Warlock Apprentice

“One-fifty thousand, called by Number 19!”

“One-eighty thousand, called by Number 177!”

“One-ninety thousand, called by Number 19!”

Flora floated behind Sunders and whispered, “Hey, professor. It’s just a gourmet wizard. We don’t need to spend money on that. Just find the time and go look for one from Fairytown.”

By “look for one”, Flora meant to search for whoever they see fit, knock the victim out, and bag him back.

Sunders did not answer Flora directly. Instead, he asked, “Do you believe Greya’s dead?”

“Two hundred thousand, called by Number 327!”

Sunders raised the bid by another ten thousand crystals, which meant offering 210,000.

Flora hesitated before saying, “I think so. Time in the Nightmare Realm is almost static. She should have already come out if she really can unless she’s kept there by something we don’t know. But that’s really unlikely. Besides, if she’s out, she’d at least tell Candy House about it.”

Flora curled her lips. “So, I think she’s deader than dead.”

“Be that way then.” Sunders did not provide his opinion. It was as if he did not mean to ask a question seriously at all.

Flora squinted her eyes as she asked, “Professor, you sound as if something’s different?”

Sunders remained silent for a second.

“People from Candy House may be carefree and strange-tempered, but they’re actually stronger than we think. Now, an organization who united a group of powerful wizards under their wings didn’t make a move when Greya’s in trouble, and they watched their man being sold as a slave without coming to help. Don’t you find it strange?”

Flora tilted her head. “You mean… Greya’s still alive?”

“I don’t know about that. But I did hear about a rumor.”

“Rumor?”

Sunders showed a gloomy expression. “Days ago, Felicia went to Brilliance Plane to find an old man who went to Grand Plane with her. The old man had his hair braided into moon shape and sun badges affixed on his beard.”

Moon hair and sun badges on beard… Flora quickly thought of someone by that look.

“Brilliance Plane…” Flora mumbled, “That does sound fishy.”

Brilliance Plane was an appendage plane of the wizarding world.

An appendage plane meant something successfully fused to another plane during a plane fusion. An appendage had all of its free elements replaced by the ruling plane, but it still existed independently.

It was similar to how offshore islands were connected with the main continent. They looked independent, but they were still one deep down.

In this case, the Brilliance Plane was like an island which affixed itself to the wizarding world.

The wizarding world had many such appendage planes. A lot of wizard organizations were set inside these planes to avoid getting involved with mortals. Among them, the Brilliance Plane was a very peculiar being.

Appendage planes were usually extremely large like new worlds. Some of them were bigger than the entire Fey Continent. The Brilliance Plane was special because it only had one wizard organization, which was a rare case among other appendage planes.

The organization who dominated an entire appendage plane was called The Starliege Temple.

A holy ground for Prophet Wizards.

From Sunders’ description, Flora remembered a famed Prophet called ‘Stargazer’ Prada.

Sunders did not tell her the name directly because all Prophets could sense it when their names were mentioned. Just like the grand demons from the Abyss Plane, who used their names as mediums to spread their prowess, their names could lead them across thousands of planes when someone spoke of them.

And Sunders would avoid unnecessary trouble.

“Felicia invited a famous Prophet to Grand Plane, the neighboring plane of Haunt World where Greya disappeared. Interesting.”

As a woman who loved gossips, Flora already created several possible stories in her mind.

Maybe Greya didn’t die. But…

“But are you competing for that waiter because of this, professor? So you can earn favor from Greya?” Flora pointed to the stage.

“No. It’s just that I’ve not tasted a dish made by a gourmet wizard for some time, and I’d like to try some.”

“And you think I’d believe that?” Flora humphed.

Sunders grinned.

“Believe it or not, it’s up to you.”

…

Sunders did not win the eyeless man.

As Twilight announced the result, a charming yet lazy voice was heard inside the entire auction hall. “Mister Sunders… shall we have dinner together? We shall ask the caged guy to cook for us.”

Sunders did not respond.

“I bought him so he can serve us… It’s the same, no matter which one of us won. I’ll be yours… after all.”

“Same your fat ass, Lydia! Don’t go too far!” Flora protested. It was Lydia who bought the eyeless man.

“Oh, you’re pretty easy to provoke today, Flora. Let me guess, are you jealous of someone?”

A rough male voice spoke before Flora could retort again. “Enough of your trash talks in public, Lotus. Master Phantom does not wish to speak to you, and you should be smart.”

Lydia scowled. “Oh! It’s you, Devildare, Waterward Pussy?”

Some of the audiences could not help chuckling. Flaming Lotus was famous for her bad temper and lack of respect for social rules, and the woman just proved it.

Devildare humphed in mild anger.

“What, you’re angry? Let’s fight it out then. I’ll be right here,” Lydia continued her taunting.

Instead of facing Lydia’s harassment, Devildare turned to Twilight.

“Continue the auction.”

Twilight nodded. “Please wait just a little moment, Lady Lotus. Have a look at our last item, you’ll surely be pleased.”

After those words, the protective magic array inside the auction hall suddenly brightened up as it ran at full force. Now it needed to consume hundreds of magic crystals each minute.

Meanwhile, a dozen wizards appeared on the stage in different positions, either in public or in inconspicuous corners, putting every angle of the stage under their observation.

It meant the auction house did regard the last item as something important.

The display of force convinced all audiences to sit upright and wait carefully. Even Lydia stopped her verbal assault.

Before today, no one heard anything about any precious items showing up during the auction, yet the house placed such solid bulwark here as if they were going to present some unequaled treasure found in the last century.

However, this was not planned at all.

Devildare sighed in frustration. Someone sent them the item just before the commencement of the auction. He first offered to buy the item as the auction house, yet the seller insisted for the item to be sold in public. Devildare tried again by convincing the seller to wait until the grand auction at the end of this year, so the house had time to attract more participants and earn more benefit. Yet the seller never agreed, and the seller only demanded the item to be presented right now.

Also, Sunders was here because Devildare sent him an urgent invitation.

“Please take a look at this.” Twilight wave a hand and a sealed-up glass case appeared on the stage.

The case contained a cloth doll with a grim design.

The doll was not big. It was only as tall as half an adult’s arm. It looked so simple that it only had several strings hanging on its round head as hairs. Another long string was attached on its back so whoever owned it might hang it on something else.

But on careful inspection, people could sense the terrifying aura coming from the doll. The simple hairs could not cover the doll’s eyes, which showed black and crimson concentric circles that were pulsing with a strange glimmer.

All wizards inside the hall, including Sunders, gasped at the item.

They were expecting Twilight Auction to use some high-tiered alchemy item or something similar as the finale, not… this.

This got to be the most valuable item provided by the auction during the last decade!

At this moment, the wizards all considered their trip today worthy, no matter whether they could get the item or not.

To apprentices, the toy doll was nothing special. It was just a bit creepy.

Only wizards would notice the small secret hidden within.

To wizards, the appearance of the doll somewhat darkened the auction hall. Then a black, screaming shadow emerged from it and loomed over their heads. They saw a pair of blood-red eyes on the shadow as well as a bloody, grinning maw.

Even the anti-magic case could not prevent the horrible shadow from showing up.

This was something not yet comprehensible for apprentices.

…

“No doubt about it… that’s a Mystery Item!” A wizard stood up in excitement. It appeared he could not hold back the urge to run up the stage so that he could look at it closely.

“Mystery Item??” His comment ignited everyone’s enthusiasm.

Most apprentices had no idea what a “Mystery Item” was. However, they still knew there was something they could not see, judging from how the real wizards around them acted.

“Yes, a Mystery Item which showed itself in this world for the first time.” Twilight smiled at the gawking wizards. “I’ll call it the ‘Cursing Puppet’ for now.”

Twilight only revealed the item’s name. There was no introduction.

The truth was that she did not know anything about the item either. The seller who was just as secretive as the doll did not even allow them to have a preliminary examination of the item. If they insisted, he would simply take it back and sell it somewhere else.

A Mystery Item without an owner.

Any auction, including the ones held by Floating Mech City, would definitely place this one as a grand conclusion.

Successfully selling the item would earn Twilight Auction great fame across the world. That was why they accepted it despite the seller’s extremely tough requirements.

“I believe that there’s no need for words. We’ll start at a hundred thousand magic crystals, and it shall also be the minimum increment.”