Warlock Apprentice

The sound of the wind?

They were now flying at an altitude of several hundred meters. The demon falcon flapped its wings in the shifting clouds, and the howling wind was constantly assaulting their skin.

Angor tried to think of his previous experience. There was nothing wrong with the sound of the wind in his memory.

A stable wind blowing sound could not be used to trigger nodes for illusions, so the Melodious Illusion deployed by Sunders had nothing to do with wind.

Angor frowned.

Was there any other sound apart from wind?

Bird chirp maybe? No.

The only bird in the vicinity was the demon falcon they stayed on. And it did not make any noise aside from the painful scream caused by Angor’s cantrip.

Clouds? Can’t be.

Clouds did not make much sound in the sky. Sunders probably could do something to make them work, but Angor did not believe that his professor would make the test so difficult.

Angor spent some time thinking over the question. With nothing else to go on, he looked at Sunders for help. Sunders pointed a finger toward somewhere.

Sunders was pointing at the center of the falcon’s back. He then asked Angor to sit on that spot.

“Something’s here?” Angor complied, still puzzled.

About half a minute, Angor felt something bumping heavily beneath him.

A second bump appeared in another half minute.

“Is this… the falcon’s heartbeat?” Angor immediately realized something.

He thought about everything in the environment that could create sound, yet he forgot to think about his own body.

And there were many different types of sound inside him.

Moreover, as Angor was struggling in desperation, the surge of adrenaline amplified his heartbeat.

Thump, thump…

Angor placed a hand against his chest to feel his heart. It was now calmer, compared to when it beat wildly when his life was in danger.

“See it now?” Sunders asked.

Angor nodded. “My heart… So, Melodious Illusion is not limited to artificial and natural noises. We can also use something inside our bodies.”

Angor felt happy about the knowledge he just learned, but it was not long before Sunders’ comment ruined his enthusiasm again.

“Your knowledge base is good, compared to other apprentices. So is your logic senses. But your vision is still too limited. You see matters just like mortals,” said Sunders. He did not hold back when pointing out Angor’s problems. “You need to develop a wider mind if you wish to seek the truth, or you’ll just be another average wizard.”

Angor’s ego instantly deflated.

Sunders was right. He failed to look for reasons with a broader vision and only realized an answer with Sunders’ hint.

Sunders noticed the expression of his student calming down and grinned inconspicuously.

“As for your question,” Sunders spoke, “you’re right. The illusion was related to your heartbeats. But do you know how?”

It was something Angor had yet to figure out ever since he saw the illusion around Saka.

What are these different sounds used for in the illusions?

A simpler question was, why would a Melodious Illusion need sound?

Angor was stumped. He thought he read enough about Acoustic Illusions. Now a small question totally got him stuck.

He tried to remember the content in Sunders’ notebook. The first page that explained the level-1 cantrip called “Melodious Illusion” defined the spell as something that created illusions by tricking human senses with sound.

“To trick someone’s senses with… sound?”

He had been thinking in the wrong way. What really mattered in the definition was “senses”!

And “sound” was only a tool used for disturbing, even manipulating someone’s sense.

Sunders’ Melodious Illusion leveraged his heartbeat. So which sense was affected by the sound of the heartbeat?

A while later, Angor lifted his head and answered in a plain tone, “Discrimination. I lost the ability to size up the environment around me.”

Sunders smiled. “Good. You’ve got an answer.”

By losing the ability to discriminate, Angor meant that his frenzied heartbeat prevented him from seeing the reasons around him. At first, he lost faith in Sunders, believing that Sunders would watch him die. Also, he failed to notice the abnormalities in his situation. The flow of wind did not change at all, and he never felt weightlessness, since he was not falling from the sky for real. Usually, even if he was in great trouble, Angor was unlikely to overlook such obvious matters.

However, the sound of the heartbeat hindered his perception.

“I guess you also realized how the Melodious Illusion worked on Saka?” Sunders spoke.

“I think it was the same one that affected me. Saka lost his sense to see things correctly under the illusion’s effect.”

“You are only partially correct,” said Sunders as he pointed out. It surprised Angor when Sunders said, “You were right about how I used your heartbeat to create a delusion that you’re in danger while making you unable to judge. But I used something different on Saka.

“Hypnosis.” Sunders did not wait for Angor to find an answer on his own this time. “The experiment on your soul would take at least half a day. I used the sound of a ticking clock to put him into a sweet dream and block his ability to determine the truth. It was the easiest way.”

Sunders put a hand on Angor’s shoulder. “Melodious Illusion is only a level-1 cantrip. But it involves a grand and complicated knowledge system. Wizards have been working on the spell for centuries. Of course, you’re not going to learn it so fast.

“The other types of illusions are also tricky in their own ways. Yet most of them have something to do with disturbing human senses. Try reading some books about psychology, which will certainly help you study illusions.”

…

They finally reached Phantom Island. Angor was still thinking about Sunders’ simple illusion.

It was so simple and illogical, yet it completely fooled him when combined with a Melodious Illusion that affected his mind.

It was an embarrassing experience. However, Angor was glad he learned a lot from it.

While basic illusions were used to trick people’s eyes, Melodious Illusions could trick their minds when used correctly. If used together, they made a great combination by creating way better illusions.

In the world of wizards, one plus one was no longer a simple mathematical question. What people could gain by combining different knowledge was always unknown.

On their way back, Angor felt something strange.

The Phantom Island was always a lively place full of fantastical beasts. Why was it so quiet today?

Angor followed behind Sunders and when he stepped into the manor, he saw a group of Phantom Servants standing in a straight line solemnly.

Next, he felt great mana energy covering him up.

When Angor tried to ask what happened, he realized he could no longer make any sound.

Is this… the level-1 cantrip, Silence? No. The cantrip only works on a single target.

Then it must be the level-2 cantrip, Ward of Silence?

Angor once witnessed the power of the spell from Mara before he came to Fey Continent.

The point was, whoever cast the large-scale spell in the home of a powerful wizard did not come to show friendliness. Even Flora would never attempt something like this in Sunder’s manor.

Did Sunders’ enemy come for him?

Angor carefully glanced at his professor and saw the gentleman staring at the end of the hallway with a frown.

“Took you long enough, Sunders.” Someone appeared from the hallway.

It was someone who looked quite aged. But his age did nothing to bend his body. This man was dressed in gray trousers and a white shirt covered in a brown, checkered vest. Everything on him was carefully trimmed and tidied. The old man’s slicked hair was so smooth that not a single stray string could be seen.

Angor’s first thought was that he was someone who followed very strict principles.

“Mister Rein. To what honor do I owe the pleasure of having you in my humble abode?” Sunders removed his top hat and bowed to the visitor.

All the Phantom Servants followed his example and bowed down.

Angor was still wondering who this was. Sunders’ action already told him that the old man had to be someone important. Therefore, the boy remained calm and bent down as well.

“Mister Rein” ignored the respectful attention and walked straight to Sunders with a somewhat frustrated look. “You should already know why I am here.”

Sunders pondered. “Someone asked you to come, sir?”

“Yes. It’s Samantha.”

“I see. She’s the only person I can think of that might convince you, Mister Rein. Looks like I’ve no right to decline this time,” Sunders spoke.

Rein opened his mouth, only to sigh in the end. “Let’s… talk about it inside. It’s not really a difficult task.”

As Rein and Sunders walked away, Angor wondered if he should follow or simply return home.

“Wait here just a bit. I still have something to tell you later,” Sunders’ voice reached his ears.