Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2793: Chapter 2794: Borrowing Power

"Why use a newly made mirror?" Dox asked curiously.

"A newly made mirror won’t connect to the Mirror Domain within a short period. And as far as I know, some among you have means to enter the mirror and retrieve items from within." Erba scanned the crowd, judging through details, and finally settled his gaze on Angel: Is it still you?

Erba’s mood was slightly complex... Just as Angel initially sensed, the members of the Cyclops Family, even the composed Genggui, carry a certain sense of superiority in demeanor, as if considering themselves a cut above others.

Erba, like Genggui, seldom interacts with humans, leading to certain prejudices about them. It doesn’t harbor much hatred toward humans, but it doesn’t particularly respect them either.

However, Angel’s appearance suddenly made Erba realize that even among the younger generation of humans, there are those with the brilliance of sunlight. Erba must admit that some of Angel’s qualities and abilities reach a level difficult for it to achieve.

And he is so young.

Erba’s thoughts wandered for just a blink. Quickly, it collected itself and continued:

"In short, as long as Gray Merchant’s memory is placed in a newly made mirror, he can extract it at any time. Otherwise, leaving it outside would only let it scatter with the wind."

Simply put, a newly manufactured mirror hasn’t immediately connected to the Mirror Domain; during this period, the space within the mirror exists independently of the Mirror Domain.

It’s a relatively safe mirror space, free from intrusion by mirror creatures or the danger of rules collapsing; the only drawback is its fragility, unable to bear any physical substance.

However, Gray Merchant’s memory isn’t material, so placing it in this independent mirror space is free from danger. Angel can also retrieve it at any time, effectively giving Gray Merchant’s memory a safe "home."

And crafting a new mirror isn’t difficult; it doesn’t even require special refinement. Simply taking a reflective crystal, cutting one side, and polishing with silver powder will yield a "mirror."

Next, Genggui entered the Mirror Domain within the fragments, while Angel took out a spherical crystal, cut one side, then polished it with silver powder for a moment, thus crafting a new "mirror."

Once the mirror was made, Angel only needed to wait for Genggui to bring out Gray Merchant’s memory.

During the wait, Angel looked towards Erba in the distance.

"Don’t you really need me to help you choose a name?"

Cyclops Erba sneered coldly, "I admire you, but that doesn’t mean you have the right to interfere with my name."

Angel shrugged: He wasn’t interfering, merely giving them a way out... If asked later why they changed the name, they could conveniently blame it on him.

But, since the other did not appreciate it, so be it.

Soon, Genggui locked onto Gray Merchant’s memory, and after sending a signal, Angel extended his hand into the broken mirror piece.

Previously, Angel had reached into this fragment but felt nothing. But this time, he clearly sensed his palm holding something.

Weightless, with no tactile sensation, like air, yet Angel unmistakably confirmed its existence.

Moreover, as its presence gradually intensified, some images seemed to float before Angel’s eyes.

All the protagonists in the images were Gray Merchant: standing silently before a freshly burnt ruin; collapsing on the ground, cradle a masked female corpse; sitting under a powdery tree, drinking heavily by a tombstone...

These images flashed by, but Angel could feel Gray Merchant’s emotions shifting from fervent passion to gradual indifference with each instance of loss.

Simultaneously, although his strength showed little change, he grew increasingly close to that path of True Knowledge longed for by all wizards.

Angel now somewhat understood why Gray Merchant longed to reclaim his memory, for these memories also symbolized walking alongside True Knowledge.

However, reclaiming his memory might mean Gray Merchant would no longer seem so gentle and refined...

In just a few seconds, Angel successfully transferred Gray Merchant’s memory into the newly made mirror.

Picking up the mirror, Angel could clearly see the contours previously within the fragments had now shifted to the new mirror’s surface.

Gray Merchant’s shadow stood quietly, as helpless and sorrowful as each time he "lost".

"Other people’s memories are just their memories. Don’t try to develop any emotion toward the people within, as it will only cloud your judgment." Suddenly, Genggui’s voice came from beside his ear.

Angel looked up to find Genggui, who had already left the Mirror Domain, returned to reality, now hovering before him.

"These were the words of the Wise Sovereign. I think they might be useful for you too." Genggui commented earnestly.

Angel chuckled, "Thank you, it is indeed helpful."

Though Angel had not been influenced by Gray Merchant’s memories, Genggui’s reminder wasn’t entirely useless. Dwelling on someone else’s memories and being swayed by their emotions is the cheapest empathy. Such empathy, besides self-sentiment, serves no other purpose.

Previously, Angel pondered not because Gray Merchant’s memory was moving, but due to contemplating a question:

The path Gray Merchant walks—is it a path of emotionlessness or of loss?

It appears as if emotionless, but actually just suffering repeated losses. Which of these truly brings him closer to True Knowledge?

If it’s "loss," then reclaiming this memory—is it beneficial or detrimental to him?

Precisely because Angel finds himself at this threshold too, he fell into such contemplation over these memories.

The path to True Knowledge is akin to the Abyssal Demon’s Awakening, a form of transformation. Though in terms of power boost it’s not as terrifying as the demon’s awakening, its foundation establishes the future path. Once the wrong path is taken or found unsuitable, returning is exceedingly challenging.

"I’ll leave Gray Merchant’s memory to you, Erba and I will head off...hope you won’t break the covenant." Genggui floated beside Erba, slowly sinking underground together.

"Wait a moment," Angel stopped them.

Genggui looked at Angel with confusion.

Angel: "I have one more question. Do you know which Temporal Body your mother will send this time?"

This question is rather important; if only one Temporal Body comes, it would be easier to handle. However, if multiple come, they might need to be more cautious.

Genggui glanced at Cyclops Erba, seeing no reaction from the latter, then said: "No idea. But it likely won’t be the Childlike Heart."

In other words, it would be either the Heart of a Young Girl or the Heart of a Mother, or both together.

Angel nodded, "Understood."

Genggui didn’t respond further and sank into the ground with Erbao.

After Genggui and Erbao left, Angel began to collect the external array disks on the ground, while considering how to respond if both the girl-hearted You Nu and the mother-hearted You Nu arrived simultaneously.

About half a minute later, Angel finally finished collecting the external array disks.

Watching Angel put away the array disks one by one into space, Dox thoughtfully said: "Have you considered how to recover these array disks after dealing with You Nu later?"

Angel glanced at Dox and said casually, "Why recover them?"

Dox: "So you’re just going to leave them?"

Angel: "Do you think we have time to recover the array disks?"

The speed of setting up the array disks can be fast, but recovering them requires resetting the energy nodes of the Magical Energy Array, which is much slower. Just like this time, it took him half a minute to recover the array disks. Facing You Nu, let alone half a minute, even an extra second or two could result in casualties.

So, it’s definitely impossible for Angel to recover the array disks. This is not an extravagance; it’s a necessary expense.

Although Dox understood this reasoning, he still felt a pang of heartache when he thought about the value of these array disks.

"If you’re interested in array disks, when we get to Illusion Demon Island, I can teach you how to make them. Hmm... I happen to be looking for an assistant." Angel said, stroking his chin.

Dox’s previously pained expression vanished instantly, and he became dazed and wooden, disguising himself as a wooden man, impervious to external sounds.

Although Angel could see that Dox was still resistant to following him, it was at least much milder compared to when he initially shouted "freedom is priceless."

Angel didn’t press further into Dox’s heart but instead stood up, stretched slightly, and then tossed the stone slab back to Black Earl.

Black Earl: "You don’t need it anymore?"

Angel nodded: "The records of the earth’s veins you provided me were a great help and the main reason I could smoothly find a breakthrough point this time. However, I don’t need it for now."

"Structures like the underground aqueduct Magical Energy Array have a high degree of tightness and logic. Just like solving a problem, as long as you know the necessary conditions, deriving the rules isn’t difficult."

It can be said that the stone slab is the anchor point, and the Magical Energy Array is the changing problem. As long as the anchor point is fixed, no matter how the problem changes, rules can be found to solve it.

Of course, the "Magical Energy Array" Angel refers to here is not the entire underground aqueduct’s array but specifically the energy nodes of the array.

Because the method he used to restrain Genggui and Erbao only involved some of the energy nodes in the array.

Black Earl: "Only you would say that."

What Angel finds easy, for ninety-nine percent of wizards, is a nearly insurmountable barrier.

Just like Black Earl, even though he can draw what are considered "earth veins," he’s at a loss on how to achieve his goals through these records.

Even up to now, Black Earl doesn’t know how Angel accomplished it.

Black Earl isn’t someone who clings to pride and refrains from asking questions. Since he didn’t understand, he directly voiced his doubts.

Angel originally intended to explain the principles to prevent confusion when encountering You Nu. Now that Black Earl brought it up, he took the opportunity to explain his method.

"The Wise Sovereign previously said that You Nu’s engulfing ignores all defenses, and being within its range renders strength useless. Just now, Genggui and Erbao cooperated to simulate You Nu’s engulfing, proving this point."

When Angel mentioned this, everyone recalled the situation earlier. As long as they stood over the ground hole, they lost all strength, unable to mobilize energy, and became completely vulnerable.

Even if the ground hole was only the size of a bowl, as long as part of their body was on it, they lost control entirely. This shows how powerful this "engulfing" ability is.

So, how did Angel counter such a strong ability?

The answer is: leverage.

"Through the stone slab Black Earl lent me, I saw the energy network of the surrounding earth. I discovered that although the engulfing ability is strong, the earth’s energy network remains balanced and unaffected by it. This means that the engulfing ability cannot overpower the suppression from the entire underground aqueduct Magical Energy Array."

"Which means, this ability is unsolvable in an unprotected external environment. But here, it’s tightly suppressed by the large Magical Energy Array."

"After reaching this conclusion, the method to solve the ground hole became simple: leverage the power."

Leverage whose power? Naturally, the power of the Magical Energy Array.

Angel said it simply, but everyone knew, just like Black Earl said earlier, only Angel found it simple. They listened to the principles and feigned a sudden realization, and that was it.

To truly learn it? Impossible. They were well aware of their own limitations.

"Through observation, I confirmed one point: the ground hole created by Genggui and Erbao, although certain places passed through the energy flow pipelines of the Magical Energy Array, these pipelines would not exceed a certain number..."

Because the Magical Energy Array has backup energy pipelines, they can cut off a few without issue.

"Perhaps three, five are the limit; any more would inevitably lead to recoil, becoming pressure exerted by the entire Magical Energy Array."

"Facing the suppression of the entire Magical Energy Array, the ground hole would be affected."

"And I only need to use the external array disk to take over this area’s energy network, then I can freely adjust the location of the energy flow. Once they appear, simply move a large amount of energy flow to the position of the ground hole, and it can suppress the opening and closing of the hole."

"Previously, their ground hole was difficult to open, actually due to the suppression of the Magical Energy Array, which hindered their ability."

After Angel explained his method, everyone nodded repeatedly.

The method indeed seemed simple; Angel explained it clearly in just a few words. But to truly accomplish it, even ten or a hundred of them combined couldn’t manage.

Thus, merely listening to the principle sufficed.

After Angel’s explanation, Dox curiously asked: "According to what you said, three or five is the limit. How many energy networks did you mobilize to suppress their ground hole earlier?"

"More than twenty." Angel paused: "Actually, more than twenty is just the capacity of two external arrays. With the number of disks I placed earlier, I could mobilize over a hundred energy networks."

The only reason he didn’t mobilize all was because Angel was testing the lower limit of capacity. Having prepared more disks was a precaution.

Moreover, Genggui is Genggui, and You Nu is You Nu; their levels are inherently different, so there’s no need to go all out.