Warlock Apprentice

Soon enough, Granny Fingernail brought him an alchemy sewing kit.

Angor was a little surprised when Granny Fingernail failed to find any threads used for sewing alchemy materials.

Angor had no problem with this. He had not attempted alchemy clothes yet, so he could simply practice by using ordinary threads. As for Akeso’s scale, he planned to fully understand how to create alchemy fabric before working on it.

The sewing tool, as well as several supplementary materials, cost him another 400 magic crystals. There were different materials for making different clothes or armors as well. This time, Angor mainly purchased some tanned leathers and special cloth.

When everything was done, he prepared to visit the other shops and see if they had the special threads that he still needed.

Suddenly, a middle-aged man moved in front of him and blocked his way.

“Mister Padt, am I right?”

Angor checked the speaker who looked rather average except for a small tattoo between his eyebrows, which looked like an eclipsed sun.

Angor frowned as he recognized that symbol.

The stranger didn’t seem to be concerned with Angor’s doubtful look. “Sorry for occupying your time, Mister Padt. I’m Lantis from Astute Alchemy Guild. I want to offer an invitation. Do not worry, as our guild is fully open to those who wish to communicate—”

“No, thanks,” Angor said without waiting wait for the man to finish.

He knew about such “guilds”. These guilds were something similar to the scheduled apprentice meeting held in Water Grasse, but they weren’t real organizations. People with similar interests gathered together and talked about their alchemy experience, and that was about it.

It sounded good, but Angor didn’t really need people to provide extra pointers or wisdom. There was another reason why he rejected the invitation without hesitation; he saw Granny Fingernail giving the tattooed man a very unfriendly glare.

He wondered if there were something fishy about the guild.

Lantis considered and did not say anything further since Angor’s decision seemed pretty firm. He still gave Angor a business card. “If you ever change your mind, Mister Padt, look for this address. Oh, and you wanted to buy wizard-level sewing threads, right? During our meeting tomorrow, one of our members will offer a coil of ‘Abyss Wyvern Veins’ in exchange for something. Feel free to check it out.”

Lantis walked away, while Angor went over the information he learned.

So they have some kind of private trading going on tomorrow?

“May I ask what is the reason for your decision, young man?” Granny Fingernail spoke up from behind Angor.

Angor sat down again because he wanted to ask about this “Astute Alchemy Guild”.

“It appeared to me earlier that you didn’t like them, and as a guest, I chose to believe in you,” said Angor.

“Is that what was really on your mind?” The old woman chuckled. “No. I just don’t like that Lantis man. The apprentices over there are all from Astute Alchemy Guild. I wouldn’t allow them to enter my shop if I hate them.”

Angor turned around and saw Lantis joining the said apprentices. And from their reaction, Lantis was someone they respected.

When he realized that he had Angor’s attention, Lantis smiled back politely.

“You dislike Lantis? Is it because of… this?” Angor put a finger on his forehead.

“I see you denied his invitation for the very same reason?”

Angor nodded. “Can you please tell me something about this Astute Guild, Granny Fingernail?”

“You’re going to join them? Just as I thought. In fact, they do not require that you become their member. Their gathering is more like a private meeting where people exchange stuff. You can either show that card or provide something of value, and they’ll let you in without a problem.”

“Are they famous in the city?”

Granny Fingernail shrugged. “I never went there myself. I heard that such a meeting happens once every week, and so far, they’re a bunch of… relatively peaceful folks. Of course, you can pay them a visit.”

This means, I’m free to go inside, but it takes some effort to get back out? Angor pondered.

Angor thanked the woman politely and stood up.

After Angor was gone, Granny Fingernail spoke into a small transmitter, “I saw him. A promising kid indeed.”

“So, you agreed that I can give him the gate card?” someone replied in a lazy voice.

“Heh. You gave him the card without hearing my opinion anyway. He bought many wizard-level materials from my place… If he truly knows how to use them at such an age, then I see no problem giving him a chance.”

The woman believed that, since Angor did not ask for the alchemy notes, he should have already obtained some decent books or valuable alchemy legacy. Also, being able to recognize the guild’s tattoo was quite impressive.

Before this day, Granny Fingernail had protested against Muse’s decision to let Angor into the Research Department. But now, she no longer against it.

…

Angor kept walking along the market street. He had almost completed his shopping spree, and he hoped he could find the magic threads from one of the shops so that he didn’t need to join the Astute Guild.

Granny Fingernail did not seem too concerned, yet Angor knew what the strange tattoo on Lantis meant.

It was usually called the “Astute Sigil”, and its full name should be “The True Name of Astute King”.

The name itself suggested that something powerful left his name behind. In this world, extremely powerful beings could spread their might upon others by distributing their names. At the same time, someone’s true name could also be used against them by using certain curses. For this reason, very few of them would announce their true names to others like this.

With the exception of Abyss Demons.

Astute King was such a demon, which was as infamous as another grand demon called the “Crown Clown”. Whereas Crown Clown sought absolute balance in everything, Astute King loved receiving sacrifice and tributes. Or rather, the Astute King was the founder of most sacrificial rituals known today.

Angor once helped Bobota craft an alchemy chain that was used in something called the Altar of Blood. This altar was one of the many inventions created by Astute King.

From the alchemy books he recorded in Nightmare Realm, Angor once read about Astute King. It was a very ancient being that had lived long before history was recorded. Because it was Astute King who created certain alchemy items that had an “owner authorization system”, this name was well-known among alchemists.

It was totally reasonable for a group of alchemists to establish a small association using the demon’s name. This was nothing harmful—by using the true name of this demon, alchemists might be able to enhance their creations.

Except that Angor also learned from the books that once someone decided to “trade” with Astute King, that individual would need to offer his own name, which would then be at the mercy of this demon.

Ordinary wizards had no problem offering a small price in exchange for the “blessing” of Astute King. However, if the demon grew interested in someone who stood out among people… great troubles would soon follow. There had been countless outstanding wizards who had fallen into strange accidents because they attracted the malicious attentions of Abyss Demons.

Angor didn’t think he would ever become so “outstanding” as to get his name known among demons, but he would do his best to avoid even the tiniest possibility of that happening. This was why he rejected the invitation without a second thought.

After a while, he quickly grew disappointed after visiting many alchemy shops as he couldn’t find the threads he wanted. They were either out of stock or were displayed in high-level alchemy shops that did not allow Angor to enter.

While searching, Angor entered a bookstore called the “Sound of Wizards”. It was located behind the entrance to another dimension.

The dimension was a beautiful forest with clean river streams and patches of flowers while the books were either displayed among bushes or hanging on trees like fruits. There were also man-made tree houses that served as different categories.

Angor found this place to be perfect for reading, as everything was so quiet and peaceful.

He selected several books, most of which were magazines intended for wizards. He wasn’t looking for gossip magazines like Precision Sky. He only went for those that were related to certain professions and academic subjects.

Whisper of Mythril, Rune Talk, Gargoyle Annual, Element Premiere, Prominent Debates (remastered), Collection of Truth…

They didn’t offer any in-depth expertise. Angor bought them because he wanted to see how wizards came up with so many questions and theories by joining collisions of great minds.

All these books cost him about 50 magic crystals. Before leaving, he also spent 800 crystals on a copy of Runepedia: Basic. The book contained some runes that would have to be drawn on magic scroll papers for it to take effect. Angor noticed that they were quite different from the enchantment runes he learned before, so he decided to take a look.