Warlock Apprentice

Different floating islands were connected by iron chains which also served as traffic routes. They were guarded by sentries. However, all the protections were pointless to Angor and Shadow.

They traveled through the “island network” which appeared like a spider web and headed to its center, where the “biggest spider”—Hippocrotee—was.

They finally reached their destination when the sky was painted by dusk.

However, they didn’t get to take many steps on the central island because Angor suddenly knelt down due to a sudden strange feeling that overwhelmed his body.

It was an indescribable pain that came straight from the depth of his soul.

The pain surpassed everything else there was. Angor couldn’t do anything but to struggle on the ground helplessly, and without the mana support, his Infinite Reticence broke down as well.

This was what Shadow saw when Angor’s body re-appeared under the dusk light.

“What’s gotten into you?” Shadow quickly asked when he noticed that the painful writhing was real.

Angor had no strength to answer at all. What was left of his concentration was fully seized by the impulsing agony, which finally went away when he lost consciousness.

…

When he woke up again, he found himself lying beneath the shade of a giant tree.

The color in the sky was replaced by the bright light of dawn.

He felt something on his skin too. It seemed Shadow had given him the invisibility cloak.

He lay under one of the many trees in a forest since no one else was nearby. The Spirit Bond had also vanished because of his condition.

Angor tried to recall what had happened. He couldn’t understand where that pain came from. Was there something wrong with his soul?

He had not learned anything to actively enter his Soul Space yet, so he couldn’t check his soul condition. However, he could sense the Green Velvet in his body moving a little, which meant something did happen inside him.

When he heard the sound of rustling leaves nearby, he looked aside and saw the leaves on the ground moving as if someone was walking on them.

“Angor?” Shadow’s voice came.

Angor removed the cloak and was about to prepare to talk when another Spirit Bond asked for “connection”, which he quickly accepted.

“Finally. What’s with you yesterday?” Shadow spoke through their Spirit Bond.

Angor realized that he slept through the night.

“I don’t know… I think the island has something that hurts my soul. That’s what I felt yesterday.”

Shadow considered. “I know what that is, but it only makes me feel uncomfortable for a while. Maybe you don’t have any soul defense?”

Angor didn’t say anything since he knew Shadow was wrong. He already knew that his soul could resist most types of negative effects, judging from his battles against Saka. Also, the Green Velvet was there to protect his soul.

And there was no way “he doesn’t have soul defense”.

Still, he wasn’t going to reveal his abilities to Shadow.

“Maybe it’s something to do with the garden’s law?”

“Possible. I’m not sure though,” Shadow murmured as he tried to remember what he learned about soul-related Sorcerer’s Gardens.

Most of such gardens weren’t used for human bodies. Some of them only permitted souls to go inside, such as a Garden of Deceased.

One of the most famous soul-related gardens should be Soul Soil, which could be used to enhance Soul Manipulators. The most noticeable property of this type of garden was that the garden’s rule was spread throughout the ground, which obviously wasn’t the case here.

Shadow considered, but he couldn’t reach any answer.

“Ugh, no use thinking about it. I checked around Hippocrotee last night. The ceremony won’t happen inside the city. It’s at an altar to the east. The ceremony is tomorrow, but Hippocrotee’s almost empty now—the Krakoks already went to the ritual ground. I think I’m gonna check the city since no one’s looking after it. What about you? Want to rest here?”

Angor considered before he replied, “I think I’ll go to the altar so that I don’t accidentally step on their houses in the city. I got a feeling that the core of law might be right there.”

“Let’s split ways then. I’ll maintain our Spirit Bond. Be careful though. If you do find that core, stay far enough so that you don’t get lost in it.”

“Get lost?” Angor grew confused.

“The core of the law is an addictive source of strength to wizards, and deadly. Without the world’s consciousness to guide you, you can’t even attempt to learn the law. If you try it anyway, you will quickly get absorbed inside.”

“I see, thanks,” Angor said. He then removed the cloak and handed it back to Shadow. “I can manage on my own without this thing now.”

“There are loads of Krakoks near the altar. Keep your head down so that you don’t kill any of them,” Shadow said and left the forest.

Angor chuckled and activated Infinite Reticence again.

…

The ancient ritual altar was located in the eastern suburbs of Hippocrotee city. Angor thought it was still far, but he hadn’t even walked far before he heard the beautiful music of chanting choirs which were performed by countless singers. Even the Krakok Knights riding on hummingbirds in the sky were singing along.

After the song came the narration of the history of Krakoks.

By chasing the sound, Angor quickly found the ceremonial spot, which was a six-level dish-shaped shrine built on the plain ground at the mountain foot.

The fine designs of the shrine suggested that Krakoks built it. Angor was surprised to see that the shrine was about ten meters tall, which appeared moderate to humans but definitely not to Krakoks.

At the peak of the small mountain, a group of Krakok Clerics stood in front of the Grand Priest’s temple and presented their holy song.

Countless Krakoks had gathered around the shrine under the mountain; there was only one narrow path left in the middle of the crowd.

Angor observed the shrine carefully. He could sense amazing energy coming from it, which seemed to be the work of multiple runes. A magic array, perhaps.

According to Shadow, the magic array was probably a portal made by Dark Castle.

There was another energy source though, which came from the temple at the peak of the small mountain. It released the same energy which made him faint yesterday—something that shocked souls.

He looked at the temple in the distance and forced himself into giving up the idea of adventuring further.

Something suddenly chirped from inside his pocket. Toby, who had been sleeping all day long, began to flutter toward the mountain peak with his eyes closed.

Angor jumped and immediately dragged Toby back.

Also, the more he tried to stay away from the mountain, the more Toby would try to fly away. And the bird never responded to Angor’s calls, which meant he was still sleeping.

“What’s the deal with that temple?”

Angor tried moving forward again, but Toby only became more and more active in his hand.

In the meantime, his instinct of “wanting” to check out the strange energy was getting stronger.

When he moved to the middle of the mountain slope, Toby suddenly stopped moving and quieted down again.

And Angor decided to stop as well. He wasn’t going any further. Not before he learned what was hidden inside the temple.

He found a relatively concealed spot and sat down. He then listened to the holy chant as he continued to observe Toby’s condition.

Everything on Toby seemed fine. When he cast Heal and received no injury feedback, Angor quickly suppressed his anxiety.

He was getting a little scared of the temple too. He didn’t know about any law generated in a Sorcerer’s Garden that could attract Toby like that.

Or was this place a Sorcerer’s Garden at all?

“You good over there?” Shadow’s voice came from the Spirit Bond.

“I think I just found the source of the power, but I don’t know if it’s the law of the garden,” Angor said. He considered his words before he added, “It’s inside the temple of the Grand Priest. What about you?”

Shadow suddenly snickered. “Oh, I have something really interesting. Do you want to take a look?”

“Something interesting?”

“A magic array which covers the entire Hippocrotee. Sounds good enough?”