Warlock Apprentice

Angor wasn’t confident in the final outcome because the illusion presented by an alchemy omen tended to differ from what he originally made.

For instance, he didn’t hear any music during the challenge. And as far as he could remember, he placed the “Goddess” on top of a giant turtle and used his nightmare illusions to create the shadows of many other mermaids and sea monsters to compose a storyline for the illusion. But none of these showed up.

Nevertheless, he should check his music box to find out its quality.

Since the challenge appeared to be pretty difficult and even had a time limit, he wondered which tier his music box ended up at.

Excited, he stepped out of the exit.

…

Outside, Angor suddenly opened his eyes and saw his music box quietly floating in front of him. As he watched, the item absorbed the visible energy streams around it that were left behind by the alchemy omen.

Slowly, the aura of the item grew so strong that Angor felt as if he were looking at the sea.

“Yes. I am Valli, the princess of Blackberry Rogges.”

“So, Princess Valli, your music helped me greatly during my task. Here, I’ll satisfy one of your requests, as long as it’s within my power. Please feel free to ask now.”

In Angor’s view, offering such a favor in exchange for that inspirational song sounded like a good deal.

Ahh… that stranger’s voice spoke the truth! Valli exclaimed in her mind. Just like he said, Sir Wizard is granting me a wish! But… am I really supposed to make a request?

She listened to Angor’s order and kept singing just to gain the friendship of a wizard, which would help her win a better position back at the capital of Rogges. She also knew about “equivalent exchange”, which seemed to be a common convention among all wizards.

But she wasn’t sure how much she should ask as a “payment” just for presenting a song, which she would do every day.

A strange voice earlier told her to go with the “deal” and ask for a reward frankly, in which case she might lose the chance for earning Angor’s friendship.

As she tried to make a decision, Jebra observed her reactions quietly from underwater.

“Sir Wizard… may I know the name of the music you played earlier?”

Jebra grinned in delight.

“That’s your request?” Angor raised an eyebrow.

Valli nodded. “I have never heard of such a style. It sounded so… soothing, like taking a bath in the embrace of mother ocean as a little child. I wish I could learn it. This shall be my request, Sir Wizard.”

Angor nodded in acknowledgment. That sounded pretty reasonable—all mermaids loved music more than anything else.

“It’s called ‘Aphrodite’,” explained Angor. “It’s the name of a goddess born from the sea, as told in a story I read before.”