Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 3247: Chapter 3248: Granny Meat Mountain

The first thing that catches the eye is a little girl with cat ears, holding a silver spoon and a test tube emitting colorful mist, seemingly mixing some kind of liquor.

While watching a book beside her filled with tiny, dense words, she crazily stirs a transparent jar with the spoon. From time to time, she pours the mist from the test tube into the jar, releasing various red-tinted tipsy illusions.

Before Angel can clearly see what she is concocting, his perspective is pulled outside the window.

The view moves swiftly, revealing that the cat-eared girl’s home is a cat-faced wooden cabin. Near the cabin are various animal-shaped houses.

Floating starry emitters akin to luminous mushrooms hover in mid-air, colorful mist bubbles drift in the air.

Everything is so dreamy; even the street lamps resemble pea pod lamps from a whimsical fairy tale, brimming with playful fantasy and childish charm.

The view spins, then lands on a wolf-head shaped two-story house, passing through a chimney emitting light blue mist. Inside, a gray-white wolf-eared boy, approximately 1.4 meters tall, kneads dough in front of an oven, where the already-risen dough grows mountain-and-forest shapes under the pull of a long-tailed flame spirit.

The mountains and forests should be flour products, but the created landscapes are unlike ordinary ones, more like exaggerated fairy tale terrains.

In the middle of the mountains and forests, there is a strawberry-adorned cake castle, appearing to be the central piece of the creation.

However, before Angel could carefully observe the cake castle’s appearance, his view is again pulled outside the window.

Next, Angel arrives at the home of a white fox woman, witnessing a large pot boiling soup that produces mushroom-beast illusions; he then goes to the forest cabin of a brown bear wild man, where he sees dried herbal tea that blows colorful mist; he also visits Granny Spider’s house where butter creates cloud clusters...

Although Angel does not know what kind of world this is exactly, nor why there are "Demihumans" everywhere, through these various scenes, he has a rough guess.

This blessing received must be related to the Gourmet Sorcerer theme.

No wonder, earlier Piu kept apologizing. The blessing related to Gourmet Sorcerer, whatever kind, holds no value for Angel.

If Angel claims not to be disappointed, that’s surely untrue. He previously fantasized that relying on his luck... or borrowing a bit of the Child of Destiny Laplace’s fortune, perhaps this blessing could enhance his Illusion Technique or Spatial Ability.

But instead, he was given something from the Gourmet Sorcerer theme, leaving him quite helpless...

However, speaking of connections, recently, it seems he has quite a bond with the Gourmet Sorcerer theme. Not long ago, he acquired a Gourmet Sorcerer item—Granny Kekoruo’s Secret Ceremony Box. Now, the blessing received is again from the Gourmet Sorcerer theme.

Could this mean he is meant to cross-discipline into culinary abilities?

While Angel is internally criticizing, the scene finally reaches its conclusion, passing through countless animal houses, traversing unknown mountains, forests, and long rivers, eventually arriving at... the Strawberry Cake Castle.

Yes, precisely the same Strawberry Cake Castle baked in the oven earlier, though now it’s genuine, unlike the model in the oven.

Moreover, at this moment, the scene Angel saw seemed to sign time’s passage, with long lines forming around the Strawberry Cake Castle.

Every person in line is a "Demihuman"; each beams with joy, holding different gourmet creations in their hands.

Amongst them are familiar Demihumans Angel previously saw, like the cat-eared girl, the wolf-tail boy, the white fox woman... and others. They all stand within the queue.

Angel’s perspective doesn’t remain fixed, quickly skimming past the long crowd and darting into the cake castle.

Inside the castle, everywhere are gourmet delights—a pool of golden honey, a spring of pure white milk, fondant sculptures... The air carries pure white fog like bread. Though Angel cannot smell the scents, just watching the vibrant, bright colors, he can sense these foods are far from mere appearances.

After experiencing the culinary corridor, Angel finally reaches the end of the line.

A giant red velvet throne stands in the castle hall, upon which sits an affluent elderly woman clad in a blue-gray cloth dress.

Although she merely sits, her height must be beyond three or even four meters.

She, like Greya, is a mountainous Demon King, yet more aged, her face filled with sagging wrinkles.

Adorned head to toe in gemstone decorations, paired with fiery red lips and elderly skin, she resembles a fairytale’s villain.

Yet at this moment, this "villain" sits high upon the throne, smilingly receiving the gourmet offerings from the queued Demihumans.

Every Demihuman hands over their creations to her, and her abyssal mouth directly devours them.

Closing her eyes to savor the tastes for two to three seconds, she then gently speaks to the Demihumans, seemingly about the flaws in their culinary creations.

Each Demihuman receiving her advice nods eagerly, expressing gratitude, then rushes home as if eager to fire up their stoves and recreate the dishes.

Angel wishes to approach, hoping to hear what this mountain-like granny is saying.

Perhaps the scene perceived his intention, for the formerly fixed view genuinely steps forward, even crossing the drapery-secluded hall.

However, just as Angel enters the hall.

The mountain-like granny, originally speaking with a half-merman, suddenly halts, raises her eyes to gaze at him.

Those muddied eyes penetrate Angel’s mind.

Angel feels trapped in a Dark Space; surrounding him is only darkness, leaving behind the mountain-like granny’s muddied eyes. As if across countless worlds, she recognizes Angel.

Yet at that mere moment of seeing Angel, her gaze carries confusion and a hint of disdain.

Soon after, she averts her eyes, no longer sparing Angel any more attention.

During this moment, Angel returns from boundless darkness to the Light world.

He resembles someone drowning, struggling above a black river, breathing desperately.

Angel’s odd behavior renders those present puzzled... Luigi, witnessing Angel’s rapid breathing, hesitates to inquire directly and instead glances at Piu.

"What happened to him?"

Piu, as puzzled, shakes his head: "No idea."

Laplace, who stayed silent, can’t help but ask: "Had this kind of situation occurred before during blessings you granted?"

Piu thinks before responding: "No... After receiving the blessing, one should perceive the Mysterious Power surrounding them to gain information. Within that, the blessing’s effect is detailed."

Pausing, Piu glances at Angel questioningly: "Moreover, this blessing Mr. Angele received doesn’t seem strange in any way..."

He knows what blessing Angel received; from his viewpoint, the blessing offers no benefit for Angel. Furthermore, the blessing adheres to norms, showing no radical aspects.

"No, there is something strange," Luigi interjects: "Didn’t you see earlier? During the blessing, he exhibited some illusion."

Piu: "You mean the animalistic organs Mr. Angele displayed?"

Exactly, it’s animalization.

During Angel’s reception of the blessing, some illusionary animalized phenomena appeared on him—such as animal ears, tails, along with peculiar scales and fur.

However, they were just illusions. When the blessing ended, all these illusions disappeared.

Luigi didn’t know what these beast-form illusions were, so when Angel woke up earlier, the first question he asked was: "Are you okay?", rather than what blessing Angel received.

Piu: "Seeing illusions during the blessing process is quite normal. Almost everyone experiences illusions when receiving a blessing."

Laplace frowned: "There should be meaning behind the illusions during a blessing, right? They can’t appear without reason."

Piu nodded: "Indeed, there’s meaning. Generally, these illusions are closely related to the blessing received."

"For example, Pili."

The blessing Pili received was: each time she advances one percent unit of space-time distance in the void, her bloodline power gets purified, but her sense of direction would be lost.

Piu: "When Pili got this blessing, some illusions appeared on her body, and that illusion was... a maze projection."

"Pili’s illusion is a maze?" Luigi: "And the side effect of her blessing is getting lost."

"So, are these illusions actually related to the side effects?"

Piu nodded: "You could say that, but it’s not entirely correct. When I blessed my father, the illusion on him was a head full of black, long hair. For my father, this was actually a positive effect, not a side effect."

To put it simply, the generation of illusions doesn’t necessarily correspond to side effects; they might also correspond to positive effects. Which one it is depends entirely on randomness.

Luigi: "So, illusions aren’t strange... But why is Angel’s illusion beast-form? Does this mean he received effects related to beast-form? But this doesn’t make sense; he clearly chose the mysterious side; beast-form should be related to bloodline side."

"Then could it be that beast-form is actually a side effect?"

While Luigi speculated on his own, Angel gradually calmed down from his breathing.

Watching Angel’s breathing become steady, Laplace was the first to ask: "Did you encounter something just now?"

Otherwise, why such heavy breathing?

Angel rubbed his slightly swollen temples: "I don’t know what happened, but I saw an old lady..."

"Saw an old lady?" Everyone looked over in surprise, including Piu.

Piu also encountered this situation for the first time.

Perceiving a blessing, isn’t it just receiving information directly? Why does it involve an old lady?

Angel felt somewhat helpless: "I also don’t know what the situation is..."

Angel briefly described his experience, but because there were outsiders present, he didn’t go into details. He only mentioned receiving a segment of visual information, where a group of "demihumans" were cooking, and after cooking, the group offered it to an old lady for tasting.

At that time, Angel was clearly a viewer of the "scene," an outsider observing the "scene," but the old lady seemed to notice him and looked directly at him.

Then, he plunged into darkness and then returned from the darkness.

Angel spoke briefly, but everyone generally understood. The clearer they understood, the more puzzled they became.

"Visual information... this is the first time something like this has happened; it needs to be recorded." Piu scratched his chin: "But how could someone inside the scene see someone outside the scene?"

While Piu was puzzled, Laplace calmly said: "It’s not impossible. Just like the Demon Gods of the Abyss World, as long as they hear someone call their true name, they can project from beyond the myriad worlds. The same situation can apply to scenes when the old lady in the scene has power strong enough to see outside the scene. Why not?"

Piu paused: "So, the old lady is a legendary level existence?"

Laplace didn’t answer, but nearby, Pika Sage said solemnly: "The scene projection might not be of the present; it could be of the past. If the scene is of the past, and the old lady can see the present from the past, then her power might exceed legendary level."

Pika Sage’s words led everyone into silence, even the air seemed to freeze.

If it truly was being noticed by a legendary level or higher existence, whether it’s good or bad remains unknown.

This deathly stillness was finally broken by Angel: "More than being noticed, I’m more curious about the beast-form illusion you guys mentioned?"

Angel wasn’t actually worried about being noticed.

Firstly, being noticed by legendary level or higher existences wasn’t a one-time thing. The Thief of Time marked him long ago, and the Thief of Time is an existence above legendary level.

Besides, without any accidents, Lady Sha Wa and the Queen of Nightmare Realm, with her stitched face, might also be existences above legendary level. Both of them, one directly changed his bloodline, and the other left a scar on him, noticing him even earlier than the Thief of Time.

In addition to that, Augustine counts as well? Although he’s now in unknown territory, the title he bestowed Angel through projection allows Angel to roam freely in Noah’s territory.

So, being seen by legendary level or higher existences seems normal to Angel.

Secondly, Angel didn’t forget the old lady’s final gaze at him, mixed with slight disgust amidst confusion.

Angel could feel that the dislike wasn’t directed at him personally; the malice wasn’t serious.

More like... seeing a piece of decayed wood and realizing it can’t be sculpted into anything.

Though he didn’t understand why she would consider him unsculptable, from the current situation, she might not be as "focused" on him as the Thief of Time, Lady Sha Wa, and others.

It was just a casual glance.

Since that’s the case, why bother?

Compared to these, he was more concerned about the beast-form illusion Luigi mentioned during his breathlessness.

"Beast-form illusion..." Piu quickly reiterated the situation of possible illusions during blessings.

After hearing it, Angel touched his chin: "That’s not right, the blessing I received was gourmet-related, why would beast-form illusions appear? Could beast-form be a side effect of the blessing?"

"Maybe, it really is a side effect." Luigi: "But, speaking of which, when you mentioned the group of demihumans offering food earlier, I guessed it was gourmet-related blessing. What gourmet blessing did you receive?"

Luigi curiously leaned closer: "Although you received a gourmet-related blessing, and can’t exert much power, didn’t you say before that you knew some gourmet magic techniques? Plus, you have Granny Kekoruo’s Secret Ceremony Box... How about making a gourmet dish to see? I’ve never tasted it!"

Luigi’s words piqued the curiosity of Piu and Pika Sage, who both looked at Angel.

They knew about gourmet sorcerers but had never seen a gourmet sorcerer in action. Although Angel wasn’t a gourmet sorcerer, Luigi said Angel knows gourmet magic techniques, so that’s a chance to see something new.

Luigi’s excitement and Piu and Pika Sage’s curiosity put a lot of pressure on Angel.

And beside him, Laplace, who had seen Angel use the Secret Ceremony Box, remained silent.

Last time, Angel encountered an unusual situation when using the Secret Ceremony Box... But that should’ve been just an accident, right?

Maybe she could anticipate Angel’s gourmet creation again?