Chapter 1513 Shirley <TOC> Chapter 1515 Promotion Competition
Next page password is bold portion: Spltri2ri+He
Translator: SumTLMan
“How could it be a bird?!” Shirley’s eyes flashed with confusion. “Earlier, I didn’t detect any signs of life!”
Angel did not respond to her question. Instead, it was Farina who spoke: “It’s quite simple. Your abilities are much lower than the bird’s — much much lower. That’s why you couldn’t sense its presence.”
Shirley looked bewildered. Was her strength really inferior to this seemingly juvenile-looking bird?
Shirley found this a bit incredulous… Just as she was pondering this, she suddenly felt a terrifying force envelop her, plunging her into a pitch-black world. In this realm of darkness, the only thing she could see were two copper-bell-sized, blood-red eyes staring straight at her.
With a jolt, Shirley was abruptly pulled back into reality.
The oppressive force that had previously made her soul tremble had vanished. Now, in front of her stood a seemingly harmless seabird.
“Behave, she’s already apologized. Don’t trouble her anymore,” Angel gently patted Toby’s head. “Besides, she didn’t actually touch you earlier.”
Toby chirped twice, finally lowering its raised feathers and relaxing its imposing demeanor.
By this point, how could Shirley not understand? The bird was indeed far more powerful than her. To be able to exert such terrifying pressure, it had to be at least a half-step wizard level creature, or perhaps even a full-fledged wizard level magical creature!
Shirley swallowed, moistening her parched throat.
Considering this, Angel’s earlier “punishment” was actually quite lenient. He’d only plunged her into a state of confusion without causing her any real harm. If this bird had come after her while she was underwater, she might have been out of breath by now.
While Shirley was still caught between relief and lingering fear, Angel asked, “Can you now sense its emotional aura?”
Shirley hesitated for a moment before nodding: “I can sense it. Although it’s faint, it’s constantly emanating.”
Angel raised an eyebrow: “Can you describe what the emotional field you’re sensing feels like?”
Shirley closed her eyes, carefully tuning into the subtle and elusive vibrations emanating from it: “Spite, malice, madness, anger… and there’s also a feeling that’s hard to put into words, somewhat like…”
After pondering her choice of words, Shirley finally said, “Jealousy.”
Angel’s normally placid expression showed a hint of surprise when Shirley mentioned “jealousy.”
Frost had been suppressing the Tribulation of Resentment within Toby, and on a regular day, Angel couldn’t detect anything unusual about Toby. He only had an inkling that something was amiss when he was in Toby’s dreams, suspecting that the Tribulation of Resentment might be influencing Toby’s thoughts.
Even so, Angel had never directly sensed this Tribulation of Resentment.
What’s more, Toby was currently awake; there was no way Angel would detect any anomaly.
Yet, Shirley was able to break through Frost’s suppression and sense the extremely subtle Tribulation of Resentment on Toby. This genuinely surprised Angel.
“Your sensitivity in detecting emotions is remarkably keen,” Angel complimented without reservation.
Subconsciously, Shirley made a gesture of half-bowing: “As a magician, it’s part of my professional discipline to sense the changing mental states of the audience and choose the corresponding techniques.”
Shirley spoke professionally, but everyone present knew that what she referred to as “corresponding techniques” was missing a word: “corresponding deceptive techniques.”
Nevertheless, that was irrelevant. Angel wasn’t concerned whether Shirley was a magician or a con artist.
What mattered to him was Shirley’s unique ability.
Although he can’t judge the utility of Shirley’s Heightened Perception right now, Angel has an inkling that this ability might prove beneficial for Toby one day.
Pondering this, Angel softly says, “Your innate talent intrigues me.”
Under Shirley’s skeptical gaze, Angel doesn’t elaborate further but produces a communicator provided by the Research Institute, hoping to exchange contact information with her.
Shirley isn’t sure what Angel is up to, but she doesn’t hesitate to swap contact details. It’s important to note that Angel is a member of the Research Institute. As far as anyone knows, only those in the institute have his contact. This alone signifies that exchanging contacts with Angel is by no means not a bad deal.
After the contact exchange, Angel’s reasoning is that Shirley’s abilities might be of help to him someday.
To this, Shirley hasn’t responded yet. However, Farina chimes in, “In the short term, Shirley and I should both be staying in Sky Mechanical City. If Wizard Pat has any use for Shirley, feel free to contact her at any time.”
In Farina’s eyes, if Shirley has offended Angel, she ought to pay a corresponding price. However, speaking up as a mentor, Farina is also trying to cushion the blow for Shirley. If Angel really needs Shirley’s help in the future, Farina hopes her endorsement would suffice to ensure Shirley isn’t sent on a fool’s errand.
Angel clearly understands the subtext of Farina’s words and nods in agreement.
With that settled, Farina leaves with Shirley. She plans to head directly to the communications tower in the opposite district to contact Velite. After confirming Velite’s stance, Farina will get back in touch with Angel.
As for Angel, he plans to purchase some auxiliary materials needed for transformation spells from Fingernail Granny, and then meet his brother Leon.
When Angel lists the auxiliary materials he needs, Fingernail Granny almost instantly discerns, “You’re planning to practice transformation spells?”
Angel nods in affirmation.
Fingernail Granny quickly found the supplementary materials and handed them to Angel. She didn’t inquire where Angel had obtained the Morphing Softworm, simply stating, “The spell of transformation, or shape-shifting, is indeed a foundational spell for wizards. However, due to the scarcity of Morphing Softworms, many wizards now forgo studying transformation. They feel that investing decades into the study seems wasteful.”
“Studying transformation spells does indeed consume a considerable amount of time. Yet, through this process, you’re still consistently acquiring knowledge and experience. The efficiency may be low, but you are still gaining.”
“Although I don’t know where you got your Morphing Softworm, I still hope that if given the opportunity, you’ll delve deeper into the underlying principles of the spell of transformation.”
Angel nodded, fully grasping this wisdom. While shortcuts via transformation spells may offer expedience, they inevitably leave gaps in one’s true understanding of the art.
Sanders had told him before that once he’d learned transformation spells through the Morphing Softworm, it would be prudent to allocate time for the rigorous study of the traditional spell itself. After all, backtracking and studying the principles once you’ve initially learned via the Morphing Softworm will take far less time compared to traditional study.
This also allows one to fill in the knowledge and experience gaps often missing when solely relying on Morphing Softworms, an approach many wizards employing such shortcuts inevitably take.
By mastering the spell through reverse learning, some wizards even choose to remove the skin of the Morphing Softworm. Consequently, there’s no inherent virtue or vice in taking shortcuts versus traditional study since, in the end, all paths lead to the same destination.
Undeniably, taking shortcuts does save a tremendous amount of time.
After completing his purchase of the supplementary materials, Angel bid farewell to Fingernail Granny. By this time, as the floodwaters in the adjacent street had been cleared, a large number of law enforcement personnel were maintaining order, gradually restoring vitality to the Monster Material Street.
To avoid drawing attention, Angel slightly altered his appearance before heading to Champagne Road.
Number 93 Champagne Road, Woodrow Bar, was as bustling as ever.
Separated by a pane of glass, it felt as though an entire season stood between the inside and the outside. While frigid winds howled outside, the atmosphere inside was buzzing with warmth and energy.
Upon entering the Woodrow Bar, Angel deliberately lowered his presence, successfully avoiding drawing attention to himself. As he made his way to the Bliss Pavilion, he noticed that the conversations inside the bar were quite lively, falling into three distinct categories.
The first category focused on the Novastar Competition and garnered the most participants. Nearly eighty percent of the people present were competitors in the Novastar event, and their chatter ranged from boastful claims to resentful grievances, critiques, and even gossip, a multitude of perspectives to say the least.
During this time, Angel overheard the name Nausica being mentioned frequently, seemingly in the context of an upcoming qualifying round.
The second category of conversation revolved around Angel himself. Rumor had it that Angel had recently arrived in Sky Mechanical City. Already a figure of public interest, the whispers about him once again reached a fever pitch.
The third topic on everyone’s lips involved Shirley and Carvelyn affairs, likely because the incidents had occurred nearby and were dramatic enough to sustain lengthy discussions.
Angel had departed shortly after mildly disciplining Shirley and was unaware of the subsequent events. However, thanks to the gossip circulating in the room, he became enlightened about the aftermath.
Shirley, having been ensnared by the nightmare illusion, was ultimately caught and surrounded by the crowd. Her conjuring of a great flood had caused most of the people present to suffer, which led to a collective seething resentment toward her.
However, Shirley was quite the actress. Once captured, she immediately retracted her claws, so to speak, portraying herself as an innocent, remorseful young girl. She even took the initiative to return the Beast-Slaying Knife to Alan. As people became conflicted over whether to trust her, Shirley seized the opportunity to make her escape, aided by the sound of a water otter gurgling from a teapot.
Most notably, Shirley not only managed to flee but also pilfered several items from various individuals — some even more valuable than the Beast-Slaying Knife. In other words, despite returning the knife, she ended up gaining more valuable items. Furthermore, before her exit, she unleashed a stench so vile that it lingered on the people in the room, adding insult to injury.
Now, everyone realizes that Shirley’s previous demeanor was entirely an act; she’s not a troubled young woman at all, but a scam artist! She had them all going in circles, completely deceived!
Even if they weren’t present at the scene, when the patrons of the Woodrow Bar discuss Shirley, they still feel a headache coming on concerning this problematic young woman.
Because prior to this, no one knew about Shirley; everyone was left guessing, wondering where she had sprung up from.
However, no one has any information about Shirley, not even her name. But after witnessing her battle with Carvelyn, it can be definitively stated that Shirley will undoubtedly be a dark horse in the upcoming Novastar Competition.
Who knows, she may even completely upheave the current Supernova rankings.
Chapter 1513 Shirley <TOC> Chapter 1515 Promotion Competition