Warlock Apprentice

To make a music box was a sudden decision Angor just came up with.

Toby’s pleading look reminded him of Greya’s information. He did not tell it to Toby, so Angor felt a bit sorry for this. Now, he could satisfy Toby’s desire with a new gift, and maybe he could use this chance as a “failsafe” should Toby found out about Greya’s matter in the future.

The bird had no idea what a “music box” was. However, he knew that Angor could create amazing alchemy items, so Toby was really curious about what Angor would give him. Toby did not hesitate at all when stuffing its favorite Echo Flowers into Angor’s hands.

Angor took the flowers and entered his laboratory.

Angor was not sure if music boxes existed in other places, but back in Goldspink Empire, a music box was always an expensive handicraft for noble families. Due to the lack of advanced technology, such boxes could only play simple and poor melodies. Even then, they were still considered luxuries among higher classes.

Angor had a music box before. It was a birthday present from Jon when he hit five. The box played a short music piece called Happy Birthday. Angor really loved the music and used to play it a lot. He later grew a little bored of it after hearing the music concerts of master musicians in Waterford.

Even if music boxes only played poor melodies by hitting metal pieces, they still belonged to Angor’s cherished childhood memory. Of course, music concerts had “better” music, but the small, delicate music box was still one of his best treasures.

Instead of a simple toy of poor quality, the gift for Toby though should be something that could recreate every single music note perfectly. To do this, Angor chose to use Echo Flowers in his creation.

None of his alchemy books mentioned such a “useless” object. The only blueprint for creating a music box was found among Jon’s data. Angor did not intend to follow the blueprint though. He needed to modify it and make something new.

How to use the Echo Flowers in his music box, and how to address the problem about how the flowers could only replay something for once… He needed to tackle these challenges.

Aside from these, Angor also had a small ambition.

This was only a gift for Toby, and he just came up with such an idea today. Nevertheless, Angor was planning to do his best. He could definitely add some interesting mechanism into the item.

He had only crafted alchemy weapons before, and he knew nothing about how to make other types of items. The music box was also an opportunity for him to find inspirations and helped him improve as he walked along the path of alchemy.

Keeping Toby happy AND practicing alchemy skills. Why not?

…

Before actually working on the music box, he still had a lot of preliminary jobs to do. The message about the garden of purification would become public soon, and stronger opponents would go challenge the Sky Tower thus lowering his own chance of reaching the top level. Thus, he had to focus on the tower for now. Each day, Angor only spent some time before sleeping to learn about Echo Flowers from his alchemy books as well as how to choose correct materials and modify the blueprint.

His daily schedule was now completely taken up.

One week later, Angor successfully reached level 5.

He kept winning on his dirty tricks, but he still gained a lot of combat experience such as how to avoid damage, how to choose the right cantrips, when to push on or when to fall back. They were only simple tactics for now, but he believed that time would gradually enrich his experience.

He had never lost a single match. Yet his progress was slow.

If Butler Goode’s information was correct, the message about the garden would get announced within a month now, and Angor was only at the fifth level.

There were 15 levels in the Sky Tower, which meant… ten more levels to go. Considering his current speed, he would never make it in time.

He was now seriously considering a question: How to gain levels faster?

One possible way was to deal with his opponents quicker. However… he was already pretty fast. Judging from how he kept most matches under five minutes, this was not an efficient approach.

He progressed too slowly mainly because he waited too long between matches.

If a fighter wished to join the next match immediately, the Sky Tower would “considerately” give him or her half an hour to prepare. The rule was really helpful for other people. To Angor, however, such an interval hindered his speed too much.

On the day when he was qualified for the fifth level, Angor came to the lottery box handler and asked if he could join matches faster without waiting too long. He wanted to enter the next match immediately without resting at all.

The clerk was obviously shocked at his words. He had been working here for many years, and this one was the first fighter ever to ask such a thing.

“Mister Baron Milk, we are subject to the regulations of the management team and cannot do something like this for you,” said the clerk. He measured the hooded figure in front of him up and down. Was Baron Milk trying to earn quick money? Or did he really love to humiliate his opponents? When he looked into Angor’s profile though, he noticed that this “Baron Milk” never killed anyone. Actually, hardly anyone was hurt. This was a really rare case on the arenas of Sky Tower.

But why else? Was Baron Milk really anxious about reaching the top? For what? Working slowly would always get him there in due time, in a safer way.

Obviously, the clerk did not know about the garden of purification either, so he thought a ticket to the Tower of Infinity was the only prize in the end. Usually, many people would stay at lower levels with the purpose of avoiding getting squashed by stronger fighters. The participants here were either here for money, or to get battle experiences. There was no point looking for trouble at high levels.

Maybe… Baron Milk was a battle maniac who was not afraid of losing his life at all? When thinking about this, the clerk regarded Angor with a little bit of respect. There were many such people in the Sky Tower. Actually, most fighters in the last three levels were bloodthirsty. But they were mostly Bloodline apprentices. It was really unusual for someone like Baron Milk to act like this.

“Is there really no way?” Angor looked disappointed.

Now the clerk was more confident about his idea. The Sky Tower strongly welcomed battle maniacs because they always attracted more audiences.

The clerk considered for a while before saying, “Please go to the management office and ask Director Melantha. If she says yes, there should be no problem.”

Angor thanked him and walked down to the first level.

The management section was located here. It was the same place where Angor got himself registered as a participant.

When asking one of the workers about Melantha and explained why he had come, the worker also mistook Angor for another bloodthirsty crazy. He asked Angor to wait and left to look for Melantha somewhere else.

A moment later, someone came into the management office.

Angor looked at the door and saw a middle-aged woman walking in. She wore a tight, black uniform, coiled-up hair, and had a strict look on her.

They were both surprised when seeing each other.

“Good day, I’m the director of the management team, Melantha Atar.” The woman revealed her identity and walked toward Angor. Her stern expression slowly turned into a gentle smile.

Angor recognized her. She was the one handling the lottery record in Level 1. Previously, Angor thought she was only another common clerk.

“Director Melantha, I am—”

“Baron Milk, is it?” Her smile looked a little stiff as if she did not do it often. “Lots of people have their attention on you. We haven’t witnessed someone who progressed so fast in a long time.”

Angor blushed a little. He did not show it, but he still felt uneasy about how he had been tricking his way through the tower.

It seemed Melantha already saw through him even though Angor was hidden under his robe. Without further courtesy, she cut straight to the point and asked, “My man told me. So you want to join matches faster?”

Angor nodded. “May I?”

Instead of answering, Melantha asked something out of curiosity, “Can you tell me why, sir? If it’s about money, your weapon will serve you a better job in the questing hall. But if you’re looking to beat people down…” She paused a little and acted as if she knew Angor well. “Frankly speaking, I don’t believe it. So, are you willing to share the reason with me?”

Melantha waited for an answer with an intrigued look.

Angor arranged his wording carefully. “I want to reach the top level as fast as I can.”

Melantha immediately understood something and smiled. “Within one month?”

Angor never mentioned it, and Melantha still revealed his goal, which meant she already knew about the garden.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I see. The Sorcerer’s Garden of Purification?”

“Yes,” Angor admitted.

Melantha nodded while still withholding her answer. “Looks like you know quite a lot. Truthfully speaking, I don’t think the alchemy weapon on your wrist can help you reach the fifteenth level. Who you’re going up against in the last three levels are strong and beyond your imagination. You may even lose your life.”

Angor did not say anything about this. He only sneered in his mind: Ha. I have another secret weapon.

Melantha only intended to provide her reminder. She did not ask anything about Angor’s secret. Since this Baron Milk was determined to keep fighting, she did not have a reason to stop him.

“Alright then. I can change the resting time to five minutes. Do remember, once the change is made, your interval between matches will always be five minutes until the end. Are you sure about it?”

Angor did not hesitate at all. “I am!”