“I know you still have questions.” Sunders walked to a bookshelf and pressed on the head of a gargoyle statue nearby.
Click!
The giant bookshelf split sideways and revealed another compartment behind.
The space inside the compartment was big enough to contain an adult. There was another bookshelf in there which contained research reports or something alike. Sunders found a booklet made from parchment and handed it to Angor.
Angor checked the book. It felt soft to the touch. Also, the book was bound using parchment sheets of different qualities and colors.
The Mystery of Nightmare Domain
Author: Sunders Eagle, Flora
“Flora? But isn’t she a Blood Wizard?”
Following Sunders’ instruction, Angor found the index of the book.
Theory Collection of Nightmare Domain (1);
Theory Collection of Nightmare Domain (2);
The Combination Between Nightmare Domain and Illusions;
Practical Uses of Nightmare Illusions Against Enemies;
How to Survive Nightmare Monsters …
The book was mostly a collection of different subjects on Nightmare Domain, most of which were composed by Sunders. Only two pages which described something called “Supplementary Appendix” were written by Flora.
The content of the book immediately grasped Angor’s curiosity. Everything was about the questions he thought about recently, such as how to utilize the Nightmare Domain or control the monsters in the right situations.
“Take it back and make a copy for yourself.”
“Thank you, sir!” Angor was overjoyed.
“You don’t have to. I already planned to give you the book once you become a wizard. I never expected you to undertake your own Nightmare Domain as a… fresh level-1 apprentice. By doing so, you also became the enemy of a great number of wizards. I don’t know if that’s lucky or unlucky to you.”
Angor lowered his head.
“This book, composed by me and Flora, is absolutely unique in this world. You must handle it with care,” Sunders spoke in a more serious attitude. “The knowledge within is priceless, so I’m not going to give it for free. You must accept one condition before reading it.”
Angor nodded. The rule of equivalent exchange always applied. Sunders might teach him basic skills as his professor, but he had to pay for anything beyond that level.
“You must… promise something.” Sunders’ expression grew stern, causing Angor to do the same. “You must compose your own Nightmare Domain-related subject in this book within fifty years. Meanwhile, I’ll keep adding my new discoveries into it. If you wish to read something new, you must pay extra knowledge in exchange.
“There are Flora’s theories in the book because she once borrowed the book as well. It’s the same. If you provide a decent subject, I’ll add your name to the book. Now, what’s your answer?”
Angor nodded without a second thought. He had fifty years! No one knew what would happen during such a long period. He had to snatch every chance to grow stronger.
They signed a contract in the name of the world’s consciousness.
“I hope I can complete the book in my available years,” Sunders sighed. He knew well this was impossible to achieve on his own. His student seemed to be a talented academic—as long as Angor did not get himself killed too soon, the boy would definitely contribute greatly.
“Now go. I’ll go to Twilight Auction and finish that business. Meanwhile, you should avoid attracting attention. I suggest you stay in your house and do something about your debt. Don’t go wander off and get caught by Twilight’s men.”
“Wait, sir, can I ask a few questions?”
Sunders sat back on his chair. “You have ten minutes.”
Angor used the precious chance to seek answers for the problems he encountered during his own training. When it was almost time to leave, he mentioned something that troubled him most at the moment.
“Can you give me an idea, professor? How do I earn money?” Angor created tears to win some sympathy again.
“Go ask yourself. Do I even need to teach you that?”
Still, Sunders would admit two hundred and fifty thousand was a pretty huge sum. Not many wizards could bring out that much money in such a short time. He already had a plan for this—Leona would return from Manda Plane in half a month, holding the great fortune she earned by selling Angor’s “body perfume”. He was not about to see that woman run off with the money for free.
However, he could not tell this to Angor yet. He wanted Angor to learn the cruelty of the wizarding world. The boy should not acquire his Nightmare Domain so easily.
Putting him under the great pressure of his debt for a month seemed a good approach.
There was one thing Sunders overlooked—such a crazy debt was usually enough to halt all hopes for ordinary apprentices for their entire lives. Angor, however, could totally get the money with enough time. And time was the only problem.
Angor only felt stressed because of the lack of time. As for the money itself… it was not so pressing.
“We’re done. You should leave,” Sunders said.
“Wait, one last question!”
“Speak!” Sunders pretended to be annoyed a little.
“Sir, you told me that all kinds of illusions will try to take over my mind when undertaking the Nightmare Domain, right? And I may never wake up again? But I just slept for some time. I didn’t see anything.”
As he recalled, apart from the strange itchiness and heat on his back, nothing really happened during his sleep.
Sunders’ face wrinkled badly, and he clenched his teeth. “So are you expecting me to praise you for that, or are you saying that I lied to you? Get out.”
Actually, Angor was only asking for his opinion. He was not trying to mock his professor, but it seemed Sunders was pretty agitated for this.
“One-one-one last thing!”
“Out.”
“Really! Just one!”
Despite his yelling, Sunders used Hand of Spell to grab his collar and tossed him outside the door.”
“I want to have a look at-”
Bam!
“… the Cursing Puppet.”
Angor climbed up from the floor, removed some dust from his rear, and walked away with a sad look.
He walked into the great hall and saw Goode helping Hobbiton clean up himself. Then the butler dressed the boy in a smaller-sized servant robe.
Every Phantom Servant on the island wore such a robe as well as a mask. When Angor approached them curiously, Goode put down his towel and bowed to him. “Mister Padt.”
Goode signaled Hobbiton who then addressed Angor with a timid voice, “Mi-Mister Padt.”
Angor nodded at them. “Can I ask a question, Butler Goode? What’s your robe and mask used for?”
Goode chuckled. “We’re not wizards. We need something to move around freely in Brute Cavern, and our mask and robe were imprinted with the emblem of Master Sunders. They both help us avoid mortals, and tell other wizards that we work for Master Sunders, so no one gives us unnecessary trouble.”
Goode pointed to a button on his robe. Angor noticed Sunders’ family emblem drawn on it. It was the same one he saw from his golden poster—a winged sword stuck inside a thorned rose. However, the button was too small to write the family motto on it.
Angor did not see the emblem on Hobbiton’s smaller robe—Hobbiton wished to become a wizard, and he was not Sunders’ student. Thus, the kid could not receive such protection.
“Butler Goode, so the robe has a… stealth effect on it?” Angor noticed a faint aura flowing around the robe, which could be either a built-in spell or a synthesis effect.
“Yes. There’s something that prevents detection spells.”
Angor brightened up. “Do you have a spare robe? Can I borrow one?”
Goode did not respond.
Hobbiton went “Huh?!”.
“There’s none,” Sunders spoke. The gentleman left his study for some reason.
“I just… wanted to take a look,” Angor muttered. He believed Twilight found his whereabouts using some kind of tracking spell, so he planned to make something… Maybe a robe, which could help him block such tracking attempts.
He did not have any knowledge about weaving, so he hoped he could borrow a servant robe to learn something.
But Sunders quickly ruined his plan.
…
After leaving Phantom Island, Angor headed straight home under the dawn-brightened sky.
He saw his villa in the distance and walked there slowly. He had not enjoyed any sleep for some time.
Before he could get to the door though, two figures suddenly showed up from under a tree nearby.
“Angor!”