Warlock Apprentice

The ultimate goal for wizards was the truth, an answer to all.

“You can find many ways to approach the answer,” Sunders lectured while they stood on the back of a demon falcon. The gentleman held his top-hat with a hand while his black cape danced wildly in the wind.

“Besides, there might be more than one answer that awaits.”

Sunders looked in another direction where some rainclouds gathered. It seemed a storm was approaching. Angor saw several apprentices floating near the clouds and writing something. He remembered seeing the same scene in Brute Cavern many times, in different places.

A philosophy book from Earth explained that one should “learn as he goes” while combining what he saw with his experience. This was just what those apprentices were doing.

Some of them were collecting water element, some of them created traces of clouds around their bodies, and someone was trying to push the rainclouds and observe their movement.

“They are working on the same subject. But they’ll each get a different answer in the end. Do you know why?” Sunders looked at Angor.

A whirling wind suddenly appeared under him.

Angor could hear something screaming in pain. It sounded like a bird too. When he wondered what just happened, he realized that he was gaining altitude again with the help of a small tornado under his feet.

Wait… tornado?

The Tornado spell was a level-3 cantrip which combined water and wind elements. But it was a powerful one, unlike the miniature tornado under him now.

At least he was safe. Angor sighed in relief and tried to get over his fear.

A hoarse yet gentle voice came beside his ears, “Oh boy. You hurt my demon falcon. How naughty of you.”

Angor saw the scenery in front of his eyes… changing. He should be somewhere near the ground now. But when he could see clearly again, he was still flying high in the sky.

And Sunders still had his hand on his collar.

Not far from them, a demon falcon was struggling in the air while squawking terribly. A giant bleeding wound had appeared on its back. There were wind and water elements lingering on the wound.

“Is—is that an illusion?” Angor’s face went pale again in horror. It could also be the result of exhausted mana. Or both.

“Ha!” Sunders chuckled. Unlike his usual indifferent temperament, his reaction seemed energetic and sincere this time, which somewhat comforted Angor’s spirit.

Sunders’ reaction was also the answer Angor waited for. Angor released his spirit feelers to sense the environment. As he expected, there were traces of a basic illusion.

Everything he saw was fake!

Angor felt his face burning in embarrassment. During his maniacal attempt to survive, he probably looked miserable, like a drug addict suffering from withdrawal who crunched his own teeth with a twisted face.

And Sunders had seen it all.

Angor covered his face. His image… ruined! He worked so hard to establish a modest and timid character in front of Sunders!

Sunders slowly carried the boy back to the demon falcon by his collar. Angor was not moving at all. Anyone who saw his pale face now would probably mistake him as a corpse.

The demon falcon threw Angor an angry glare, which caused Angor to lower his head further.

Sunders used a simple spell to heal the demon falcon up. However, the spell did not bring back the creature’s feathers. A giant patch on the back of the bird was left bald, which really stood out among the other beautiful plumes.

Angor sat on one side of the demon falcon and remained silent.

“Did you just use an altered version of Tornado?” Sunders tried to get his student out of the embarrassment.

Angor muttered in a small voice. “No idea. I used something like that for the first time only.”

Sunders nodded in acknowledgment. “A complete magatama located on top of a surface. Was that originally a Cleanse spell?”

Since his professor knew the look of the model, Angor was sure he received the extra mana from Sunders himself.

“Yes… It was Cleanse,” answered Angor after a moment of hesitation. “And… thank-thank you, sir. I’d have gotten backfired again if not for your help.”

“It happened last time when you attempted an altered Cleanse spell. Did you just use the very same one?” Sunders looked interested in the new model. Anyone would if a level-0 cantrip used for cleaning stuff suddenly gained the same amount of power of a level-2 attacking cantrip.

It wasn’t the same .

Angor thought in his mind.

“Yes, professor,” Angor answered.

“Impressive. It’s flawed, but being able to turn a level-0 cantrip into something like that is already worth noting down in the history book,” said Sunders as he put a hand on Angor’s shoulder. “If you’re willing to, you can introduce this improved Cleanse of yours to a magazine for apprentices. People will like it a lot.”

Angor mumbled again and did not comment. He kept his head low as he thought about his miserable life.

Sunders could not help smiling at his student’s childish reaction.

“Did you find the effect of Melodious Illusion from that basic illusion?” Sunders changed the topic to distract Angor’s thoughts.

Melodious Illusion? There was?

Sunders’ question aroused enough of Angor’s curiosity.

Angor tried to recall what he saw in the illusion. But he could not think of anything in the end.

“You didn’t?”

Angor was only sure that was a basic illusion since he already found the nodes of it. But Melodious Illusion? He could not sense any of it.

Melodious Illusions required sound. But there was no sound at all! Unless… Was it the sound of the wind?