Warlock Apprentice

While walking through Care Unit Zero, Caroline kept trying, but she failed to trick information out of Leonrick about who Angor was, after which she only grew more eager to ascertain Angor’s identity.

Everyone stopped talking when they finally arrived at the patients.

Each ward hospitalized a single shadowless patient, most of whom were almost at their terminal stage, which had minimized their brain activities. These souls could do nothing more than relying on the external machines to stay alive.

Angor heard someone crying and headed in that direction. As the others wondered if they should follow him, Leonrick simply told them so.

Which proved that this young man meant to take the lead.

Caroline noticed Tyrael scowling again. “Please do as what Leonrick says, for now,” she whispered.

“I know what I’m doing.” Tyrael nodded.

Angor was standing at the door of a ward. He opened the door next, which startled someone inside the room. The patient looked to the door and immediately saw a stranger in a weird-colored overcoat.

“Who… who is it?”

It was the timid voice of a young woman.

Angor saw a young, adorable-looking, blue-eyed blond lady on the sickbed, who was obviously in a bad shape.

Without answering, Angor went straight inside and checked the floor under the moonlight.

No shadow.

“When did this start?” he asked.

The woman’s eyes brightened just a bit. “Are you a doctor? I… Do I still have hope?”

“YOU are a doctor?”

An old man’s voice came from behind Angor. Tyrael then came to the room.

Angor kept looking at the patient without minding Tyrael.

The old man’s expression immediately darkened. Was this kid refusing to answer his simple question?

Caroline didn’t speak this time, for she found both the boy and her old friend to be a little impolite. Tyrael’s question was simple, true, but the man’s tone sounded more like a demand.

“Mister Tyrael, you mentioned something about a clue for treating Margot, right? Aren’t you going to see her?” Leonrick asked in a small voice.

“Are you questioning or forcing my decision?”

“Heh heh, no, of course. I’m worried about my daughter, please understand.”

The feverish conversation somewhat scared the young patient in the room. She retreated to a corner of her bed and trembled.

Hedrick went to Angor. “Sir, she is the 100th shadowless patient. We received her several days ago.”

“When did she wake up after getting affected?” Angor asked.

“On the second day after she lost her shadow.”

“Did something happen to her before?”

“She’s a family member of one of our patients,” Hedrick continued. “It was her husband, who fell ill back then, and she has been looking after him. She suddenly lost consciousness as well, and we managed to diagnose her condition after that.”

“Something else worth noticing? Was it at night?”

Hedrick pondered. “Nothing, according to her husband.”

Leonrick joined them. “And yes, it was evening. I was watching the hospital that night.”

“Mister Count also came here to pay his kind regard to the patients that day,” Hedrick said as he rolled his eyes while he flattered Leonrick.

“Did you notice anything then?” Angor looked at Leonrick.

Leonrick quickly realized that Angor was asking about strange things like that “black shadow”.

He shook his head, but he nodded afterward. “I’m not sure, sir. I was in Margot’s room. I can remember a bright full moon outside, and it was windy. I think I saw a ghost or something among the trees, but… maybe I was seeing things.”

The other people all grew confused. Those words weren’t useful at all.

Except for Angor, who nodded in acknowledgment. “So Margot was ill on that day?”

Leonrick looked a bit awkward. “Sir, it was the same day you came to Water Grasse.”

Angor quickly understood it had something to do with his “mute trick”.

He could also remember the moon being very bright that night. He was visiting Magician at that time. Angor wondered if this had something to do with Magician. But since Magician seemed too weak to cause such a serious crisis, he quickly denied that idea.

“Let’s go. I’ll check the other patients,” Angor said. He glanced at the trembling lady and sighed.

He clearly heard Tyrael scoffing at him. But again, he didn’t mind the old man.

While walking to the other wards, Angor listened to more information. It seemed that the “infected” patients could live for quite a long time before they completely became a “living dead”. During such a time, they would slowly lose their verbal and emotional abilities. Different patients showed different lengths of time before they succumbed to the illness. Someone managed to stay awake for half a year, while someone stopped speaking at the 3rd day after they lost their shadows.

But ultimately, they ended up as a “living dead”.

Angor looked through several rooms and saw both men and women in different stages.

He didn’t sense any energy ripples, and none of the patients suffered physical or soul-related wounds. Those who already “turned” all had their souls intact. And Angor didn’t know how to examine their souls without learning any soul manipulator spells.

He still found something else though.

“So every patient lost his or her shadow at night?”

Hedrick nodded. “Yes. Also, they are all between the age of 12 to 40. No younger children or older men were discovered with the disease.”

“I think their age has nothing to do with it,” Angor commented.

“He has no idea…” Tyrael muttered in discontent.

They kept walking. Angor didn’t enter any room again. He only used his spirit feelers to sense the rooms.

In the end, everyone stopped in front of a ward which held the very first patient of this incident.

Angor opened the door and looked at the unconscious young man who almost had his limbs wilted.

“As I expected.”

Tyrael felt extremely irritated after following behind this “spoiled kid” and seeing his pointless behaviors, but as a master doctor, the old man couldn’t contain his curiosity when he heard those words. “Did you find anything?”

This question sounded sincere enough, and Angor didn’t embarrass the old man this time.

“Not really. Just an interesting detail.” Angor shrugged.

“Interesting… detail?” Everyone else was confused again.

“What detail? Can you help him?” Tyrael moved closer.

“Help?” Angor glanced at Leonrick. “I never said anything about helping people. I came here because I’m curious about the condition.”

“CURIOUS?!” Tyrael widened his eyes in rage. He was hoping this wasn’t the case! “You’re disgracing the title of a doctor!”

Angor gave Tyrael a puzzled look. “How do you become a doctor if you’re not curious about stuff?”

Curiosity was what forced mankind to improve. Those without such a property would keep treading in one place and achieve nothing.

“Playing with your words!” Tyrael pointed a finger at Angor’s nose. “Do you know what you just did in order to satisfy your curiosity? Hedrick, the director of the academy, ended the meeting for Margot’s treatment halfway! And your petty curiosity kept all of us here wandering aimlessly for an entire hour!”

This was the first time that Angor got scolded at like this. He didn’t feel angry though; there was only… confusion.

Leonrick noticed Angor’s plain expression and quietly sighed in relief. Then he interrupted them.

“Mister Tyrael, you did say you have something to do about Margot. Technically speaking, it wasn’t us who asked you to come here. And I believe Lady Caroline followed us on her free will. Pray not blame Mister Mask for now. We need to find a cure.”

Those words made both Tyrael as well as Caroline, who planned to stay out of the quarrel, feel uncomfortable.

“Mister Mask? Is that how you call him? Tell me kindly then, who the hell is he? And why is he interrupting the work of the entire academy? Even the king cannot just come here sniffing about the patients’ privacy while defiling our holy hospital grounds!”

In normal circumstances, those words sounded legit. But Angor’s identity wasn’t anything normal—he was a supernatural being.

Leonrick believed this young wizard could help them solve the crisis.

Leonrick didn’t know how to respond this time. He dared not expose Angor’s true identity without being allowed to.

And the silence only convinced Tyrael further.

He kept pointing at Angor in a virtuous manner. “Get out of here! I don’t care who you are. Show your power and might to someone else but not here!”

Leonrick felt his heart racing madly. He was now terrified about what would happen if the old man kept angering the great wizard.

Leonrick chose to help Angor with the situation just to prevent the boy from getting too offended. Tyrael had no idea who he was going up against!

There was more silent. Leonrick slowly turned his head to look at Angor, while desperately praying that the young wizard would remain calm.