Inside his bedroom, Angor noted his own findings as well as the final conclusion provided by Sunders in his notebook.
He wasn’t going to publish an article about the effect of Prelude to Rebirth right now, but he would like to carefully record everything he learned so that they wouldn’t slip from his mind in the long run.
This marked the end of his experiment, which presented him with an “acceptable” result.
Next, he took out Sunders’ notebook that contained various subjects related to the art of illusion.
Sunders had urged him many times that he should determine a “domain” to focus on, and he wished to learn a little of every domain before making his decision.
He had already studied many skills that originated from different domains until now, such as Acoustic Illusion and Sorcery Array. According to Sunders’ notes, he had three remaining domains that he never looked at, Mirage, Truth Manipulation, and Transformation.
He wished to get to these subjects while Sunders was still here so that he would have a chance to receive pointers from Sunders.
Since Sunders was going to depart in several days, he probably only had time to briefly look into one subject, which meant he needed to determine which one to go for right now.
Mirage users knew how to manipulate environmental elements, such as temperature and weather, thus creating powerful illusions that relied on nature. Also, the art of Mirage was one of the two Illusionist domains that could create “world illusions”.
Truth Manipulation was an art that confused “real” and “fake” to trick victims.
Meanwhile, users of the art of Transformation were masters of details and disguise, who had observed enough in this world to bring out any illusions at their will.
Among these three domains, Mirage was known as the most difficult one, but this only applied to initial studies. An Illusionist with enough time could always study all three, provided that they were talented enough to do so.
After careful consideration, Angor decided to choose Transformation as his current goal. The reason was quite simple—Transformation was the only domain he completely had no idea of right now, which meant he needed Sunders’ lessons for it.
As for the other two subjects... The legacy left by Erdus contained knowledge of Mirage, and Sumesh was a truth-finder wizard who majored in Truth Manipulation, who would soon return to Brute Cavern, and hopefully, he could give Angor some help.
This was why Angor would try to study Transformation while Sunders was still with him.
The first thing he needed to do was to learn basic Transformation cantrips.
The first cantrip he needed to know was “Glamor”, a level-2 cantrip used for shifting one’s appearance into that of another individual or animal.
Angor could achieve similar results by using his basic cantrips combined with nightmare illusions, but he still had to study this cantrip as it was the foundation that supported the entire skill system of Transformation.
Apart from taking on someone’s appearance, Glamor had another important effect that concealed illusion nodes so that people could not easily see through the illusion.
Moreover, most Transformation cantrips, including several spells, highly depended on hiding illusion nodes or sometimes making illusions without leaving illusion nodes behind.
Angor found the cantrip to be very useful to him as it could further improve his safety when hiding from someone using Infinite Reticence because those who saw through his Infinite Reticence would end up looking at a disguised face.
He spent the entire afternoon reading the essentials of Glamor. Someone suddenly knocked on his door at nightfall.
“Mister Padt, the student of Miss Flora wishes to see you. He’s currently waiting for you in the guest room. Should I tell him to leave?” It was Butler Goode who was waiting at Angor’s door.
“Spivet?” Angor frowned. “What does he want?”
“I don’t know, Mister Padt. I saw Miss Flora leaving the mansion without him.”
“I see. Let me get changed first.”
A while later, Angor entered the guest room on the second floor and saw Spivet, who was using the body of a handsome young man, taking it easy on a sofa while enjoying a fruit prepared by Goode.
From that smile and his relaxed manners, Spivet seemed to be quite satisfied with his new body.
Also, Spivet was already a level-1 apprentice now. In fact, he reached this level faster than Angor did.
Angor entered the door and took a seat across to Spivet. “You want to see me?”
Spivet swallowed the unfinished fruit and gave Angor a casual glance. “It’s Flora who wants to tell you something. I’m just her messenger.”
Angor frowned. “Are you really going to refer to your professor by calling her name like that?”
“Oh chill, no need to be so tensed up. Social rules are for the right occasions, but she’s not here right now. Just relax.”
Angor did not protest. It seemed that Spivet had not fully learned how to behave as an apprentice in order not to anger a wizard.
“So, what did Miss Flora want to tell me?” Angor chose to get to the point rather than wasting his time arguing with Spivet.
“We can talk about that later. Now, tell me, what’s the deal with that ‘alchemy illusion’ that made so much fuss around here?”
“What does that have to do with you?”
Spivet narrowed his eyes and leaned back with his arms spread on the back of the sofa. “Is it that you don’t want to tell me, or is there a more complex reason?”
Angor didn’t change his plain expression. “Is that what Miss Flora wants to know?”
“Nah, it’s just me.” Spivet grinned.
“Then I have no reason to tell you. Or are you talking to me as the mighty wizard ‘Gragg’?”
Spivet’s smile instantly disappeared—Angor was reminding him NOT to forget who he was right now.
Spivet stared at Angor. Just as Angor thought this man was going to turn violent, Spivet suddenly revealed a charming smile.
“Come on, Angor, my dear. Can’t you just satisfy this little wish of mine?”
The way he said it immediately gave Angor goosebumps. Angor now understood why people, including those from Gragg’s organization—Edge of Night—would like to avoid mentioning Gragg’s name and his title, the “Little Imp”. This man was shameless! So shameless that it was a miracle that he became a wizard at all.
When Angor didn’t answer, Spivet continued “pleading” with a pair of puppy eyes. “Pleeease. I promise I won’t tell anyone else.”
Angor tried to roll his eyes but decided to stop. “If you really want to know, go to the Remnant Auction at the Month of Looming Frost. I’m going to sell an alchemy illusion item there.”
Spivet was still using the “adorable act”. “We’re both students of Phantom Master, well, in a way. Don’t be a stranger! Alright, mate?”
Angor responded to Spivet’s attempts with complete silence.
Spivet’s lips twitched a little. “Okay, now I’m sure your illusion MUST have something special, and it isn’t mentioned in the rumors.”
Again, Angor watched Spivet quietly as if he was looking at an idiot chatting with himself.
“Fine, fine! Remnant Coast, right? As the buyer of your item, of course I can come and ask you questions about it, eh?”
“Let’s talk after you really win the item,” said Angor.
By which time you’ll no longer find me in Brute Cavern, he thought.
Spivet finally found it impossible to breach Angor’s stubbornness and chose to talk about what he came for today.
“It’s nothing biggie. Flora meant to ask for your help, when you have time, that is.”
...
After Spivet left, Angor remained on the sofa and thought about what he had just heard with a frustrated look. He was woken up from his thoughts when Goode brought a glass of liquid extracted from the Milkberry Tree.
“No, thanks... You can give it to Hobbiton,” said Angor as he walked toward the door.
Goode was a little surprised as this was the first time he saw Angor reject milk. He then checked and noticed that Angor was leaving Phantom Island instead of returning to his bedroom.
“Mister Padt?”
“Hey, Grandfather, what’s wrong with Mister Padt?” Hobbiton was somehow standing right next to Goode.
Goode knocked Hobbiton’s head. “How many times do I have to tell you? Don’t call me that while we are on this island!”
Hobbiton made a duck face. “I-okay, gran-Mister Goode. Is something wrong? You were talking about Mister Padt’s name while no one’s around.”
“It’s nothing.” Goode handed the glass to Hobbiton. “You can have this. It’s a gift from Mister Padt.”