Warlock Apprentice

A night without any starlight.

The lone moon shone in the sky like a giant jade dish, acting as the only noticeable object in this dark night.

Several palm-sized shadows swiftly leaped through the sky. Even when they moved directly under the bright moon, there was only faint black mist visible, along with eerie giggles.

Inside the Golden Cross Academy of Medicine in Water Grasse, Leonrick stayed with his daughter.

The count's attention was suddenly distracted by the sound of the rustling leaves outside the window. He somehow felt great uneasiness growing in his mind.

He thought he saw something brushing past the window at great speed, but on careful observation, nothing could be seen. Leonrick kept watching the window and didn't register anything else apart from the swaying tree branches.

He rubbed his temple. Maybe Thuru's words stressed his mind too much?

It totally should… It was a great wizard they were talking about.

To common folks, wizards only belonged to tales and legends. But as the clan master of Griffin, Leonrick knew much more, including the true existence of wizards. Three hundred years ago, the queen of Zeal Dominion tried to study wizardry, and she later vanished for some reason. Records said that she died in her palace. However, a rumor passed down among the Griffins told them that the queen had left Zeal Dominion in pursuit of immortality.

Leonrick himself never saw a real wizard before, but he did read a lot about them. When he was young, he had thought about becoming one as well.

Unfortunately, he had never found a chance to become one.

"Is it really?" Leonrick watched the moon and mumbled. "If Thuru spoke of the truth, Margot should never…"

He then sighed and said, "So be it. It has already happened, and we have to make it right."

The man wouldn't be too harsh on his own daughter even if she made a huge mistake.

"And who is 'Magician'? If only we can capture Baal and ask him about it…"

But he knew they could not offend Baal yet. The informants of his clan already told him that the young wizard had taken residence in Baal's mansion.

How in the world did that thug sweet-talk the wizard into not killing him?

The sound of footsteps interrupted his thought. Thuru entered the room.

"Why is it so noisy outside?" Leonrick asked.

Thuru looked really worried. "Count Leonrick, sir… It's that strange disease. We just got another two victims. They were the director and doctors who were running in the hallway."

"Another two? Do we have a hundred affected yet?"

"Exactly a hundred of them, sir."

Leonrick rubbed his hair in irritation. Why different incidents had to happen at the same time?!

"Anyhow, since I'm the one managing Water Grasse… Fine, I'll go check them out. You stay here with Margot."

…

Somewhere far away, Angor was also watching the bright moon. However, he was looking at the moon's reflection in the water, and not the moon itself.

The mansion gate was met by a water canal, while the moon placed its beautiful avatar in the water. The scenery looked extremely gentle and tranquil as the mild breeze occasionally shifted the mirrored moon.

Angor was paddling his boat slowly as he admired two moons at the same time.

He stopped when the moon moved just above his head.

He was right at the gap between two giant buildings, which was another narrow canal. When he moved his boat inside, he saw beggars and homeless people sat at various corners as they trembled in their tattered rags.

When Angor passed through, a beggar suddenly looked up and picked up a stringed cup phone. "My lord, the target's here."

The beggar spoke in a really small voice. However, since Angor had been using his spirit feelers to sense the surroundings, he easily heard the man's words.

"A string phone? Looks like their 'lord' isn't a big deal."

There were useful voice transmission spells which were all level-1 cantrips. Maybe Magician was worse than he expected.

Angor was traveling at night just to meet Magician. With the help of Baal, Magician agreed to the meeting, on the condition that he would be the one to decide on the time and place.

Angor didn't protest. He was the one seeking information, and he should at least show some respect.

Angor traveled downstream and stopped in front of an iron net which stopped all boats from advancing. There was an inconspicuous door on one side of the wall.

He left his boat and pushed it open. There were stairs leading downward, as well as several oil lamps that lit the small passage.

After walking for about one minute, Angor came to an ordinary-looking bronze door at the end of the stairs. He estimated that he was now about 10 meters below the water surface.

The door was left open, which allowed him to look inside.

A man, who was wearing a standard wizard robe, was sitting at the main seat beside a long table. There was no one else in sight.

But Angor sensed breathing coming from the dark corners.

Angor had expected the Magician to set up a trap or something, but he was disappointed.

There were only mortals that were hiding in the dark. To be precise, they were formal knights who knew how to fight.

But it was meaningless.

As for Magician himself… Angor didn't attempt to scan the man's power recklessly. He only lowered his top hat a little and sat down at the opposite end.

He and Magician were now separated by the five-meter-long table. There were tea, snacks, candles, and flower pots arranged on it.

"Good evening, Mister Magician," Angor said as he removed his hat and put it on the table.

Magician looked at the smiling face icon on the top hat and suddenly got a feeling that he was being mocked at.

"How may I call you, sir?" he asked in a low, gruff voice.

Angor inspected the mask on Magician's face. "You can call me 'Mask', mister."

"Mister Mask?" Magician chuckled. It was so obvious that the young boy made that up, but it didn't matter.

Magician never managed to see through the boy's composure. He had been keeping an eye since the boy in front of him left Baal's mansion, and everything looked fine. Yet everything also contained something indescribable and… fishy, just like the strange smiling mark on that top hat, which only made him feel disturbed.

"Baal told me that you wanted to speak to me, Mister Mask?" He would get down to business as soon as he could.

Angor smiled brightly. "I'm new in this city. I hope to learn if there are any wizard groups or organizations nearby. This is so that I can avoid offending them by accident. Maybe even seek shelter from them."

Angor didn't reveal his goal. Exchanging information meant exchanging benefits. Acting too hastily by exposing his intention meant losing the upper hand. By "beating around the bush", he would appear more friendly and establish a better conversation.

Magician hesitated. "There is no wizard organization around Water Grasse… or rather, I've never heard of anything like that in the entire court or the nations nearby. If there is, I'd have gone to them seeking knowledge already."

"Oh?" Angor rolled his eyes a little. "You self-educated yourself too, Mister Magician?"

"Yes. I learned wizardry by accident, and I only began to communicate with someone alike recently."

Angor was now sure that Magician was only a level-1 apprentice who happened to get his hands on a channeling method book. And unless he was extremely lucky or was suitable to study the channeling method, this man was likely to stay at the same level for the rest of his life.

"I see." Angor pretended to be surprised and worried. "Do you know the closest wizards I can get to, sir? I've reached a bottleneck which stopped me from learning any spells or meditation, so I really need someone to teach me properly. This is why I left the woods and came here."

Angor meant to tell Magician that he did come from the forest and that he wished to interact with wizards. It was both true and false.

Magician shook his head. "I'm afraid I don't know."

Angor observed him carefully, but he didn't find any trace of lies. The question wasn't worth a lie anyway.

He sighed a little. This was his best chance to learn something about his situation, and he failed.

It was totally expected though. Just from Magician's getup, he could tell that this man was only a random lucky guy who learned how to begin as a supernatural, but he didn't have the necessary potentials.

"Sir, you mentioned that you talked with similar wizards before, right? Are any of them well-informed of the land around here?" Angor didn't want to give up yet.

Magician considered for a moment before he answered, "No. They are scattered across several different countries nearby, and I think we all share similar circumstances."

Angor sighed again. Maybe he should check the court next? At least the ruler of such a place would know something about wizards.

Magician suddenly said, "Wait. Perhaps there is such an individual who can tell you something."