Warlock Apprentice

Angor looked toward his door and saw someone with an antenna helmet sneaking around the garden fence.

The fences were pretty high, so the helmet was the only thing he saw. But it was enough for Angor to recognize the visitor.

“Dave?” Angor leaned against the fence and greeted the person outside in a slouchy manner.

It was indeed Dave. Most of his face was still covered by the pair of giant, brown goggles, but Angor would not mistake his clothing and body shape.

Dave removed his goggles and let out a silly chuckle.

“What brings you here?” asked Angor. He was still leaning against the fence and he did not intend to open the door yet.

Dave touched the brim of his hair and mumbled something with his head lowered.

However, Angor did not mind his attempt at all. He simply watched Dave’s display silently.

In the end, Dave clenched his teeth and agreed upon the price while complaining about Toby’s greed in his mind.

Damn bird! Why didn’t it inherit any of Angor’s good virtue?

Toby had no idea that someone was cursing it. The bird was now quite joyful about how its master managed to earn three Echo Flowers instead of one. Toby was imagining itself singing a quartet already.

“The third condition…”

Before Angor could finish, Dave tried to surrender first.

He literally had tears around the corners of his eyes. “Just so you know, I already gave you all my money for this month!”

Angor smiled at him gently. “Don’t worry. I don’t need money.”

Dave felt cured by his bright smile. He removed his tears and waited for an answer with a passionate look.

“I’m planning to make my breakthrough into an apprentice in the coming days.”

“Congratulations! But, I heard that most talents in your term received posters and found professors. Aren’t you a bit slow?”

Angor did not seem offended. “Can’t be helped. My talent is weak.”

Hearing these, Dave regarded Angor as a diligent young man who compensated his lacking talent with a strong mind. Dave quickly thought about himself. He also possessed an average talent. He was not at the last of the line yet, but it was still hard for him to make any progress.

Angor’s image in Dave’s mind soon became favorable.

“Angor, you need anything, just tell me. I’ll help you as best as can!” Dave said in excitement.

Angor was puzzled at how Dave suddenly changed his attitude. But it seemed they did not stray away from the topic, so it was fine.

Angor cleared his throat and said, “I found a basic alchemy manual by chance, so I’m planning to study alchemy once I become an apprentice. My third condition is that you’ll let me buy alchemy materials from you. Of course, I’ll pay for them. But I hope you can give me average market prices.”

Angor never intended to ask big money. He only wanted a stable source of getting materials. As an assistant working at Prome’s Alchemy Shop, Dave should have enough experience in such business. Compared with wandering around in the market as a newb, buying materials from Dave was definitely a better choice.

Dave was not surprised at the third condition. Basic alchemy books were sold in many places. A good number of new apprentices wished to try out this rewarding subject and earn a fortune. But most of them would give up slowly because alchemy required too much talent.

Dave looked at Angor and saw his own image. Back at the beginning, Dave also dived into alchemy with great passion. Now he only earned himself an average position. He was not powerful since he spent most of his time studying alchemy. And due to his moderate talent, he did not do a good job at alchemy either. Without anything to inherit, he only managed to create his first product—the propeller flyer—after spending five years on the subject.

And it was flawed too. Every time he thought about this, Dave only felt more weight added onto his heart.

“That’s no problem. I can even resell some materials that the master doesn’t need at their original prices,” said Dave. He paused and revealed a worried look before he said, “Um, I should tell you that… alchemy isn’t easy.”

Angor smiled. “It’s okay. Just a small attempt will do. If I’m not talented, I’ll just learn something else.”