Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 3155: Chapter 3156: Shoke’s Ghost House

Luigi hesitantly began to explain.

The Ghost House, as the name suggests, is definitely a small house with ghosts. However, the ghosts here are different from the undead outside; they are a unique species living within the Demonic Ghosts within the Mirror — the Mirror Ghost.

As for why the Mirror Ghosts linger around this small house, it needs to be traced back to the origin of this very place.

Lyon’s Ghost House is not a Mysterious Object, yet it possesses some mysterious characteristics. In other words, it is a semi-mysterious object similar to the Indestructible Heart Mirror.

This kind of semi-mysterious object is referred to as a Secret Treasure within the Demonic Ghosts within the Mirror.

It was born under peculiar circumstances, stemming from a person’s thoughts moments before death.

A human named Shock accidentally fell into the Demonic Ghosts within the Mirror. Faced with the relentless pursuit by Mirror Ghosts across the landscape, he escaped to a pitch-black underground secret chamber.

This underground chamber temporarily concealed his presence, allowing him a brief respite.

However, the chamber had no other exit, and the only exit had numerous Mirror Ghosts outside, which meant he was utterly cut off from escape. Once discovered by the Mirror Ghosts, only death awaited him.

Seeing his life about to end, he took out a diary he carried with him and began to jot down the observations, thoughts, and last wishes of his final days.

Three days later, Mirror Ghosts found the chamber, and Shock met his demise. Yet, after his death, a passage filled with emotions in his diary perhaps resonated with some unspeakable law, causing changes within the chamber.

His last words were written thusly—

"Outside the chamber door, I’ve already heard the laughter of those evil ghosts, and I hear footsteps! They’ve found me, damn it, I’m still so young, I don’t want to die... Even knowing I’m doomed to die today, I still don’t want to die so soon."

"If only a minute could be stretched to a year, no, even a month, a day, or half an hour — I’d give everything for it... I want to live, even just an extra second..."

"But alas, things didn’t turn out as I hoped, they’ve arrived, farewell..."

This man, with just three sentences, gave birth to a Secret Treasure.

This Secret Treasure was ultimately obtained by Baba Ragon, who discovered Shock’s diary inside the treasure. Combining the diary’s content with the effect of this treasure, Baba Ragon named it — Shock’s Ghost House.

The effect of the Ghost House aligned with Shock’s farewell: as long as you’re inside this Ghost House, your perception of time will flow slower compared to the outside world. An hour inside the Ghost House equals roughly a day and a half outside.

However, during this period, Mirror Ghosts will consistently refresh inside the Ghost House and attack you.

Only by fending off these attacks can you continue to stay inside the chamber.

"So, you plan to use the Ghost House to practice ’Black Sheep Confession Song’, and I’m to help fend off the Mirror Ghost attacks?" Angel looked at Luigi.

Luigi obediently nodded, "Yes, but I’m not trying to exploit you. You know Illusion Techniques, right? The initial waves of Mirror Ghosts are weak and can’t see through illusions."

Luigi chose Angel precisely because Angel could not only simulate Illusionary Realms for immersive practice of the score; he could also use Illusion Techniques to entrap the Mirror Ghosts, making it a win-win situation.

With others accompanying him, their noise from killing Mirror Ghosts would disrupt his concentration during practice.

Considered in whole, even Laplace or Glaipnir couldn’t match Angel alone.

Luigi’s little plan was calculating and clever, and in his view, releasing illusions seemed effortless for Angel, so why would he refuse?

Regarding Angel, if Luigi had waited until the last minute to inform him that illusions were needed to trap the Mirror Ghosts, he would probably agree, but a bit of discomfort would linger in his heart. However, since it was pointed out by Laplace now, he felt nothing notable.

If releasing an Illusionary Realm could indeed trap them casually, helping wouldn’t be troublesome.

Yet, Luigi’s statement caught his attention.

"The initial waves of Mirror Ghosts are weak and can’t see through illusions? By that you mean, the subsequent Mirror Ghosts will grow stronger, and illusions won’t hold?" Angel inquired.

Luigi nodded, "Yes, Mirror Ghosts in the Ghost House start weak, gradually strengthening over time. Particularly, every twenty-four hours inside, a Mirror Ghost Tide is inevitable; when it appears, we can only flee."

"Yet, with my talent, staying inside for two hours should suffice to perfectly perform ’Black Sheep Confession Song’. Upon staying in the Ghost House, except for the Mirror Ghost Tide, only one Mirror Ghost wave appears daily. Two hours inside equates to three days outside, or three Mirror Ghost waves. The waves during this time are weak, certainly unable to break through your illusion blockade."

In summary, the mechanism of the Ghost House is that the longer you fend off Mirror Ghost attacks, the longer you can stay; but the longer the stay, the stronger the Mirror Ghosts. Additionally, every twenty-four hours outside means the emergence of a Mirror Ghost Tide inside.

If Luigi stays only two hours, he won’t encounter the Mirror Ghost Tide, and the initial three Mirror Ghost waves are weak, remaining manageable.

Mechanically speaking, it’s not hard to understand... At first glance, this mechanism doesn’t seem noteworthy, but with unrestricted stay and Mirror Ghost difficulty increase, its effect could have numerous applications.

For example, honing battle techniques. By continually elevating Mirror Ghost difficulty, one could exercise combat experience; if unlimited escalation were possible, even a Miracle Wizard would benefit from such honing.

Another example, prolonged cultivation. If the initial Mirror Ghost difficulties were low, one could halt progress temporarily, experiencing early Mirror Ghost difficulties. Waiting for difficulty to rise, then stepping out and re-entering to reset the Ghost House, allows the enjoyment of one-hour-for-one-day to achieve brief, enduring cultivation.

But... these remain Angel’s assumptions.

In the end, Shock’s Ghost House is merely a semi-mysterious object; can it truly achieve unrestricted usage?

Soon, Luigi provided the answer.

No.

The door to the Ghost House cannot be opened repeatedly in a short time, restricting the number of entries and exits.

Each time the Ghost House opens, it has a maximum operation limit of about a month. After this period, the Ghost House forcibly closes, ejecting anyone inside, limiting the strength of Mirror Ghosts.

Those leaving the Ghost House will be marked, unable to re-enter for at least thirty days, up to three years. This marking period is based on the time spent inside during the previous stay; the longer one stays, the lengthier the cooldown period.

Threefold limitation equates to locking the Ghost House’s upper limit.

After hearing this, Angel felt a slight disappointment, though it’s understandable... After all, this is just a semi-mysterious object, likely having usage restrictions.

Setting aside those limitations, Shock’s Ghost House is decent, capable of responding urgently when time is critical.

Angel stroked his chin and silently thought: Previously, when my brother Lyon was studying at the Golden Broom Knight Academy, he always delayed his holiday assignments until the last day. Often, he didn’t have enough time to finish them. If he had this Ghost House back then, he might have been able to complete a whole vacation’s worth of assignments on the last day.

Of course, this is just a casual thought of Angel’s. To truly use the Ghost House for rushing assignments, at least someone would be needed to guard it, to avoid disturbances from the Mirror Ghosts. And for a family capable of dealing with Mirror Ghosts, surely there would be other ways to finish assignments?

Dismissing irrelevant thoughts, Angel nodded at Luigi and said, "If you can truly perfect the ’Black Sheep Confession Song’ in two hours, then I can help you."

Luigi’s face lit up with joy: "Rest assured, two hours will be more than sufficient. I might even perfect it in half an hour."

After confirming to help, Angel immediately maneuvered the Heart Space to float up. Once he confirmed it wouldn’t be affected by the Sea of Void Mirror, he opened the door to the Heart Space.

"Luigi and I will first head to Pipi Castle, and then we’ll meet at Crystal City?" Angel looked at Laplace.

Laplace replied calmly, "Alright, if you need any assistance, have Luigi contact me."

Angel smiled and nodded.

On another note, the Rabbit Girl raised her hands high: "Since you’re all leaving, I’ll be the one to guard the Heart Space!"

This time, the Rabbit Girl followed along not for the multi-species gathering, but voluntarily offered to guard the Heart Space. Although the safety levels of the Heart Space are high, and it doesn’t necessarily need guarding, her willingness is a good thing.

...

After leaving the Heart Space, Angel entered the familiar Mirror Corridor.

He and Luigi were heading to Pipi Castle, while Laplace and Glaipnir went ahead to Crystal City.

Though their destinations differed, they could use the same Mirror Corridor.

Whether it was Pipi Castle, Pirush’s base, or Crystal City, the hub of the Crystal Eye Clan, both were located on the Immortal Mirror Sea that Angel had seen before.

The Mirror Corridor continuously stretched forward.

As Angel proceeded, he silently observed the scenery outside the corridor.

Previously, whenever he walked in the Mirror Domain, apart from certain domes or spaces within mirrors where creatures were visible, elsewhere was empty. Aside from the perpetually appearing and disappearing Mirror Light, there was only darkness in the Void.

However, this time was different. Though the surroundings were still sparse, he could see many gathered mirror-dwelling tribes, traveling in the same direction towards the Immortal Mirror Sea.

Particularly, the closer they got to the Immortal Mirror Sea, the more silhouettes of mirror-dwelling species appeared.

Many tribes had unusual shapes, some as large as mountains, others as small as mayfly swarms. Angel even saw a group of women holding red lamps, also heading to the Immortal Mirror Sea.

"Those guiding with lamps are the Mirror Ghosts from Resentful Women Town... Although they have some mental issues, they can always bring a lot of good stuff to the gatherings, so everyone actually looks forward to their arrival."

The Mirror Ghosts from Resentful Women Town, after all, came from the Demonic Ghosts within the Mirror. The items they brought were mostly from the ghostly world. What might be common there is very rare here.

"The fact that Pirush can invite the Mirror Ghosts from Resentful Women Town shows some skill... With the Mirror Ghosts coming, I suppose not many will pull out from the gathering this time."

Due to Pirush’s notorious reputation in the Daylight Mirror Domain, Pipi Castle was deemed "Rogue Castle," and their nickname was "Little Rogues" due to their many contemptible deeds. Various tribes didn’t favor interacting with Pirush.

This multi-species gathering was supported by Pirush, and even though it was hosted at Crystal City, many mirror-dwelling species explicitly stated they wouldn’t attend.

Even though most tribes remained silent, Luigi believed that at least half of the silent ones would not attend either.

However, if Pirush could invite tribes with unique materials and special products, it would be very appealing, possibly prompting those silent ones to change their minds and participate.

The Mirror Ghosts from Resentful Women Town brought highly special products and were very welcomed guests at the gathering.

"Once your Log-in Device makes a name for itself at the gathering, your presence might also become a deciding factor for other tribes whether to join future gatherings." Luigi was confident that the Crystal Origin of Dreams would bring transformative change to the mirror-dwelling tribes, and this change was for the better.

Once the tribes embraced the Crystal Origin of Dreams, Angel would surely become the most sought-after person.

"It’s not my Log-in Device, but our Log-in Device." Angel corrected.

He had no intention of standing out alone; this was not the Southern Domain, and he had no backing like the Barbarian Cave. To develop and avoid being coveted by other tribes, he needed a powerful ally.

And Laplace was that towering mountain, commanding respect from other tribes.

Thus, even though he planned to introduce some Log-in Devices at this gathering, he intended to do so under Laplace’s banner, promoting it as a "collaborative development."

This was something Angel and Laplace had previously agreed upon.

For Angel, a hollow reputation was not important; substance mattered more.

"Alright, it’s our Log-in Device." Luigi did not argue and continued: "By the way, the Mirror Ghosts from Resentful Women Town are different from the Mirror Ghosts we will encounter later in the Ghost House. You won’t meet them there."

Angel: "Why?"

Luigi: "Their tribe is known as the Red Lamp Demoness, one of the few that remain rational among Mirror Ghosts. Though not much rationality, they can communicate and are sent to gatherings, which speaks volumes."

"Whereas the Mirror Ghosts in the Ghost House have no sense... Thus, you can only fight them; trying to maneuver through conversation isn’t feasible."

The Mirror Corridor functions similarly to the Plane Corridor, much faster than traveling via flight like the Red Lamp Demoness. Before long, the Red Lamp Demoness was left behind.

By then, they were very close to their destination. In the distance, the vast sea of starry void spread out, the Immortal Mirror Sea.

Just then, Angel observed a dome shimmering with rainbow light shoot out from the Immortal Mirror Sea, flying away from their direction.

Angel watched the fleeting radiance, curiously asking, "What is that..."

"That is the Hundred-Dragon Divine Kingdom..."