Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2674: Chapter 2675: The Forgotten Story

The Wise Sovereign nodded as he listened, seemingly agreeing with Angel’s words, but not as surprised as at the beginning.

"Just from these clues, you’re able to think of the mana array node, quite imaginative."

Angel smiled and walked straight to the low bedside cabinet, searching as he spoke, "Besides, I have another guess."

The Wise Sovereign squinted his third eye, "Oh? What guess?"

Angel: "Energy cannot arise without a basis, since this is a mana array node, then where does this energy come from?"

The Wise Sovereign paused before continuing, "Where do you think it comes from?"

Angel opened the low cabinet and took out a finely crafted small wooden box made of deep sea wood.

"Generally speaking, most mana arrays use Magic Crystals as their energy source. But if a mana array is fixed in place for long-term operation and covers a large area, relying solely on Magic Crystals might work for a short time, but over time, the consumption would be terrifyingly high, which is when energy circulation becomes a consideration."

Angel opened the wooden box, glanced inside, and continued.

"For a mana array of the level of the Underground Aqueduct, energy circulation would definitely be considered. How to establish energy circulation to solve the energy issue must be discussed in terms of when Naraku City was flourishing and when it was in decline."

"When flourishing, many underground residents brought more benefits. At that time, even using Magic Crystals to sustain it would have more incoming than outgoing. Therefore, during Naraku City’s prosperous times, there were plenty of options for resolving the energy circulation problem, temporarily set aside."

"As for after the decline, how did the Underground Aqueduct solve the mana array’s energy problem? From my observation, I speculate the most likely energy circulation source comes from the life energy provided by Magical Creatures. The filth energy from the sewers breeds numerous Magical Creatures, whose battles and deaths feed back into the mana array."

The Wise Sovereign had by now put away his smile, gazing intently at Angel.

Angel: "Of course, there might be other energy circulation methods, but I personally lean towards Magical Creatures providing life energy. Otherwise, with the mana array’s capability, it could completely eradicate the Magical Creatures in the Underground Aqueduct, so why leave them to thrive and die in cycles?"

"Since the exterior mana array can allow Magical Creatures to provide life energy as a cycle, I thought, why can’t the Hanging Jail Stairway do the same? Even in flourishing times, for Naraku City’s residents, the imprisoned were serious criminals. If they could contribute a little before they died, it’s only fitting."

"So, I guess the energy source here might have originally come from the criminals imprisoned here. Surely the criminals weren’t volunteers; they were forcibly turned into ’energy providers.’"

"Here, they use a lot of deep sea wood for furniture, not just for energy conduction but also indicating that the inhabitant was once a criminal related to the Natural System. Perhaps a Nature Witch, or some type of Extraordinary Creature filled with natural power?"

At this point, the Wise Sovereign finally spoke: "Your deductions seemingly rely on logic, but often they appear specious. Where do these speculations come from, and what connections give rise to them, none have any basis."

"But strangely, your final answer comes very close to the truth. I’m very curious, how do you manage to guess correctly each time?"

Previously, the Wise Sovereign thought of Angel as a new star with a powerful background, very clever, and very competent.

Yet in front of him, it’s still hard to cover that sense of naivety. Although hidden, the Sage felt it wouldn’t be too hard to see through his tricks.

Now, however, Angel suddenly became wrapped in an unclear mist.

The Wise Sovereign was not concerned about Angel’s deduction results; what concerned him was how Angel arrived at his deductions. Also, was he truly a descendant of Noah? If not, what was his real purpose here?

This sudden lack of control over the situation made the Wise Sovereign somewhat uneasy.

"Speculations arise from the place, and connections are born of objects," Angel said blandly. "This is the basis for my conclusions."

Speculations arise from the place? By ’place,’ does he mean the Underground Aqueduct or, perhaps, the sewers?

Connections are born of objects? By ’objects,’ does he mean deep sea wood?

The Wise Sovereign frowned slightly; he felt Angel was being dismissive, but he couldn’t prove it.

The Wise Sovereign pondered for a moment. "What is your name?"

"Why do you suddenly want to know my name?" Angel cast a suspicious glance at the Sage, who offered no explanation.

Angel mused, "I don’t know who the Wise Sovereign is associating me with, but my identity shouldn’t match any of the names in your mind."

With those words, Angel stopped looking at the Wise Sovereign and dusted off his hands, turning to Kaier. "We should go; the Wood Spirit isn’t here."

Kaier glanced surreptitiously at the Wise Sovereign, seeing that he made no move to continue speaking, he promptly replied, "Master, there are still many places we haven’t checked here."

Although the room wasn’t large, feeling every inch would still take some effort.

Moreover, Kaier noticed that Angel had only carefully examined one place, the wooden box in the low cabinet by the bed, leaving the other areas unchecked.

This left Kaier quite baffled.

"This was once a prison for Natural System criminals, and the criminal was drained by the mana array. The Wood Spirit must be aware, and even if it’s safe now, its nature wouldn’t let it stay here."

After all, things that hurt their kind are avoided, and the Wood Spirit wouldn’t know if the mana array’s energy extraction method had changed. If it hasn’t, staying here might mean the same fate as that Natural System criminal.

Seeing Kaier still looking puzzled, Angel straightforwardly questioned the Wise Sovereign: "Wise Sovereign, have you ever found a Wood Spirit here before?"

The Wise Sovereign: "Since you already ’deduced’ it, why ask me?"

Angel shrugged, silently saying ’see’ to Kaier.

"It’s time to go."

With the Wise Sovereign’s tacit agreement, this time Kaier didn’t object, instead following behind Angel, prepared to leave.

On the other side, Dox approached the wooden box Angel had inspected earlier, curiously peering inside.

"You looked so carefully just now, I thought there was something good inside. But there’s nothing." Dox murmured softly beside Angel.

"The wooden box made of deep sea wood, due to its energy conduction, remains well-preserved. However, the items inside aren’t as fortunate," Angel said. "Time took everything away, as well as those forgotten stories."

Forgotten stories? Dox paused momentarily, then retorted, "You say that as if you know the story."

Angel gave a faint smile without replying, but inwardly he sighed deeply.

He really did know this story.

Or rather, the doubts the Wise Sovereign had previously were actually things Angel had learned from this story.

...

Time moved back not long ago when Angel went to the Wilderness of Dreams to meet Cicia. He asked about the situation at the bottom layer and a lot more about the Hanging Jail Stairway.

However, Cicia’s understanding of the Hanging Jail Stairway was only broad, aware of many important things, but not detailed matters, like each layer’s specific situation, of which Cicia knew very little.

However, the details unknown to Cicia are quite familiar to Angel.

Because most of the rooms in the Hanging Jail Stairway, he had entered while in the Nightmare Realm. The only ones he hadn’t entered were those derived spaces, which back then, as a mortal Angel, was normal not to find the entrance.

Although Angel knows many details, there are still many he... doesn’t understand.

For instance, Angel once found a thin booklet in a room on the first floor of the Nightmare Realm.

The thin booklet was originally placed in a wooden box inside a low cabinet, eroded by time in reality, but it still existed in the Nightmare Realm.

Angel recorded the contents of the booklet using a holographic tablet, but he didn’t recognize a single word in it. Even Literacy Mastery couldn’t identify the characters in the booklet. So, even though he knew these details, he was at a loss about them.

While chatting with Cicia about the Hanging Jail Stairway in the Wilderness of Dreams, Angel recalled this matter and then simulated the booklet with an illusion technique for Cicia to recognize.

It was finally determined that the language was Uaisu.

Cicia roughly translated the words in the booklet, letting Angel know what happened in the room on the first floor...

As the Wise Sovereign mentioned, Angel’s speculation had obvious logical gaps. This is because his speculation was a fabrication without cause and effect under the premise of a known result.

The prisoner once held in the room on the first floor was a natural witch from the Elemental side.

The thin booklet placed in the wooden box was a diary.

Each page of the diary was filled with hatred and resentment, and the reason was what Angel mentioned before: he was treated as an energy source, with the energy in his body being extracted day and night to supply the Magical Energy Array.

Day after day, year after year. Eventually, this natural witch was completely "devoured," and the last page of the diary was his last will and testament.

It recorded his remorse, his love and resentment, his helplessness, his guilt, and his hope and regrets.

However, not long after his death, Naraku City became ruins.

Ultimately, no one ever read his diary. As time flowed, this diary was finally buried in the crevices of time, turning to dust, unknown to anyone.

Were it not for the karmic affinity, Angel saw the projection in the Nightmare Realm and recorded this diary with a holographic tablet, perhaps no one in the world would ever know the story of this natural witch.

At first, Angel didn’t care about this story at all.

Because from beginning to end, the natural witch never mentioned his name nor explained why he was imprisoned. Whether he was good or bad, Angel had no basis for judgment.

However, when he personally came to this room, looking at the other already decayed items, and then at the deep-sea wood as bright as new, Angel suddenly remembered those complaints filled with blood and tears.

The cruelty of time leaves those forgotten in the flow of time without a chance to start over.

Angel, rather than feeling nostalgic about the scene, uses it to reflect on his own future.

Will he ultimately be buried in time too?

Angel does not want this, but it seems no one can escape the trial of time.

Truth, can it?

As Angel was in a trance, he suddenly heard a whisper in his ear: "Why don’t you take that thing out? Maybe you can use it to entice small fish onto the hook."

Coming back to his senses, the first person Angel saw was Dox beside him, who was constantly winking, signaling Angel with his eyes.

Seeing Dox’s expression, Angel understood what he wanted to convey.

Since Angel speculated that the original form of the Wood Spirit was a staff, why not conjure the staff to attract the Wood Spirit?

Angel wasn’t deliberately withholding it but thought, in the end, it’s still going to go back, so when it’s confirmed there’s no path ahead and a return is needed, he’d take out the staff then.

This way, it can buy some time without exposing identity too quickly.

But thinking about it now, it doesn’t matter if it’s exposed or not, since The Sage likely already confirmed he is likely not a descendant of Noah, conjuring the staff is harmless.

With this in mind, Angel didn’t hesitate, directly taking out the four-in-one ornament on the top of the staff from his bracelet, then giving it a gentle shake, smoke spreading.

When the smoke dissipated, a black staff appeared under the ornament.

The staff head ornament is real, while the staff body is an illusionary transformation. The overall shape is identical to the staff in the painting seen by Good the Butler in the Iguro family.

After taking out the staff, Angel said nothing and directly walked towards the stairs.

The Wise Sovereign behind, seeing the staff suddenly appearing in Angel’s hand, was stunned for a moment.

He vaguely felt the ornament on the staff head was somewhat familiar, especially the pattern resembling a crest on the handle, where had he seen it before?

The Wise Sovereign recalled and followed Angel, stepping onto the stairs again.

To the staircase leading to the second floor, Angel still measured each step, but this time it was much faster than the first floor. In less than three minutes, the new platform appeared.

However, when everyone stepped onto this new platform, except for the Black Earl and the Wise Sovereign, everyone else was stunned.

Even Angel paused for a moment.

Because on this platform, there was no familiar door, only a staircase continuing upwards.

Wasn’t this the second floor, but just a transit platform? Amid everyone’s confusion, Angel turned his head and looked into the depths of the void.

"Is there anything over there?" Dox asked curiously.

They were in an illusion, even with spiritual power, unable to perceive the outside situation. All they could do was observe with naked eyes.

Using the naked eye, Dox hadn’t noticed anything unusual, so he asked.

"It seems like there’s a road here?" Kaier said.

While speaking, Kaier walked to one side of the platform, hesitated at the edge, and then stepped into the void.

No falling occurred, standing steadily in the air.

Dox’s eyes lit up: "There’s really a road!"