenly thought of Toby, far away on the Illusion Demon Island, undergoing training under Greya. Toby, as a created lifeform, could also be considered a rootless existence.

Could it be... that these four black-faced sheep are also creations?

Angel found it hard to believe. Greya’s Creation Magic was so phenomenal that it startled the entire Southern Domain Wizard Realm, and even she has only managed to create one sentimental lifeform so far: Toby.

Judging from the previous conversation with the Shepherd, these four black-faced sheep also belong to the realm of sentient beings. If they were creations, such a number emerging all at once is too overwhelming.

Setting aside this unrealistic thought of creations, let’s return to the original question posed by the Black Earl: What is Speedy doing?

Why isn’t Speedy attacking these four black-faced sheep? Could it be that Speedy has discerned the origins of these sheep?

Or has Speedy been subtly incapacitated by the abilities of the four black-faced sheep, hence forced into inaction?

Perhaps it is only Speedy who can ultimately provide an answer to this perplexity concerning these four black-faced sheep.

But since Speedy isn’t even listening to Vay’s command now, obtaining an immediate answer is impossible.

Angel could contact Speedy directly through their contract, but doing so now would essentially mean directly interfering with the duel. The Wise Sovereign will surely not turn a blind eye, so Angel must wait for the duel to end.

What comforted Angel amid all these happenings was that the trump cards he left for Kaier were still sufficient.

Although Speedy was specially arranged to help Kaier deal with the Shepherd, it doesn’t mean other trump cards are useless. Even though Speedy is now down, Kaier, as long as he utilizes the other trump cards, can at least ensure his standing on an unbeaten ground.

But to achieve victory may depend on his performance... after all, the Shepherd’s strength is not lacking.

...

On the arena stage, after being engaged closely by the Shepherd, Kaier didn’t panic.

Through a few brief encounters, Kaier understood the Shepherd’s strategy.

The Shepherd’s close combat abilities were quite formidable, and with Wind’s Force augmenting him, both his speed and power were greatly enhanced. Especially the significant increase in reaction speed gave Kaier the illusion as if he were battling a Bloodline Apprentice.

The vicinity was almost entirely filled with the Shepherd’s afterimages— a result of his astonishing speed.

Through swift close-range strikes, the Shepherd continually launched targeted attacks towards Vay. His target was clear, focusing entirely on Vay’s Power of Space.

Whenever there was a leak of Power of Space from Vay, the Shepherd would quickly attack.

Releasing space series abilities inherently requires concentration and is more challenging compared to other branches, with greater backlash risk. With every attack from the Shepherd, Vay must evade to prevent mishaps and avoid backlash, thus disrupting his spellcasting.

The Shepherd, through this strategy, kept blocking Kaier’s path.

Kaier was well aware that continuing in this manner was extremely disadvantageous to him.

Without Speedy’s response, and finding it hard to break through, Kaier made a decisive decision, pulling out another trump card given by Angel.

Kaier reached his hand into the void, and under everyone’s gaze, pulled out a gray-black robe.

The robe was crafted very simply, with hardly any adornment.

But as Kaier wore the robe, a wave of astonishment arose from the spectator area.