Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 3101: Chapter 3102: Treasure Mermaid

Anyone suddenly embraced by an unknown presence would be startled. Jeanne was no exception, especially in this dark deepwater environment, which made her feel even more uncomfortable.

She wanted to break free from the restrained posture, but the more she struggled, the tighter the person behind her held on.

As troubles often come in droves, her diving rhythm was disrupted in this difficult situation, and the breath she took on the shore dissipated from her chest, with bubbles gurgling out of her mouth.

Seeing she was about to suffocate, Jeanne had prepared herself for being forcefully disconnected, but instead of the expected darkness, a white light appeared.

Yes, beneath the dark water, she saw a flickering white light.

As she questioned if she was seeing things, the person hugging her from behind carried her into that white light...

...

The deep water suddenly changed, and the pressure eased.

However, Jeanne was still not fully recovered, gasping deeply until the tightness in her chest settled, and she noticed the strange surroundings.

Goo—goo goo—

The sound of seagulls echoed in her ears.

The scent of the sea filled her nose, along with the smell of sun-drenched sand. The golden sunlight warmed her exposed skin.

Wasn’t she underwater? Why did it feel completely dry?

Moreover, was there gentle sunlight and warmth in Rabbit Town’s underground cave?

The profound confusion made Jeanne lift her head and look around. Once she did, she was completely stunned.

The environment had completely changed; she was no longer underwater, but on a sunlit island beach.

The beach stretched towards the azure sea, where waves surged continuously as seagulls circled the vibrant seascape.

On the other side, the island’s interior was dense with forests, and in the distance, a starkly black, sharp mountain loomed.

"Have I... entered an instance?" Jeanne thought of Angel’s mention of the Wonderland instance after recovering from her surprise.

She hadn’t sunk to the seabed or floated to the surface but had arrived at an unknown island. Was this anomaly not indicative of an instance?

However, if this was an instance, then who was the person who embraced her before? An instance guide?

But she hadn’t heard of guide figures existing in instances?

Unable to comprehend, Jeanne decided to set it aside. Her priority now was to solve the instance.

Oh, she remembered Angel saying that upon entering an instance, one would perceive basic instance information and receive a rough task objective.

However, strangely, she hadn’t sensed any instance information. Was it possible she needed to close her eyes and concentrate to receive task details?

Jeanne was about to close her eyes to welcome the task information, but at that moment, a gentle female voice reached her ears.

"Are you okay, human?"

Jeanne was startled for a moment and followed the voice.

Soon, she found the source of the voice—

A golden-haired girl emerged from the sea near the coast, her appearance was breathtakingly beautiful, an ethereal beauty not found in the mortal world.

A silver gemstone marked her forehead, and her eyes were rare silver pupils.

She wore a luxurious robe woven with golden threads and sequins. Although Jeanne couldn’t see the girl’s lower half from this angle, her attire was predictably opulent.

"Who, who are you?" Jeanne instinctively asked.

Yet as soon as she spoke, Jeanne realized she might have uttered nonsense. Since the figure appeared in this "instance," she was likely a plot character, perhaps an NPC mentioned by Angel?

In any case, characters that advance the instance, whether good or bad, and possibly even an intermediate great BOSS.

The elegant girl glanced at Jeanne but didn’t immediately speak. Instead, she slowly moved from the near sea to the beach.

As the girl fully revealed her body, Jeanne gasped in shock—her preconceived notions were shattered.

Her lower body was a two-meter-long golden fish tail!

This was not a human but a mermaid!

Furthermore, she didn’t rely on her tail to ascend the beach; she was seated on a floating pure white shell, which hovered in the air, carrying the mermaid ashore.

Perhaps noticing the surprise in Jeanne’s eyes, the mermaid girl smiled gently, "As you can see, I’m not human; I am a Treasure Mermaid."

"Treasure Mermaid?" Jeanne had only heard of mermaids alluring sailors to jump into the sea and devour them; the name Treasure Mermaid was new to her.

"In my memory, Treasure Mermaid was a name humans used for us very long ago, referring both to our possession of treasures and to our rarity akin to treasures." The mermaid girl spoke softly, "I don’t know if that’s accurate, but I quite like the name Treasure Mermaid. Of course, Treasure Mermaid isn’t my real name; my true name is long and includes syllables you humans cannot perceive... However, you can call me Maggie."

Maggie, the mermaid girl, seemed unexpectedly amicable to Jeanne.

So had she encountered an NPC willing to communicate?

Jeanne promptly introduced herself, "My name is Jeanne."

After a pause, Jeanne continued, "Miss Maggie, could you tell me where we are? I recall being in a pool earlier; how did I suddenly arrive on this island?"

Jeanne decided to ask as much as she could while Maggie was still "in a good mood."

If Maggie was the great BOSS Angel mentioned and switched to second stage, third stage, she would become difficult to approach—who would Jeanne ask then?

Maggie: "This is Silver Coral Island, and I brought you here."

Silver Coral Island? Is this the name of the current instance?

Jeanne: "Miss Maggie brought me here? Was it Miss Maggie embracing me just now?"

Maggie smiled and nodded: "Yes, you seemed to be struggling to breathe. I worried you were drowning, so I brought you here."

Jeanne: "..."

I was struggling to breathe because I was startled... Being grabbed by the ankle in deep water would scare anyone into gasping!

But Jeanne naturally didn’t dare voice these thoughts, opting to continue probing Maggie’s intentions.

With further communication with Maggie, Jeanne gradually gathered a vague understanding: she had indeed entered an instance, but only halfway.

This statement stemmed from the fact that "Silver Coral Island" was conceptually an instance but only its outskirts.

The true instance was at Silver Coral Island’s center—the Little Treasure Tower.

When Jeanne surveyed the surroundings earlier, she had vaguely seen a sharply black mountain peak on the island—it was not a mountain, but a six hundred meters high tower.

According to Maggie, the tower had a total of one hundred and twenty levels, each offering treasure rewards, hence the name Little Treasure Tower.

As for how to obtain the reward from the Little Treasure Tower, naturally it requires passing through the so-called trial.

This trial is what Jeanne understood as the instance.

The more levels you pass, the more accumulated treasure rewards you receive.

Each person has three chances to challenge... but can only claim rewards once. This means, if you challenge five levels this time and fail at the sixth level, you can choose not to claim the reward, and wait until you succeed in the next challenge to claim it altogether.

Each tower level’s test is random; some are just intellectual quizzes, while others require battling until dawn; for the same tower level, your first test and second test are almost certainly not the same, so targeted training is very difficult.

However, it can be confirmed that the lower the tower’s levels, the simpler the trial.

At this point, Jeanne finally understood why she hadn’t received information about the instance, because she hadn’t really entered the true instance!

Once confirmed that the Little Treasure Tower is the instance, Jeanne felt eager to challenge it.

However, just as Jeanne was filled with expectations for the challenge from the Little Treasure Tower, a familiar voice suddenly sounded in her ears.

—Angel’s voice.

Although Jeanne was startled, she wasn’t too surprised. Angel had mentioned before that if Jeanne really entered the Immortal Realm instance, he would find a way to contact her.

"You don’t need to answer me, just listen to what I have to say." Angel first gave a big premise, as Maggie was right in front of Jeanne at the moment. If she answered, she would surely be discovered by Maggie.

Even though Maggie hasn’t shown a negative attitude, avoiding her attention is naturally the best.

Jeanne didn’t make a sound, quietly lowered her head, pretending to be deep in thought.

Maggie didn’t notice anything unusual, thinking that the information she provided was too much, leaving Jeanne in thought.

"Now speak up, ask Maggie, who can challenge the Little Treasure Tower?"

Maggie previously mentioned that each person can challenge the Little Treasure Tower three times. This implies that the Little Treasure Tower is not a single-use instance, but perhaps, like the Sunshine Circus instance, will continue to exist.

If it continues to exist, there must be a challenge mechanism.

What kind of people can challenge the Little Treasure Tower? Or rather, what kind of people can be recognized by Maggie and brought to Silver Coral Island?

Jeanne immediately asked the question according to Angel’s instructions.

Maggie: "The treasures inside the Little Treasure Tower are my collection. So to challenge the Little Treasure Tower, you need to have my approval."

"How can one be recognized by Miss Maggie then?" Without Angel’s guidance, Jeanne had already learned to quickly answer.

Maggie thought for a moment and replied: "Good-hearted people... the treasures inside the Treasure Tower are rewards I leave for the kind-hearted."

This answer not only puzzled Jeanne but also left Angel feeling baffled.

Kindness, that’s too broad.

To what degree of kindness? Does hypocrisy count? Does malicious intent leading to a kind outcome count as kindness? Does the kindness of a prodigal’s return count as kindness?

Jeanne: "How is kindness evaluated?"

Maggie: "Naturally, I will evaluate."

This answer is almost equivalent to no answer.

Angel thought about it and decided not to dwell on that question, as there would be opportunities to trial and error in the future anyway.

Then, Angel let Jeanne ask another question: "Once on Silver Coral Island, do I have to challenge the Little Treasure Tower? Can I choose not to challenge it?"

Jeanne didn’t understand why Angel asked that. Isn’t the purpose of coming here to challenge the instance? Though Jeanne was very confused inside, she still obediently repeated Angel’s words.

Maggie: "You are free, you can choose not to challenge the Little Treasure Tower. You can decide to rest on Silver Coral Island or leave this place and return outside."

Jeanne looked at Maggie in some surprise: "I, I can leave directly?"

The instance Angel mentioned before wasn’t like this.

Isn’t it supposed to be that you have to finish the instance challenge before leaving? And now, you can leave directly?

Is it because Silver Coral Island counts only as half an instance that the challenge rules don’t need to be followed?

Maggie: "Yes, you can leave anytime if you wish."

Jeanne intuitively asked: "Then after I leave, can I come back to Silver Coral Island to challenge the Little Treasure Tower?"

Maggie seemed to have not thought about this question and after pondering for a while, she said: "You can, as long as you meet me, I will bring you to Silver Coral Island."

"Miss Maggie’s meaning is that I may not necessarily encounter you?"

Maggie nodded: "I will appear in the waters near any gathering place, I won’t always stay in the same place. However, currently, it seems there is only your gathering place outside, so I should stay here for a short time."

Hearing Maggie’s words, regardless of Jeanne’s thoughts, Angel seemed to understand suddenly.

Indeed, this pool appearing in Rabbit Town wasn’t a coincidence, it was the Treasure Mermaid proactively coming over.

From her words, in the future, as long as there’s a gathering place, she will open her "dojo" nearby, anytime and anywhere, plus randomly appearing in different dojos.

Such an Immortal Realm instance triggering method is indeed... a first for me.

Even though Angel indirectly controls the Wonderland of Dreams through the Ability Tree, this is the first time he knows there’s such a mechanism.

But this can’t be blamed on Angel, there’s too much information about the Wonderland of Dreams within the Ability Tree that Angel couldn’t grasp in a short time, leaving him with a partially incomplete understanding of many mechanisms.

According to the colossal scale of information about Wonderland of Dreams, if new mechanisms arise later, he would not be surprised.

Next, Angel began to pass messages again.

However, the next question, after hearing it, Jeanne took a long time to ask.

Until Maggie noticed the look of hesitation in Jeanne’s eyes and took the initiative to inquire: "You seem to have questions still?"

Jeanne hesitated for a moment and finally nodded somewhat embarrassed and said: "It’s, it’s like this... I find Silver Coral Island very beautiful, prettier than Rabbit Town outside. I just want to know, can I stay longer in Silver Coral Island? If possible, can I bring my friends here? I am just curious, not, not greedy, please Miss Maggie do not take offense."

Jeanne blurted the words all at once.

After saying it, Jeanne’s heart was quite uneasy.

After all, Silver Coral Island belonged to Miss Maggie, yet not only did she want to go up the island for rewards herself, but she also wanted to bring others to intrude, this inquiry seemed quite presumptuous to her.

Maggie was not angry; instead, she carefully thought for a moment and replied: "If the rules don’t forbid it, then it is possible. However, whether your friends can come to Silver Coral Island still requires my judgment."

As for how to determine, naturally it follows the "kind-hearted priority" principle.

If Maggie deems the islanders not kind-hearted, they will be turned away.

Of course, this does not include Jeanne; Jeanne has already obtained the "pass" from Maggie, meaning that as long as Jeanne wishes, she can even live on Silver Coral Island in the future.