Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2253: Chapter 2254: Wind Bat Dragon

Amid the floating clouds, a pure white bat dragon kicked with its two legs, causing the air to gather into a blast and, leveraging the recoil, rapidly darted forward.

From a distance, every dash of the bat dragon seemed like an instantaneous movement.

After several continuous dashes, the bat dragon suddenly hovered in place.

It felt that during its sprint, the bat wings seemed to have brushed against some creature. But looking back, it only saw the mist steaming with no creature appearing.

Could it be an illusion?

The bat dragon pondered but still felt something was amiss, so it used its pig-like nose to sniff back from where it came... but there was no suspicious scent.

It sniffed its own bat wings again and still noticed no scent.

Being a wind elemental creature, it was extremely sensitive to the scents in the air, and the lack of any scent seemed to indirectly confirm it was merely overthinking.

However, the sensation of "brushing" against some sort of supple elastic creature earlier felt too real. Being a cautious bat dragon, it decided to use another method to investigate.

It perked up its disc-like wind-catching ears, waves of high-frequency sound waves spread outward with it at the center.

It hoped to use the feedback from the sound waves to see if there were any hidden creatures present.

However, before it could find the hidden creature, it felt an utterly enormous force of wind speeding towards its position from the sound wave feedback.

Initially, the distance seemed quite far, but in less than two seconds, the wind’s force had already approached closely.

The bat dragon lifted its head and saw a fantastical flying boat of breathtaking beauty breaking through the sea of clouds at an astonishing speed.

Near this flying boat, the bat dragon sensed two incredibly powerful forces of wind. These were undoubtedly creatures standing at the pinnacle of the wind elements!

Even comparable to wind monarchs!

The bat dragon carefully sensed the source of the two forces of wind, and suddenly, as if realizing something, it flashed into the mist, turning into formless wind.

Being of the same wind element, encountering the bat dragon outside shouldn’t be scary, but this time was different because it recognized the identity of the approaching beings.

The Storm Ridge’s... one of the four great wind generals!

The ambition of Storm Ridge to unify all wind element territories had long been declared. The bat dragon, after its external travels, was returning from the nameless lands to the Long Breath Wind Cave to relay this message to His Highness Ghost Wind.

Unexpectedly, just as it was about to reach the Long Breath Wind Cave, it encountered one of the four wind generals, Lobal on the way!

"Oh no, they’re flying this way, they must have already discovered me. What should I do, what should I do?" Hidden in the mist, the bat dragon’s heart filled with despair. It had already forgotten that it stopped to search for the previously hidden creature.

"Maybe I should run?" Though the bat dragon thought so, it did not act on it. Because it knew, with its speed, it couldn’t outrun Lobal. Instead, trying to flee might further offend Lobal.

By cooperating a little, it should not be in mortal danger.

As it continued thinking, a sudden gust of storm arose from afar, signaling Lobal’s arrival.

The bat dragon subconsciously closed its eyes, putting on a cooperative and submissive stance.

Unexpectedly, the storm came and went. After half a minute of silence, the bat dragon opened its eyes to find the surrounding eerily quiet.

Dazed, it lifted its head to look into the distance, only to find that the fantastical flying boat earlier had already reached the edge of the sky. Not only had it not stopped, but no wind elemental creatures had come to trouble it.

The bat dragon did not believe that Lobal couldn’t detect it.

The current situation seemed to have only one explanation: it had possibly been ignored.

...

On the Gondola, Angel leaned against the railing, tilting his head to look back.

"The large bat with a pig nose and round ears hidden in the clouds earlier, was that a wind elemental creature?"

Lobal, flying outside, nodded: "Yes, that was a Wind Bat Dragon, it likely came from the Long Breath Wind Cave."

"How could you know that?" Angel looked over in surprise.

Lobal: "The location of the Long Breath Wind Cave is among a series of caves, and due to environmental factors, the probability of Wind Bat Dragons being born there is quite high. Other wind element territories almost have no birth records of Wind Bat Dragons."

Then, Lobal briefly introduced the characteristics of the Wind Bat Dragon.

After listening, Angel had a sudden realization. Wind Bat Dragons are essentially just large bats. Angel hadn’t expected, though, that bats’ love for cave environments would also be applicable to elemental creatures.

"That Wind Bat Dragon looked really frightened seeing us earlier." Angel mused, thinking the Gondola itself shouldn’t be frightening, the Wind Bat Dragon was likely scared of the creatures accompanying the Gondola.

He, Earl Mi, and Toby hadn’t released any aura; Cubic and Dangross were merely elemental sprites, unlikely to frighten the Wind Bat Dragon.

The answer was very clear, the Wind Bat Dragon was afraid of Speedy and Lobal.

"Both being wind elemental creatures, meeting in the wild brings not joy but trembling fear. It seems your Storm Ridge doesn’t have a great reputation." Angel remarked.

Not long ago, Dangross sensed a fire elemental creature in the valley and went to investigate and help. Even after learning it wasn’t a Traveling Frog from the Fire Territory, Dangross still worried for it. This was in stark contrast to the situation with wind elemental creatures.

Lobal: "The grand vision of His Highness Cyclone, how could they understand."

Angel offhandedly remarked: "No matter how grand, when the Tidal World opens, it will all be insignificant."

Lobal sighed deeply upon hearing this and remained silent for a long time.

"By the way, when we first encountered that Wind Bat Dragon, it seemed to be hovering mid-air. Is that a trait of Wind Bat Dragons?"

Lobal shook his head: "Wind Bat Dragons don’t have the trait of hovering in mid-air. It seemed to be sensing something? Perhaps it sensed our arrival."

Encountering the Wind Bat Dragon was merely a small episode, and Angel didn’t dwell on it much.

Time passed gradually, and the azure sky was tinged with the colors of twilight.

Evening approached.

Angel glanced at Toby, who was secretly observing Cubic, and gently patted its head: "I’m going to rest a bit in the back. If anything happens, remember to wake me up."

By rest, Angel naturally didn’t mean sleep, but entering the Wilderness of Dreams.

Toby understood Angel’s meaning, and softly cooed to acknowledge.

Angel gestured for Earl Mi to remain vigilant, then his figure flashed, disappearing from his original spot, and appeared in front of the cabin door at the back of the Gondola.

Closing the cabin door, Angel’s gaze fell upon two Glazed Boxes inlaid with red and blue gemstones.

The two Glazed Boxes contained a Fire System Traveling Frog and a Water System Raccoon.

The reason Angel specially refined the Glazed Boxes and brought them along, saying it was to help with healing, was not solely out of goodwill.

He also intended to take this opportunity to try bringing them into the Wilderness of Dreams. Firstly, to fulfill his promise to Dumatin, and secondly, because he wanted to see what transmutations would occur with Elemental Creatures entering the Wilderness of Dreams.

"I saved your lives, so now it’s time to collect my reward," Angel thought to himself, extending his finger, a dim light condensing at his fingertip.

Nightmare Illusion Dream Technique!

The dim light flashed from his fingertip and burrowed into the foreheads of the Traveling Frog and the Raccoon.

Angel waited quietly for any transmutations. Despite knowing Elemental Creatures during their Spirit Phase might get tired or rest, he had never heard of them dreaming. So, he wasn’t sure if the Dream Entering Technique would have any effect on them.

It didn’t take long before Angel saw that two misty white tentacles extended from the foreheads of the Traveling Frog and the Raccoon.

"Dream Tentacles." Angel let out a long sigh of relief. These dream tentacles indicated that the two Elemental Creatures could reach the Dream Bridge. As long as the tentacles entered the Dream Bridge, they would naturally travel to the other side.

Once the tentacles emerged from their foreheads, the aura of the nightmare slowly covered their bodies, and the misty white tentacles seemed to enter an abyss, slowly disappearing.

Though it was not visible externally, Angel knew that the consciousness of these two Elemental Creatures had already stepped onto the Dream Bridge.

Angel immediately closed his eyes, immersing his consciousness into the authority of the Gate of Dreams.

Utilizing the authority of the Gate of Dreams, Angel could clearly feel two dream bridges connecting to the Wilderness of Dreams shrouded in floating darkness.

Angel agreed to the connection.

The dream bridges immediately stretched out, extending all the way to the Light Gate of the Wilderness of Dreams.

Angel watched these two dream bridges intently. After about a minute, two figures simultaneously stepped onto the dream bridge.

It was the Traveling Frog and the Raccoon.

What caught Angel’s eye was that the figures of the Traveling Frog and the Raccoon maintained consistency. One emitted intense firelight, and the other, while seemingly ordinary, had water droplets occasionally dripping from its body.

This was an entirely different scenario compared to humans stepping onto the dream bridge.

The traits of the elements were already being displayed on the dream bridge.

"Will they also display elemental traits once they enter the Wilderness of Dreams?" Angel pondered. If they could indeed exhibit elemental traits, wouldn’t that make them naturally transcendent beings within the Wilderness of Dreams?

After all, even if a Wizard entered the Wilderness of Dreams, without the assistance of virtual magic power, they would still be like ordinary people. However, if Elemental Creatures could still harness Elemental Power, their starting point would already be different.

Angel regarded them both with a deep look of expectation as he entered the Wilderness of Dreams.

Angel found himself on a street in New City.

Though the street was flanked by the outlines of tall buildings, they were essentially just foundations. The upper floors remained skeletal, with numerous apprentices standing on the frames, studying construction plans and holding Magic Rune Scrolls, manipulating Earth System Power to perfect the buildings’ appearances.

Some artisans skilled in carving were also arduously sculpting decorations on both sides.

Angel’s sudden appearance drew curious glances from this group of apprentices.

As a legendary figure of the Barbarian Cave, having risen from grassroots to reach the pinnacle of the Pyramid in a short time, Angel had already become an object of reverence for the apprentices. His identity was easily recognized by all the apprentices.

Recognizing Angel, the apprentices became even more excited. After all, Angel rarely appeared in the Barbarian Cave, and an occasional glimpse would become a topic of conversation among the apprentices.

However, their commotion didn’t last long, as a cold gaze from below quieted them down.

"It seems you don’t like architecture tasks? How about I assign some tasks for you?" The noble’s elegant tone accompanied by a smiling expression sent chills down everyone’s spines.

Almost every apprentice recognized the speaking man. However, unlike Angel’s reputation, which inspired reverence and a desire to approach and follow, this man was someone they wished to never see.

—Dumatin, known as the "Microcosm."

Missions assigned by Dumatin, despite extremely generous rewards, left at least nine out of ten participants undergoing trepanation.

Such a cranial delving enthusiast could silence all apprentices with just a look.

The noise caused by Angel’s appearance quieted down instantly. None of the apprentices dared to look downward again.

Angel stepped forward: "Just a glance and a word can silence the racket, truly worthy of a Wizard of Bayer."

Dumatin: "I mentioned last time, the title ’Wizard of Bayer’ feels so formal. Just call me Dumatin."

After a pause, Dumatin continued: "You appear neither early nor late, choosing now to show up in front of me, I assume you have a reason?"

Angel nodded, knowing he had come to this street because he sensed Dumatin’s presence.

"Indeed, I have something," Angel said. "I wonder if you have time?"

"Since you’ve come to me, it would be pointless to say I don’t have time," Dumatin replied. "What is it?"

Angel didn’t immediately disclose his purpose but glanced around: "This place isn’t suitable for their arrival, follow me."

With these words, Angel invoked the authority of Celestial Alternation, summoning a wind that promptly whisked both him and Dumatin away.

With the hurricane’s thrust, Angel and Dumatin reached an expanse of lush grassland from the construction zone of New City in mere half a minute.

This location was at the outskirts of New City, with a babbling brook foaming nearby.

Once they steadied themselves, Dumatin, instead of questioning Angel’s intention for bringing him there, tidied his messy garments and looked at Angel quietly, waiting for an explanation.

However, Angel didn’t reveal anything but gestured for him to be patient.

About two minutes later, their wait bore fruit.

Yet, what this so-called fruit represented... left Dumatin somewhat perplexed.

The previously clear and bright sky dramatically transformed in mere seconds. Billowing dark clouds appeared, and although there was no lightning or thunder, the low-hanging clouds exerted an unexplainable pressure on Dumatin.

Pitter, patter.

The first drop of rain fell from the sky.

Soon, the drizzle turned into a torrential downpour.

Luckily, being in the energy zone, Dumatin manipulated virtual magic power to construct a thin waterproof field. Otherwise, he would be drenched through and through.

Watching the heavy rain pour down, Dumatin looked at Angel, puzzled: "Did you bring me here just to watch this downpour?"