Chapter 346 The Magician <TOC> Chapter 348 The Night Banquet
Translator: SumTLMan
Upon returning home, Angel pondered for a long time.
The “person” mentioned by the Magician, who might know the information, was not currently present. They were elusive, powerful, and had an extremely mysterious background. Logically speaking, the Magician should not have been able to make connections with such people, but this person had been attending their extraordinary gatherings since joining two years ago, appearing at almost every event. They didn’t talk much and just observed from the sidelines. However, whenever they spoke, others were sure to gain insight, indicating that their depth of knowledge far surpassed others.
The “Ring of Illusion” given to Bal by the Magician also came from this person.
In the extraordinary gathering where no one knew their real name, this individual went by the codename “Shadow.”
According to the Magician, the next extraordinary gathering would take place during the month of Frozen Soil, which was still more than half a month away. The gathering location would be near Watthelmgrass. The Magician claimed that as long as Angel was willing to share a bit of information or knowledge with the extraordinary gathering, he would be willing to act as Angel’s guide and introduce him to the gathering.
Angel did not immediately agree but said he needed some time to think it over.
The Magician understood that this kind of arrangement might be difficult for some people, as they were all self-taught wizard apprentices and appreciated the importance of “knowledge.” However, there was no other way. For them to obtain more knowledge or techniques, they could only rely on sharing through such gatherings.
For this reason, their extraordinary gatherings were held quite frequently, almost once every six months when time permitted. Because only through exchanging ideas could knowledge be integrated, and more inspiration could be gained.
As a wizard apprentice from a traditional school, Angel already had a wealth of knowledge, not to mention the information he had gathered from Sanders’ hidden chamber. His foundation was not something that could be matched by those who were self-taught.
He knew a lot of trivial knowledge but did not immediately agree to the Magician’s proposal.
Firstly, obtaining knowledge was not easy; secondly, he originally planned to visit the capital of the Whiskas Kingdom. If he agreed to this condition, he would have to stay in Watthelmgrass for a while, and this plan would be put on hold.
After contemplating for a long time, considering the whereabouts of Totoro and his own accumulation of strength, Angel eventually decided to postpone other plans and agreed to the Magician’s terms.
As a result, in the following days, Angel stayed in Watthelmgrass.
However, he did not idle; instead, he studied diligently day and night. Although he had a good understanding of nightmare illusions, he had not yet begun learning many basic tricks outside the illusion school, such as ventriloquism and healing spells. These apprentice-level spells, which he had not seriously studied, were now essential for him as a second-level apprentice.
Angel planned to take advantage of his free time to thoroughly study these techniques.
During this period, Angel enjoyed a comfortable life in Watthelmgrass. The food was delicious, the living was leisurely, and there were no external enemies lurking. It had been a long time since Angel had experienced such a stress-free life.
Occasionally, the Magician would visit, and through his interactions with the Magician, Angel discovered that this person indeed did not value life, just as Bal had said.
Although he did not go on a killing spree, Angel found from his interactions with the Magician that he had a disregard for life. Moreover, whenever the Whiskas Royal Court was mentioned, his eyes would fill with hatred.
From time to time, the Magician would express his intentions to destroy the Whiskas Royal Court from its roots, gradually undermining the pillar families of the court, then devouring its economy and power, and finally overthrowing the entire court.
In response to such statements, Angel would just smile without any comment. He guessed it was another story of cynicism and hatred for one’s country, and since he was just a passerby to the Whiskas Royal Court, he did not want to get involved. However, he occasionally reminded the Magician that, although hatred was one thing, wizards should avoid interfering too much in the mundane world.
The Magician responded to Angel’s well-intended reminder with a twisted, mocking smile.
After visiting Angel several times and seemingly confirming that he had no intention of staying in the Whiskas Royal Court, and that he did not know anyone else there, the Magician’s visits became less frequent.
Angel did not want to have too close a relationship with the Magician, as their differing worldviews made communication exhausting.
Between awkward and forced conversations, Angel preferred to study quietly.
His current progress in learning magic was not fast because first-level spells were not as easy as 0-level spells and required a certain level of knowledge accumulation.
Message, a first-level spell, required a basic understanding of soundwave theory. If he were in the Savage Grottoes, he could learn about soundwave theory in the Tree Spirit Court’s classrooms, but now that he was not there, he had to teach himself.
Because first-level spells have knowledge accumulation requirements, it was difficult for self-taught wizard apprentices like the Magician to learn a spell. Their only chance was to exchange information with peers, which explained their frequent extraordinary gatherings.
Angel had some understanding of soundwave theory, but only limited to Earth’s knowledge. He did not know whether the soundwave theory of Earth could be applied to the Wizarding World, so he had to experiment bit by bit.
Time passed slowly as he experimented.
A week later, Angel rubbed his temples and looked up from his intense study.
After a week of drafting numerous formulas, calculations, and validations, Angel estimated that there were some differences between Earth’s soundwave theory and that of the Wizarding World, mainly due to the change in the medium of propagation. The Wizarding World was filled with raw magical power, which, although volatile, had high plasticity and could even alter the speed of sound propagation, which was entirely different from Earth’s knowledge.
Angel accepted this result, as it had been tested before that the physical constants of the Wizarding World were fundamentally different from those of Earth. The fact that soundwave theory was only slightly different was already the best possible outcome.
Although there were some differences between the soundwave theories of the Wizarding World and Earth, the basics, such as concepts, deductive thinking, and application methods, were basically the same, with only some differences in results.
Message only required a basic understanding of soundwave theory, and Angel’s current knowledge of soundwaves was more than sufficient.
What was left was to research the essence of “spells.”
This would be a long and meticulous process, and Angel decided to put it aside for now and focus on resolving the matters of Totoro and Hippocrates before resuming his research.
Although Angel did not intend to pursue Totoro’s identity and his lost memories any further, he was still somewhat interested in “Hippocrates,” the place where Totoro once lived. After all, there was still a group of Colorful Dragonflies there, which, although seemingly harmless to him, could still pose a hidden concern.
Moreover, the planar passage in Hippocrates should have a connection to the Nightmare Plane. Although Sanders said that entering the Nightmare Plane through that connection was virtually impossible, it remained a potential risk.
To be on the safe side, Angel decided to inquire about the specifics of Hippocrates. He had given the medical box’s symbol to Bal earlier, asking him to investigate discreetly.
Bal had already visited the day before, but Angel was researching acoustics at the time and did not meet with him, only asking him to return today.
While waiting for Bal to arrive, Angel looked at Totoro.
Deciding how to accommodate Totoro had become a current dilemma.
Angel initially intended to get rid of this burden, but Totoro had too many secrets and was an excellent research subject. Why would an ordinary person live for a thousand years without aging? If the secret could be discovered, would his mentor, Jon, and his elder brother, Leon, also be able to live longer?
Although Angel was not qualified to explore Totoro’s secrets, it did not mean that others couldn’t. If he could return to the Savage Grottoes…
Angel sighed deeply and decided to keep Totoro with him for the time being, as long as there was no danger to himself.
Since he would be spending a long time with Totoro, some matters had to be addressed, such as: how to educate Totoro?
Totoro was currently a blank slate, and what kind of person he would become depended on Angel’s ideas.
However, before discussing education, Totoro needed to be able to communicate with others.
For patients with complete amnesia like Totoro, someone had to teach them basic knowledge. He planned to ask Bal about Wattglass’s enlightenment when he arrived.
As for Totoro’s enlightenment mentor, Angel did not intend to let Bal help find one. Bal was not a good person himself, and who knew what kind of shady characters he might introduce.
So Angel decided to look for a mentor personally, at least one who was upright and righteous.
…
Around noon, there was a knock on the door.
Angel initially thought it was Bal, but upon opening the door, he found that the visitor was not Bal or anyone he knew.
The visitor was a young man dressed in a neatly tailored black robe. Although he tried his best to appear calm, his expression betrayed a hint of fear.
“Who are you? What brings you here?” Seeing that the visitor remained silent, Angel frowned and asked.
The young man forcefully held back his trembling legs, using what he believed to be his calmest voice, but it sounded shaky to others, “Honorable sir, I am the steward of the Count’s mansion; the Count has heard of your visit to Watthelmgrass and is overjoyed. He wishes to invite you to his residence for a chat.”
After the young man nervously finished speaking, he handed over a gilded invitation card.
Angel took a look at the invitation and raised his eyebrows, “The Count? Are you referring to Leonrique?”
Not to mention that Bal had mentioned this person before, the Magicians who had come to communicate with him in the past few days had also angrily mentioned him more than once. As a result, Angel had a fairly strong impression of this person.
“Yes,” the young man lowered his head.
His whole body was trembling, and his forehead was constantly sweating… Angel frowned, was he that frightening?
Angel accepted the invitation, “I understand. You may go.”
He neither agreed nor declined. But since Angel had accepted the invitation, the young man breathed a sigh of relief, at least his sincerity had been delivered.
After the young man left, Angel opened the invitation and took a look.
Leonrique invited him to attend a night banquet the day after tomorrow. He also specifically noted that no outsiders had been invited.
Angel smiled, it seemed that Leonrique was quite tactful.
Although the Magicians never had a good word for Leonrique, Angel’s impression of him was not bad. At least, the Watthelmgrass he had seen was prosperous, and the people were stable, which showed that Leonrique had accomplished practical things.
Angel decided to pay a visit.
He couldn’t place all his bets on the unknown “Shadow”; Leonrique belonged to the power class, and moreover, a power class that had spanned hundreds of years. He must have access to a lot of information, and perhaps he could bring good news to Angel.
Chapter 346 The Magician <TOC> Chapter 348 The Night Banquet