Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 3189: Chapter 3190: The Gaze of the True Body

Angel did not plan to experience this so-called Crystal Pool, but Luigi was prepared to give it a try.

Luigi was not worried about any trickery in the Crystal Pool. As a Temporal Body, at worst he would just transfer his memory and start anew. Besides, now he had the Crystal Origin of Dreams, allowing him to idle there during this restart period, instead of having to wait idly in the Forest of Memories like before. Therefore, to Luigi, as long as it wasn’t a disaster of memory exhaustion, he had nothing to fear.

As for the destruction of memory, let’s not mention whether the Crystal Eye Clan has this ability; Luigi simply doesn’t believe they have the guts.

Luigi swaggered up to the entrance of the Crystal Pool to queue.

Meanwhile, Angel and Laplace took a path beside the Crystal Pool and continued forward.

”Your caution is justified.” Laplace said lightly as they walked, ”In an unknown place, it’s essential to maintain the highest vigilance.”

”As for Luigi, don’t worry about him. Even if there is some trickery in the Crystal Pool, the True Body’s vision descending can reveal something.”

Though the Temporal Body is not exactly an ’avatar’, in times like this, it can be used as one.

”Wait a little longer, and we will know if there’s anything fishy with the Crystal Pool.”

Angel and Laplace continued forward, and about three minutes later, Laplace stopped and said, ”Luigi has entered the Crystal Pool.”

Angel immediately halted, focusing on Luigi’s situation.

Another minute passed, Laplace whispered, ”He’s already out.”

”How is it? Was there any trickery?” Angel asked curiously.

Laplace hesitated for a moment, then shook her head, ”He personally feels there’s no issue, but, let’s wait until he comes over, then ’I’ will know.”

Before long, Angel heard hurried footsteps coming from behind.

Turning his head, he saw Luigi jogging over.

As soon as Luigi entered the barrier, he murmured softly, ”That Crystal Pool is a scam, isn’t it? There were dozens of us who went in, but not a single one got the Crystal Embryo’s approval.”

Angel: ”...Did you say this just to give yourself an excuse for not obtaining the Crystal Embryo?”

Luigi: ”...”

Luigi was about to retort, but before he could speak, he heard Laplace’s voice in his ear: ”Luigi.”

Luigi instinctively turned his head and saw a pair of eyes flickering with a flowing light.

In an instant, Luigi felt his thoughts ascend into the dark sky.

And his body was occupied by another powerful consciousness.

As this new consciousness entered Luigi’s body, Luigi’s Memory Casket was opened, and the Crystal Pool journey he had experienced replayed over and over in his mind...

Meanwhile, Angel also noticed that Luigi had suddenly frozen.

Following Luigi’s gaze, he too saw those strange eyes of Laplace.

In Luigi’s eyes, Laplace’s strange eyes emitted a flowing light; but in Angel’s eyes, these strange eyes had no light, instead, exuding a pressure so intense it took one’s breath away.

This pressure wasn’t so much an oppression; the feeling it gave Angel was somewhat like when he was very young and went with his brother Leon to Waterford, passing by Mount Fear’s highest peak, facing that towering snow mountain thousands of meters high, Angel felt the pressure and the insignificance of his self-awareness for the first time.

The current feeling was much the same as that time.

This pressure wasn’t targeted, but a naturally emanating majesty.

Even Angel, gazing for one more second, felt a heaviness in his chest... as if facing a giant tens of thousands of meters tall.

Angel quickly lowered his head and diverted his gaze.

In just that brief moment of pause, after about ten seconds, Laplace spoke softly, ”Alright.”

Angel looked up, the strange eyes were still those strange eyes, but no longer had that stifling pressure.

”Just now, that was...”

Angel had just begun to speak when he was interrupted by Luigi’s frantic ”coughing” sound. Looking back, Luigi was clutching his chest, coughing repeatedly, feeling as if his lungs would come out.

”What’s wrong with you?” Angel instinctively prepared to cast the ’Disease Detection’ and ’Healing Magic’ spells.

Before Angel could cast them, Laplace spoke up first, ”Don’t worry about him, it’s just some slight side effects from the True Body’s gaze descending.”

”A little?”

Laplace: ”It won’t last long, he will recover soon...”

Angel roughly understood Luigi’s situation; earlier, Laplace used an unknown method to summon the True Body’s gaze to descend into Luigi’s body, observing his memories of the Crystal Pool.

So, the pressure he felt earlier was brought by Laplace’s True Body?

Even from a distance, and just the gaze, Angel felt as if he was standing before a towering mountain... This was probably the most heart-wrenching pressure Angel had ever experienced.

Not even Frost or the Observer had given him such a feeling.

While silently marveling at this feeling, Angel inadvertently overlooked one thing: in fact, he had encountered a creature with even greater pressure—the Great Demon God of the Abyss, the Lord of the Flameless.

In the end, the Lord of the Flameless was extinguished by a mere glance from ’that one.’ The True Body’s corpse is still in Angel’s possession.

So, if a comparison was to be made, the one behind Angel might indeed be the true ’eye-killer.’

Laplace glanced at Luigi, then turned to Angel: ”Compared to these side effects, the information extracted from his memories is more interesting.”

Angel paused for a moment before reacting, ”Do you mean there’s a problem with the Crystal Pool after all?”

Laplace: ”It’s not certain, but what Luigi saw wasn’t entirely true.”

”Cough, cough... Where did I get it wrong?” Still coughing, Luigi looked over in confusion despite the discomfort in his chest.

”Not everyone failed to obtain a Crystal Embryo; some did acquire one.” Laplace said calmly.

”Huh?” Luigi was taken aback, ”I didn’t see any Crystal Embryo fly out from under the Crystal Pool.”

”Just because it didn’t come out, doesn’t mean a Crystal Embryo can’t be obtained.” As Laplace said this, she turned to Angel, ”Lend me a few Illusion Nodes.”

Angel didn’t hesitate; with a wave of his hand, he created hundreds of Illusion Nodes.

Laplace was also skilled in manipulating Illusion Nodes; in just a few seconds, under her control, the Illusion Nodes transformed into a Light Screen.

The Light Screen displayed the scene of Luigi at the Crystal Pool.

The path through the Crystal Pool wasn’t long, only a few hundred meters. For this reason, even giant creatures specifically restrained their size; otherwise, they would have stepped over it in one stride.

Throughout the whole process, Luigi kept treading on the soft and squishy surface of the ”pool” and even deliberately slowed down to increase the likelihood of obtaining the crystal embryo.

But it was still in vain; from beginning to end, the layer of mud-like skin on the water crystal pool never broke open.

This is why Luigi confidently states that no one has received the crystal embryo’s approval.

But after replaying the footage of ”Luigi crossing the crystal pool,” Laplace played it again, and this time, the focus of the entire scene was not on Luigi but rather on the massive creature deliberately restraining its size.

It was a dragon entangled in a faint white mist.

Its true name is ”Mist Dragon.” Although not one of the six major dragon clans, Mist Dragons are certainly formidable in the Hundred-Dragon Divine Kingdom. They are naturally adept at manipulating mist; when in the fog, their colossal bodies will completely elementalize, rendering themselves immune to direct physical attacks.

And at this moment, this Mist Dragon was already elementalized, leisurely floating above the water crystal pool.

From start to finish, there was nothing unusual about this Mist Dragon.

But when Laplace magnified a certain frame, Angel and Luigi simultaneously noticed the crystal dust drifting in.

This crystal dust, upon its sudden appearance, fused with the mist within a fraction of a second, which is why Luigi didn’t capture this scene.

”This crystal dust... does it resemble the crystal dust used previously by the Crystal Eye Clan for messaging?” Angel vividly recalls previously seeing the guards of the Crystal Eye Clan using such crystal dust to transmit sound at the Ring Fort.

Laplace: ”That’s correct, it’s the dust used for messaging.”

Angel: ”Is this crystal dust laid by the Crystal Eye Clan? Are they communicating with that Mist Dragon? However, even if they are messaging, it doesn’t necessarily mean the Mist Dragon obtained the crystal embryo.”

Laplace: ”No, the Mist Dragon indeed obtained the crystal embryo, because ’I’ saw it and heard it.”

Angel was stunned for a moment, unable to understand the meaning.

Luigi explained from the side: ”We can’t see it, but the true body can.”

”???”, Angel found himself increasingly confused.

Luigi: ”Simply put, we are the temporal bodies of the true body. The past we experience is also the past endured by the true body. For us, the past is shrouded in mist, but for the true body, any past experienced by the temporal body is clearly visible.”

Angel frowned: ”Is this... the power of time?”

Luigi shrugged: ”Not exactly, just a mere ability to see without changing anything. You can understand it as using the temporal body as a medium for ’prophecy’ regarding past encounters.”

Although Luigi denied it, this power, in Angel’s view, doesn’t quite appear to be prophecy.

The crystal dust has already merged with the mist, yet Laplace’s true body can penetrate the ”past” mist to see and hear their internal conversation?

Even if it was mediated through a ”temporal body,” it was still unbelievable!

Angel had previously suspected that Laplace’s true body might wield the power of time; now he increasingly feels this is a significant possibility...

Seeing Angel’s skeptical gaze, Laplace hesitated briefly but then decided to explain: ”The ability used by the true body is more akin to your wizard’s ’Eye of Truth.’

The Eye of Truth, a third-level spell, is an advancement of True Sight.

True Sight is a third-level trick. It’s among the most challenging of all third-level tricks, often more difficult to master than many spell techniques. Its effect is to discern the most genuine answer beyond appearances.

After True Sight advances to become the Eye of Truth, it directly leaps three tiers, transitioning from a third-level trick to a third-level spell technique.

The effect undergoes a qualitative change, allowing not only the viewing of answers but also the ability to see secrets hidden within the passage of time.

Back then, within the ruins where Angel resided, Lord Reine once used the Eye of Truth to investigate a set of knight armor. This afforded Angel some understanding of the Eye of Truth.

The Eye of Truth indeed involves some aspect of time power, but it hasn’t truly delved into the domain of time.

It’s merely a form of ”borrowed light,” leveraging special methods to borrow a bit of time to peer into the past.

Laplace’s explanation was clearly meant to inform Angel that this isn’t genuinely the power of time.

Angel believed in Laplace’s words, but that didn’t mean Laplace’s true body lacked time power.

However, Angel chose not to inquire further.

It was good enough to have a general idea.

Rather than exploring the nature of Laplace’s true body’s power, Angel decided to focus on the present: ”Is there a conversation between the crystal dust and the Mist Dragon?”

Laplace nodded: ”Yes.”

After speaking, Laplace manipulated the illusion node to create a segment of audio dialogue.

The content of the conversation was simple, with the Mist Dragon puzzled about why the crystal dust arrived.

And then came a slightly older voice from the crystal dust: ”Please, noble Mist Dragon sir, do not misunderstand; I am not here to stir up trouble.”

”I am here to inform the Mist Dragon sir that you have obtained a crystal embryo.”

The Mist Dragon was very puzzled: ”Isn’t the crystal embryo beneath the water crystal pool?”

Since the crystal embryo is under the water crystal pool, what does this messaging crystal dust mean?

The crystal dust continued to transmit: ”There is indeed a crystal embryo beneath the water crystal pool, but it is extremely difficult for anyone outside the Crystal Eye Clan to gain its approval. To prevent the crystal embryo from not approving anyone and to satisfy the esteemed gentlemen, we will prepare a crystal embryo for those strong enough to cross the water crystal pool.”

In other words, acquiring a crystal embryo isn’t solely subject to luck; if you are strong enough, an ”under-the-table” operation could guarantee a crystal embryo.

The Mist Dragon was not swayed by the sugar-coated words and further probed: ”Strong individuals? How do you determine who is strong?”

Crystal Dust: ”We have our own methods. Mist Dragon sir, the crystal embryo is a privilege we provide to honor strong individuals, without expecting any return. The choice is entirely up to you, sir.”

The Mist Dragon pondered for a moment and then asked: ”What type of crystal embryo?”

The crystal dust immediately responded: ”A defensive-type crystal embryo can be customized into an energy attack defense crystal shell.”

The Mist Dragon is almost immune to direct physical attacks but cannot fully defend against energy attacks. Therefore, when the crystal dust offered a crystal shell for defending against energy attacks without asking for anything in return, the Mist Dragon found it hard to refuse even if it wanted to.

Ultimately, the Mist Dragon accepted the crystal embryo that was obtained via the under-the-table operation.

”Mist Dragon sir can register at the Crystal Eye Clan’s station afterward and customize the style of the crystal embryo. The customization of the crystal embryo requires time, so it will probably be ready around noon tomorrow, and Mist Dragon sir can then pick it up.”

The Mist Dragon nodded, indicating understanding.

At this point, the crystal dust slowly began to fall, ready to sink back into the water crystal pool.

Just as the crystal dust was about to leave, the Mist Dragon curiously asked: ”When I go to register, I must give a name... Who are you?”

The crystal dust drifted for several seconds before slowly speaking: ”Kasata, my name is Kasata.”