Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2921: Chapter 2922: Passing Score

Luigi touched his chin, seemingly pondering Angel’s words. After a while, he looked at Laplace: ”So I can choose between these two Chapters?”

Laplace: ”Yes, listen to him.”

Laplace trusted Angel’s judgment, and since all these pieces were by the same person, according to Angel, their artistic achievements were on nearly the same level. Thus, choosing ”Ode to the Spirit of the Sea,” ”The Lord of the Long Night Emerges from the Abyss,” or ”The King of Light Vanquishing the Coral Dragon Chapter” didn’t really matter.

Luigi: ”Even if I choose the unfinished piece?”

Laplace hesitated for a moment: ”How unfinished is it?”

Luigi thought for a moment: ”It’s missing an ending, about one-tenth is gone.”

If it’s just missing the ending, that’s not too big of a deal. Laplace thought quietly. In her mind, Luigi might not even reach the ending; maybe he’ll only perform the beginning, and then the Illusion Pig will carry him out of the fire ring.

After all, the fire ring just needs a performance — it doesn’t necessarily have to be complete. Moreover, the performance poems are typically long, and the third track has time constraints, so even if he started singing as soon as he enters the sea, he probably couldn’t sing until the end.

Thinking of this, Laplace nodded: ”That’s alright.”

Luigi’s eyes lit up, and he blurted out: ”For this missing ending, I’ve written my own lyrics. If I sing until the end, can I use my own lyrics?”

Laplace thought for a moment and then nodded again: ”Yes.”

If Luigi truly chooses the unfinished piece and actually sings to the ending, there must be a conclusion, right? Although Laplace didn’t fully trust Luigi’s original work, having lyrics is better than a sudden pause.

Luigi smiled: ”I understand now. Trust me, I guarantee a high-quality performance.”

On the other side, while Luigi and Laplace were talking, Angel had wanted to speak, but he held back in the end.

Angel had actually read the complete ”Ode to the Spirit of the Sea.” If Luigi truly planned to sing it, Angel could tell him the whole piece. But after some thought, Angel refrained. It wasn’t that he was unwilling to share, but no performance poem can be mastered in a short time, let alone those created by the Lightwing Wizard, which are considered almost sacred hymns.

Even if he told Luigi the true ending, he might not master it instantly. The performance could likely be inconsistent, leading to noticeable flaws.

Since Luigi had written his own lyrics, it meant he had likely practiced numerous times. As long as it sounded harmonious to him, the audience probably wouldn’t notice any issues.

Thus, Angel suppressed the impulse to tell Luigi the entire piece.

”By the way, how well do you know this Lightwing Wizard?” Laplace suddenly asked Angel curiously.

Angel: ”I don’t know him, and I’ve never met him. But his performance poems are very famous in the Wizards’ Realm, so I’ve heard a bit about them.”

Laplace contemplated and nodded.

Angel thought the conversation would end there, given that the Rabbit Girl’s warm-up was nearly over, and the competition was about to start, so their focus should shift to her.

But Laplace didn’t stop; instead, she suddenly asked: ”Do you know how to sing?”

Angel looked at Laplace in confusion, her expression was solemn, not at all joking.

From Laplace’s gaze, Angel vaguely read some intent.

”Is Lady Laplace hoping I would perform too?” Angel asked.

Though Laplace felt a slight sense of awkwardness, her face remained calm: ”Scoring 75 points isn’t easy.”

Angel fell silent.

He knew scoring 75 points wasn’t easy, but if he had to perform... if it was just for the points, he wouldn’t mind. But if the act was a performance poem, Angel didn’t think that would be a strong suit.

”Unless Luigi dramatically mishandles his performance and completely goes off-key, maybe I would consider performing. But if Luigi doesn’t make significant errors, and I go to perform, it would not add points but deduct them.”

With such an excellent example before him, going on stage would only make him a laughing stock.

Laplace pondered for a moment, sighed slightly in her heart, and said: ”You’re right.”

At this point, Glaipnir spoke: ”Actually, from the names, the first three tracks are quite different from the latter two.”

”Knife Mountain, Swamp, and Fire Ring all describe the tracks. But the latter two, whether it’s animal training or magic, are inherently performances on the circus program.”

”So completing the track itself might qualify as a performance.”

Glaipnir’s words weren’t wrong, but Angel inexplicably felt she said this to avoid performing. After all, after Laplace’s gaze left Angel, it shifted towards Glaipnir intentionally or unintentionally.

Perhaps as Angel speculated... but he didn’t know.

However, these thoughts were no longer important because the Rabbit Girl’s competition had started and then... well, ended.

The track had a limit of thirty seconds, barely enough time for a few blinks.

Moreover, the process wasn’t noteworthy; the Rabbit Girl chose to use inertia, transforming into a round furball, and rolled down the mountain along a cable.

The only difference was that this time the Rabbit Girl did several crouching and rolling exercises on the mountain, eliciting rounds of applause... Angel faintly heard screams.

The timing was impeccable; precisely thirty seconds.

In an instant, the Rabbit Girl floated mid-air under the spotlight.

The spotlight, rather than seating the Rabbit Girl, left her suspended in front of Angel and the others, her gaze fixed on the two rows of neon lights.

The host’s voice echoed in everyone’s ears.

”The Black Rabbit Challenger delivered a beautiful performance! From the audience’s enthusiastic applause, you can feel it. Wow, the audience is so passionate; I’ve already seen someone eager to present gifts!”

”I’ll arrange for the gifts to be brought to your tables, but now, let’s see the score for the Black Rabbit Challenger! I believe the audience of the Sunshine Circus will give a fair score, right?”

The moment the words fell, the audience erupted into enthusiastic cheers.

And unlike before, the call was clear. Everyone could hear the rhythmical chants of the challenger’s code name: Black Rabbit.

At the same time, the two rows of ten neon lights each started to flicker continuously.

”Black Rabbit, Black Rabbit, Black Rabbit!” With rhythmic chanting, the neon lights lit up one by one.

And their momentum exceeded everyone’s expectations.

Almost instantly, the entire first row of ten lights lit up. The second row lights did not slow down, quickly turning five more lights on.

Now, with fifteen lights on, it equaled a score of fifteen — the passing mark!

And the lights continued to illuminate, albeit slower than before, still lighting up one by one.

It wasn’t until the eighteenth light that they finally stopped.

points, exactly the same score as the host’s example earlier. But the host, being the face of the Sunshine Circus, makes his 18 points very different from the players’ 18 points.

Just as fans have a bias for their idols, audiences have a bias for the host, giving him a high score of 18.

But the Rabbit Girl is different; she has no audience base yet still scored 18 points, making these points more valuable.

Moreover, scores in relay races are discounted; scoring 18 points here, if in a solo race, would likely be a perfect score.

Thinking this way, the Rabbit Girl’s score is indeed commendable.

Although a large part is due to her cuteness, so what? When cuteness becomes a weapon, cuteness is justice.

While the host was full of praise for the Black Rabbit, Laplace breathed a sigh of relief: ”18 points, not bad at all.”

This means that even if Laplace scores only 12 points, their combined score would be passing.

Previously, Laplace was hoping for Luigi to fill in their score, but now that the Rabbit Girl scored 18 points, that should be enough, right?

As Laplace was thinking this, the Rabbit Girl returned to her seat in glory.

As she sat down, a rain of flower petals fell from the sky.

Along with the flower petals, a bouquet of flowers gently landed onto the long table in front of the Rabbit Girl.

”Congratulations to the Black Rabbit Challenger for receiving a gift from the audience, a bouquet representing the audience’s love.” Host: ”This bouquet can be exchanged for 1 point and can be used personally or traded with other relay race companions.”

”A little reminder, while the relay race looks at the total score, the higher the personal score, the richer the final reward will be~”

”The next phase will be the competition on the second course, everyone get ready!”

As soon as the speech paused, the stage turned dark, and soon after, it lit up again, with the course below having changed from the Knife Mountain to the Swamp course.

After the Swamp course appeared, the host still left time for everyone to discuss.

But Angel said to Laplace: ”Don’t wait to discuss. You go now.”

Laplace glanced at Angel, then at the Rabbit Girl, seemingly understanding his meaning. Without any hesitation, she descended from the sky!

Angel’s intention was clear, it was to take advantage of the audience’s excitement while it was still there.

Obviously, Angel wanted Laplace to ride on the Rabbit Girl’s popularity.

Seize the popularity, compete quickly.

Laplace so decisively stepping onto the field gained high approval by the host: ”Oh, our second Challenger has already entered the stage! Sunshine Circus’s loyal audience won’t be unfamiliar, it’s our nobility contestant... Silver Fox Challenger!”

Upon hearing the term nobility, the enthusiasm in the audience seats didn’t decrease but increased.

The Fairyland Identity ”Fan Family Honor”, although seemingly doesn’t bring substantial benefits, if placed in a Special Dreamland that needs an identity rank for decryption, it’s a lethal weapon.

The only pity is, in this ”Sunshine Circus”, the audience might be briefly mesmerized by the nobility identity but won’t for long.

Otherwise, in the last solo race of Laplace, she wouldn’t have been eliminated.

However, this is a relay race; she only participates in the second course. If she plays at the level of last time, coupled with the nobility identity bonus, even if the score isn’t high, it certainly shouldn’t be too low.

While Angel was thinking this, the competition started below.

Laplace was very decisive, looking like she was going to finish quickly.

And she was evidently proficient in this course, with the Joker chasing her from behind completely ignored, gracefully maneuvering over the swamp. Where a battle royale becomes a personal speed show.

Soon, Laplace reached the finish line.

The applause from the audience was sparser than when facing the Rabbit Girl, but overall better than during the solo race.

Judging by the audience’s enthusiasm, if it was a solo race, the score would be around 15 points. But now in a relay race, the score might be discounted, and there’s still the matter of how many lights on the neon lights lit up.

Like the Rabbit Girl, Laplace, once finished, floated mid-air under the spotlight, watching those flickering neon lights.

The host’s voice also rang out, introducing mostly the same content as when the Rabbit Girl was mentioned, but without the mention of audience gifts.

Laplace didn’t mind the gift; she cared about whether she was dragging everyone down... According to the Sunshine Circus’s usual operation, she was indeed dragging everyone down. If dragging down, by how much?

Soon, the result from the neon lights came out.

All ten lights in the first row lit up, and three lights in the second row lit up.

A total of 13 points.

This score actually surprised Laplace; she even prepared for just a single-digit score. Thirteen points for her was a very good score, only one point less than in the solo race.

Mostly likely the result of riding on Rabbit Girl’s popularity.

The audience still hadn’t recovered from the Black Rabbit’s cuteness, likely affecting their scoring for Laplace.

Anyway, Laplace was satisfied, having scored 31 points in the first two courses, plus gifts it’s 32 points, which belongs to the passing score.

Laplace was previously worried about her low scores putting too much pressure on those following, but now, she breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as every match afterward maintains a passing mark, there should be no major problems.

And the third match began in this slightly relaxed atmosphere.

The much-anticipated Luigi finally stepped onto the stage he longed for.

Third course — Fire hoop course!

After Luigi took the stage, he wasn’t under any pressure and even elegantly bowed to the Void and warmly introduced himself.

Of course, his introduction didn’t reveal his real name, instead, he used the codename ”Red-tailed Frog.”

He mainly described his profession: Bard.

Expressing regret for not having a harp and unable to deliver the perfect performance, while confidently stating that even without a harp, he could achieve flawlessness through his singing.

Did this bit of rhetoric work? It worked.

At least the audience gave applause and their anticipation reached its peak.

Amidst great anticipation, Luigi mounted the Illusionary Dolphin’s back and entered the silver ocean glistening with ripples.