Warlock Apprentice

Papaya was asked to sing the fourth paragraph. The Krakok girl seemed extremely nervous. Once on the stage, she kept moving her hands around her dress, unable to decide where to place them.

Angor failed to hold back his laughter. Last time they met, that little girl did a perfect job pretending to be innocent. He thought she could do better.

“You know Papaya, young mister?” the old priest suddenly asked.

“Yes. She knows how to act, I tell you.”

“Pardon me. Act?”

“Aw, stop calling her girl. Who knows, maybe she’s older than you,” Shadow joked.

The Grand Priest glanced at Angor again. Speaking of age, he never paid close attention to Angor’s age till now. Now that he took a careful look, the wizard sitting next to him had quite an immature appearance.

“I think she’s 17, young mister.”

Angor blushed a little. So Papaya is ACTUALLY one year older than me!

He never realized this because Papaya’s tiny figure easily gave him a false impression.

“See? So, you aren’t even 17 yet?” Shadow joked again. But in truth, the man was really envious of Angor’s achievement right now. Shadow always believed that he was an “elite disciple” from Floating Mech City in the past 30 years. And Angor just ruined his confidence.

Angor humphed against Shadow’s joke.

Shadow’s eyebrows twitched a little. He knew Angor felt embarrassed, but he didn’t know how and whether he should tell more jokes right now.

Three of the four singers had completed their performance, which still failed to trigger anything from the treasure.

It was finally Papaya’s turn. She quickly stepped up while pulling on her green bubble skirt so that it didn’t trip her legs.

She put a hand on her chest and began. However, her first note strayed far off course due to stress.

As she looked around in uncertainty, the other singers snickered at her.

Papaya almost cried out of shame when she suddenly felt a chilly and refreshing power on her forehead, which silenced all noises in the hall.

“Now, go ahead.”

Fiona spoke from her seat. Her voice sounded gentle and comforting, yet Papaya couldn’t help but think about someone else in her mind—a human gentleman.

She looked around again and noticed that no one was laughing at her anymore. She felt calm and peaceful.

The strange power came again. This time, she saw the green field around her village and her beloved grandmother.

“O the fourth warrior… He reveals the sky gate…” Her notes were precise and skillful this time.

“Ohh, such gentlemanly manners!” Shadow spoke through their Spirit Bond. He already saw how Angor helped the Krakok girl by speaking in Fiona’s voice.

“Easy favor, so why not?”

“You know, being too kind to mortals might become your weakness in the future, and your enemies can take advantage of it.”

Shadow suddenly warned him.

“So, are you going to take advantage of me?”

“Heh. I’m not your enemy. We’re all love and peace, eh?”

Angor didn’t answer and decided to keep watching the performance.

Papaya had completed her part as well. The four singers were now waiting for the Grand Priest’s order on the stage.

The old man looked at the unresponsive item and shook his head. “You can go now. Next.”

The singers looked down. They only had one chance at the choir selection in their lives. To Papaya, she had disappointed her village and her grandmother.

Still, the ceremony had to go on. Several clerics came and escorted the crying singers away.

“Aw, shame. I wonder what they’ll look like if someone tells them that it has nothing to do with their voices,” Shadow joked. Despite his words, the man seemed to be enjoying their misfortune.

The old priest looked down in sadness, while Angor didn’t comment.

There weren’t many singers waiting in the palace now.

“What happens if you can’t find anyone?” Angor asked.

The old priest glanced at Fiona. “In that case, the Citadel visitor shall go look for one on her own. She’ll always find someone in time.”

Which meant people from Dark Castle had their own special way of determining a “key singer”.

The current “Citadel visitor”, Fiona, was now a puppet of Shadow, so the priest could only hope that they would be able to find a singer during the ceremony.

He wasn’t disappointed.

Finally, a singer in the remaining groups displayed the bloodline power. The Krakok singer with a birthmark on her face immediately drew the priest’s attention when she started singing.

The dish-like item began to present glowing pulses as if it suddenly started to breathe.

“You wait here. Everyone else, leave.” The old man pointed at the singer.

The chosen girl was shocked. She then grinned in delight; the remaining singers stepped out of the palace hall while sulking.

“Today, you have the chance to join the Sky Choir and become their new member,” the old priest announced. “Yellena, right?”

The Krakok girl called Yellena nodded happily.

“Miss Yellena, please recollect your mood and start your full performance. This will officially determine whether you can join the Sky Choir for real. Make sure you give it your best.”

To activate the treasure, the singer had to pronounce every note correctly. Otherwise, they would miss the chance and have to wait for another 300 days.

Yellena too, knew how important this was. She breathed in rhythmically and prepared her composure for the final show.

“Say, will she mess it up like Papaya?” Shadow asked while he watched Yellena getting warmed up.

“Oh, stop jinxing,” Angor complained.

It wasn’t likely. The Hymns of Fairies weren’t long, and the singers all practiced since they were young, so they shouldn’t make serious mistakes in such a situation. But… things could always go wrong.

Angor considered and unleashed a small illusion on the stage.

He presented different views to Yellena, including tranquil woods, rivers, snowfields, and clouds, while observing Yellena’s reaction.

The Krakok singer didn’t seem troubled by the sight. She was only curious.

Until she grew visibly excited when Angor presented the image of a large stage and crowds of audiences.

“So she wants fame and attention…” Angor pondered and positioned Yellena at the center of crowds and spotlights.

Meanwhile, he asked his “teacup musicians” to join the illusion as well. During their encounter with Papaya, he learned that the teacups could play good music if they tried to. They didn’t at first probably because they only had nightmare monsters as audiences before.

As he expected, the stage illusion and teacup band helped Yellena bring out her best shot.

As she reached the climax of her song, the dish treasure began to glow brightly.

The Grand Priest let go of the item which slowly floated in the air.

“Sirs. Stand under its light, and your souls will be purified.” The old man explained and moved the item above Angor and Shadow.

More light came down along Yellena’s angelic singing voice. Angor felt as if he were taking a refreshing hot shower on the inside.

Probably because his soul was already relatively pure. Angor only felt comforting warmth and nothing else.

Shadow, on the other hand, moaned in delight non-stop. There were big chunks of black aura leaving his body, which suggested that his soul was a lot “dirtier”.

As Angor enjoyed the “sunbath”, he grew so relaxed that he wanted to take a nap right away.

The light of purification had reached the gray aura lingering in his soul. The aura was the energy of gravity sequence. It was both regarded as “impurity” and something beneficial, so the light halted in front of the aura as if considering what to do with it.

Angor grew curious. The Grand Priest did mention that the purification light could do something to the gray energy, but the old man never said what exactly.

The light finally moved again. It expanded and slowly engulfed the gray aura.

Next, the light-covered shape began to shrink until all the gray aura lingering in the depth of Angor’s soul was compressed into a sphere.

The light vanished.

Angor frowned at the strange feeling. So the light only collected all the energy in one place? What happened to “purification”?

The glowing treasure slowly stopped moving and returned to the Grand Priest.

Shadow stretched himself and moaned in pleasure again.

“Now this is worthwhile. With most of my soul taint gone, I have way more hope of becoming a wizard.” He then glanced at Angor. “If I’m seeing right, the light didn’t do much to you. Did you already purify your soul before?”

Instead of answering, Angor looked at the Grand Priest while demanding an answer.

“Young mister, the sequence inside you isn’t impurity, but the foreign power can still harm your soul if it spreads freely. Now, the light of purification has gathered the aura to a single spot. It’s bound to be a good thing to happen.”