Warlock Apprentice

The “fertilizer” revealed an embarrassed smile and bowed to Dumartin. “Mister Dumartin, my name is An—”

Dumartin lifted a hand and interrupted Angor, “I’m not interested in your name, and I don’t remember allowing you to speak.”

A sharp blade suddenly materialized in the air and aimed at Angor’s neck, which caused his body to go stiff from fear.

Dumartin did not order the blade to attack Angor yet. The tension lasted for two minutes until Angor felt his calves going numb, and his composure was breaking down really fast.

Iron Granny frowned. When she put a hand on Angor’s arm, Angor felt a stream of gentle energy chasing his fear away.

He lost his balance when the pressure was suddenly lifted. Since he leaned on the cultivation chamber behind him in time, he did not fall on the floor.

“Satisfied, Dumartin?” Iron Granny said casually. “He suffered enough.”

“Please don’t take this the wrong way, Granny. Of course I’m glad to see you here. I was simply giving this ill-mannered apprentice a small punishment.” Dumartin waved a hand and dispelled the floating knife.

Angor breathed heavily when he heard a voice transmission from Iron Granny.

“He’s frustrated that we interrupted his work. And he cannot vent out that frustration on me, so you’re his only target. Don’t worry, he won’t harm you. And we must admit that we came at a bad time.”

Angor slowly nodded.

Dumartin had no problem “listening” to their low-level communication cantrip, but the man didn’t say anything about it.

Dumartin waited for Iron Granny to finish her message before he said, “So, what brings you to my humble place, Granny?”

“It’s not me. HE has something to tell you.”

Iron Granny pointed to Angor. She then sat down on a stool away from them while pretending that she was only here to watch.

In Dumartin’s view, it was obvious that Iron Granny escorted the apprentice here to support him. Dumartin meant to completely destroy Angor’s confidence by that display of might, but Iron Granny stopped him, which meant she wasn’t here to “watch only”.

And that got Dumartin really curious. Iron Granny was a very special presence in the organization. She usually remained neutral no matter what happened among other wizards. Why would she suddenly decide to assist an apprentice?

He remained silent and waited for Angor to calm his nerves.

Angor took a brief moment to calm his breath before he said, “Mister Dumartin, I came to retrieve Balba at Miss Flora’s request.”

“Flora?” Dumartin frowned as he thought about that name. “I see, you are that new student she found?”

“I’m Angor Padt, Mister Dumartin. I’m a student of Phantom Master.”

Angor was complaining in his mind at the same time. Weren’t you uninterested in who I am just a second ago?

“Ho… so you’re Angor.”

Dumartin spent most of his time inside his lab, but he wasn’t completely “shut-off” from the outside world. Occasionally, there were apprentices who would deliver test subjects and resources to him, as well as information. Of course he knew the rumors traveling around Brute Cavern recently.

Similar to others, even though Angor was still a weak apprentice, Dumartin didn’t want to get on the bad side of a “possible” master alchemist. A researcher like him was very likely to come across situations when he would need an alchemist’s help.

Dumartin felt a bit regretful. He shouldn’t have treated the boy so aggressively back there.

“Mister Dumartin? May I take Balba away?” Angor asked again.

Dumartin wondered why Angor asked so. In a few days, he would brainwash Balba and deliver him to Flora as a cultivated puppet. But it was not the right time now.

He considered and decided not to ask. Balba was just another worthless puppet—Flora wouldn’t care about the outcome.

“Sure.” Dumartin remotely opened the lid of the cultivation chamber behind Angor.

Balba opened his eyes.

“Get out. Someone’s here to collect you.”

Balba still looked dazed. Out of instinct, he slowly climbed out of the yellow liquid and stood on the floor while drops of glowing liquid fell from his body.

“Angor…?” Balba then slowly looked at Angor with unfocused eyes.

Angor quickly took out a random robe from his bracelet and covered Balba up.

“We’ll talk later,” he whispered.

Next, Angor walked to Dumartin and bowed politely.

“Just so you know, one out of two criminals sent here will die during the bloodline injection,” Dumartin said. “I don’t know what you want with him but… whatever.”

Dumartin then took out a transmitter and handed it to Angor. “Use this if you want to find me again. You don’t have to bother Iron Granny. Now, I have an experiment to do, so I’m afraid you have to leave on your own.”

Dumartin’s hurried steps suggested that it wasn’t an excuse.

Angor and Iron Granny were walking away from the fog-infested mountains when Iron Granny suddenly chuckled. “That Dumartin boy… He was trying to do you a favor, but he did a poor job at it.”

“He… did?”

“Remember what he said in the end? If this Balba man you seek died for some reason, then it can be explained because it’s common for puppet production to fail. Dumartin is a smart man. He knew something was not right when you asked to take Balba away ahead of schedule.”

Angor still didn’t understand why Dumartin would help him. Was it because of Sunders?

“No, Dumartin is not interested in Sunders. It was because of you,” Iron Granny continued. “Wizards are all wise enough to realize what it means to befriend an alchemist. Well, maybe except for some really strange individuals. People might not like Dumartin’s character, but he’s clever enough to see your value.”

Within several minutes, the Iron Fortress took them to the entrance of The Tributary.

“What will you do next?” Iron Granny asked before sending Angor to the portal. “You’re free to follow up on Dumartin’s intention, which will save you some trouble.”

She meant to say that Angor could simply help Balba escape from Brute Cavern and tell others that Balba died at Dumartin’s lab, in which case he did not need to compensate Flora at all.

But Angor didn’t wish to do so. It was so obvious that owing Dumartin was a bigger problem.

“Thank you for all the wise advice, Granny. I’m going to be frank with Miss Flora and my professor about this matter. As for the rest, I’ll let Balba decide for himself.”

…

While walking away from The Tributary, Angor glanced at Balba, who had been awfully quiet till now.

“Do you know what’s going on?”

Balba’s eyes had regained their clarity, but he looked extremely sad, which didn’t sit well on his wild look.

“Thanks for getting me out…” he said as he lowered his head. “You know, not long after I came to Brute Cavern, I saw a book in the Cloud Library. I read about the creed of the Supreme Cult. By that time, I already knew what would happen to me in the future. I’ve been working very hard to change my fate. But… it turns out that I can do nothing. I am nothing.”

“What are you going to do from now on?”

“You went through a lot of trouble until this point, am I right? Just… take me to Miss Flora. I don’t want to bother you any more than what has already happened.”

“There was no trouble in helping you. You saved my life before, remember?”

One’s available choices highly depended on their strength and perception. Angor would not risk himself just to assist Balba if he were still the helpless apprentice from several years ago. But right now, he was capable of providing help while avoiding danger, and he was determined to aid Balba as long as it was within his power.

“I know it was you who gave me that channeling method book. We are already even on that one,” Balba said as he looked up at Flora’s floating island—the Rockwell Venue. “I owe you too much… Take me to Miss Flora, please. Let’s end this here.”

“At times, we just don’t have many choices. But no matter what is going on, do not give up your life so easily. If you lose all hope, then fate will push you to your doom.” Angor tried to persuade Balba. “You still have a chance to live on. Do you really wish to abandon it?”

Balba’s body twitched.

“I… want to live. More than everyone!”

“Follow me then. Grasp your own fate so that I can still get some payment off you later.” Angor took out his Gondola and asked Balba to get on.

Grasp my fate… Is that even possible for me? Balba clenched his fists. After giving Flora’s island a final, determined look, he jumped onto Angor’s boat.