Warlock Apprentice

Angor stopped meditating when seeing Fafnir’s return, only to see her looking at the wall where he left a message earlier.

Usually, only those from Phantom Island should be able to decrypt the message. Though the trick was pointless against someone as powerful as Fafnir, who could read what was hidden behind the nightmare energy with ease. This was why Angor did not write anything beyond what was necessary. He knew Fafnir would see it.

Fafnir didn’t say anything about the message other than letting out a cold sneer.

The monster leg was now thoroughly cooked while the fat in it was giving out fizzing sounds appealingly.

Angor didn’t know that kind of monster meat it was, though he felt his mouth watering up badly when looking at Fafnir munching on it to her heart’s content.

He quickly looked away. Asking food from an Abyssal Dragon was a bad idea. But he could no longer forget the good smell of the delicious material.

He wondered what kind of divine cuisine he could see if Greya were here.

In order not to appear too embarrassing, he tried distracting himself by thinking about other matters, such as what kind of monster Fafnir just killed.

Speaking of food, Fafnir just told him that everything in the Abyss was dangerous. He might “digest misfortune by eating”.

There was something fishy about that phrase, and he just noticed.

Just like Fafnir mentioned, he ran into a lot of demons during his stay in the Abyss. As for eating, he had been surviving on Milkberry Tree sap and moocher meat he stored in the bracelet.

Unless she’s referring to Toby?

Toby did eat a lot of “native food” since coming here, including those tentacled crabs in the Shaded Cave.

Don’t tell me a crab had the curse, then Toby ate it??

A bit startled by the idea, Angor waited for Fafnir to finish the roasted leg before asking the question.

Fafnir seemed content with her filled stomach and answered him without a second thought, “That is correct. The Pilgrim of Misfortune is staying at the bottom of the Veiled Sea. Nearby monsters, including some crabs, are all contaminated by the curse.”

“That must be how Toby got the curse then. Damn it…”

This thing is like a highly-contagious disease! And people can’t easily detect it!

To make it worse, these Orlov’s Tentacled Crabs were a valuable cooking material used by Gourmets, according to Sunders. If they were served on food plates…

That one crab killed by the union guards the other day would probably end up as food and be delivered to other bases established around the Abyss Plane. It would be disastrous if the curse silently spread among people without them knowing it.

Angor couldn’t imagine what would happen at this rate. He now fully understood why the Pilgrim of Misfortune was feared by both powerful wizards and demons alike.

He saw a lot of wizards hunting the attacking crab back at the Overwatch Base. If so many people held the root of the curse…

Thinking about this, he quickly went to the message on the wall to add something new.

This time, he did not use nightmare energy to conceal it. He hoped that a wizard would see it and warn the other wizards as fast as possible.

He didn’t care about the fates of other wizards. But at the very least, he would like to help Kanter and Madelyne avoid the curse.

“The hypocritical nature of humans is never pleasant to look at,” Fafnir commented after seeing his action.

Angor didn’t say anything. He did what he could.

“Time to go.”

Without any forewarning, Fafnir’s body grew bigger until she resumed the giant and ferocious form of an Abyssal Dragon.

After lifting Angor up by catching his collar with a claw, she dived into the gloomy sky, leaving some glowing embers and a shining stone wall behind.

…

Sunders arrived at Rein’s wizard tower and saw Rein already waiting.

Like always, Rein’s room was full of crystal balls of different sizes. Right now, Rein was waiting in front of a larger one affixed to the floor.

Instead of accepting Rein’s invitation and taking a seat right away, Sunders gazed at a wet corner and carefully listened to the lingering sounds of water tides.

“Mister ‘God of Seas’ recently visited?”

That wasn’t a question. Sunders was sure of it.

And since Rein left the traces here instead of cleaning them up, it meant Rein wanted him to see it.

“The plane fusion nearby failed in the last phase. People are restless. Flunza sent an avatar to discuss with me,” said Rein. “He mentioned your name today, by the way.”

“My name?” Sunders didn’t look amused. “He thinks I’m responsible for the failed fusion?”

“Rumors only, since you know, you returned at the exact wrong time. Though only apprentices will take these rumors seriously.”

“You would care about what apprentices say?” Sunders chuckled.

If Rein mentioned this matter, these “rumors” must have been spread to lots of people. And they were not entirely wrong, since both failed plane fusions had Sunders teleporting nearby.

Wizards should know that he had no way of controlling the outcome of plane fusions. Though this wouldn’t prevent them from seeing him as a bringer of bad luck.

Sunders would not complain because he would probably do the same, if he weren’t the one being blamed.

“Enough of rumors and whatnot.” Rein continued, “Take a guess. Why did Flunza talk about you?”

“Is it because of Angor, by any chance?”