Warlock Apprentice

Everyone looked at Angor again after they heard what Lawson said. They did notice the faint aura of gravity power around Angor. Combined with the news about how Sunders built a gravity garden recently...

They felt jealous. But that was about it—Angor was too lucky, which couldn’t be copied by anyone else.

To comprehend the sequence of a natural law during garden construction, a lot of factors would have to be in the exact right timing. For example, the current climate, how many people were there, or which spot one was standing on. Somehow, Angor met all these conditions and successfully learned such power.

“The sequence of gravity helps him move extremely fast. That must be how he survived until now. But I think there’s something wrong in his case... His sequence of gravity has been directly fused inside his soul.”

“It’s still something. Once he becomes a wizard, it’s no longer a problem.”

“We don’t know yet. Who knows, maybe he’s going to die right here.”

There were a few people with negative ideas about Angor’s fate, but what Angor did next soon proved them wrong.

Inside the screen, Angor returned to his body and released his mist illusion while using the brief distraction he caused to get away from the predators. Everything happened within two to three seconds, and there were many close calls too. Still, the onlooking wizards couldn’t help admiring Angor’s timely and skillful decision, including those who disliked Sunders.

Angor managed to get away from the fishes just barely by diving toward the ground, but he wasn’t going to shake them off yet.

Everyone watched him carefully and wondered what would he do next.

...

While Angor tried to stay alive in the sky, something else happened at the lava lake beneath.

The apprentices thought they could reach the exit as long as they could get around the Lord of Tentacles. But apparently, they underestimated the monster too much.

The Lord of Tentacles’ body was huge. To humans, each of its moves looked relatively slow, which gave them the wrong impression that they could slowly wear it down with enough time.

They assumed that the exit was just below the abyss occupied by the Lord of Tentacles. Also, the monster’s body itself was a valuable treasure. With these ideas in mind, the apprentices joined forces and began to attack the monster.

Only a few who thought they weren’t strong enough chose to stay afar and watch, such as Loki and Alan.

When the Lord of Tentacles received a good amount of beating, the apprentices felt their adrenaline rushing and they all pushed forward.

The giant eyes of the monster suddenly shrank. Before anyone could see what was going on, its giant body leaped away from the abyss.

Instantly, the attackers found themselves dangerously close to the monster. Unfortunately, it was already too late.

The octopus-like monster began to create a series of strange noises in the air, which sounded both like laughter and mocking curses.

Countless tentacles emerged from it and stuck into the lava. Using its own body like a roof, the monster locked up all apprentices who had just intruded its territory.

Next, a sweet-smelling, murky mist was released from the root of all tentacles where the Lord of Tentacles’ fanged mouth was located.

When affected by the mist, the apprentices all began to tumble in the air aimlessly like drunk addicts while their expressions reflected pure insanity.

Next, the stunned apprentices fell into the burning lava themselves while the Lord of Tentacles watched from above.

Apart from several bloodline users who were sturdy enough to resist the deadly heat, all others instantly turned to smoke and ash.

One move, and the monster already killed more than half of the group. Only a few including those who didn’t join the fight were spared.

Shayaron used his unique flying skills to slip past the tentacles. He also managed to drag Freud along with him. The two of them were now trying to recover their breaths somewhere safe.

“Thank-thanks...” said Freud.

“That thing is enduring our attacks so that it can draw more people to it,” Shayaron cursed. “Did you see its body? None of our moves did anything to it. Not a scratch!”

Freud grimaced and slowly nodded to agree. “It’s not something we can compete with.”

He watched as some of the stronger apprentices struggled in their lava bath. “Are we wrong? Is that pit really our way out? The Floating Mech City isn’t going to send us to something impossible.”

“Yeah... perhaps. But where else can we go?”

Freud considered and looked up.

It was still nighttime, and they couldn’t see the sky well due to all the smoke.

“This is not the only dangerous place,” Freud said. He pointed upward and asked, “Maybe what we’re looking for is up there?”

Shayaron widened his eyes. “I see... There were so many people who came into the garden, and yet, we only ran into a few of them. Maybe we really don’t need all that travel. We can find something simply by going up.”

But there was still a problem. There were many apprentices who couldn’t fly at all. Did the city sentence them to death already?

“So are we going to check the sky?”

“Not now,” Shayaron muttered. He narrowed his eyes while looking around carefully. “Let’s keep the idea to ourselves until we get to somewhere private.”

As they talked, the Lord of Tentacles was still slaughtering those who were still trapped in its tentacle prison. It was as if the monster was bound to one place. It didn’t care about anything or anyone beyond a certain distance from it.

Although not many people could stay alive long enough to realize this. Only about a dozen people still had their lives to watch the madness now.

Previously, they thought they left the weaklings behind to die. But now, it seemed they were the ones who willingly stepped into a deadly trap.

“Hey, Dira! Say something! That thing’s absolutely a wizard-level monster and you knew it! Did you ask us to come just to murder us?”

“Speak, you asshole!”

“Don’t get cocky just because you’re with the city!”

Those alive turned their hostility to Dira and hoped for an answer. Someone even tried to attack Dira. Yet the difference in strength was too far—with several simple moves, Dira killed several offenders, which further decreased their already small number.

Against Dira’s dominating might, no one dared to speak again.

Sinehowze moved to Dira with a smile. “Almost time. You can turn back. I already sent the Staff Elder. We don’t need these fools now.”

The others didn’t understand her words until they saw Dira’s clothes began to shine brightly. Slowly, the handsome and distant man turned into a lady in a red soft armor dress, and people finally noticed what was going on.

“Ah, so that’s why Brother Dira never talked to us. It’s not Brother Dira, but Sister Dira!”

A childish voice spoke behind them.

Loki was still sitting on top of his white rhino. The boy was looking at Carveline, completely shocked.

“It’s not Sister Dira, little one. I’m Carveline,” Carveline said as she looked at the pair of boys. For some reason, she didn’t really hate these two. “Little Alan is a gourmet apprentice, yes? Well, I did want to try out your fish, but I can’t afford to give away my secret earlier. Can you cook something for me now?”

Alan entered the garden without knowing what he was supposed to do. He still felt sad about how so many people died in front of him, and he failed to answer Carveline in time.

It was Sinehowze who spoke in great curiosity.

“Huh... So, there’s another gourmet apprentice here? And my oh my, a level-1? Such fearlessness.”

Alan looked at Sinehowze while blushing. “Are-are you a gourmet apprentice too, ma’am?”

“Yeah. I came here to find foodstuff.”

An old man carrying a staff suddenly blinked into existence. The others quickly recognized him as one of the first ones to attack the Lord of Tentacles together with Shayaron.

“Wait... that old man also dropped into the lava with the rest of them. How did he get out?” someone mumbled.

“Can’t you see?? He’s with them! Him going into the abyss is part of their plan. While we distracted the monster, he went inside the abyss to do something.” It was Yethew who just spoke. As someone who cherished his life very much, he had been staying pretty far away while ordering his bugs to attack the monster. Therefore, he managed to escape the terrible fate as well.

When the others heard his words, they directed more hostile glares at Sinehowze and Carveline.

“Did you get it, Staff Elder?” Sinehowze didn’t really care what people thought about her.

The old man nodded with a gentle smile and handed a small pouch to Sinehowze.

“A small payment for dinner. Thanks for your treat.”

The old man’s body slowly became transparent until he completely vanished from sight.

When people tried to figure out what they saw, Yethew asked in his gruff, unpleasant voice, “What did you find down there while we’re keeping the monster busy? Come on, show us. Something to do with the exit? You can’t have it all to your own.”

Yethew emphasized the word “exit” so that people had more reasons to stare at Sinehowze.

One of the strongest apprentices on the scene, Hermes, also looked this way, which caused Carveline and Sinehowze to grew a little nervous. Among all people, Hermes was the only one who might pose a real threat to them.

“There aren’t many of us left,” Hermes said. “Might as well make it clear. So is it really the exit under the abyss? What’s that inside your bag?”

“Do you really have to hear it from me? Well, we aren’t jumping in there, so that’s our answer.” Sinehowze didn’t seem interested. “As for the bag, feel free to take it if you want. I said it’s for cooking, and I didn’t lie. It’s the egg of the Lord of Tentacles, for a dish I’m going to make.”

Before people could decide whether they should trust her, they heard a thunderous roar coming from the abyss.