Warlock Apprentice

As the Witch’s Eyes disappeared for no reason, Angor wanted to escape too. However, a second thought stopped him. Where could he go to? He had to reach the center of the maze anyway.

The Witch’s Eyes were completely gone. Angor took a guess that younger Sunders used some kind of ace card move before getting hit, which scared all of the monsters away. If so, this path might be the safest.

Angor took a deep breath, then released the breath along with his frustration for being weak. He walked forward with a firm but steady steps.

He slowed down a bit when approaching younger Sunders.

It was only a day, and younger Sunders had all kinds of injuries on his body. He looked a lot worse compared to yesterday when fighting the blue giant. Angor felt a tiny bit of guiltiness. He did not run into any monsters all thanks to Sunders, who had been securing the front line.

Angor shook his head. Still, he was not planning to save Sunders. The man almost killed him yesterday. Angor felt guilty due to his kind nature, but he did not intend to get sympathetic.

Younger Sunders had his eyes closed tight. His cane was left on the floor, along with the dagger which proved his identity to Angor.

Fearing that the man might be feigning his condition, Angor tiptoed his way carefully and snatched the cane and dagger as fast as he could.

Angor still could not defeat younger Sunders with these weapons, but at least he had a bigger chance of running away, even if the man was really pretending.

After grabbing the weapons, Angor looked at younger Sunders again. He was not moving. Angor realized his chest was not rising at all.

He’s dead?!

Angor held the weapons while putting a finger under Sunders’ nose.

No breath. He was dead for real! Angor looked at the giant hole located on the man’s heart. Well, with that kind of wound, he SHOULD be dead.

Angor finally relaxed his nerves a little. He was always fearing younger Sunders, but the man was dead now, so… no more being chased.

Angor was still worrying about something. Where did he come from? Did he have anything to do with the “real” Sunders? Or, could this man be the real Sunders instead? Then would Angor be trapped in the Nightmare Realm forever, without his help? If this man was a fake, why did he have exactly the same look, voice and belongings as Sunders?

Angor could not get an answer. It was not like the younger Sunders would tell him anything even if he was still alive, being “deaf” and all.

Angor decided to give up. He would see the man as Sunders’ projection for now. This way, he could still go to the center of the maze and wait for the real Sunders. Otherwise, he had to surrender his life in the Nightmare Realm.

Angor did not leave right away. He crouched beside the corpse and searched younger Sunders’ body. A dead man had no need for his things, so he might as well take them.

Angor searched thoroughly, including inside the man’s underpants, without finding anything useful. Angor shrugged it off. He already gained two weapons.

Angor cast one last glance at the corpse, let out a deep sigh, and left the scene.

Not long after Angor’s departure, the corpse of younger Sunders changed. The body slowly faded starting from its rim, became mist, and vanished, as if it never existed.

…

Angor’s travel was smooth and uneventful. After passing through several turns, he saw an important landmark in the distance—a fountain with a child’s statue, peeing into the water pool. Angor could not believe he actually survived all the way toward his destination, without running into a single monster.

Angor checked the environment. It was empty. No sign of monsters.

Where did all the Witch’s Eyes go? They were fighting younger Sunders; maybe the man scared them off with his “last resort move”. However, those were social creatures, so why would none of them show up?

There were no monsters and no danger around. However, Angor felt something amiss, and he did not think he was safe.

He stepped toward the peeing statue. The last walk was peaceful as well.

Now that he reached the fountain safely, he could clearly see the expression of the statue and the wavering water in the pool.

Did he succeed? When the mouth flower told him that he was inside the underground maze, Angor never thought he could make it to the center and rejoin Sunders. But… he did. He even arrived earlier than his teacher.

Angor looked around. There were no monsters, but he still had to get familiar with the landscape, so he could do a better job running or hiding in case something showed up.

The place was not big so Angor could see everything. Apart from the fountain in the middle, there were four long benches. He did not see the special channeling method book or the exit to leave the maze.

“Weird.”

Where’s the book? Maybe it’s hidden somewhere? But… there’s only flat ground.

Angor saw no place to hide stuff. With the questions in mind, Angor walked around the place, and still found nothing.

The only thing that stood out was the peeing statue. Angor inspected it carefully. As someone born in a noble family, Angor knew how to size up pieces of art. This statue looked really vivid, absolutely the work of a master.

The naked child was happily peeing a stream of water into the fountain while holding his small “stuff”. The wrinkles on his skin and his detailed hairstyle all indicated the brilliant craftsmanship of his creator, combined with the innovative design… Angor could not help but smile when he looked at it.

However he looked, it was still only a delicate work of art without any special elements on it. Angor even walked around and checked several times. There was nowhere to hide books.

This was strange. So wherever was the book and the exit Sunders mentioned? Angor had checked the entire area, well except—

Angor looked back at the fountain again and thought to himself.

Don’t tell me they are hidden under the water?