Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 3133: Chapter 3134: New Seat

It didn’t take long for Olao to enter a state of control.

The mysterious concretization emerged with limbs, racing swiftly with the Heart Space on the "sea surface."

Watching the ever-changing scenery outside, Angel remained silent.

Compared to his teaching level before, Olao’s operation now was worlds apart. Olao was the clouds; he was the mud.

Angel didn’t know why, but he always felt a bit overwhelmed when handling the limbs from the mysterious concretization. It was hard to stabilize, often sacrificing speed; but for others, whether it was Laplace or her temporal body, or Olao who entered today, controlling it seemed much easier.

Especially Olao, he was practically handling the Heart Space’s external limbs like his own hands and feet now.

Not only could he move the Heart Space smoothly, but he could also sprint, stop suddenly, and even control the "limbs" to form a bent structure for a strong burst in the next sprint.

From beginner to master, it took Olao less than a quarter of an hour.

During his agile maneuvers, he even found a piece of floating physical object.

This object was just a soon-to-break boiling stone, not worth much, likely a missed bounty from the previous Sea Eye eruption. But its appearance showed Angel Olao’s talent in controlling the Physical Collector.

The picking speed was slightly faster than when Glaipnir was controlling it.

After that, Olao continued to maneuver the Heart Space around, but unfortunately, didn’t find any more objects. However, Olao seemed addicted, switching to another area when none were found here, blissfully hopping along.

Of course, what attracted Olao wasn’t just the blind-box-like physical objects, but also the memory images encountered now and then.

These images displayed different worlds and people’s life encounters like old silent films.

Although not as participatory as the illusionary realm inside the Shadow Box, this silent drama gave Olao a unique feeling.

It could be said, this was a novel experience for an age-old otaku.

With the feeling of experience, it’s naturally not easy to tire.

However, for Angel, Olao’s fast-paced sightseeing experience was more like "light-shadow" pollution, with memory images switching too quickly, leaving him a bit dizzy.

Unable to bear it, Angel let Olao continue on his own while he returned to the Illusion Technique Hut to rest.

About an hour later, the immersed Olao realized Angel had left, finally putting down the Physical Collector and came to the Illusion Technique Hut to find Angel.

Seeing Olao’s arrival, Angel didn’t say much, taking him back to reality.

In the quiet room, Olao’s gaze kept lingering on the Indestructible Heart Mirror, with a hint of reluctance in his eyes.

"I’ll leave the Indestructible Heart Mirror here; you can enter anytime you want."

Angel’s words made Olao’s eyes light up; despite not being too comfortable with the life in the Mirror Domain, he must admit he really liked the Heart Space, and even more so, the Physical Collector.

It offered two distinct surprises: opening blind boxes and watching movies.

Angel initially wanted to ask Olao about his feelings towards the Heart Space, but seeing his eager eyes, Angel already knew his answer.

After that, Angel no longer restricted Olao’s actions.

Olao seemed to want to "play a bit" in the Heart Space again, but thinking he’d just come out from it, combined with being quite interested in the outside Anomalous Fire Alchemist, he ultimately chose to return outside to accompany the little companions.

While Olao returned to the illusionary realm of Anomalous Fire Alchemist, Angel pulled another little fellow out from the viewing group to the quiet room.

— Void Traveler, Heideland.

Angel found Heideland, naturally preparing to contact Wang Wang.

Firstly, maintaining regular contact with Wang Wang is fundamental for establishing a void intelligence network; secondly, he also wanted to know if there was any feedback from the images sent to Dalmatian last time.

Approximately after two to three minutes, Angel disconnected the contact with Wang Wang.

This time, his contact with Wang Wang was short, mainly because Wang Wang encountered a situation.

It wasn’t trouble for Wang Wang itself, but a member of Wang Wang’s "family," a Void Traveler, was being tracked by an unknown Void Magical Creature during its travels.

Fortunately for this Void Traveler, the one tracking it wasn’t a Void Magic Whale; as long as it could escape for a moment, it could completely shake off the pursuer.

And how to escape for that moment? It required Wang Wang’s coordination.

After all, the intelligence of other Void Travelers was exceedingly low, leaving Wang Wang to command from afar.

This situation was commonplace for Wang Wang, allowing it to multitask and connect Angel’s void network "login" request.

But Angel was not comfortable disturbing it at this time, uttering a few simple words before quickly logging off the network to prevent Wang Wang from getting distracted.

Although their chat time was brief, Angel did gain quite a lot of intelligence, primarily about Wang Wang’s "family" in the void.

In addition, Angel learned there was no reply from Dalmatian yet.

The images he transmitted last time were the Teapot Country’s background and his dialogue with the rabbit Cha Cha; the dialogue content was "looking for the full text of Singularity Scattering Meditation Method."

Angel attempted to gain information about the Teapot Country and the Meditation Method from Dalmatian using this method.

But, whether Dalmatian figured out Angel’s intention or not, no reply had come so far.

Angel had no choice but to set it aside temporarily.

After exiting the void network, Angel’s gaze turned to Heideland, floating in mid-air, emitting a faint purple hazy glow.

"Are you planning to continue watching Anomalous Fire Alchemist with Dangross or return to my bracelet space to rest?"

Angel noticed earlier that, although Heideland wobbled outside, the calm aura around it indicated it was actually resting rather than seriously watching like the other little fellows.

Hence, Angel asked.

Whether to sleep in the illusionary realm of the Shadow Box, or return to the bracelet space to sleep?

Angel thought Heideland would choose to return to the bracelet space, but unexpectedly, Heideland chose to continue with the viewing group.

As Heideland floated away from the quiet room, Angel’s expression showed slight hesitation.

He didn’t know if it was an illusion, but he felt Heideland’s eyes seemed more animated than when they first met...

...

In the following period, Angel remained in the quiet room to continue reflecting and incidentally perfecting the handbook records of the Indestructible Heart Mirror.

Time passed swiftly, and dawn of the new day arrived.

Judging by the time, Luigi should have finished interpreting Night Sparrow’s Flying Rhapsody yesterday, but Angel wasn’t sure how Uriel had evaluated it.

Was it a one-time clear? Or did it end without any resolution?

Carrying curiosity, Angel returned to the Heart Space.

When Angel saw Luigi, he had already logged off, leisurely plucking the strings of a guitar while leaning on the sofa.

Seeing his dejected appearance, Angel knew that he had failed once again.

As expected, when Angel asked about Luigi’s situation, Luigi sighed and used the Illusion Node left by Angel in the hut to manifest a line of words.

"Special Dreamland ’Uriel’s Choice’ Main Quest 3, challenge failed."

"Given evaluation: Thirteenth seat in the Empire’s orchestra. (The Empire’s orchestra has a total of twenty-one seats.)"

"Currently unable to initiate Main Quest 3. (Next available time to be awaited for the Immortal Realm’s cue.)"

"Number of attempts left: 4."

In the last challenge, Luigi received the fourteenth seat evaluation, which has now risen to the thirteenth seat, an increase of just one position.

According to Broye’s statement, "Nocturnal Sparrow’s Rhapsody" is certainly better than "Flying Thoughts," and Luigi himself agrees. But even so, the seat promotion is minimal; "Nocturnal Sparrow’s Rhapsody" is only one position higher than "Flying Thoughts," no wonder Luigi is so dejected.

Given this rate of seat promotion, in the remaining four times, to reach the top three seats, it would probably require an unprecedented and astonishing piece.

But such pieces are indeed very rare, and whether it can touch Uriel’s heart is also a question.

Looking at Luigi’s dejected appearance, Angel pondered for a moment and said, "Do you remember if Uriel had any special expression when he listened to your performance?"

Angel couldn’t find other ways to help Luigi and could only think of some off-the-table strategies.

For example, analyze Uriel’s micro-expressions to see which portion of the performance he preferred, and use this to judge Uriel’s personal preferences. This way, they can make targeted choices next time.

However, after Luigi carefully recalled for a long time, he shook his head, "No... Uriel didn’t look at me at all; he covered his eyes with the back of his hand, leaning on the sofa, as if he were asleep."

Moreover, Luigi was fully immersed in the performance and wasn’t distracted by observing Uriel. So, whether Uriel displayed any micro-expressions during the performance, he doesn’t really know.

Angel thought for a moment and said, "Next time you go to challenge, I will go with you."

Luigi will focus on the challenge while he observes Uriel’s expressions in the "Dreamseeing" state.

Faced with Angel’s encouragement, Luigi was naturally very grateful, but...

"But I don’t know which piece to perform next time either."

Angel: "...I’ll go look for one."

To let Luigi pass and to witness the changes in Uriel’s "Dreamseeing" state, Angel could only toil a bit himself.

Under Luigi’s grateful gaze, Angel left the Heart Space.

This time his goal was clear, which was to go to the Wilderness of Dreams to search for Broye and see the collection situation on his side.

Having already met Broye, Angel didn’t have to contact Lianna for locating him, and could directly position himself to Broye’s nearby area and log in.

After logging in, Angel looked around and unsurprisingly found himself at the task center of the New City.

There were quite a few people in the hall, and for a moment, Angel felt like he was back at the Task Hall of the Spirit Tree Courtyard. But there, the light screen rolled through tasks ranging from caring for livestock to saving the world and exploring Otherworld mysteries.

However, the mission center in New City primarily displayed "exploration tasks," "suburban development," "biological atlas recording," and "construction tasks."

Among these, construction tasks were the most.

Angel didn’t stay in the hall for long because Broye wasn’t there. He was in a booth on one side of the hall.

When Angel arrived outside the booth, he clearly saw a long line of people.

These people in line either had scores in hand or were mumbling as if reciting something... Undoubtedly, they were the ones who took on the task of finding scores.

Looking around, Angel saw that most of them were apprentices, from Level 1 Apprentices to Third Level Apprentices, almost all levels.

This clearly showed the wide range of participants for this task of finding scores.

This is expected since compared to other tasks, Angel’s task offered high rewards without much danger, and it could even be taken by mortals.

If they hit the jackpot, they might just get the highest reward. The highest reward alone is enough for these apprentices to turn their lives around, so why wouldn’t they be eager?

Angel glanced inside the booth and found that those in line eventually met not Broye, but an elegant and charming young girl.

She was reviewing the papers.

Or rather, she was doing the preliminary review.

Broye was in another small booth next to hers, doing further selection with the scores she approved.

Yesterday, Broye wasn’t doing this; today, however, he arranged for both preliminary and final reviews, demonstrating his importance to the task.

Angel did not disturb the reviewing girl but directly passed through the wall to appear in front of Broye.

When Broye saw Angel, he wasn’t too surprised since Angel had already communicated with him through sound transmission, giving him some psychological preparation.

"Sir, yesterday’s manuscripts have mostly been sorted. I’ve selected..."

After Broye finished speaking, Angel didn’t comment but snapped his fingers, displaying Luigi’s performance of the "Nocturnal Sparrow’s Rhapsody" before him.

Of course, Luigi’s appearance was blurred, making his identity indistinguishable.

After Luigi’s performance was over, Angel mentioned Uriel’s set seat: "Thirteenth seat, one position higher than the day before’s ’Flying Thoughts.’"

Having said that, Angel turned to Broye: "As always, the seat estimation is absolutely correct. So, I hope you select today’s scores based on his performance and the final set seat."

"Just like before, choose one."

After hearing Angel’s introduction, Broye was actually a little panicked inside. Because today’s selected scores were indeed better than "Nocturnal Sparrow’s Rhapsody," but not by much. Going from the thirteenth seat directly to the top three, he personally felt was unachievable.

Also, defining the quality of scores... is really hard.

No matter how objectively he tries to filter, there’s still inevitably some subjective speculation.

Choosing only one is quite difficult too.

However, Broye’s struggle didn’t last long because Angel’s next words gave him a new choice.

Angel: "Tomorrow, I will exhibit the expressions of the master who set the seat as he listens to the scores in the Illusionary Realm. Perhaps from his micro-expressions, you can discern his preferences."

"Of course, it’s also possible he might not show any expressions while listening."

"Anyway, you’ll know the specific situation tomorrow."

With Angel’s words, Broye could make appropriate changes to his choices.

Because some scores are like theatrical performances, incorporating a mix of styles, from grand joy to deep sorrow, from cheerful to heavy, from classical to modern.

Such multiply styled scores are evidently more beneficial for probing into micro-expressions.

Among the scores screened, Broye did find one such piece, which happened to be one of the few scores he selected.

Previously, he might have been unsure of which score to choose, but now, there was no need to hesitate.