Chapter 332 The Desolate Abandoned Village <TOC> Chapter 334 Skeletons at the Bottom of the Lake
Translator: SumTLMan
Angel returned to the vicinity of the dragonfly nest, cleared a temporary dwelling, and planned to make do for the night.
That night, Angel did not sleep. He lit the fire in the central stove of the house, allowing the flames to flicker and create tiny sparks. Bathed in the dim light, he quietly pondered his path forward.
Toby, on the other hand, could make himself at home anywhere. He took out a small wooden bed and blanket from the Snowy Feather, changed into a flannel-edged pajama, gave Angel a goodnight kiss, and then obediently lay down on the wooden bed, sleeping soundly as usual.
Toby’s normal living habits dissipated some of Angel’s uneasiness upon arriving at this unfamiliar place.
At least, he was not alone.
Angel smiled, put down the tangled thoughts in his mind, and stretched lazily before approaching the window. Unsurprisingly, a large number of Colorful Dragonflies were perched outside the window, their bodies shimmering with iridescent brilliance, enchanting to the point of intoxication.
Being new to this place, he didn’t feel particularly sleepy, so he took out a holographic tablet and started reading —The Mysteries of the Nightmare Domain—.
Life had to go on, and as a wizard with a promising future, he couldn’t abandon the pursuit of knowledge because of a minor setback.
Time gradually passed as he studied.
Only when dawn arrived did Angel close the tablet and begin to consider his itinerary for the day.
He had not rested the entire night, and although most of it was due to the lingering excitement from surviving the ordeal, there was another reason for his sleeplessness, which was the main cause of his staying awake—
In this desolate, fog-enshrouded village, the only difference between day and night was the color of the fog. During the day, the fog was grayish-white, while at night, it was blue-black.
By comparing the color of the fog during day and night, he roughly estimated that the daytime lasted about 14 hours and nighttime about 9 hours. This day-night ratio was consistent with the average annual cycle of the Harvest Moon.
Moreover, the division between day and night coincided with the time on the holographic tablet.
Based on this assumption, it was highly likely that he was currently in the Wizarding World, and still in the Southern Region.
Though this information was deduced by him and had not been verified, it could still be considered good news. As a result, Angel’s delight never waned throughout the day.
Another day came to an end.
Although Angel had not yet found a way out, he was no longer so anxious. Even if he could never find a way to leave, it wouldn’t hurt to stay in the desolate village for a while to reflect.
Moreover, based on his understanding of Sanders, his current predicament should fall within the scope of Sanders’ protective nature, right? When Gloria went missing, Felicia sought the help of a prophetic wizard at the Crown Star Church. Angel felt that, since he had “suffered on official business” and saved so many people, Sanders would probably go to the prophetic wizard to locate him and come to find him, right?
Angel didn’t know where his mysterious confidence came from.
However, Angel’s confidence wasn’t entirely misplaced; at least it was half right. As he left the planar passage, Sanders, who was far away in the Mirror World, received the news.
Sanders did indeed seek out the prophecy wizard, but he did not specifically go to the Radiant Realm to find the Crown Star Cathedral. This was not because Sanders didn’t value Angel; it was simply that Angel’s level was too low to warrant such a high-end prophecy wizard.
Moreover, Sanders wasn’t looking for Angel; he only asked the prophecy wizard one question: “Is Angel still alive?”
The prophecy wizard had not detected Angel’s whereabouts, and Sanders had been frowning for more than half a month. It was only after Angel left the planar passage that the prophecy wizard sensed the trajectory of fate and told Sanders, “He is still alive, and he might even have turned misfortune into fortune. He is safe now.”
Due to Sanders’ stern expression, the prophecy wizard did not engage in his usual banter and directly delivered the conclusion.
Upon hearing that Angel was still alive, Sanders’ expression softened.
When the prophecy wizard asked if he should locate Angel’s position, Sanders refused, saying, “As long as I know he is not dead, the rest is his own journey.”
Leaving these words behind, Sanders left, firmly believing that Angel needed this trial and did not want him to become a canary in an ivory tower.
So, Angel’s mysterious confidence was only half right. Sanders had indeed sought out the prophecy wizard but had only inquired about Angel’s life or death status; Angel would still have to rely on himself to escape.
Of course, Angel did not pin all his hopes on Sanders. He was not in a hurry to leave the desolate village because he indeed needed time to settle down.
He had been promoted to a second-level apprentice by a stroke of luck but lacked the foundation a second-level apprentice should have. At the very least, he needed to learn all the basic spells. Furthermore, he needed to start researching the —The Mysteries of the Nightmare Domain—.
All these plans required time to accumulate, so Angel did not mind staying in the desolate village.
In the following days, Angel began his solitary learning journey.
He placed —The Mysteries of the Nightmare Domain— in his study area, researching it day and night, gaining a deeper understanding of the Nightmare Domain.
There was a passage about the Nightmare Plane that made him feel more at ease staying in the desolate village:
“…The Nightmare Plane can also enhance fusion, but the prerequisite is having a sufficient concentration of nightmare illusion aura…”
The so-called nightmare illusion aura was actually the essence contained in the “Nightmare Stones” that Sanders mentioned or, in other words, the aura of the Nightmare Plane. Angel only had a few Nightmare Stones, which he planned to use on the edge of his blade, for example, when facing a formidable enemy.
Therefore, if he wanted to increase the concentration of the nightmare illusion aura in the Nightmare Domain, staying in the desolate village was the best choice. The dense fog here contained the aura of the Nightmare Plane.
In the Nightmare Domain, the stronger the nightmare aura, the more powerful the nightmare spells cast, and it can even be used to nurture the creatures of the Nightmare Plane. According to —The Mystery of the Nightmare Domain—, as long as the nightmare aura is dense, the creatures of the Nightmare Plane can even be tamed and used for one’s own purposes.
Angel had actually skipped this step altogether. The colorful dragonflies, parasites, musical teacups, and toy soldiers currently residing in his Nightmare Domain were all quite obedient. When Angel told them to go East, they would never go West.
The only regret was that their combat power was very low.
He had considered collecting the Colorful Dragonflies into his Nightmare Domain to increase his personal combat power. However, his Opulent Nightmare Domain was still in its infancy, and the nightmare aura was not sufficient to support these “half-step wizard” level creatures. Forcing them in would only starve the Colorful Dragonflies to death, so he had to abandon this idea.
Two months later, on the first day of the early Frost Descent month, Angel finally stopped learning. He had basically mastered the use of nightmare spells, and the nightmare aura in his Opulent Nightmare Domain had reached saturation.
Although the deserted village was like a paradise, free of danger, there was a scarcity of food. There were no wild animals to hunt in the wilderness, and he had been eating Magic Bread, which left a taste like smelly socks in his mouth.
Therefore, under such circumstances, he was preparing to leave the deserted village.
…
Over the past two months, he had explored every household in the deserted village without any gains. The few places with written records were mostly blurred. He had spent some time trying to determine the age of the village and finally concluded that it had been abandoned for at least a thousand years.
A thousand years had passed in the blink of an eye, and even if the people of the past had wanted to leave behind useful information, it had basically turned to dust.
In this situation, Angel was troubled: “How should he leave?”
Angel left the village once more and began searching for an exit in the nearby forest, looking for entrances like caves. Most of the trees in the forest had withered, and the ground was littered with broken, dry branches. Angel activated his mental tentacles and conducted a sweeping search.
However, after two full circles, there was still no gain.
Returning to the village, Angel decided to change his perspective and consider how the local people would leave the place.
From the exquisite villas in the deserted village, it could be inferred that the people who once lived here must have had a carefree life, so there must have been ways to obtain supplies from the outside world.
Angel imagined himself as a villager and did nothing else, living as an ordinary person.
After experiencing this for three consecutive days, Angel arrived at a place—
It was the lake behind the deserted village.
For the past three days, as an “ordinary villager,” Angel needed water for his morning routine, for cooking meals, and for bathing in the evening. If he did not use the “Water Delivery Spell,” the place he visited most frequently throughout the day would be this lake.
The lake water was black and tainted, with a strong stench of decay and putrefaction. Initially, Angel wanted to fish in the lake to satisfy his hunger, but the foul-smelling, greasy substances floating on the water’s surface forced him to retreat.
Generally, having a water source would allow one to find a way out through underground rivers.
However, because the lake water was greasy and foul-smelling and lacked the characteristics of a living water lake, Angel initially concluded that it was a dead lake, either artificially created or formed by accumulated rainwater.
Accumulated rainwater was certainly impossible because Angel had sent Toby to fly overhead earlier, and the sky was covered by a solid stone wall with light-absorbing plants, making it impossible for it to rain.
This place was actually like a miniature version of the Shadow Demon Kingdom’s subterranean world.
At the time, Angel did not think much of it, but now, reflecting on it, he felt that something was off.
Since it was impossible for the lake to be formed by accumulated rainwater, it should be an artificial lake. Angel had explored the entire area and found no other water sources or wells. Thus, this lake must have been the villagers’ sole source of water.
And here came the paradox.
How could a lake used for daily living purposes be dead water? If the water was stagnant, it would spoil, and the villagers couldn’t possibly use such water for living.
If there really were no other water sources, there was only one possibility: this lake was once a living water source!
Angel stared at the lake, which had probably been dead for nearly a thousand years, wanting to know the real reason. He would find out by diving in and exploring.
Slightly lowering his hat, he activated his Purification Field, and a pale white light shield enveloped Angel as he leaped into the pitch-black, putrid lake.
Chapter 332 The Desolate Abandoned Village <TOC> Chapter 334 Skeletons at the Bottom of the Lake