Warlock Apprentice

Angor didn’t say anything. It seemed “destiny” meant completely different things in their view.

To Angor, destiny meant finding the legacy left behind by a great wizard, the nest of a powerful monster, or a hidden treasure vault in an unknown dimension. It called for both luck and effort since one needed a lot of work to find them.

But what Boro said was basically waiting for gold to drop on his head.

Boro saw Angor was unresponsive and stroked his beard with a smile. “My teacher is Mister Wallace, by the way. From him, I learned the strict ways of an academician. I’m too old to compete with young ones.”

In other words, he could do nothing other than “picking up leftovers” now.

As they talked, Hami had settled his business with the other apprentices as well. Willingly or not, they agreed to let Hami return to Brute Cavern first, who would convince more people to join the job, one way or another.

Hami came back to Angor with a bright smile. “It’s settled. Now quick. I really want to go back.”

Angor looked at Hami’s expression and felt as if he shouldn’t break down someone’s hope so cruelly. However… it couldn’t be helped now.

“You misunderstood me. I’m not here for a job.”

“You’re not?” Hami yelled. “Don’t tell me you’re a recruiter?”

“Well, yes, I think.”

“Can-can I see your bone card then?” Hami wasn’t convinced.

Angor complied but without revealing his personal information. He only showed the others his accepted quest, which was already printed on his card.

Hami saw the recruitment quest and stomped away, cursing. The other apprentice also returned to their posts in great disappointment.

“Why didn’t you tell us earlier? That will make us less sad!” Hami yelled back.

Angor shrugged. “You didn’t give me a chance to speak.”

“You look pretty young… Why would you accept this quest? Suppose you have a lot of time on your hands, you don’t know if you can find enough candidates for sure,” Boro asked. He was the only one who wasn’t bothered.

Hami interrupted again by speaking first, “Do you even need to ask? Just look at his clothes! An academicism rich kid who doesn’t have the guts to accept more challenging jobs, just like you!”

Neither Boro nor Angor said anything. It was another worker in the office who snickered at Hami. “Hey, Hami, so why did you agree to come to this shithole? An office worker isn’t exactly a ‘more challenging job’.”

Hami was getting furious. “Because I was wounded, and I’m not fit for any other quests, you fool! Nobody told me that I need to wait for a stupid replacement to leave this place! Unlike you lots, I’m a true supporter of praxis, like Mister Sunders! Oh, forget it.” Hami jerked his head back and looked at Angor again. “Now, tell me, why would a recruiter come at such a time? Most waterways are frozen solid. You can’t go anywhere.”

“If I remember right, the Devil’s Water doesn’t freeze easily, right?” replied Angor.

“You’re heading to Devil’s Water?!” Hami and Boro yelled at the same time.

Angor nodded.

Hami felt his face burning in embarrassment. He just said that Angor was “a coward who only takes easy jobs”, and what Angor said proved the exact opposite—traveling across Devil’s Water meant courage. Blind courage.

“Are you perhaps going somewhere around Blackberry Waters or the Whalebone Sea?” Boro asked.

“That’s right.”

“But those routes will be frozen too, by the time you arrive. It’s still too early for you to depart.”

“I’m heading to the Land of Revelation by flying above Devil’s Water. I have a flying vehicle,” Angor explained. “The only route I don’t know well is this Devil’s Water. I don’t think I can get past it without a guide. This is why I came here. I want to ask if any ship is going to Devil’s Water these days.”

Boro and Hami found their suspicion answered. It was easy for the owner of a flying vehicle to bypass many dangers lurking around Devil’s Water. Also, owning a flying vehicle already proved one’s strength.

“I won’t question your purpose of going there, Mister Padt,” said Boro, “as for ships… I’m afraid none of our ships are strong enough to sail there. I can only help you contact the White Clam Ocean Fare Association and see whether they have a ship going to the Land of Revelation recently.”

“White Clam Ocean Fare Association? Is it perhaps…”

Boro nodded as he pointed upward. “Yes. Those people. Don’t worry, they always agree to bring some recruiters along. But it’s rare for us because we Brute Cavern usually do not search for talents across Devil’s Water.”

“Do you know about The Redbud?” Angor asked.

“The Redbud? That’s a ship operated by the association. So you know them? This ship travels along a distant course that usually took more than a year. But it’s not at the port at the moment. I think it left half a year ago.”

Angor nodded. He asked this question out of the blue. And he wasn’t expecting that the recruiter ship he used several years ago belonged to the Floating City.

“I’ll go and ask them now, sir. Hope you bring us a brilliant new generation.” Boro removed his wizard hat, bowed to Angor, and slowly headed upstairs.

When Angor wondered why the old man needed to go to the second floor, Hami answered him, “The transmitter used for talking to Floating Mech City is placed up there. They said that it must remain outdoors to receive a signal.”

While waiting for Boro, Angor looked around the office curiously.

The building wasn’t big. He saw many thick books scattered on the desks and chairs, most of which were difficult reading materials related to various arts.

Most workers were currently reading something while taking notes, which made the whole place look like a library full of eager students.

Apart from the books, Angor was interested in a yellowed nautical chart hanging on the wall beside the staircase. Judging from what he knew, this chart had many problems such as an incorrect measuring scale, and it showed different areas in the wrong sizes. Only the general directions of locations were relatively fine.

He saw the Land of Revelation, the Magus Corridor, and Valhalla Isle on the chart.

But to his confusion, it excluded Old Earth. At where Old Earth was supposed to be, someone instead left a strange picture that looked both like a flower and a weird animal.

It was common for someone to neglect Old Earth since many people never went there before. But why would someone draw a picture instead of leaving it blank?

Boro already returned to the first floor and spoke beside his ears, which surprised him a little.

“This map was left here for God-know-how-long. Either from an apprentice, or a mortal. No one can remember. As you see, it doesn’t have much value. We put it here for the sake of decoration. I believe someone found the map at a random corner in the storage.”

“The map is usable as long as you only check the directions of destinations,” Angor said as he pointed to several names. “At least these are correct, telling from the books I read before. But there’s something not right here…”

“Are you talking about the Marginalized Island?” Boro used his cane to point at the strange picture.

“Yeah.” Angor chose not to mention the different names of the place. To non-natives, Old Earth was always called the Marginalized Island.

“I didn’t know what this meant either. Perhaps it represents the shape of Marginalized Island?” Boro held his chin. “Or maybe the mapmaker did it out of boredom, since it won’t affect the other parts of the map.”

“I see. I’m planning to head there though.”

“To Marginalized Island? That’s pretty far, and I don’t think you can find any talents there.” Boro shook his head but decided not to question Angor’s purpose. “I’ve got an answer. They have a ship departing, but it’s not going for the Land of Revelation. They’re heading to Ferran Land next week.”

Ferran Land? Angor checked the problematic sea chart again.

On the chart, Ferran Land was right next to the Land of Revelation. But from what he remembered, these two places were at least ten thousand kilometers apart.

That might be a great distance in the view of mortals. But not to Gondola.

Angor nodded. “Alright. I’ll go with them to Ferran Land. Then I’ll go for the Land of Revelation from there.”

Again, Boro went upstairs to confirm the new passenger, and he reached an agreement with the ship’s holder soon.

“They said yes. However, they hope that you can protect the mortals on the ship while at it, who are the majority of the voyagers. Of course, you’re free to abandon them should anything that threatens your life comes about.”

“Are there any other supernatural individuals with us?”

“I don’t know. But according to conventions, they will have at least one powerful level-3 apprentice serving as a guard, or even wizards, if the ship must sail into Devil’s Water in the wrong months.”