Chapter 295 —The Mystery of the Nightmare Domain— <TOC> Chapter 297 Mechanical Prosthetics and Alchemical List
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Translator: SumTLMan
The dawn’s faint light, like ink falling into the water, slowly dissipated the night’s darkness. As daylight had not fully brightened, the surroundings were still in an awkward state of dimness. Angel could barely see two people approaching, but their features were unclear. It was only when the shorter figure rushed forward with a mix of surprise and worry that a glimmer of light flashed in Angel’s eyes.
“Shalem?!”
The short figure wore a white wizard’s robe, covering his entire body like a bedsheet, revealing only his round head. With the help of the oil-lit doorpost, Angel clearly recognized the visitor.
“Angel! Thank goodness you’re alright! You have no idea how worried we’ve been about you!” Shalem’s eyes filled with tears of excitement.
Angel clicked his tongue twice, took out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to Shalem. “Kid, it’s only been a few days since we last met, and you’re already crying? Once you become an official wizard, meetings will likely be centuries apart. How will you handle that? You’re a grown-up now, act like it!” When he said, “act like it,” he deliberately mimicked Sanders’ tone. Surprisingly, that condescending sense of superiority felt quite satisfying.
“Angel, as long as you’re alright.” At this moment, the tall woman behind Shalem also came forward. Her voice was flat, but Angel still felt the deep emotions she held.
“Nausica, it’s been a while.”
As Angel and Nausica made eye contact, Shalem suddenly asked, “How are your injuries now? I saw you lose so much blood; it scared me to death.”
“Injuries? What injuries?”
“Don’t pretend. I know that Toby… left, and you’re really upset. If you want to cry, just cry. You don’t have to pretend to be happy. It breaks my heart to see you like that.” Shalem feigned maturity, opening his arms, “Come on, my shoulder is here for you.”
Angel pushed Shalem away, annoyed, “What are you talking about? Toby is sleeping soundly, he hasn’t gone anywhere.” After saying that, he carefully took Toby out of his inner pocket and placed it in his palm.
Other than a few feathers shedding, Toby’s wound had completely healed. Its chest still moved rhythmically, clearly just in a deep sleep.
“Toby’s alright? But I clearly saw Lady Twilight… ” Shalem stopped talking and changed to a relieved expression, “As long as he’s fine.”
“Twilight?” Upon hearing Shalem mention the old woman, Angel suddenly understood, “You went to the Twilight Auction?”
Shalem nodded, “Miss Nausica and I went together, but we didn’t go inside. We watched the big screen in the outer hall. Then, during the auction of a slave, Toby suddenly appeared on the screen. I was wondering about it when you also appeared on the big screen. After that, I saw you and Toby being… Sigh, at least you’re okay.”
Nausica extended her left hand to pat Shalem’s shoulder, “I told you it was fine. When Lord Twilight was about to hurt you, the big screen in the hall suddenly went dark. I thought at that time that someone must have saved you.”
Angel looked at Nausica and found her a bit strange, but he didn’t think much about it and nodded, “It was the mentor who saved me.” He didn’t mention more hidden details, only the final outcome.
“I guessed as much. Only Lord Sanders could have such courage at an auction of this level.” A hint of envy flashed in Nausica’s eyes, “I analyzed it for Shalem at the time, but he didn’t believe it and insisted on waiting for you at your doorstep for two days.”
“You waited here for me for two days?” A touch of emotion flashed in Angel’s eyes.
“Nausica exaggerated a bit. We didn’t wait the whole time. We also took care of renting houses in Apprentice Town during these two days.” Shalem pointed to two courtyards hundreds of meters away, and said to Angel, “Those are the houses we rented. We originally wanted to be neighbors with you and cook together on weekdays, but your house is too far from the residential area, and there’s only your standalone house nearby. We didn’t have enough magic crystals to rebuild the foundation, so we chose a place closer to you.”
“It’s fine, still quite close. I’m so sick of eating dry rations that I might come to freeload at your place.” Angel chuckled.
“By the way, why did Toby suddenly rush into the venue at that time?” Shalem asked curiously.
“About that… let’s not talk about it standing here. Come in, and I’ll tell you inside.” Angel invited them into the house.
After entering the house, Angel first went to the attic and brought down Toby’s small bed, placed it in his bedroom, and then put Toby on the soft bed before coming back out.
Angel quietly revealed Toby’s background to them, about Gloria and the Barbie Restaurant.
After he finished speaking, there was a moment of silence. After a while, Nausica exhaled a smoke ring and then smiled, “I see. No wonder Toby became impulsive and flew down when he saw the eyeless man being auctioned.”
Shalem said, “I never expected Toby to have such a complicated background.”
Angel just smiled, “Complicated? Actually, Toby’s life has been quite smooth. The one with a complicated life is his former master.”
“Gloria, she’s an incredible legendary figure. It’s a pity that she fell.” Nausica has always been interested in witches, especially those like Gloria who embarked on the path of true knowledge.
Angel didn’t reveal the information that Gloria might not have died but only smiled faintly and changed the subject.
“We’ve been talking for so long that I almost forgot to pour you water.” Angel took out two cups and filled them with water using a water conjuring spell.
Just as he was about to fill the other cup, Shalem snatched the empty cup and used the water conjuring spell on it as well.
Compared to the last time, Shalem’s use of the water conjuring spell was much faster this time, almost on par with Angel’s speed, showing that he had put in a lot of effort in practicing the spell these days.
“I didn’t embarrass you, did I?” Shalem picked up the filled cup, smiled proudly at Angel, and drained it in one gulp.
However, Angel wore a smile as he poured out the water in another cup, refilled it, and handed it to Nausica.
“The model is stable, and the magic output is faster than last time. But,” Angel laughed, “it lacks foresight. I haven’t washed the cups for more than two months.”
The smile on Shalem’s face immediately faded, and he pitifully said, “Why didn’t you remind me?”
“Because I wanted you to experience the full embarrassment,” Angel said with a grin.
Nausica watched the banter between her two friends, feeling the gloom of the past few days dissipate. She picked up the cup and took a sip with a slight smile.
Although Angel was talking to Shalem, he still paid partial attention to Nausica. When he saw Nausica pat Shalem’s shoulder outside, he felt a strange sensation in his heart, as if something was off.
Now, Nausica took the cup and drank.
Angel’s sense of unease intensified. He looked at Nausica’s left hand, and a fleeting image flashed through his mind… At that time, Nausica stood to the left of Shalem but patted his shoulder with her left hand. Now, her right hand was closer to Angel, but she stretched out her left hand to take the cup.
Angel looked puzzled at Nausica’s right hand, hidden by her black robe, unable to see the truth.
“Nausica, is your right hand injured?”
“Injured?” Nausica shook her head, laughing, then lifted her black robe on her right side, “No, I just lost it by accident.”
Lost?! Before Angel could comprehend the meaning of her words, he saw the empty right side of her body from the shoulder down, his expression frozen.
“Don’t worry, losing a right arm isn’t a big deal, and it doesn’t affect my combat ability,” Nausica smiled brilliantly through the haze, “I can just transplant a new one. Seventy percent of bloodline wizards undergo limb transplantation, so this isn’t unusual. At the Twilight Auction the other day, there was a right arm of an ancient Gulan Long-armed Ape for sale. However, I thought a green-haired arm looked a bit ugly, and the price was too high, so I didn’t bid.”
Angel also remembered the “right arm of the ancient Gulan Long-armed Ape,” which finally sold for 1,300 magic crystals.
Nausica didn’t care much about appearances, so her comment about the green hair was just an excuse. The real reason was likely the high price.
Angel recalled that all transplant organs at the Twilight Auction were expensive, with many costing over 10,000 magic crystals. Not all organs could be transplanted onto wizards, as some were too powerful, some too weak, and others impossible to manually clamp to their bloodlines. Even a perfectly compatible organ required long-term nurturing with cultivation spells, and sometimes, an organ nurtured for more than a decade might become useless and discarded.
Thus, organ transplantation was not something ordinary wizard apprentices could afford. However, many spells required transplanted organs to be released, such as the low-level trick “Dog Nose Spell,” which required the transplantation of canine organs, causing the market price of organs to soar.
“When I become a second-level wizard apprentice, I’ll take another risk in the Abyss. Maybe by then, I can find a suitable organ for my right arm.” Nausica, once a pirate leader, had seen her share of amputees and was quite open-minded about it.
“But who knows when you’ll become a second-level wizard apprentice… By then, the Frost Moon Passages near the Savage Grottoes will surely be closed, and if you want to travel to the Abyss for free, you might have to join the Frost Moon Plane Pioneering Team, which is notoriously challenging,” Angel frowned.
“It doesn’t matter. Plans can’t keep up with changes. Let’s see how things go. Maybe the situation will take a turn for the better in the next second. If I can’t find a suitable match, I can just install a hook instead. When I was in the Blackberry Sea, those pirate leaders would cut off their arms and install hooks to show off their status,” Nausica recalled the past, “One-eyed captains, Hook Pirates, Blackbeard, Redbeard… All these pirate leaders wore hooks, which became the standard for pirates. In the future, if I have a hook, people will recognize my identity at a glance. How Gloriat is that?”
As Nausica continued to talk, Angel’s eyebrows furrowed slightly: a hook?
A sudden inspiration flashed through his mind.
Hooks reminded him of many things… In fact, transplantation wasn’t the only option, was it? A few days ago, he had seen a sci-fi painting on a holographic tablet—
A half-naked man floating in the starry universe, his limbs armored, his eyes tightly closed, silver scattered.
Angel had found the painting intriguing at the time, but now it gave him an idea.
Before transplanting powerful monster organs, installing mechanical prosthetics could be a good choice, couldn’t it?!
Chapter 295 —The Mystery of the Nightmare Domain— <TOC> Chapter 297 Mechanical Prosthetics and Alchemical List