Warlock Apprentice

The Krakoks lived right where Water Grasse should exist in the Real World.

Angor and Shadow descended from the mountain and slowly headed to the Krakoks’ habitat. Along the way, Angor only saw ruins and lifeless lands everywhere—bald dirt, tattered grounds. Even the original inland ocean which nurtured countless people in the Real World became black, still water.

“The Krakoks live in this place? Is everything the same outside the barrier?” Angor asked a question.

Shadow nodded slightly and sighed. “Almost, apart from where wizards set up their bases. This is what you usually see in both Midworld and Otherworld. Too much primal mana can kill plants. I guess this is what they call the ‘balance of energy’? Pity… Yet that’s the price you have to pay for going through a plane fusion.”

Shadow looked up again and saw Angor looking into the distance with a frown.

“Are you feeling sorry for the Krakoks?”

Angor nodded. According to Leonrick’s city legend, the Krakoks used to be a group of peaceful and loving creatures. Due to their naivety, they met a terrible outcome when they dealt with humans, which forced them to live in this dead land.

What a sad story.

“Don’t assume things yet,” Shadow said and chuckled. “You saw how that Magic Giant and Molten Flamingos have their eyes on the Krakoks all the time, right? Greed, man. Just like how I used to be.”

Shadow huffed at himself. “Something that attracted the greed of so many other monsters… Do you think they’re miserable?”

Shadow pointed toward ahead. “Here, they are a lot happier. That’s why they never left this place again during the last thousand years.”

Angor didn’t really understand Shadow, but he did see different monsters gawking at the same spot from outside the barrier dome. Those thirsty looks suggested that they would immediately swarm inside should the obstruction be lifted.

He realized that Shadow was right. There had to be something else that was special about the Krakoks.

With that question in mind, Angor moved on top of a small hill so that he could get a good look at the plains near the seashore.

As expected, everything looked so different from the lively and green lands around Water Grasse. There was almost nothing here. No human traces, no buildings.

Almost nothing, apart from a shining sphere that hung in midair.

Angor was pretty confused to see it. The object looked like a glaze ball about 20 meters in radius, which stood quietly in the air as it released dim green light around it.

He couldn’t see into the sphere. The surface was all blurry.

Angor didn’t believe that Krakoks could hide underground since all the monsters were looking right at them. Shadow also mentioned that the Krakoks could be observed from the sky.

So…

“They’re living inside that ball thing?” Angor mumbled, “It’s not big though. Does it mean that their population is only like, a dozen?”

Shadow joined him at the hill peak. “Right by half. Krakoks are inside that thing, yes. But they got more than a dozen. Gummy told me that after all the generations, they have at least ten cities, each holds thousands of folks. I think their capital has a six-digit population.”

Angor took a guess that Shadow’s explanation suggested more than 200,000 Krakoks, but he couldn’t imagine how those creatures would fit into that sphere. There was no expansion rune powerful enough to create such a large space.

And there was no way that floating ball was a space bracelet as that would cost an immeasurable amount of Hollow Weed.

Was there another dimension in there?

Next, Angor thought about mirror dimensions like Twilight Well and The Tributary. However, he denied that assumption soon enough because such mirror dimensions usually reflected the same environment of their counterparts.

A mirror world inside the ball should look similar to the barren grounds outside, which wouldn’t hold anything worth thirsting for.

Shadow noticed Angor’s confusion and chuckled again. “I think you know the answer, but you refuse to believe it. It will look like a joke to everyone who hears about it.”

Angor still failed to get a viable answer on himself, so he waited for further explanation.

“It’s quite simple. Have you heard of Sorcerer’s Garden?”

Angor widened his eyes upon hearing the familiar word.

A Sorcerer’s Garden?

The specific treasure that drew the attention of all wizard organizations. A small area that had its own natural law and was blessed by the world’s consciousness?

He did think about it a moment ago. And as Shadow said, he never believed this was the case. A Sorcerer’s Garden was always a valuable tactical asset for wizards. How could a garden just sit in the middle of nowhere as the home of a bunch of small creatures?

“So you know about that thing,” Shadow continued. “Well, you should totally have heard. Mister Phantom Master found himself a personal Sorcerer’s Garden not long ago, and it was quite the news around the wizarding world. Man, those gossipers spent half a year digging for every scrap of information from Gravity Forest. They almost forced Gravity Forest to get a new name.

“Now I think about it, I made exactly the same expression as you when I heard about this answer five years ago. It’s true though. That wizard who created this place was strong. But that wizard was a weirdo just like that old witch. She left Fey Continent and left the Sorcerer’s Garden to the Krakoks, and the old witch agreed.

“There are many who seek to take the garden for themselves. The witch declared that anyone who attempted that would be considered an enemy of Dark Castle. You understand why all the monsters are drooling over this place now?” Shadow sighed again and said, “I still don’t know why that great wizard did this. Well, she can do whatever she wants with her personal possession, but her choice doesn’t make sense.”

“Maybe the Krakoks have something special or really valuable that’s worthy enough for that decision?” Angor tried. This was what he learned after spending his time in the wizarding world—that personal profit always mattered.

“Maybe. But the Dark Castle ain’t a charity. They must have a really good reason to keep the Krakoks,” Shadow said. He then shrugged. “None of our business though.”

“Yeah…”

As apprentices, they should not question the acts of wizards. They might as well set their eyes upon something they needed to do right now.

“You said there’s a way to the Otherworld and to the ‘real’ Dark Castle.” Angor pointed to the floating ball and asked, “Inside that thing?”

“Yup. Each time the Krakoks hold their ritual, people from Dark Castle will come into the Sorcerer’s Garden via that plane passage. And it’s our ticket this time.”

…

This wasn’t an easy task. First and foremost, Angor and Shadow had to sneak into the Sorcerer’s Garden and reach the ritual spot.

The Krakoks were as weak as mortals, but in order not to cause too much trouble, they couldn’t just force their way in using violence.

“You already got an idea?” Angor asked.

“No. There’s no way we can blend in with those tiny creatures. We have to use the magical approach,” Shadow said. He took out a cloak from his backpack and continued, “You know how to go invisible? If not, you can borrow my cloak. It has a built-in Optic Confusion on it.”

At first, Angor didn’t plan to accompany Shadow that far, but on second thought, he was REALLY curious about the Sorcerer’s Garden and which law it had. It would be a good choice to check that out if this one had something similar to the purification garden.

Since the Krakoks survived inside for a thousand years, that law should be harmless to life forms.

Angor shook his head. “No. I can manage.”

“Ah, I forgot. I never saw how you snuck into that room with Magician back there. Which spell did you use? Come on, tell me. I’ll try to get it once I’m back at Floating Mech City.”

Angor didn’t answer. It wasn’t a big issue to tell Shadow about the Infinite Reticence magic array, but he still wished to keep his secret moves from this tricky individual.

“Heh, fine. Since the owner of the garden had already left the southern wizarding region, we can only get inside through the portal on top of it.”

Shadow took out a silk scroll from his backpack.

“This is a vehicle I found by… accident. Don’t get me wrong, it has nothing to do with my personal taste.”

Personal taste?

Angor didn’t understand those words until Shadow spread the silk scroll open and revealed a soft silk cloak that would fit well on any beautiful woman.

Shadow put on the cloak with an embarrassed expression and floated up into the air.

“Shall I give you a lift?”