Chapter 804 Visionary Illusion <TOC> Chapter 806 First Advent to the High-Rank
Translator: SumTLMan
Angel pondered, acknowledging a possible slight discrepancy. After all, the illusionary realm within the Vision Space differed from his own crafted fantasy, despite the overall process being alike. For instance, the illusion in the Vision Space bore no music. Upon discovering the Goddess of the Sea, Angel imbued the giant turtle—the Goddess’s abode—with an aura from the Nightmare Plane and adorned it with depictions of mermaids, sea monsters, and the like. These series of plot elements to be triggered were absent in the Vision Space’s illusion.
The ultimate effect—superior or inferior—remains to be tested after Angel’s departure.
However, Angel found the difficulty of this Vision Space unprecedented, even introducing a time limit. The complexity of this Vision Space corresponded to the extraordinary nature of this alchemical creation. Angel was curious about the final rank this music box would reach.
With that thought, he pushed open the departure gate.
In the real world, Angel, who had been engrossed in the Vision Space, abruptly opened his eyes. His newly crafted music box floated mid-air, absorbing the peculiar fluctuations dispersing nearby following the Vision Space’s conclusion.
When Angel turned his gaze to it, the peculiar fluctuations were particularly intense. Confronted with this music box, Angel felt as though he stood before a vast ocean.
Its alignment with the sea’s energy was akin to the will of the ocean!
Angel’s heart suddenly quickened.
Even though he had yet to use the Eye of Nalda for appraisal, the sheer sense of insignificance before this immense will led him to guess the rank of the music box.
It was likely… a rank he had never crafted before.
As Angel was in a trance, the music box finally finished absorbing the remnants of the Vision Space’s peculiar fluctuations. Then, in the next moment, changes occurred again.
The Omen Sign of the sea mist enveloping the area dispersed at a speed visible to the naked eye—or rather, it was condensing and compressing. Eventually, it transformed into a light blue droplet, hovering above the music box.
Then, a faintly discernible, exquisite celestial sound sighed out of nowhere.
With a sigh that echoed within a radius of thousands of miles, all creatures of the sea – the beasts, the ferries, even the aquatic plants – trembled in reverence, bowing their heads and listening attentively to this divine melody that does not exist in the world.
Even the Rogue merfolk below, who were originally gazing at the sky, now prostrate themselves on the ground, murmuring a long string of sacred and inviolable names in the merfolk language.
This name signifies a concept – the ocean.
At the same time, it also represents their mother, the Goddess of the Sea.
In this place, the one who felt this most intensely, other than the Rogue merfolk, was Jiebo, hidden beneath the currents. Before the divine melody graced the world, when the alchemical Omen Sign was dispersing, he had transformed into a water elemental, blending into the sea, solely to avoid detection by Angel.
However, when that ethereal sigh graced the world, Jiebo was almost instantly expelled by the essence of the ocean, transforming back into human form. This feeling of being rejected by the sea, Jiebo had never felt before.
This made Jiebo, like the Rogue merfolk, face the sky where the illusion still existed, with an expression of awe and reverence.
This sudden sigh even caused the “Sea God” Florence, who was in a distant place, to slightly furrow his brows. He seemed to have a vague premonition in his heart, but he couldn’t capture any information at the moment.
Florence thought for a moment, extended his fingertip, and released a mysterious ripple towards the unknown distance.
After doing this, Florence returned to his desk. In front of him, a message from the Shining Plane was displayed.
It was written in a strange font: “Mysterious Object is in the Prophecy Shield Zone, I can’t probe it with my abilities, please understand.”
The one who sent this message was one of the eighteen observers of the Crown Star Church, Shura, known as “The Falseless Reader”.
Even the observer couldn’t find that Mysterious Object? It seems that the rumors from the outside world that it has been incorporated by some wizard organization are not unfounded.
Florence looked a bit gloomy, shook his head and sighed, tearing up this costly report into shreds, and finally banished it into the alternate space……
Back to the Blackberry Sea.
While Angel was still wondering where that sigh came from, the pale blue water droplet suspended above the music box, condensed from the sea fog Omen Sign, slowly fell.
It dropped onto the music box.
It didn’t splash a bit of water, but rather it coated the music box like a layer of film, completely concealing its originally glaring luster. Only a layer of mist was vaguely covering the outer shell of the music box, which was very compatible with the shape of the music box itself, making it look elusive and traceless.
Simultaneously, the overaccumulation of water elemental energy in the illusionary realm was too severe, causing the illusion nodes to collapse one after another.
Angel did not attempt to mend the illusionary realm; after all, the time for him to depart had arrived.
When the illusionary realm completely vanished, the music box that had been hovering in mid-air for quite some time finally fell into Angel’s palm.
Gazing at the beautifully shaped music box in his hand, Angel did not investigate it immediately. Instead, he subdued his excitement, stored the music box into his bracelet for the time being.
He had other matters to attend to at present; the task of appraising the music box could wait until he had dealt with the situation at hand.
Angel’s gaze first fell on Drew, who was lying on the ship’s railing with a shocked expression on his face.
“Just a moment.”
After sending a mental message to Drew, Angel’s gaze slowly shifted below. At this moment, on the coral island carried by the giant turtle, a group of beautifully striking merfolk remained prostrate on the ground, murmuring prayers.
Angel raised an eyebrow and descended slowly.
These merfolk had inspired him, especially the only mature female mermaid. Her chant and posture had greatly enlightened Angel.
He intended to offer her a reward.
After all, Angel had previously asked her mentalally to continue her chant without stopping. She had listened to him and sang throughout the night.
Just for this reason alone, according to the principle of equivalent exchange, Angel had to offer her something in return no matter what.
While descending, Angel inadvertently glanced in a certain direction. Although he had been entirely focused on his alchemical work before, his keen senses faintly detected some energy fluctuations at the seabed in that direction.
Could it be some sea creature?
Angel pondered for a moment before shaking the thought off, as he had now arrived on the giant turtle’s back.
With Angel’s descent, Toby, flapping his wings, flew onto Angel’s shoulder. Previously, when Angel was engaged in alchemy, Toby had flown near the illusionary realm, guarding it.
From the onset of dusk to the hint of dawn, Toby had almost no rest throughout the night.
However, it seemed to be in high spirits, even finding the leisure to chirp at the prostrated merfolk.
“Toby says, your singing voice is beautiful.”
A gentle and clear voice reached the ears of the mermaid princess. She slowly lifted her head and saw the wizard who had previously been in mid-air.
Because of Toby’s chirping, the other merfolk around also gradually woke up from their “awe of the divine sound”. Upon seeing Angel, these merfolk showed a wary look, guarding the mermaid princess behind them.
However, the mermaid princess’s audacity evidently surpassed the imaginations of her fellow mermaids. Pushing aside the knights who stood guard before her, she positioned herself in front of Angel, dipping her head in salutation.
A melodious, bell-like voice emanated from her lips, “Greetings, Lord wizard.”
Her common language was somewhat stiff, apparently not often used. Yet, her graceful tone compensated for the inadequacies in her linguistic proficiency.
Angel was about to respond when Toby, quicker on the uptake, had already begun to ramble on at length, even flapping his wings and making continuous gestures.
The mermaid princess was able to comprehend a portion of marine creature language but was obviously unable to understand the language of seabirds. She gazed at Toby with a baffled expression, then back at Angel.
Angel coughed twice to interrupt Toby’s discourse.
Toby had said a great deal, but his intent was straightforward: “I’ve taken a fancy to you, come with me. As long as you sing me a tune every day, I will feed you dried fish on time!”
Angel naturally wouldn’t translate Toby’s words verbatim, merely stating in a nonchalant tone, “This seabird is named Toby. He is quite enamored with your singing and was praising you just now.”
Toby, dissatisfied with Angel’s translation, squawked a few times. He was promptly nabbed by the wing by Angel and stuffed into his pocket. After all, even the fairytale of —The Seabird and the Fish— had a tragic ending. Better not to entertain such fantasies.
The mermaid princess bashfully nodded, “Thank you for the compliment.”
“Are you of the royal lineage of the Rogue merfolk?” Angel queried.
“Yes.” The mermaid princess nodded, “My name is Valerie, the princess of the Rogue branch of the Blackberry Sea.”
Having ascertained her identity, Angel did not indulge in superfluous conversation. He directly said, “Princess Valerie, your song earlier provided great inspiration for me while I was crafting an alchemical item. As a token of gratitude, I am prepared to fulfill one request of yours, within my capabilities.”
One inspiration in exchange for one request.
Valerie’s heart began to beat like a drum. As the peculiar mental message had predicted, he would indeed reward her.
Then… should she follow the instructions of the mental voice now?
Valerie was caught in a quandary.
Her initial willingness to stay and continue her chant was driven by the desire to secure a wizard’s friendship, which could potentially serve her well when she visited the main City of the Rogues, ensuring her greater benefits.
She was aware that wizards are quite observant of the principle of equivalent exchange, and she felt somewhat awkward about what she could offer in return for the inspiration she was providing. To exchange her service for a nebulous concept of friendship, seemed like she was the one reaping the benefits.
However, if she were to heed the words of the mental voice, she would be entering into a transaction with the man before her. Subsequently, she wouldn’t be able to seek the so-called friendship with the gentleman wizard.
Faced with this dilemma, her choice was of paramount importance.
While Valerie hesitated, Jiebo below the water watched her quietly.
After a considerable pause, Valerie finally voiced out, “Honorable wizard, may I know the name of the music you played earlier?”
Upon hearing Valerie’s query, a faint smile curled up at the corners of Jiebo’s mouth.
Angel arched an eyebrow, “Is that your request?”
Valerie responded with a nod, “I have never heard music of such a style before, it felt as if I was facing a magical sea when I heard it. So, I really want to understand this song, that’s my request.”
Angel considered it for a moment. Indeed, the merfolk were a race that adored music, even their acts of killing and cannibalism were conducted through music. Valerie’s wish to understand the music seemed reasonable enough.
“Goddess of the Sea,” Angel paused before repeating, “The name of this music is Goddess of the Sea.”
Chapter 804 Visionary Illusion <TOC> Chapter 806 First Advent to the High-Rank