The next morning, Angor departed toward the Phantom Island.
When he was on a sky bus, the sky abruptly turned dark. Soon, it began to drizzle.
“So the mirror world has rainy weathers too?” Through the tiny space between the giant leaves, Angor could see dark clouds gathering in the sky. Judging from their thickness, this would be a long rain.
Ever since he came to Brute Cavern, Angor would often wonder what kind of world this was. Previously, he believed this was a giant cave of some sort, the kind that you could find in novels. But looking at those naturally-occurred rain clouds, Angor denied this idea.
Morning breeze brought raindrops into the bus. The cold water splashed on Angor’s face, preventing his further train of thought. He took out his handkerchief to wipe himself.
Angor was worried that he had to go to Phantom Island under the rain. But it was not the case.
The rain didn’t stop. Rather, the bus took him above the rain clouds. Last time when he looked down from the Falling Cloud Stop, he would see green fields, tiny buildings and even tinier people walking among them. But now, there was only endless, dark clouds, and the booming sound of rainwater.
The rain sounded really loud because his position was very close to the rain clouds.
Some other apprentices were also observing the clouds underneath just like him. While Angor was only satisfying his curiosity, the others were taking down notes. Some of them even cast water spells to prove their theories.
Also, Angor noticed several figures floating just above the clouds. They were also observing the rain. They worked together and picked out a small part of a rain cloud as they seemingly tried to recreate the process in which how the cloud gave birth to rain.
Nature hid all kinds of truths… People could find new knowledge from anything, be it cloud, rain or thunder.
Looking at how those apprentices sought knowledge from details which ordinary people would never care about, Angor realized how wise people cultivated their minds.
Back at the Cloud Library, the countless books only made him exclaim in wonder. But here, the apprentices who diligently tried to study the rain clouds appeared closer to the path of truth. Books had no ends, but your own eyes, your mind, and your feet could take you anywhere you aimed for.
With his newly gained realization, Angor reached the Phantom Island.
The island was sunny as ever. Angor did not find Sunders in his study. Instead, Butler Goode took him to a garden full of mysterious-looking plants.
The tall trees and dense vines blocked most sunlight. Thick flower clusters filled both sides of the stone path. There were all kinds of flowers in different colors and shapes, which appeared a little terrifying in this dark place.
Sunders was standing at the end of the path, surrounded by a group of strange, unnamed creatures. The white, winged horse Angor saw last time was among them.
“Professor,” Angor greeted him politely.
“You came. So you met some problems in your training?” asked Sunders. He was facing the other way as he stroked the head of a python with a crimson-colored crown growing on its head.
“No, I came to report my progress. I’m about to begin to construct my spiritual model,” said Angor. He lowered his head to escape from the python’s cold gaze.
“You came just for this? Do you expect me to compliment on your good work?” asked Sunders as he turned around and looked at Angor with a calm expression. It was so calm that it could almost see through Angor’s soul.
“Um, no…” Angor tried to deny, but he could not in the end. Sunders was right. He came all the way here without a really good reason. Maybe he really was expecting Sunders to praise him. Report? Come on. It was just an excuse to hide his ego.
Angor stood there, embarrassed. Both because of his own vanity, and because Sunders just pointed it out.
The embarrassment remained for a while. Angor really wished he could just turn and run. He already realized how shameful his previous intention was.
Sunders approached him.
Angor thought his professor was going to scold him. However, the man only put a hand on his shoulder in comfort.
“No need to be shameful. That is your true, colorful desire. One that is purer than the filthy desires of most people,” Sunders commented in his hoarse tone. He added, “Remember who you are right this moment, the real you, and try not to deny your true self. Only by accepting the truth can you walk along your path further.”
Angor stared at Sunders in puzzlement. Those words were hard to understand, but he was sure that Sunders was not scolding him.
Sunders patted Angor’s shoulder and walked away. “Since you managed to find your spirit power so soon, you deserve a compliment. I heard you went to the Elder of Books? Did he tell you how to do it?”
“Yes, I did. The Elder of Books told me to drink the Potion of Austere Night to quickly locate my spirit power, but I didn’t use the potion—”
Sunders interrupted him and revealed a surprised look.
“The Elder of Books told you to drink the potion?”
Angor nodded.
“Are you sure the elder answered your question?”
“Well, he did.”
Sunders inspected Angor with an unknown emotion in his eyes. He only asked the boy a random question, and he even prepared a joke in case Angor told him “the elder refused”. Yet… Angor’s answer surprised him.
The Elder of Books actually answered Angor’s question? And a valid answer at that!
Sunders went through his memory. It had been more than ten years since a wizard successfully got an answer from the Elder of Books. It was a wizard from Edge of Night, who spent an insane amount of money to finally earn some instructions from the old man.
And Angor received an answer from the elder so easily? More importantly, damn! The boy asked such a simple question!
If Sunders had known how Angor could get the Elder of Books to talk, Sunders would prepare several dozens of them and tell Angor to ask the elder in his place. As for Angor’s own problem, any wizard could easily satisfy the boy!
Sunders looked at Angor’s puzzled face and sighed.
“Can you tell me how you persuaded the Elder of Books into answering you?” Sunders was curious now.
Angor did not hide it since the conversation between him and the elder did not involve any secrets. He slowly explained what happened that day in details.
“I see. An exchange of knowledge. Considering his character, he would totally help you… but, mass-energy relation? How did you learn about it?” Sunders asked.
“My previous teacher taught me that,” replied Angor. He did not conceal Jon’s great knowledge base either.
“It looks like your teacher isn’t just an ordinary scholar. Too bad he’s a mortal. Otherwise, he could be a promising wizard.”
Sunders paused a little before he continued, “Being able to persuade the Elder of Books is also a glorious feat. If others know about this, you’ll be quite famous.”
Angor let out a silly chuckle.
“Finding your spirit power without using Potion of Austere Night is a good decision. The wall at the end of the Glutton Flower Tunnel must be holding some secret. If you can find destiny to increase your spirit power again the next time you go to Nightmare Realm, you can well keep the potion for later,” said Sunders. He looked regretful about something as he said, “It’s such a pity that we wasted a great chance when we can get the Elder of Books to enlighten us.”
Angor was still a little embarrassed at how Sunders revealed his little ego. Now that they were finished, Angor planned to leave right away.
But before that, he remembered his brief encounter with Balba in the caves.
He had no relationship with Balba. But somehow, Balba gave him a friendly feeling. That was why Angor did not reject Balba’s request.
“Professor, may I ask another question, if it’s okay?”
“Why are you being all careful? Go ahead.”
Angor took a moment to arrange his words and told Sunders about Balba.
“I’m wondering if I can go and ask Miss Flora about Balba, will she get mad at me?” Angor said.
“Oh, Balba?” Sunders chuckled. He said, “Mad? No. But I can tell you what’s going on regarding that matter. Will you listen to me?”
“You know? Wonderful!” Angor would avoid bothering Flora too. The young witch still made him uncomfortable. Yet on the other hand, Angor somewhat wanted to see Little Red again.
Sunders explained slowly, “There are two reasons why Flora is disregarding Balba. One, she has been busy recently. There’s a large-scale blood dissolve epidemic inside a tribe on Parmigi Highlands which was probably caused by a certain pathogen, and she has been working on the incident. The second reason lies in Balba himself.”
“What’s wrong with Balba?”
Sunders revealed a disdainful grin. “Because he is not human.”
“He’s not human?!” Angor imagined Balba’s appearance in his mind. The man looked… just fine.
“He’s a half-blood between a human and an otherworldly brute,” said Sunders. He revealed the answer right away. “When he’s agitated, he’ll show blue totems on his skin, and his eyes with slit pupils will become golden. Those characteristics belong to a brute tribe in another world called the Silver Wolves. He should have a tail too, but the human blood must have interfered and hidden it from his blood.
“There’s an unspoken rule among wizards, that we cannot teach the way of wizardry to anyone who doesn’t belong to this world. Balba might only be a simple half-blood, but we can’t guarantee that a powerful being from another world didn’t implant some kind of trick inside his blood. You see, wizardry is famous across thousands of worlds beyond, so there are many who thirst for our knowledge.”
“So a part of his blood is from another world… I see why Balba didn’t receive any professor posters.”
“Correct. No wizard wants to get his or her hands dirty because of a half-blood. However, they’re fully willing to capture the subject and use him in their biology experiments.”
“Then why did Brute Cavern take him here?” Angor did not understand. If a mighty being from another world could use Balba to steal wizardry knowledge, why not just keep him outside?