Chapter 909 New Considerations <TOC> Chapter 911 The Gatekeeper
Translator: SumTLMan
A chill ran through Angel’s heart as he transformed into a phantom, appearing in a flash before Leon. He cast a wary gaze upon the two-headed hound opposite him.
“Who might you be?” Angel didn’t launch into an attack immediately. Given that Pat Manor was nearly impervious to beastly intrusions at present, this strange hound likely had some connection to the newcomer, Suis. However, out of an abundance of caution, Angel wasn’t about to let his guard down.
Upon closer inspection, he noticed that each strand of the hound’s red fur seemed alive, fluttering in the air. Of the creature’s two heads, one had its eyes obscured by a black ribbon, seemingly in slumber. The other head, which bore a wolf-like appearance, chuckled ominously at Angel’s interrogation.
“Angel, relax. His name is Subi. He’s the magic pet of ‘Mentor’.” At that moment, Leon’s voice echoed from behind.
Leon’s words confirmed Angel’s suspicions.
Subi gave a slight nod to Angel and then turned to Leon. A piercing, grating sound emanated from his mouth, “Remember what I told you. I’ll take my leave now.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Subi turned back and leapt towards the window, his flaming-red fur dancing in the air, akin to a blaze in motion.
Subi’s speed was astonishing. In a few swift leaps, he vanished, leaving no trace behind.
Only when Subi had disappeared did Angel turn back to face Leon. Leon’s complexion remained pallid, his body swathed in thick bandages. But his mood seemed surprisingly good, a persistent smile hanging on his lips. However, he didn’t dare to laugh out loud for fear of aggravating his wounds.
“Your spirits seem high?” Angel gestured casually, conjuring a chair by the bedside.
“Yes.” Leon’s eyes squinted in mirth as he nodded softly, “Subi just informed me that I’ve honed the Will Refining Method to its limit. I don’t need to practice it any longer and can begin preparing for the meditation stage.”
“Has he given you the guidance method?”
“Not yet. Subi said that after my wounds recover, I should seek out Mentor. Mentor will gauge my aptitude, and only then will a suitable guidance method be chosen for me.” As Leon finished, he burst out laughing, only to wince as the laughter aggravated his injuries. The pain had him gasping for breath.
After a fair bit of time, Leon’s pain finally subsided. No longer daring to laugh heartily, he could only convey his joyous emotions through the sparkle in his eyes.
At this point, Angel could clearly perceive Leon’s sentiments.
“It seems that Suis is intending to officially acknowledge you as his student.”
While assessing potential might seem a common practice, it was tacitly accepted in the Wizarding World that this represented Suis’ intention of recognizing Leon.
Leon had always seen Suis as his mentor, and now his wish was fulfilled. How could he not be overjoyed?
“Going by Subi’s tone, it seems so!” Leon laughed even more, but lost his caution and suffered the consequences, “Ah, it hurts, it hurts——”
A glance revealed that the bandages were soaked with blood again.
Concerned for Leon’s safety, Angel decided to change the subject from Suis and went straight to the point: “In consideration of your safety…”
Angel took out several rune scrolls from his bracelet and handed them to Leon, “Two energy shields, one black light concealment, and four energy blast scrolls. I had a few more, but they were elemental rune scrolls that weren’t as effective on the Old Land Continent. For now, these should suffice for your defense.”
Leon accepted Angel’s goodwill without resistance, “Thank you. I heard from Subi that you were the one who saved me from the Tide Spider’s poison.”
“It’s nothing, the appearance of the Swamptide Spider wasn’t man-made. But your cultivation method did surprise me.” Angel originally wanted to chastise Leon for hiding his cultivation method, but upon reflection, he understood Leon’s considerations—he probably didn’t want to worry him. Plus, Leon had just mentioned that he would no longer practice the will forging technique, so Angel didn’t dwell on this cultivation method.
“You used to cultivate smoothly before, how come you suddenly made a mistake?” Angel asked out of curiosity.
Leon was taken aback. He made a mistake because he was distracted when he saw Angel’s flying boat sweeping over the waterfall. How could he feel comfortable revealing such a thing? He could only laugh it off.
Observing that Leon was reluctant to share, Angel didn’t press further, only admonishing him to always leave a contingency plan for himself when embarking on such perilous mental cultivation exercises.
At the very least, having a servant watch over him would be far preferable than the potential mishap of drifting downriver from solitary cultivation gone awry.
Although Leon appeared to be listening, Angel noticed his gaze becoming vacant, a clear sign that his words weren’t being taken to heart.
With a sigh of resignation, Angel recognized that everyone had their own path to walk, and interference was usually best avoided. Nevertheless, as blood kin, he felt compelled to take measures to prevent Leon from encountering similar situations in the future. He decided he would craft a protective item for him.
After some further conversation with Leon and seeing the moon high in the sky, Leon, still not fully recovered, began to show signs of drowsiness. Angel thus bade him farewell and departed.
Walking along the corridor intending to return to his own room, Angel heard faint commotion outside as he passed the central hallway. Approaching the window overlooking the courtyard below, he saw a dark-skinned youth wearing a hat, seemingly building up his breath and shouting at a large tree.
After several continuous shouts, a thin mist of water burst from the palm of his hand, washing away some of the dust on the tree.
Staring at the result of his strenuous effort, which was just a mere water mist, the young man sagged his shoulders in disappointment and trudged back with a gloomy expression.
Angel, however, raised an eyebrow at this sight. The young man was Drew, whom he had not paid much attention to lately due to being occupied with matters regarding Jon. He was aware that Drew’s talent was likely aligned with the ocean element, but he hadn’t expected Drew’s innate talent to be this high. Despite Drew only managing to produce a wisp of water mist and expressing dissatisfaction with himself, the Old Land Continent was a place where elemental energy was extremely scarce. That same wisp of water mist, if released elsewhere, could be powerful enough to form water arrows or water bullets—forceful attack spells.
Drew’s achievement indicated that he had already taken the first step in his meditation. Even before entering an organization, he had the qualifications to become a wizard’s apprentice, which was enough for Drew to be granted a golden flyer.
However, Drew was currently wasting his talent at Pat Manor due to his association with Angel. Angel rubbed his temples, considering whether he should send Drew back first.
Engulfed in these thoughts, Angel leisurely retreated back to his room.
In truth, he yearned to make a pilgrimage back to the Savage Grottoes. He wished to seek Sanders, to inquire about Jon and the Wilderness of Dreams. Even if Sanders was yet to return, someone would certainly know how to reach him; a simple dispatch of a message would suffice.
However, a return journey to the Savage Grottoes from here would be terribly time-consuming. Unless, perchance, someone could forge a planar passage to expedite their travels…
Angel pondered this for a time, and setting aside the issue of the planar passage, his principal motivation for returning was undeniably related to Jon. Whether Jon was willing to expose his existence or not, Angel needed to obtain Jon’s consent before proceeding further.
Temporarily shelving these considerations, Angel withdrew a few pieces of demon falcon bloodstone, ancient silk platinum, and stardust iron from his bracelet.
His immediate task was to craft the monocle for Blaire.
As Angel unfolded the parchment meticulously illustrated by Eureka, preparing to craft in adherence to the runes, he distinctly sensed a vague awareness descending from the heavens.
Likely, both Eureka and Suis were scrutinizing him from the shadows at this very moment.
Not that they were actually skulking – such an overt awareness was clearly a deliberate signal to Angel that they intended to spectate.
Though Angel wasn’t bothered about the presence of others during his crafting, this sensation wasn’t exactly comfortable. Wearing a stern expression, Angel activated the Opulent Nightmare Domain, effectively obstructing the prying eyes from the outside.
Outside, Eureka and Suis standing on the high cloud soil exchanged a glance and silently sighed.
“Although we can’t observe the crafting, his display of the nightmare domain is rather intriguing. He truly is a successor of Phantom Master,” Suis suggested. Since they couldn’t observe the crafting process, they might as well study the nightmare domain.
However, the Nightmare Domain and Illusion Domain had their differences, and until Angel disbanded his Nightmare Domain, Suis failed to derive a satisfactory understanding.
With the dissolution of Angel’s Nightmare Domain, Blaire almost instantaneously flew towards the balcony of Angel’s room.
Several moments later, with a new monocle perched atop her nose, Blaire fluttered back to Eureka, her wings echoing her triumphant return.
“The speed of crafting this overnight… Probably only enchantment alchemy could achieve such a feat,” mused Suis, taken aback.
Eureka inspected the monocle, and sure enough, it offered enhanced vision and heightened energy perception, surpassing the previous one that Blaire had worn.
“Low to mid-rank, Angel has a profoundly solid grounding in mineralogy,” Suis examined the monocle as well, however, he furrowed his brows and commented, “Hmm? It seems like Angel is quite displeased with us.”
Eureka looked at Suis quizzically.
Pointing to the monocle, Suis explained, “He didn’t etch his personal symbol into it, which implies that although he crafted it, he doesn’t want to admit that it’s his work.”
Eureka blinked, as if connecting the dots, and nodded in understanding. “When he initially asked Blaire for the design template, he probably had this intention.”
After all, if an alchemist were to design and craft something themselves, they certainly wouldn’t neglect to engrave their own symbol.
“If Angel had carved his symbol into it, the value of this monocle would skyrocket,” Suis reflected.
This statement caused Blaire to let out an unhappy squawk.
“I’m not suggesting we sell it, merely stating the facts,” Suis clarified to Blaire.
For Blaire, the presence or absence of a symbol was of no consequence; she adored the design and functionality all the same.
“It’s normal for Angel to be dissatisfied with us. As long as he doesn’t loathe us to the extreme, he should understand the essence of quid pro quo,” Eureka dismissed the concern with a wave of her hand. The relationship between wizards had always been one of cunning and deceit, yet as long as common interests persisted, they could still band together.
Chapter 909 New Considerations <TOC> Chapter 911 The Gatekeeper