Chapter 659: Wither
What Angor realized from Sunders’ simple demonstration astounded him.
People usually used abstract concepts to express certain perceptions that they could not see with eyes. One such example was “cold”.
Cold was a vague concept that could be sensed but not observed directly, yet people already created the concept of cold to express this particular frigid sensation.
Angor knew from his experiments that the manifestation of Mystery could take on different solid forms like animals, people, random objects, or even natural elements like wind and snow. But he never thought it could become an unseen concept as well.
According to Sunders, the manifestation in the snowfield illusion was a concept named “Wither”. Angor now understood why he failed to find it. It was because he never knew where to look.
But how did Sunders “trigger” this concept? He wondered. Wait... Don’t tell me the professor just learned a new spell from it?
“Sir, about that energy you just used...” Angor pointed to the crescent necklace, agape.
“I named it ‘Wither’ just a moment ago. It’s only as powerful as common level-2 cantrips. And yes, I received the knowledge from the manifestation.”
Sunders was looking at Angor with both delight and worry.
Previously, he believed this modest boy would be the most “peaceful” one among all three students. However, the truth turned out to be the opposite—this adorable little gentleman would present him with fresh surprise, or sometimes, pure horror.
It all started from when Angor suddenly discovered his talent in alchemy, after which he nearly summoned a “queen” powerful enough to destroy the entire wizarding world during Twilight Auction. Then, the boy was believed to have helped a legendary wizard—Isabelle—to return to power. Not long after, different magazines began spreading rumors that he almost became a Mystery Alchemist.
Today, Sunders just witnessed Angor playing around with the “manifestations of Mystery”.
It brought him more fear than delight.
“Good gracious...” Sunders moaned. It was Angor’s own capability that allowed him to create the Mystery presence, but at the same time, such capability did not fit with Angor’s strength. Angor was like a newborn child who was destined to possess a god-blessed power while thugs or all kinds of figures with evil intentions could claim the child for their own use.
“The manifestation can help people learn new cantrips?” Angor frowned. He couldn’t believe it yet.
“You should know of all people!” Sunders snapped, for he thought Angor knew what he was doing after all those tests.
After learning that the manifestations could transfer boundless knowledge and enlightenment to people, Angor did consider such a possibility, that he could use such wisdom to learn spells. However, he wasn’t expecting to see it happening for real.
“I-I never know, professor. Well, I kinda imagined it,” Angor stuttered.
Sunders noticed that his student wasn’t faking that look, which meant it was truly an accident.
“I guess luck favored you again without telling you about it.” Sunders shook his head and sighed. “Never mind these. Can you make another illusion with a ‘manifestation’ inside right now?”
“I cannot do it out in the open, sir. It needs a medium, an item that contains it.”
“So you need both alchemy and illusion skills to make it happen...” Sunders muttered. “This bodes ill, I must say. Due to your elevated personal value, you will suffer from greater risk from now on.”
Angor remained silent as he understood what Sunders meant.
Possessing great wealth was itself a crime in this world. As a “possible” Mystery Alchemist who could make amazing illusions that helped people study new spells... Things would get out of hand if anyone heard about this.
“Apart from me and Greya, did you tell anyone else about your discovery?” asked Sunders. “Or did you give any other such illusion items to anyone?”
Angor shook his head. He once considered giving Dave such an item so that he could spread his “trademark” better, but he decided not to because he didn’t wish to use his “best shot” to hit the market at the beginning. In the end, he only crafted a music box that surpassed “Journey in Heavens” as well as a random illusion container designed as a means of entertainment. He had handed them to Dave.
He was planning to slowly make his fame as an alchemist known before distributing better items, but Sunders just reminded him that he’d better not do such a thing before he was strong enough to protect himself.
“Good.” Sunders looked calmer. “But be on your guard. Even if you hide this matter from everyone, SOMEONE is going to notice your secret one day.”
Angor nodded. It was true—there was no absolute safety and privacy in this world. There were always Prophets, who could attempt to read his secrets, or certain Mystery items used for detecting Mystery energy.
Anything was possible in this world. The only thing that mattered was how far your imagination could take you.
“As far as I can see, there is no imminent danger for you. Do your best and train as fast as you can. Put all other matters aside.”
“What about the ‘Twinning Wings’ I gave Lady Greya?”
“I’ll talk to her later. Greya is a woman who is always focused on practical and concrete matters. Since she entrusted Toby to you, she must know that it is best if you remain safe,” said Sunders. “Keep my words in mind for I do not wish to see you end up as someone’s imprisoned asset either. Now, tell me, if you need to base the illusion on an alchemy item, do you have any other such items available? I’m going to do a thorough data collection regarding these manifestations.”
“Not now, but it’s not difficult to craft these items. I can make some now if I need to.”
“It’s not difficult?”
Angor nodded without a second thought.
“In case someone discovers this matter, do NOT tell them that.”
Sunders considered and mentioned something else, “Each time Greya uses her Artificial Life spell, she needs to wait 50 years before doing it again.”
Angor tilted his head and quickly understood the hint.
“Do I need to get to the items right now, sir?”
“No... You can start when you have time.”
While speaking, Sunders was trying very hard to suppress a certain emotion stirring in his mind. While he did warn Angor about staying safe and avoiding being captured, he knew his own desire was urging him to do the same thing—that he would imprison Angor inside Gravity Garden for eternity so that the boy could provide him with manifestations of Mystery day and night.
Sunders demanded himself to stop thinking that way. Doing such a thing would ruin both Angor’s future and his own.
They had not discovered any potential drawbacks brought by the manifestations. Solely relying on them would equal to giving up the path of truth.
Were the new spells learned in this way truly his own? He didn’t know.
When casting “Wither”, Sunders did not feel that particular connection that suggested that he was the true owner of the spell. He was worried because of this.
He could still accept it when the foreign knowledge helped him tackle the bottleneck when learning a new spell. However, when a spell suddenly popped up in his mind for no reason... any wizard with at least some ambition would raise doubt.
For these reasons, Sunders discouraged himself from going down this unreliable path.
Besides, his student trusted him until now. He did not wish to disappoint Angor by letting his primal desire loose.
Just like how Greya put her trust in Angor, Sunders would like to trust the boy as well. Something told him that Angor was someone who could help him challenge the rank of legendary, or even higher. He did not want to exploit Angor’s talent and ruin him.
Angor took a moment to tell Sunders what he learned from his experiments, such as how much time the manifestations could persist after being found out. There wasn’t much to say. As Sunders said, they needed “proper” tests later.
When this was done, Angor used the brief chance to ask a question, “How did you trigger the manifestation just now, sir?”
For visible objects, Angor could simply catch them to activate them. However, how did someone catch an abstract concept?
“Spirit power. Our spirit power is also a conceptual presence that is able to connect with other similar concepts,” said Sunders.
“I understand now. Since the ‘conceptual’ manifestation in the snowfield is ‘wither’, then what’s hidden on Mysterious Mountain?”