Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2498: Chapter 2499: Intelligence and Token

When Angel arrived at the Eighth Alley, looking at the bustling wide road and long street, it was truly hard to imagine this was the so-called "alley."

Isn’t an alley supposed to be a deep, narrow path? Or perhaps, the people of the Sandworm Market have misunderstood the concept of "alley."

With continuous complaints in his heart, Angel walked into this broad and lively Eighth Alley.

Although the alley was different from what Angel had imagined, the bustling atmosphere and distinct shops made it easier for Angel to search for the house number.

Number 816 was a place selling live sandworms.

Number 817, the exterior didn’t show what it sold, and there weren’t many people at the entrance.

Number 819 was... the Elysium Pavilion. Although Angel knew the Elysium Pavilion had locations everywhere, the exterior here was intertwined with various sandworms, giving a subtle feeling. Is it meant for human entertainment, or sandworm entertainment?

Angel shook his head and continued forward, Number 820 was a small shop selling sandworm hides.

As he walked, Angel suddenly paused, looked further ahead, 821, 822... every number in sequence was very clear. However, Angel did not see Number 818!

Angel turned back between Number 817 and 819, hesitated for a moment between the two shops, and finally entered Number 817.

From the outside, this shop didn’t reveal what it sold, but upon entering, he saw that the shelves inside were filled with various bottles and jars. However, these bottles and jars did not contain magic potions, but sandworm powder and some sandworm corpses preserved with preservatives.

"Is there anything you need, sir?" The speaker was a middle-aged man with a mustache behind the counter, dressed not like an attendant, but more like an elegant old nobleman.

The middle-aged man with a mustache was merely asking out of courtesy, but when he saw Dangross obediently lying on Angel’s shoulder and couldn’t sense Angel’s aura, his eyes immediately lit up.

He was always good at judging people; anyone who could make an elemental creature submit and still conceal their own aura was more than 80% likely to be an Official Wizard.

For this shop to catch the eye of an Official Wizard, the items were valuable, meaning this was a big catch!

Thinking of this, the middle-aged man with a mustache immediately stood up, approached with a smiling face, saying, "We have Thornscaled Sandworm Powder specially processed by an Alchemist; it’s an excellent casting material for earth element spell tricks. And the Thornscaled Sandworm is just a medium-grade material here. We also have higher-grade casting materials, enough to release spell techniques if you have the strength."

After a pause, the middle-aged man with a mustache leaned into Angel’s ear and whispered, "Moreover, we have a treasure here, enough to appear on the Mesomyia Auction House."

The middle-aged man’s flowery speech was met with hopeful eyes towards Angel. If he bit the hook because of the treasure, this would be a huge profit. Even if he didn’t buy the treasure, buying other casting materials at the spell technique level would still turn a profit.

However, after waiting for a long time, the middle-aged man with a mustache heard Angel ask a question entirely unrelated to the items he introduced.

"I’m not here to buy anything; I just wanted to ask if you know where Number 818 is?"

The middle-aged man with a mustache instantly rolled his eyes in his mind... So, he was just asking for directions! What a waste of enthusiasm.

The middle-aged man with a mustache returned to his seat indignantly, lazily pointing to the side: "I’m Number 817, Number 818 is beside me."

Angel: "But beside you is Number 819."

The middle-aged man with a mustache yawned: "Then that means he’s temporarily gone; his shop is a Mana Hut, it comes and goes."

"Do you know where he went?"

"Who knows, I’m not familiar with him. That kid never likes to interact with outsiders. When he opened his shop, I went over with a bottle of sandworm juice to try and foster a connection. Instead, he spat it out, which infuriated me." The more the middle-aged man with a mustache spoke, the more agitated he became, his brows furrowed into an inverted ’八’.

In Angel’s mind, he silently pondered what a dark culinary creation sandworm juice must be.

"If you’re not here to buy anything, then leave quickly and stop asking about that brat, it’s getting on my nerves."

Angel was unfazed by the other’s attitude and simply said, "Sorry for the disturbance."

He then walked out of the store.

After Angel left, the middle-aged man with a mustache lightly tapped his fingers on the table, muttering softly, "His presence doesn’t feel like the Wizards I know... Plus, he’s looking for Esos’ disciple, perhaps he has some connection to Esos, who could he be?"

Angel was unaware that the store owner had been speculating about his identity. By now, he’d already reached the entrance of Number 819.

Even just standing at the entrance of the Elysium Pavilion, he could smell a strong perfume scent.

Unlike the empty doorway of Number 817, the entrance of Number 819 was a sea of people. Those entering were filled with desire; those coming out looked satisfied.

Angel did not step through the door of Number 819 but approached a server at the entrance to inquire about Number 818.

At first, the server was indifferent, but after Angel casually tossed him half a Magic Crystal, his attitude immediately became attentive.

"Number 818, huh, his shop doesn’t open for more than a few days a month... When he’s not open, no one knows where he goes..."

After receiving the money, the server spoke in detail, but still provided limited information.

A shop that’s only open a few days a month, no way he could just wait here for it to open? What if it stayed closed for a whole month, wouldn’t that be a waste of time?

"Do you know any other details, anything at all," Angel persisted, hopeful for more information.

"Most of what I know I told you, there’s basically nothing else..." The server paused suddenly while speaking.

Angel quickly asked, "Did you just remember something?"

The server was candid: "I did recall something, but it’s just some everyday matters."

"That’s okay, go ahead and tell me."

Server: "I’ve been working here at the entrance for a while, so I’m able to regularly observe the situation around Number 818..."

What the server described was indeed everyday occurrences, things he’d witnessed himself. He didn’t consider it valuable information because every shop here was bustling with people, and he had never been inside Number 818, so he thought there was nothing special about it.

However, while the server may have overlooked it, Angel picked up on a key piece of information from his words.

—Wandering Wizards frequently visited Number 818!

Esos is a Wandering Wizard, and Esos’ disciple would naturally be a Wandering Wizard as well.

Wandering Wizards are also known as Wild Wizards or Lone Wizards. The name might not sound flattering, but it just means they belong to no Witcher Organization; most have no hierarchical inheritance, yet they enjoy more freedom compared to wizards within organizations.

The number of Wandering Wizards is quite large. Many wizards, when traveling outside, often disguise themselves as Wandering Wizards, resulting in a period when Wandering Wizards were very common.

But Wandering Wizards aren’t entirely unorganized. As Angel knew, they do tend to huddle together for warmth. For instance, the Rat Ant Underground Association, which dared not confront Sanders but targeted Angel, is composed of Wandering Wizards.

These kinds of group organizations are quite loose, without much restraint, and they don’t restrict freedom, which is why many wandering wizards are willing to join.

The largest of these group organizations is called "Cross."

Angel doesn’t know if "Cross" is the actual name, and even some wandering wizards who have joined don’t know. The reason it’s called Cross is because their robes all have a black cross symbol.

Previously, when Angel saw Esos at the Star Pond Ruins, he had the cross symbol on him.

Since Esos is part of "Cross," his disciple should also have ties to Cross.

Cross should have similar stations or gathering places at the Wizard Market. Maybe once the Cross base is found, Esos’s disciple’s whereabouts can be discovered.

The base of wandering wizards is usually well-hidden. The service staff at the Elysium Pavillion likely don’t know, but the people inside the Elysium Pavillion might.

With this thought, Angel nodded to the service staff and strode into the Elysium Pavillion.

...

Without trying any of the activities inside, Angel went straight to the point.

Though Elysium Pavillion is mainly for entertainment, entertainment venues are often where information flows most freely. Hence, there’s dedicated personnel responsible for trading intelligence.

After a few minutes, Angel arrived in a luxuriously decorated room.

A woman with a charming posture walked in gracefully. She wore transparent thin gauze, slightly revealing her well-proportioned figure, adorned with numerous accessories over her corset and short skirt.

Angel took one glance and knew this was a third-level apprentice, who must have injected some kind of sea demon bloodline, as there was a faintly visible aura of moisture and some substandard spiritual charm.

The reason it’s considered substandard is because Angel once experienced the charm of the Pannas Charm Demon in the Abyss. That kind of charm is truly top-tier. Compared to the Pannas Charm Demon, this female apprentice’s charm is like comparing a firefly to the sun.

"Save your tricks; I’m here just for trading information," Angel said in a deep voice.

The female apprentice, who was about to sit beside Angel, paused, then slowly walked over to the opposite side of the table and sat down.

This time, after sitting down, she didn’t release any charm. Without the charm, she instead gave off a contrast of a more sacred vibe.

"Mysterious strong one, may I ask what you need?" a gentle voice wafted from her mouth.

A single sentence revealed that she recognized Angel as an official Wizard. However, Angel didn’t mind, as he hadn’t planned on concealing his strength. The reason for his collected aura was simply to avoid troubling ordinary people or other apprentices.

"I want to know about No. 818 and where the shopkeeper is at this moment."

"10 Magic Crystals, but I can only answer the former question. We don’t know the answer to the latter."

The price was fair, not cheap, but not too expensive either. It implies that there wasn’t much worth noting about No. 818, and Esos’s disciple probably isn’t one to make trouble easily.

Angel took out 10 Magic Crystals, placed them in front of the apprentice using Hand of Magic.

After collecting the Magic Crystals, she began to recount the circumstances surrounding No. 818. The information wasn’t vastly different from what the service staff had said, just included more details and explained some functions of No. 818.

Previously, Angel wasn’t sure what Esos’s disciple sold in his shop, but now he knew it specialized in selling one-time Spatial Capsule and Spatial Extension Package. Neither item is particularly rare; Spatial Capsule is disposable, and the Spatial Extension Package merely adds some space tricks, allowing it to store more internally, but the weight remains. Thus, its effectiveness is relatively ordinary compared to true spatial artifacts.

But this is more than sufficient for ordinary apprentices.

Most of the information provided by the female apprentice was rather trivial, just allowing Angel to learn a bit more about Esos’s disciple. Beyond that, there wasn’t much else.

Nevertheless, Esos’s disciple is indeed quite a regular and non-troublesome wizard, making Angel breathe a sigh of relief. He would prefer not to deal with a troublemaker.

After the inquiry about the first question, Angel proceeded to ask the second.

"In the Sandworm Market, where is the Cross... or rather, the wandering wizard’s station?"

The female apprentice glanced lightly at Angel: "I intended to remind the guest of this, but unexpectedly, the guest thought of it first."

"So, where is their station?"

"50 Magic Crystals."

Angel frowned at this as the price seemed rather steep.

Seeing Angel’s displeasure, the female apprentice explained, "There are incessant disputes among wandering wizards, and they tend to disregard rules. If they know the information leaked from us, the Elysium Pavillion would also bear the risk."

Her assertive explanation seems logical, but in reality, everyone in the Wizards’ Realm knows that besides the strong one who returned after a thousand years as prophesied, no one dares assault the Elysium Pavillion.

No large wizard organization would dare strike the Elysium Pavillion, so what can loose wandering wizards do?

However, Angel was too lazy to argue, as the opponent provided what seemed like a respectable reason.

Throwing out 50 Magic Crystals, the female apprentice’s smile widened.

"In the Sandworm Market, wandering wizards have two stations, one above and one on Sandworm Long Street. Their stations are Mana Huts, capable of moving anytime, without a fixed location. However, finding them isn’t difficult."

"Simply possess a token and use the most basic prophecy system trick - the Guidance Spell, to locate them."

Angel knit his brows: "Token? Guidance Spell?"

"Rest assured, we have the token here." Using Spell of Whispering, the female apprentice said something implicitly. Half a minute later, a man clad in a black robe walked in, placed two items on the table, and silently left.

The female apprentice pointed at the table: "Here it is. One is the token, and the other is a small device with the Guidance Spell attached."

Looking at the table, Angel realized the so-called token is actually a stone slab, merely carved with the wandering wizard’s cross symbol.

The so-called device with the Guidance Spell attached was a blackwood wand, simply imbued by a prophecy apprentice using some method, with limited usages available. To Angel, it’s just a toy, hardly touching the threshold of alchemy.

"The token is 50 Magic Crystals. As for this wand, if you know the Guidance Spell, there’s no need to purchase. But if you don’t and require it, I’ll give it to you for 30 Magic Crystals," the female apprentice smiled sweetly.

Angel: "..." This method of earning Magic Crystals is remarkable, and she keeps tossing one deal after another without giving a breathing space. You want to refute, but find no ground, even thinking their service is quite considerate, covering all aspects for clients.

No wonder they’ve managed to expand the Elysium Pavillion across the entire Flourish Continent.

Angel hasn’t delved deeply into divination systems and only learned "Lucky Choice," commonly known as "Lucky Pick-One," from Popota previously... but hasn’t mastered it yet.

Looking at the female apprentice opposite with a smile like crescent moons, Angel knew that this time, there was no escaping the cost.