Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2825: Chapter 2826: Madness

Certainly! Here is the translation of the provided text:

When the Sandworm arrived at the Weaving Net, unsurprisingly, it was entangled by the net, unable to move.

Everyone waited for a moment, wanting to see if there would be any change in the Sandworm, and whether the Infant Spirits would come over.

Time passed by minute by minute, and after several minutes, everyone exchanged glances, each with doubt in their eyes.

The Infant Spirits did not come, and aside from being trapped and unable to move, the Sandworm showed no other changes for the time being. It was still alive, and showed no signs of wilting.

So, is the purpose of this Weaving Net just like a spider web, purely existing to capture prey? But in the world of energy, what is the crimson light emitted by the Weaving Net? It couldn’t just be an atmospheric ornament, right?

Everyone turned their eyes to Dox, hoping to get an explanation from him.

Dox’s expression was somewhat peculiar, his eyes slightly narrowed, seemingly pondering or sensing something. After a good while, Dox spoke: "The effect of the Weaving Net... could be energy absorption."

As for why Dox made this judgment—

"Even the tiniest bit of energy I left inside the little bug was absorbed."

Angel: "If the effect of the Weaving Net is to absorb energy, then why is it still alive?"

Life energy is also a type of energy. Whether in the Southern Domain or in surrounding areas, many Magical Creatures that feed on life energy have been discovered.

For instance, Gomito, known in folklore as the Heart-devouring Ghost, feeds on energy. However, its absorption and transmutation efficiency are not very high, so it devours both flesh and meat together.

Among the same type, there are creatures even more powerful than Gomito, such as the Sheep Demon in the Abyss or the Chupacabra in the Void. When they capture Blood Food, they don’t need to ingest it; they can absorb the life energy completely with just a breath.

And the prey whose life energy has been absorbed would become like decaying wood, and die painfully due to insufficient energy for all organs.

Life energy is the most fundamental energy of organisms, even ordinary people possess this energy, it’s only a matter of quantity.

Yet now, the Sandworm is quite healthy, without the slightest change in its plump state. To say it has had its life energy absorbed away is absolutely impossible.

Even if it was like Greya’s original body, a mountain of flesh, having its life energy absorbed would still turn it into a skin-and-bone state. So, if the Sandworm truly had its life energy absorbed, how could it still be so well nourished?

Dox also hesitated for quite some time before speaking: "Perhaps the Weaving Net doesn’t absorb life energy?"

Even as Dox said it, he didn’t quite believe it.

Because what he left inside the Sandworm was Magic Power and spiritual power, and what the Sandworm had absorbed was these. If the Weaving Net was only meant to absorb Magic Power, then why isn’t it absorbing even a bit while surrounded by Primordial Magic?

Or does the Weaving Net only absorb refined pure Magic Power?

What about spiritual power then?

Although the Sandworm pup is very weak, it possesses a certain amount of spiritual power, but the Weaving Net hasn’t absorbed its spiritual power. This can be seen with the naked eye, because if the Sandworm’s spiritual power disappeared, it would immediately become listless, falling into a coma, akin to death.

But now, the Sandworm can struggle, its vitality hasn’t dwindled, it just can’t move, which is not the appearance of spiritual power being absorbed.

Black Earl: "Then we’ll tentatively assume that one of the Weaving Net’s effects is the absorption of non-self energy."

Dox thought about it and considered it barely accurate. However, he still didn’t feel that the Weaving Net was just excluding alien energy.

If it truly was as Black Earl stated, then the Weaving Net wouldn’t be a trap at all, but rather a special boon that can dispel alien energy within the body.

And this, to many wizards, could be a very beneficial effect. Like when a wizard is cursed, or suffers from alien energy erosion and can’t dispel it; wouldn’t using the Weaving Net perfectly solve the problem?

This totally glamorizes the Weaving Net.

But is the Weaving Net really without any other negative effects aside from confinement? Dox was skeptical, and the others present were skeptical too. But for now, the conclusion is indeed like this, and they can only set their doubts aside temporarily.

"You should have other Sandworms, why not try the red wax on the ground this time?" Black Earl looked at Dox.

Although the red wax can be avoided by climbing the walls, Black Earl had a hunch that the appearance of the red wax couldn’t be so simple, if they truly could bypass it and only face the Weaving Net, then what was the point of the Infant Spirits creating these red wax?

So even if the red wax can be bypassed, Black Earl hoped to determine the approximate effect of the red wax.

Dox: "I have some guesses about the effect of the red wax."

Black Earl: "Oh?"

Dox simply recounted his rise and fall of control over the Sandworm in detail; even though the little bug hadn’t touched the red wax. However, once it entered the area where the red wax was located, it experienced fluctuations in control. I believe this should be influenced by the red wax."

Angel: "You mean the red wax can influence your control over the Sandworm? That is to say, it influences spiritual power?"

Dox nodded, then shook his head: "It indeed affects my control over the little bug, but my control isn’t solely through spiritual power; there’s also Bloodline Power."

"The little bug’s Bloodline is closely connected to me, even receiving nourishment from my Bloodline, allowing it to survive."

"Therefore, through Bloodline Power, I can control all actions of the little bug, even replace it when it loses self-awareness."

"Personally, I believe the effect of the red wax isn’t to deprive or weaken my control over the Sandworm; rather, it impacts the Sandworm’s own spiritual power. But this influence doesn’t cause its spiritual power to vanish, rather it becomes chaotic or imbalanced."

"It’s like..."

Angel chimed in at a suitable moment: "Mental illness."

Dox nodded: "Exactly, like a lunatic with mental illness, the spirit is extremely unstable. But it doesn’t destroy its spiritual power."

Black Earl: "But this is just your conjecture."

"It is conjecture, indeed, but..." Dox originally wanted to say his inspiration matched this, but after considering it, using inspiration as evidence seemed unreasonable, even if his inspiration rarely failed him, it ultimately couldn’t serve as proof.

"Forget it, I’ll try again, this time I’ll directly touch the red wax on the ground."

This time, Dox didn’t spit out a Sandworm from his mouth. Instead, he lightly stomped on the ground, and a small bump appeared on the surface.

The small bump on the ground broke open, and a tender-white Sandworm pup crawled out.

Upon seeing this Sandworm, Vay resentfully said: "I wasn’t wrong about you, I said you did it intentionally, you really did."

Dox pretended not to hear.

Vay, unwilling to be silent, shouted at the Sandworm: "Set out, little bug!"

Hearing Vay’s shout, Dox turned back and said: "I hadn’t planned to let it absorb the smell of sewage, so it isn’t called a little bug, its name is..."

Dox thought of a name: "Culinande. Zilolo. Baldeff, how does that sound?"

Originally Angel wanted to hear what creative name Dox might come up with. Hearing this long string of names, he felt full of question marks; he seemed to be struggling to keep up with Dox’s logic. How did his thinking leap from little bug to such a lengthy name, even including a middle name? He’s genuinely serious about naming here!

Compared to Angel’s astonishment, Vay was entirely unfazed; he’d long been accustomed to Dox’s nonsensical behavior. If Dox chose a name like Little Fragrance Bug, Little Golden Bug, Little White Bug, Vay would be more surprised.

"This name isn’t suitable." Vay vetoed it with a vote, as for why it wasn’t suitable, he couldn’t be bothered to find reasons. Unsuitable is unsuitable, no reason required.

"Better to call it Little Bug. Why you ask? You just stomped your foot and it came out, so you know where in your body it crawled out from. There’s nothing inappropriate about calling it Little Bug."

Dox: "Do you know there’s punishment for insulting an Official Wizard?"

Vay: "Did I insult you? If you swallow this little bug back through your mouth, I’ll apologize to you."

Dox said crossly: "So an insult only requires an apology?"

Seeing that the two seemed to have indulged in bickering, Angel sighed inwardly and still spoke: "Alright, enough with this. There’s a more important matter at hand, don’t let trivial matters overshadow the current situation."

Angel: "Or do you really think the Infant Spirits are easy to bully?"

With Angel speaking up, Vay naturally dared not continue the banter. Dox wasn’t afraid of Angel, but he felt he was being a bit too lax.

Putting away his relaxed expression, Dox said solemnly: "Baldeff, move out!"

Angel: "..." In the end, it’s impossible to avoid this name.

The chubby little larva struggled to crawl forward, and this time the sandworm didn’t climb the walls but directly touched the red wax, so it quickly reached the location of the red wax.

Without any hesitation, the sandworm crawled onto the red wax.

However, shortly after the sandworm climbed onto the red wax, a sudden change occurred.

Originally, the red wax was a solidified substance, but upon contact with the sandworm, there were signs of melting, although this melting was limited to underneath the sandworm.

Within the blink of an eye, the small sandworm was pulled into the "body" of the red wax, completely trapped.

The red wax wasn’t particularly transparent, only a vague silhouette of the small sandworm’s shadow could be seen.

At the same time, Dox frowned deeply and said, "Baldev has completely lost control. I can’t sense its presence at all, as if it’s been erased from my bloodline connection."

The earlier little pest, because it still had life energy, wasn’t completely disconnected, but now, Dox couldn’t feel Baldev’s existence at all.

Moreover, Baldev was trapped in the red wax so quickly that Dox didn’t even have time to perceive what it experienced.

After listening to Dox, everyone’s brows furrowed.

They had previously speculated that the red wax might have some special effects, and now it seemed to be true. Yet, from the appearance and energy perspective, the red wax looked just like ordinary red wax.

They still didn’t know what went wrong, let alone how to solve the problem.

"I see that the Infant Spirits haven’t come over yet. How about I try again with the sandworm? This time, I’ll use an apprentice-level sandworm?" Dox suggested again.

The Black Earl shook his head.

Initially, the Black Earl agreed to the exploration to test the Weaving Net and the red wax.

Now that it was confirmed the Weaving Net and the red wax truly had special effects, there was no point in letting Dox continue testing.

Although it wasn’t clear whether the Weaving Net and red wax were obstacles set by the Infant Spirits or Adanis, it was certain that relying on an apprentice-level sandworm wouldn’t yield more information.

To gain more useful information, they might have to try it themselves.

And this might be the purpose of the Infant Spirits.

If the Infant Spirits really desired them to try personally, it means the Weaving Net and the red wax would definitely influence them.

This is clearly an obvious trap.

"So what should we do now?" Dox thought for a moment and understood an apprentice-level sandworm wouldn’t suffice: "Should I try myself?"

Vay: "Are you planning on offering yourself as a free gift?"

Dox: "Then how about letting it try?"

Dox pointed with his finger at the alchemy golem beside Vay...

Which was being controlled by Speedy, sent by Angel to protect Kaier and also protecting Vay.

Vay resolutely said, "No, Speedy is the adult’s elemental creature. How can it be casually used as a consumable?"

Dox mumbled, "You’re quite protective of Angel’s elemental creature... When I said I’d go, you said I’d be offering myself."

Vay snorted, turning away: "I said you were offering yourself to discourage you from going."

Dox: "I never said Speedy should go. I meant to use the alchemy golem to try."

Having said that, Dox stopped paying attention to Vay and looked at Angel: "What do you think?"

Angel shook his head. Actually, following Dox’s suggestion wasn’t impossible, and he didn’t mind sacrificing the golem, but he had other ideas.

However, before Angel could finish speaking...

Kaier shouted: "Behind you!"

Before Angel could react, he heard a couple of clanging sounds, as if something had fallen on the ground.

Turning around, he saw that somehow two block-shaped stone cells had appeared on the ground.

The magic power used to create the stone cell was familiar, definitely the work of the Black Earl. But the contents inside the cell surprised him.

Inside the two small stone cells were the very sandworms from before.

The small sandworms hadn’t changed in appearance, but from an energy perspective, it was noticeable they were covered in a crimson light.

This crimson and ominous light seemed to be eroding the two little sandworms.

Dox: "My little pests, and Baldev! What happened?!"

Black Earl: "They’ve been returned. Can you sense them now?"

Dox tried to sense the small sandworms inside the stone cell, but as soon as he used his bloodline power to feel them, a rush of negative emotions poured into his mind through the bloodline power.

Dox immediately severed the bloodline power without hesitation.

Though successful in cutting it off, he was still impacted by a wave of negative emotions, alongside the backlash from the bloodline power surging within him.

Dox spat a few mouthfuls of blood, weakened and collapsed onto the ground.

The backlash of the bloodline power wasn’t that severe, but the negative emotions were too overwhelming for the usually positive Dox to handle.

Lethargy, despair, self-pity... An aura of despondency encircled Dox.

Just as Dox felt he was plunging into an abyss of emotions, a sigh suddenly reached his ears, followed by a familiar illusionary power penetrating his brow.

Dox could resist, but he didn’t. The overwhelming emotions made him indifferent to everything.

Because Dox didn’t resist, the illusionary power smoothly entered his body.

Soon after, the little figure in the shadows of Dox’s mind felt a warm sensation on his back, and upon turning around, he saw the golden sunlight.

The warm sunshine illuminated him, dispelling all the gloom.

All the beautiful memories of the past flickered before his eyes...

Within seconds, the oppressive aura surrounding Dox vanished without a trace.

Dox stood up again, with a complex expression on his face. It took a while before he regained his composure. Then, he gently nodded to Angel: "Thank you."

He knew well that the golden sunshine and beautiful memories were brought by Angel’s illusion.

It awakened the pleasant memories in Dox’s heart and dispelled the vast shadows of his emotions.

Although Dox himself could find ways to adjust, expelling all the gloom would have taken an indefinite amount of time. Angel’s illusionary technique acted like a morale booster, swiftly pulling him out of his depressive state.

Angel: "No need to thank me, it was just a small effort."

For Angel, it may be just a small effort, but not everyone could handle such issues with a mere gesture. Even the Black Earl was no exception.

Nevertheless, no one was marveling at Angel’s powerful emotion control at the moment; they were more concerned with what Dox had gone through.

Faced with everyone’s questions, Dox remained silent for a while before speaking in a low voice:

"They... have gone mad."