Warlock Apprentice

Angor spent almost the entire night searching for a clue, and he finally saw a book which described how a group of healers saved lives in ancient times. Probably to idolize them, every doctor carried a shining rod decorated by a serpent-like object.

There were even story strips that told a story in history. A man with the serpent rod saw a “shining cloud” as an omen, which led him to a city plagued by a serious illness. He went there and managed to save the suffering patients.

If it were not superstition, Angor would assume that the “shining cloud” was some kind of large-scale healing spell.

There was the “serpent on rod” picture at the end of the book again.

It wasn’t a doctor’s tool this time, but a giant statue placed in the middle of a plaza, where a number of doctors in healer robes paid their respect to it.

The picture that showed a solemn scene had a line written beneath it.

[Doctor’s Oath]

A doctor’s oath declared that he or she would never abandon a patient or show disrespect to their job.

But Angor got even more confused as he looked at the picture. According to the previous pictures, the rod was a tool for the doctors. But it suddenly became a symbol of belief in the end…

He took a guess that there was a wizard healer, who was praised by the people he saved. After he left, people regarded his stories as legends and gradually regarded his mark—the serpent rod—as a spiritual belief for doctors.

This was the most reasonable assumption Angor could think of.

However… What did this have anything to do with Akeso? And Pocratee?

The book only described the information as to ancient mythology. There was no real snake, nor any meaning held by the symbol. And Angor learned nothing about Pocratee, which was his biggest question regarding this matter.

Having wasted his time, Angor could only sigh in frustration. He rearranged the books in place and left the chamber quietly.

When he returned to the plaza outside, he was surprised to find snow coming from the sky.

He spent his childhood in a coastal area with a moderate climate, and the mirror world always retained gentle temperatures. He did see snowfield on Parmigi Highlands before, but this was the first time for him to see snowy weather away from home. He barely remembered the time when he saw snow at the capital of the Goldspink Empire as a child. To experience the amazing weather again made him feel extremely comforted.

It seemed the snow around him had shut all irritations and noises away. With a relaxed and serene mood, Angor slowly paced toward where he came from.

Every season had a symbol. Angor believed that such pure and holy snow was the symbol of winter. His spell-enhanced overcoat always prevented him from feeling the changes in temperature, but now, the floating snowflakes finally reminded him that winter had arrived.

He thought about his family faraway. He thought about Leon and Jon.

He left Grue Town just during the Month of Freezing Earth. At that time, he followed Mara and joined a whole new amazing world.

Two years had already elapsed.

Two years wasn’t long for wizards, but it was for Angor, for he had not grown strong enough to protect his family or save Jon.

Heck, he didn’t even know where he was right now.

He had been comforting himself that he would return soon enough. But… could he really?

The Purification Garden was about to open. Could he get there in time?

Angor shook his head to get rid of the random concerns which would affect his decisions.

…

As the night grew darker, more snow came floating down.

Angor didn’t activate the Purification Field, and he allowed the snowflakes to land on him. Instead of giving him chilliness, the lovely objects melting on his shoulder somewhat calmed his mind.

Across the curtain of white velvet, he saw a shop at the end of the street which still had its lights on.

It was a small clinic, which he already noticed on his way to the library. Across the blurred window, he could see narrow rooms, bright oil lamps, and simple desks and chairs inside. A young female doctor was sipping on some hot drink while watching the snow falling through her fogged glasses.

Angor briefly stopped in front of the window, and the young doctor quickly noticed him. She took off her glasses and gave Angor a gentle smile.

Out of instinct, Angor wanted to lower his hat and leave. But when he thought about the “Doctor’s Oath” that he just saw in the library, he nodded to the woman and entered the clinic instead.

The doctor was a little surprised. She put down her drink and came to the door.

“The weather’s getting worse. Come in and have some tea.” She noticed that the man, who was in a strange suit, didn’t plan to come inside a second ago. He didn’t look ill either. She believed this man was only here to escape the cold.

She quickly brought out another water glass and served Angor hot tea.

Angor thought about rejecting, but he decided otherwise upon smelling the scent of milk.

“I’m sorry, I only have milk tea here because I kinda love it.” She looked somewhat embarrassed. “Please try it out, sir. It’s from Winton, and it’s a perfect warm-up drink in this cold winter.”

Angor hesitated a little before he accepted the glass.

Instead of drinking right away, he placed the glass on a desk first. He then removed his top hat and smiled at the woman.

The woman noticed that she just addressed a teenager as “sir”. A handsome teenager at that. This boy reminded her of someone she loved while she was still studying in the academy. She wondered how many women would fall in love with this guy once he grew up.

She then shook her head for losing another perfect dating chance.

“I’m Sherry, the chief doctor of Sherry’s Clinic. I think the snow caught everyone by surprise. How about spending the night here until it clears up a little?”

Angor nodded. “Doctor Sherry, did you graduate from Golden Cross?”

Sherry looked surprised at the question. She then spoke while blushing a little.

“Golden Cross is the very best academy a doctor can hope for in Zeal Dominion. I was never good enough to get admitted. I came from Folan. It’s not that famous, but they still gave birth to a lot of great doctors. Lady Caroline, who just came to Water Grasse, was once a student in Folan as well.”

Angor nodded nonchalantly. He simply wished to strike a topic.

“I heard doctors all need an oath when they graduate. Can you tell me something about that, Miss Sherry?”

Sherry wasn’t sure why this gentleman asked such a thing. Since it wasn’t anything private, she gladly joined the topic so as to pass some time.

“I wasn’t expecting that from a young traveler. Are you planning to study medicine too?”

Angor only grinned gently.

Sherry complained in her mind.

How could a kid display such charisma by a simple smile…

“You are right. There is a ritual when we leave school and officially enter our profession. We did it upon joining the academy too. And I still remember those words…”

Sherry recited her oath.

It sounded almost the same as what Angor read in “Doctor’s Oath”. However, hers came with one extra line—”To disregard theology.”

Angor squinted upon hearing this interesting detail. Even the highly-developed civilization from Earth which relied on science did not completely “ban” mythologies from their books. Certain scientists even declared that the end of science was theology.

It was so interesting how the wizarding world, which actually had “unscientific powers”, claimed to give up theology in an oath.

“Doctor Sherry, I can understand how doctors must be responsible to their patients and to themselves. But why are they distancing themselves from theology?”

“Because gods and deities are something to fool common people. There are no gods in this world, right? If a patient believes in gods, how are we to treat him? My teacher once told me that theology defies the real work of doctors.”

Angor nodded. He partially agreed with Sherry. It was true that rulers always needed something to control crowds, such as beliefs, morals standards, and laws. And Sherry was right about how god-believing patients would sometime reject real doctors.

But he didn’t really think theology would taint the field of medicine.

To Angor, theology didn’t necessarily mean religions, but it was something beyond human recognition. Gods and devils were only imaginary symbols made up by mankind to represent good and bad.

All in all, theology pursued the “unknown”. Something unknown couldn’t possibly “defy” doctors. The oath seemed a little bit extreme about this one, but he wasn’t going to discuss it with Sherry.

“Do you believe in any supernatural phenomenon in this world, Doctor Sherry?”

“I… don’t think so?”

Angor nodded and ended the topic here.