It took Dave two seconds to recognize the voice.
“Angor?!”
He looked around but without finding the speaker, until he felt someone knocking on his shoulder.
He turned back again.
A blond young man was smiling at him while leaning against the stair railings at the shop’s entrance.
“There you are!” Dave smiled. “To what do I owe the honor? Aren’t you always busy?”
“Who’s the busy one here? Look at you, people are requesting alchemy service from ‘Mister Dave’. Awesome! Right? Mister Daaave?”
Dave scratched his nose. “Oh come on, stop it.”
Angor shrugged while maintaining his smile.
Dave rolled his eyes. “Seriously now, this is all thanks to you. I learned so much from you last year. That ‘Tang Dao’ you brought to me is quite popular among my customers. Each week I have to forge a dozen or so of these blades for them. You just saw them coming.”
“They are here to buy Tang Dao??”
“Yup. Oh, here!” Dave took out a one-use space capsule and handed it to Angor. “There are about a thousand crystals. Each time I sold one Tang Dao, I saved a crystal in that capsule. Consider it a bonus for you.”
Again, Angor refused to take it. Last year, when Angor sold his first Tang Dao in this shop, he rejected Dave’s bonus. It seemed Dave was still insisting on giving him a share.
“I told you. I’m not the creator of Tang Dao. I don’t deserve the credit.”
“But I learned how to make this weapon all thanks to you!” Dave was persistent.
“I... don’t really need more crystals right now.” Angor considered and said, “Let’s do this. Wait until my ‘bonus’ reaches ten thousand before you give all the money to me in one go.”
He said so because he believed it was nearly impossible to find so many buyers for Tang Daos in Brute Cavern.
Dave, however, had the opposite idea after selling his previous stock. He was confident that such a simple, convenient, and handsome weapon was way better than those rapiers and broadswords commonly used by apprentices, which meant more customers who were searching for new weapons would fill up his shop in no time.
“Alright, let’s do just that.” Dave agreed without a second thought. “So what brings you here today? I know you’re busy, don’t deny it. Buying materials? You came at the right time. I just helped Master Prome ship something new from Twilight Well.”
Angor shook his head. “I stored enough while visiting Floating Mech City. It’s just a casual drop-by. You know, we haven’t seen each other for a long time. Kinda want to check you out.”
“Is that so? Nice. I’m planning to head to Bartterfly Pub just now. God, I miss their beef. Wait a bit while I close the shop. Let’s talk on the way.”
Angor stood at the door and wondered why Dave looked so joyous.
When he met with Dave for the first time, he saw Dave as a lonely and nervous apprentice who lost his professor and without much talent or resources to proceed with his studies.
But looking at the energetic young worker hopping around in front of him...
Dave had completely changed.
Angor couldn’t help but smile when he thought about how all of his dear friends were growing so fast in their own ways. The wizarding world was cruel, but it couldn’t stop them from pursuing their dreams.
Nausica’s only goal was to achieve immortality, and she had been resolutely working on it.
Sailum risked his life to use an unidentified bloodline on his body just to “spiritualize” his beloved book.
Dave had also found his own way of achieving his ambitions as an apprentice alchemist.
There were also Keely, Alan, Aleen, Shan, and Shiliew...
Angor would gladly see them advance.
He wondered how the rest of his “classmates” were doing right now.
Nausica had a “former subordinate”, Ebony. Did that man remove his arrogant temperament of a typical pirate and devoted himself to proper training?
Did Roffig and Orlando, the inseparable pair, get to reunite?
And those unfaithful lackeys, Fosah and Laffitte... How many new bosses did they find?
What about Balba? Did he finally realize the true reason why Flora was neglecting him?
Among all people who joined Brute Cavern together with him, Hookdick was the only enemy in Angor’s view, while the rest of them were more or less on fine terms with Angor. Even Fosah and Laffitte—Hookdick’s “former underlings”—chose to act friendly to him in time.
The path of wizardry was always a companionless challenge. Angor hoped that he could see more people succeed through their own efforts.
Dave came to him and interrupted his wild thoughts while carrying another Tang Dao in one hand.
“Hey, check this out. How’s my work? Can this thriving little alchemist receive some pointer from a future Mystery Alchemist?”
While heading to Bartterfly Pub, Angor took a moment to examine Dave’s creation.
“Good. This is more refined compared to the one I brought you at the beginning.”
“That’s it? Can I have some... suggestions?” Dave looked disappointed.
“What is there to suggest? I mainly do enchantment, and you’re going for synthesis. There’s nothing I can tell you.”
Dave moaned and took the weapon back.
He knew Angor was right. The way of synthesis was all about unlocking hidden properties in various materials, while his new Tang Dao was better than Angor’s original, unenchanted one.
Most people believed that synthesis was “the way to go” because it brought out stronger powers of items, whereas enchantment was usually regarded as inferior tricks because the subject was less time-efficient and not as rewarding.
They reached Bartterfly Pub and found a private compartment instead of sitting at the mess hall.
The room provided them with privacy, which allowed them to enjoy their meat better and discuss recent rumors.
Before Angor could ask Dave about the music box that hit the market in these days, he found himself attracted by Dave’s stories, such as the situation in Sleepless City.
According to Dave, the officials of Sleepless City had decided to retreat and leave the Evernight Kingdom so that they could find another settlement elsewhere. As they observed, the strange darkness was expanding slowly, causing more parasites to invade the city’s surrounding areas more aggressively.
“Those things, oh my god! They are saying that the entire Evernight Kingdom had not fallen yet because of the wizards who were watching over the darkness right now, but they couldn’t prevent all parasites from slipping past them, which were beginning to cause troubles to wizards and mortals alike.” Dave trembled a little while speaking. He then added, “I wish those things don’t travel through Parmigi Highlands and mess up Brute Cavern.”
“Chill. We got Lady Mirror guarding the entrance,” said Angor.
Dave shook his head. “I think we haven’t seen her in half a year. We only need a passport to go through the mirror entrance these days. I mean, if an apprentice from the organization is possessed, who then carries the parasites inside...”
“Lady Mirror had not shown up for half a year?”
Angor wasn’t concerned about the parasites since Sunders could always protect Brute Cavern without any trouble. Compared to this, he was more interested in Lady Mirror’s absence.
“Yeah. They said that Lady Mirror would enter a seclusion period, which lasts for several years, in every other century or so. Whenever she does, Brute Cavern will be vulnerable to invasion, sigh...”
“I don’t think so. The organization has so many mighty wizards. Surely they know how to put up good defenses when Lady Mirror’s away?” said Angor.
This means... I can further postpone Lady Mirror’s alchemy request? He thought, before asking something else, “So there are many wizards waiting around the dark area right now?”
“But you should know about it, no? Mister Sunders just went there. Many wizard organizations sent manpower. I also heard a rumor about them...”
“Rumor?”
Even when the private room was protected by anti-detection means, Dave still moved closer to Angor so that he could lower his voice.
“Rumor has it that the darkness is connected to the Nightmare Realm.”