Warlock Apprentice

Angor retreated back to the gentle slope along the end of the trench. He believed the giant creature wouldn’t be able to get in here since it was narrower.

He decided to return to his body. And since there was no time to recover soul energy, he ate a Soul Orb and let it slowly replenish his soul before he dragged Keely further away.

Along their way, Keely managed to regain some strength, which allowed her to move just a little. Her face still looked pale, and her lips were of a sick purple color that indicated her terrible condition.

“Are you really alright for losing that duel?” Angor was getting worried now. “Maybe you should rest more.”

“No… I’m fine. I only lost a Blaze and I can always try to capture another one.”

She sounded relaxed, but she knew it was more than difficult to catch a Blaze of Purgatory.

Angor didn’t insist and let Keely move on her own.

He checked the Duon he had been dragging and made sure that the creature was already dead. Its body didn’t rot away since it was well protected in that bubble.

He had no idea what the Duon meant to the octopus. Why would a monster carry it around?

Keely moved closer and used her lamp to help them check the corpse better.

This Duon was a male with a naturally violent expression. However, when compared to the other ugly Duons shown in the wall arts, this one was still “acceptable” by human standards.

A piece of gray, broken linen fabric with strange symbols sewn on it covered its shoulders. Angor thought the symbols were decorations, but Keely disagreed. “It’s a means of communication. Must be the hieroglyphic writing used by their tribe. Hold on, I’ll translate,” said Keely as she used her language-reading spell again.

Angor felt glad that he took Keely along, or he’d have missed out on a lot of critical information.

This garden challenge tested more than their strength and survival abilities. It also required a basic collection of knowledge, and this was just what Angor lacked right now.

Keely rubbed her eyes and explained in a tired voice, “It’s a type of prayer used during their ritual. This Duon was going to be offered to something called the ‘Octobor’. Most of these words are used to praise and flatter that thing.”

“So that giant octopus is the ‘Octobor’ mentioned here?”

“Should be. There isn’t anything else apart from the name of the monster. But I know this Duon is named ‘Kagon Puton’.”

They looked at Kagon’s body again.

According to the paintings, these Duons should be superior in their social classes. But it seemed that this poor Duon named Kagon ended up as a sacrificial tribute.

After making sure nothing else was worth noticing on its body, both Angor and Keely glanced at its chest area. Supposedly, a “Meraid’s Sword” referred to the scale that grew on a Duon’s chest.

Angor removed Kagon’s clothes, and as expected, they saw four pieces of sword-shaped scales located right above the creature’s heart. Under Keely’s firelight, the scales gave out a golden glimmer as if they were gilded.

It only took a simple pry to pick the scales off. They noticed that the scales came in pairs—they had to combine two for it to be a complete Meriad’s Sword.

While Angor fiddled with the scales, Keely looked at Kagon’s chest that had four small holes where the scales were removed.

“Inside the painting that you showed me, the Duons all had such holes on them. So it meant every Duon only had four such scales?”

Angor considered what he recorded in his illusion. “Those that looked like mermaids had four holes on their chests, while those with a fish body on either left or the right side had three. Fish-heads with human legs had two, and the rest all had one… I think we’re lucky enough to find one of the four-scaled ones so that we get to have swords for both of us.”

Angor handed a Meraid’s Sword to Keely and kept the other one.

“So this number means their social standing or something like that,” Keely commented. “Also, there were fewer high-level Duons. Most of them only had one scale,” Keely snickered in disdain. “Now I see what the b*stards are trying to do here. Most of the apprentices can only find one scale. To get a Meraid’s sword, they either have to find more Duons or take it from the others.”

…

With Meraid’s Sword in hand, they had to think about how to find this “Altar of Demise”.

When Angor checked his sword again and tried to figure out how to use it, Keely suddenly extinguished her lamp, which brought them back into total darkness.

Next, Angor noticed a white light spot blinking from the watchtower they used earlier.

Angor believed they didn’t leave any burning lamps in there after they left, which meant someone else was paying the place a visit.

“Is it a Toad Skin or is someone other than us there?” Angor used Voice Transmission.

“We can just go and find out.”

Angor nodded. If it was a Toad Skin, or, Dugon, they could interrogate it for information and learn how to reach their exit.

They proceeded carefully and approached the tower quietly. The darkness made their attempt easier. Smoothly, they reached somewhere about a hundred meters away from the tower.

Angor tried to think about his previous encounter with a Toad Skin, in which the creature noticed him from pretty far away. This meant that the one inside the tower wasn’t a Toad Skin.

“It isn’t a Dugon,” Keely spoke before Angor could provide his opinions. “Luna heard someone speaking in the universal language.”

They weren’t interested in wandering apprentices right now. However, Angor insisted that they checked out the inside of the tower because he still wanted to meet up with Nausica.

Keely chose to stay outside and rest, while Angor activated Infinite Reticence and crept closer to the entrance.

He heard someone yelling inside:

“This is MINE now. You should rest in peace. Farewell!”

Robbery? Angor felt curious about what was going on, and at the same time, he found the voice familiar.

Following a strong energy wave, another voice spoke painfully, “Yethew! Why you—”

Yethew?! Angor quickly thought about a certain man dressed in a large robe. Yethew was someone who worked together with Shayaron’s group.

He also recognized the second voice being someone called Freud.

They’re fighting among themselves?

Angor thought Yethew was trying to rob an item from his teammate and prepared to leave. He only sensed two individuals inside the tower, and he wasn’t going to meddle with their business.

But before he could go, he heard Yethew’s gruff voice speaking toward his position, “Who is it?!”

Angor didn’t even have time to question why his Infinite Reticence failed so many times when another attack that smelled like blood came after him.

He evaded it with a side-step and looked back, only to see Yethew standing on top of the tower while a number of blood-red bubbles floated around him.

Angor’s body slowly materialized under Yethew’s attention.

“You again!”

Yethew looked a little surprised. He then gave Angor a mocking grin. “So the beloved student of Mister Sunders enjoys eavesdropping on other people? I let it pass last time when you did it outside our shelter. So, what’s your excuse this time, huh?”

Angor just realized Yethew found him for more than once despite his Infinite Reticence effect. He decided not to trust this ability too much from now on.

It was natural for sea dwellers to smell his tracks in the water, but for an apprentice to see through his trick before coming to the Sea of Purification meant that his Infinite Reticent wasn’t very reliable.

“I saw a light from afar and wanted to check out. I didn’t listen to your conversation on purpose,” Angor replied. He chose to lay low for now, and he would like to avoid fights and conserve stamina.

Yethew felt a little relieved since Angor didn’t come to attack. He didn’t wish to offend Sunders’ student as well as someone that saved his life from the Lord of Tentacles.

“Well, you can leave then.”

Angor nodded and turned around.

Luna suddenly showed up nearby and pressed its paw on something beside Angor’s foot.

Angor was a little startled by the black cat. Then he saw Luna moving away from a small bug with a triangular head and colorful spots on its back, which was just caught under Luna’s claw.

“This is… a Tri-Poison Leech!” Angor didn’t know much about insects, but he heard about this particular deadly poisonous little killer that could easily murder apprentices with powerful bloodlines.

If Luna had not discovered it, the bug would do an easy job killing his untrained body.

Angor slowly looked up at Yethew again.

“What’s this supposed to mean?”

Yethew checked the black cat beside Angor and frowned. This means that girl from Lilith’s Clan is somewhere around…

“Nothing, just a measure of safety. I didn’t order it to attack you, did I?” Yethew shrugged.

A semi-transparent shadow suddenly appeared from the tower and interrupted them, “Don’t trust him. He knows you’re carrying a Meraid’s Sword!”