Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 1329: Section 1330: Magazine Follow-up

The Sky Mechanical City was bustling as ever.

In the busiest commercial district, at the center of the crowd, a melodious tune suddenly began to play. The melody was soothing and elegant, causing passersby to slow their pace and listen intently.

The noisy street turned somewhat serene because of this single piece of music.

Unable to resist, the crowd started searching for the source of the enchanting sound.

In the heart of the surging sea of people, beside a three-tiered Elegance Fountain, stood a young man with slightly long and curly hair, his eyes closed. He held a saxophone in his hands and played with undivided attention.

The young man appeared disheveled, dashing, and unfettered.

Combined with his elegant music, one couldn’t help but be curious about the untamed youth’s backstory.

After the song ended, the crowd hadn’t had enough and many wished for the young man to play another. However, what the young man did next caught everyone off guard.

He lazily took a basin from his pack and, with a smile, placed it in front of someone nearby, his intentions couldn’t be clearer.

—He was asking for money.

The person solicited for money twitched their mouth corners in annoyance and mumbled under their breath. Feeling the eyes of the surrounding crowd on him, and too embarrassed to give nothing, he reluctantly gave up a small, cut magic crystal and tossed it to the carefree youth.

Yet the begging young man wasn’t satisfied, holding the basin he went around the crowd asking for money.

This triggered glares from many, but with his thick skin, he continued with a smile, “I have to take part in the New Star Competition and have no spare change on me, so I must seek help from everyone.”

Hearing that the young man was participating in the New Star Competition, people’s expressions softened a bit, as generally, those dare to participate weren’t weak.

Making a connection with a competitor in the New Star Competition might be beneficial.

With that in mind, the passersby, faced with the youth’s solicitation, all gave a bit of money. It didn’t look like much from each person, but when totaled, the amount was quite substantial.

At that moment, high above in the drifting clouds, two individuals clad in the Enforcement Squad’s uniforms watched the scene in silence.

One of them, an apprentice with weaker abilities, frowned and said with a tone of either outrage or jealousy, “Captain, should we stop him? It’s infuriating, he’s making money for nothing, and so many people are giving it to him!”

The captain in charge of the commercial district, usually an Official Wizard, looked at his aggrieved teammate and said, “It’s fine, he knows his limits.”

“Limits? What do you mean?” the Enforcement Officer asked with confusion.

“This guy only comes every three days, plays just one song, and then leaves. He doesn’t cause any significant disturbances or traffic jams, so we don’t have a reason to stop him,” the captain explained.

After hearing the explanation, the Enforcement Officer felt even more dissatisfied. From the captain’s tone, it was clear that the youth had been doing this for a long time. If he earned so much magic crystal every time, it was simply irksome to watch! But since the captain was letting him off, as a regular officer, he had no choice but to endure it.

“To have to make a living from street performance, I guess he won’t rank well in the New Star Competition,” the Enforcement Officer couldn’t help but grumble.

The captain chuckled at the remark, “You believed him when he said he was competing?”

“Huh?”

The captain shook his head, “This guy is no ordinary person. He’s a Spirit. The real competitor is the person behind him.”

As the Enforcement Squad discussed, the unrestrained youth, true to their words, vanished into the crowd with his luxurious saxophone in hand after performing one song and gathering his earnings.

Taking two strides at a time, the young man quickly reached the entrance of a narrow alley in the commercial district.

Although situated in a busting area, the alley’s entrance was piled with unidentifiable experimental waste, emitting billowing stench and thus drove people away.

The young man didn’t mind the foul smell at all and stepped directly into the alley. In no time, he saw a boyish-looking person leaning against the spotty wall, reading a book in the dim light of a gas lamp hung on the wall, utterly engrossed.

“My dear master, have you fallen out of love with Black Classic?” the young man put on a look of feigned hurt.

The boy reading the book finally slowly lifted his head, looking dazed.

“Your once-favorite Black Classic has been back for two minutes and you haven’t given me a glance, but instead, you’re fixated on that tattered book.” The young man picked up his saxophone and pointed at the book in the boy’s hands. “So, have you stopped liking Black Classic?”

After finishing his spiel, the young man calling himself “Black Classic” suddenly changed shape, turning into a voluptuous and alluring woman, a smoking pipe in hand, “Or is it that the master prefers this form?”

The boy replied irritably, “Stop messing around, Black Classic, change back!”

Though Black Classic wanted to tease his young master a bit more, he knew where to draw the line—anything further might lead to his young master turning red in embarrassment.

Black Classic transformed in a flash, becoming an elegant middle-aged man wearing a black frock coat embroidered with golden patterns.

“Master, this is what I collected today. Although they are cut Magic Crystals, the total should exceed 10 complete Magic Crystals,” Black Classic said, taking out a bag of Magic Crystals from the pocket of his coat.

A gleam of surprise flashed through the young man’s eyes, “Indeed, the people of Sky Mechanical City are all so wealthy; to think I could beg for 10 Magic Crystals! This is more than I used to earn in a month of work!”

After taking the Magic Crystals, the teenager picked three of them and handed them back to Black Classic, “Take these and buy me another copy of ‘Glowing City Night Talk’. You can use the rest of the money for yourself.”

Black Classic looked at the magazine the young man was holding, puzzled, “Didn’t you already buy one this morning? Why do you want to buy another one?”

The teenager spread open the cover of the magazine, pointing to the person that had been embellished by the artist with a brush, “See? This is Angel, my best friend! It’s his first time as the cover figure for ‘Glowing City Night Talk’, so of course I want to buy another copy to keep as a memento.”

Black Classic knew Angel as well. Before becoming a Spirit, he had also met Angel. It could be said that Angel and Nausicaa held equally important places in their master’s heart.

Looking at the character on the magazine’s cover, this was the first time Black Classic had seen Angel’s likeness since becoming a Spirit.

Handsome, young, and filled with the fierce ambition of youth.

“Why did Angel make it onto the cover of ‘Glowing City Night Talk’?” Black Classic asked, curious.

“Because he has done something big,” the young man said with some pride, as if speaking of himself, “I never thought Angel would have such a rough and bizarre experience. I’m really eager to see him and ask about the situation. What was the Lord of the Ice Valley like? Where did the Primeval Flame go? And…”

Once he started, he just went on and on.

“I wonder if he will come to the New Star Serum? He probably won’t, considering his current strength isn’t likely to be competing in the New Star Serum… Ah, it seems that we’ll only get to meet again in the Barbarian Cave after the competition,” he muttered.

After he finished speaking, he suddenly remembered the main topic, “Right, hurry up and buy me a copy of ‘Glowing City Night Talk’. If we wait any longer and they sell out, that’d be terrible.”

Black Classic shook his head helplessly and walked out of the alley.

By the light of the alley, all the joy in the young man’s eyes reflected out. In the shifting play of light and shadow, one could see that he was Serum, the participant in the Sky Mechanical City’s New Star competition.

…

On the edge near the North Sea of Yirong Country, there lies a city named Paradow City.

This city is divided into New City and Wasteland City. The buildings in New City follow the same style as the rest of Yirong Country, with omnipresent steel and concrete, steam-powered machinery. The sky is always a dull grey, filled with industrial smog.

Wasteland City, in fact, is the abandoned district, separated from New City by a river.

The architectural style of Wasteland City reflects the past style of Yirong Country, filled with the religious air of Byzantine architecture. Although similar buildings can now be found in New City, they are surrounded by various steam machinery, looking quite different without the religious flavor.

Wasteland City has mostly been abandoned, inhabited only by a few wanderers and some poor people who still live out their days there.

The large domed buildings are unmaintained, covered in debris everywhere, conveying a sense of an apocalyptic ruin of a once-holy city.

At this moment, the sun had just set, and the moon and stars were awakening. The thin veil of night began to gradually chase away the afterglow of the sunset, encroaching upon the land.

Inside Wasteland City, atop a domed building that used to be a church for religious worship, a young Wizard Apprentice sat cross-legged.

This was a female witch dressed in an old-fashioned blue and black wizard’s robe. The only two striking features about her were her bright red dancing shoes and a vibrant red bow.

A broom floated around her, its design was interesting with a curved handle which hung a black-framed, transparent glass lantern.

The light from the lantern allowed the witch to comfortably read the letter that had arrived.

The letter was from her mentor; the opening line was an embarrassingly sweet “Dear Qi Li,” which made her shiver.

After quickly reading through the letter, 99% of the content consisted of expressions of longing. The remaining 1% wasn’t focused on anything in particular, just one line: “Along with the letter, there should be a magazine. You should take a look; it will definitely surprise you.”

Qi Li cursed Kanter under her breath for not being serious, but she carefully folded the letter and solemnly tucked it into the pouch at her waist.

After completing this task, Qi Li softly called out, “Luna, was there a magazine that came with the letter?”

Following a soft “meow,” a small black cat darted out from the darkness of Wasteland City. Despite its small size, its movements were agile. Using various points of leap, it quickly hopped beside Qi Li.

After landing, the little black cat rubbed against Qi Li’s feet for a moment before pulling out from its collar bell a magazine twice the size of its face.

“‘Glowing City Night Talk’? Why would my mentor want me to read such a gossip-filled magaz… Eh? Isn’t that him?” Qi Li’s eyes held a hint of skepticism as she looked at the cover of the magazine.

The person on the cover looked more and more like Angel the longer she looked.

Initially, Qi Li had no interest in reading ‘Glowing City Night Talk’, a magazine she considered to be full of gossip. But now she flipped through its pages with curiosity.