Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2245: Chapter 2246: Qualification

Under the oppressive presence of Frost Iser, not only did Earl Mi emerge from the shadows, but the usually lazy Toby also let out a cry, transforming into a massive gryphon, its fiery red eyes fixated on the figure atop the throne.

Even Lobal, who had shrunk himself to less than a meter tall, now reverted to his true form, a towering ten-meter-tall tri-headed lionhound, standing protectively in front of Angel.

On one side stood the cold and captivating Snow Queen upon her icy throne; on the other, surrounded by many guardians, was Angel.

In an instant, the peaceful situation escalated into a tense confrontation.

Amidst such a fraught atmosphere, the elemental sprites hiding far away in the "Four Seasons Theater" began to tremble.

Meanwhile, Frost Iser, responsible for this scene, did not withdraw his oppressive presence. Instead, he let out a cold hum, intensifying his aura. Yet, opposite him, there was no hint of submission.

Furthermore, with a roar from Toby, a wave of scorching force descended from the sky, singlehandedly countering the pressure created by Frost Iser, even blocking out the swirling snowstorm.

It appeared entirely unburdened.

This scene alone was enough for Frost Iser to determine that Toby’s strength was formidable; even if slightly inferior, it wasn’t by much.

However, more than Toby, Frost Iser’s attention was drawn to the ghostly shadow standing guard before Angel. Though it stood silently, making no move and emitting no aura, merely locking eyes with it instilled a sense of threat within Frost Iser.

The strength of this shadow likely rivaled his own.

"Why has Your Highness, Frost, suddenly chosen to test my mettle? Or is this part of a closed loop Mr. Feng has set?"

As Frost Iser sized up Earl Mi and Toby, a soft voice shattered the tense silence.

Frost Iser slowly lifted his gaze, his pure white eyes beneath unruly silver locks fixing on Angel.

In his eyes, Angel seemed just as calm as before, even exuding a hint of leisurely indifference.

Is this nonchalant confidence because he feels secure with so many guardians around him?

As this thought arose, not having time to ponder it further, Frost Iser noticed a peculiar change in Angel’s right eye. Subtle glowing green patterns suddenly emerged...it was this undulating green light that made Frost Iser instinctively avert his gaze from Angel.

It dawned on Frost Iser then—

His subconscious was retreating from locking eyes with Angel.

This was a more visceral warning of danger than the presence of that shadow!

Realizing this, Frost Iser seemed to understand why Angel appeared so unfazed. Perhaps it wasn’t the surrounding guardians giving him confidence, but rather...he himself was the most dazzling presence!

Frost Iser looked deeply at Angel; though the green patterns on his right eye ceased their motion, the sense of threat remained.

"I..." Frost Iser’s voice unconsciously carried emotion when he began to speak. He paused, adjusted his tone, then continued: "I know why you’ve come."

Angel silently gazed at Frost Iser on the throne.

Frost Iser: "This isn’t part of Mr. Feng’s closed loop; it’s simply something I wish to do."

Thinking back to Frost Iser’s inquiry before his maneuver, Angel asked, "To verify if I’m the one he spoke of?"

Frost Iser tilted his head slightly, the floating silver strands seemed to possess a will of their own, gradually converging and pointing toward...Toby in the sky.

"When Troisa told me of its existence, I knew you were the one Mr. Feng awaited," Frost Iser noted, looking at Toby in its gryphon form, inevitably reminded of Kalomchis. He and Kalomchis had spent a delightful time together—Kalomchis was the one fire element he genuinely didn’t dislike. Despite this, Kalomchis ultimately chose to reside in the Region of Fire, which was partly why Frost Iser disliked that realm.

"Then why, Your Highness, did you question me earlier?" Angel casually asked.

Frost Iser emitted a soft snort: "I merely wanted to see if the one awaited by Mr. Feng truly had the qualifications to follow in his footsteps."

Angel: ...Oh, that damnable feeling of familiarity.

So, does every elemental creature in Malaya Ice Mountain fancy themselves as a ’judge’? Otherwise, why are both the water element’s Troisa and the ice element’s Frost Iser so keen on questioning one’s ’qualifications’?

Suppressing his urge to retort, Angel maintained his serene expression: "Then, Your Highness, do you believe I am qualified?"

Observing Angel’s calm demeanor, Frost Iser was tempted to declare "unqualified," but recalling the previously sensed threat, he ultimately couldn’t bear to violate his conscience and candidly stated: "You are qualified."

Angel merely smiled silently, yet internally remarked: That answer truly resonates with the temperament of a judge...or rather, a reviewer.

Once finished, Frost Iser gradually retracted his previously aggressive aura. As the tension diminished, the winds and snow waned, restoring tranquillity to the air.

Angel waved his hand, beckoning Toby back. The enormous flame gryphon executed a roll, returning as a seabird to perch on Angel’s shoulder, ignoring Frost Iser’s gaze to change into a small dress from the Snow Feather.

At the same time, Earl Mi retreated into the shadows once more, vanishing from sight.

This series of gestures indicated Angel choosing to cease fire and lower the flags.

Angel did not comment on the authenticity of the "qualification" Frost Iser mentioned, but he indeed did not sense significant malice within Frost Iser’s aura. Hence, Angel was willing to accept this claim.

Opting for conflict might yield answers; however, it’s only a possibility, not a certainty. Angel preferred resolving matters peacefully and rationally.

The act of summoning Toby back served as a signal for both Speedy and Lobal. They each dismissed their guarded forms—Speedy continued its concealment, while Lobal reduced its size, quietly taking its place beside Angel’s feet.

Frost Iser gave Lobal a sideways glance, then addressed Angel: "Did they choose you due to Hurricane Hubrior’s command?"

Though Frost Iser said nothing previously, seeing Lobal and Speedy poised by Angel’s side, ready to react against him, left Frost Iser quite surprised.

Given Malaya Ice Mountain and Storm Ridge’s historically amicable relationship owing to the mentor-student connection with Hurricane Hubrior, Frost Iser understood if Lobal and Speedy remained neutral; their staunch stance with Angel was unexpected. In Frost Iser’s view, such an alignment could only arise from a direct order from Hurricane Hubrior, instructing them to protect Angel at all costs.

Lobal’s tail head spoke softly: "It’s not an order from His Highness, Hurricane."

"Oh?" Frost Iser was taken aback by this reply, "Then why?"

Lobal lowered its head, not speaking, while Angel replied on its behalf: "They only pledged a small vow with me, not to betray me."

A vow? Frost Iser seemed to grasp something: "Did you take them as elemental slaves?"

The so-called elemental servants are actually a variant of elemental companions, a kind of connection between Wizards and elemental creatures, bound by an oath. This relationship is not common and has a high rate of rebellion.

Frost Isel’s question once again proved its deep understanding of the relationship between Wizards and elemental creatures.

From this, it’s clear that Frost Isel’s relationship with Feng is more harmonious compared to Gentle Wind Uranus.

This information must have come from Feng.

"Not elemental servants, have you heard of the Din Yuanmerk Oath, Your Highness?"

"I have heard." Frost Isel asked doubtfully, "They are willing to sign the Din Yuanmerk Oath?"

"For a term of twenty years."

Upon hearing the term, Frost Isel realized why. Twenty years is not long for elemental creatures... but why would they be willing to sign such an oath with Angel? Although curious, Frost Isel did not inquire further.

Since it was due to the oath, Frost Isel understood why they had firmly chosen Angel earlier.

Skipping over Lobal and Speedy, Frost Isel refocused on Angel.

"Since you have the qualifications to follow in Mr. Feng’s footsteps, I can tell you everything you want to know." Frost Isel paused, glancing at Cubic and Dangross, "But some things are only suitable for your ears. If you want to know, come with me alone."

After saying this, Frost Isel gently tapped the ice surface with the ice scepter in hand.

After a rumbling sound, a pure white door appeared on the ice wall next to the Frozen Throne.

Frost Isel glanced at Akimo, who nodded in understanding, hunching over and leaning on a whisker, shuffled to the pure white door.

Akimo extended a hand, placing it on the door. The door started to glow faintly, with strands of peculiar frost aura emanating, displaying patterns on the door.

Angel immediately recognized these patterns as Magic Patterns.

To be precise, a door-opening mechanism is hidden within these ice Magic Patterns.

The Magic Patterns themselves are not complicated, and from the immature strokes, Angel seemed to see the studio in White Cloud Village.

It’s estimated that these Magic Patterns on the door were also drawn by Feng.

Though the Magic Patterns were not hard, Akimo’s method of opening the door left Angel astounded.

Akimo directly touched the Magic Pattern, inputting a large amount of frost aura, causing the immature Magic Pattern energy to overload, finally triggering and opening the door mechanism.

The mainstream method of door opening merely requires inputting a fixed energy at the right spot to open it.

Akimo’s method... was evidently non-mainstream.

Fortunately, the ugly drawn Magic Patterns on the door did not have anti-break mechanisms, allowing Akimo to open the door with this method. Otherwise, not to mention not being able to open the door, one would also suffer backlash from the Magic Pattern.

After opening the door, Akimo assumed a profound posture, slowly returning to the side of the throne, "Your Highness, the door is open."

Frost Isel showed approval towards Akimo, "Thank you for your hard work. Each time the door is opened, the amount of Ice Power input needs recalculating, and only you can open it correctly."

Akimo shook his head, "It’s not hard, it is one of the few things I can do for Your Highness."

After listening to their conversation, Angel: "..."

No wonder Akimo assumed a profound posture after opening the door, he was putting on a show.

Although wordless, Angel was relieved that the door was opened. Moreover, by deriving such a non-mainstream method to open the door, Akimo indeed had the right to be proud.

At this moment, Frost Isel also turned to look at Angel, "Behind this door lies the place where Mr. Feng once resided. If you wish to know about Mr. Feng, come with me."

After saying this, the gigantic figure on the Frozen Throne began to blur, as gusts of wind and snow transformed into white lines, charging towards the door.

Angel: "Wait."

Frost Isel paused, revealing its form again, "What is it?"

"Learning about Mr. Feng is not urgent. Besides following Mr. Feng’s footsteps, I have something else to discuss with Your Highness." After finishing, Angel took out the Shadow Box Trilogy from his bracelet and handed it to Frost Isel.

Under Angel’s guidance, Frost Isel opened the first piece, "Humans and Civilization."

The Illusionary Realm in the theater shadow box can be viewed individually, but this time Angel set the shadow box to "public view," enveloping all creatures near the Frozen Throne in its illusion.

The reason for doing so was to allow Lobal and Speedy to see the potential future of the Tidal World, so that when the people of the Barbarian Cave enter the Tidal World later, Lobal could better carry out work.

As time passed slowly, the Shadow Box Trilogy finally reached its finale.

After watching the trilogy, aside from those who had seen the theater shadow box before, almost all other elemental creatures displayed bewildered expressions.

Among them, Akimo kept muttering to himself, repeatedly questioning, "Is this fate?"

Unexpectedly, after watching, Frost Isel showed no emotional fluctuation, as if it had long expected this outcome.

"Your Highness doesn’t seem surprised?" With doubts, Angel asked.

Frost Isel replied indifferently, "When you appeared in the Tidal World, the portal’s opening was already destined. If you hadn’t brought it up, I would have discussed it with you later. Since you mentioned it, and provided a good method, let’s proceed according to your suggestion."

Akimo suddenly turned, "Your Highness, decisions cannot be made rashly."

Frost Isel waved a hand, "This is not rash, you yourself said just now, this is fate."

Akimo: "I..." I was just saying it casually, there was no meaning behind it.

Ignoring Akimo’s thoughts, Frost Isel turned to Angel, "I agree with your proposal. I will stand by your side and will go as promised to meet The Sage Magu in the Region of Fire."