Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 3176: Chapter 3177: Dao Shen

His voice carried a hint of hesitation, mainly because Angel and the others were cloaked by the barrier which obscured their aura, making it difficult for him to determine whether Angel was human or part of the Mirror Domain’s Humanoid Race.

Moreover, he could faintly sense the presence of Aggregation Energy within the barrier.

Aggregation Energy is exclusive to Mirror Domain creatures.

Thus, even if he approached to inquire, it was accompanied by obvious reluctance.

Upon hearing his question, Laplace turned his head and chose to ignore him; Luigi continued to pluck the strings of his instrument, disregarding the man’s words.

The ponytailed man’s gaze could only settle on Angel.

He recalled that earlier, it was Angel who had been observing him.

Angel chuckled softly: "You asked whether we’re ’also’ human, implying that you are human?"

The ponytailed man didn’t conceal and nodded: "Yes, I am human... And you should be too, right?"

If Angel weren’t human, there’d be no reason to keep staring at him.

"Yes." Angel also directly admitted: "Southern Domain Wizard?"

After confirming Angel was human, the ponytailed man didn’t show much familiarity, though his vigilant gaze eased considerably. Meeting someone of the same race in an unfamiliar world can be considered a kind of fate.

"Strictly speaking, I’m not from the Southern Domain Wizard community. But my ancestors hail from the Southern Domain." The ponytailed man said while gently pinching a badge on his uniform: "I’m from Floating City, a Blood Hunter."

Angel’s gaze also fell on that badge: a blood-stained scythe, with the backdrop being a howling wolfman in silhouette.

Angel wasn’t sure what the badge specifically signified, but judging by his words, it seemed to be a unique symbol of the Blood Hunters?

"Floating City, is it the Floating City in the Wild Realm?" Angel asked.

"Yes." The ponytailed man nodded, answering somewhat methodically.

His tone also subtly revealed his personality, which Angel guessed was on the rigid, serious side.

As for the ’Floating City’ he mentioned, it is a stronghold city established by the Southern Domain Wizards in the Wild Realm.

Angel originally didn’t know much about Floating City, having only heard some rumors in the "Plane Conquest Record," but with more interactions with Red Sword Docks, he gained a deeper understanding of Floating City.

It’s essentially the base camp for Bloodline Wizards. The majority of the Southern Domain Bloodline Wizards would go to the Wild Realm to hunt and purify bloodlines.

And the most famous event in Floating City over the past century was the declaration at McField Square, a proclamation of hatred from Blood Origin Wizards against Pureblood Wizards.

By the way, the ponytailed man referred to himself as a "Blood Hunter." The so-called "Blood Hunt" probably refers to hunting bloodlines?

"Blood Hunter, does it mean hunting bloodlines?" Angel asked the ponytailed man, following the principle of asking when uncertain.

The ponytailed man paused for a moment: "Something like that, but the hunt isn’t for the bloodlines of Magical Creatures, rather it’s for the bloodlines of sinners."

The bloodlines of sinners? What does that mean? Angel initially wanted to continue asking, but seeing the ponytailed man’s demeanor, he seemed unwilling to discuss this further.

Thinking it over, Angel didn’t press on this topic, instead, he shifted the conversation: "So, you’re a descendant of the Southern Domain Wizards, but born in the Wild Realm?"

The ponytailed man nodded: "Yes."

Angel smiled: "Then you’re considered Southern Domain Wizard too. It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m also a Wizard from the Southern Domain... My name is Angel."

"Angel?" The ponytailed man furrowed his brows: That name sounds familiar.

The ponytailed man thought about it carefully but couldn’t recall where he heard the name... Judging from his memory, if he couldn’t remember, it was probably something he overheard in passing.

Though he didn’t know who Angel was, he was certain that it wasn’t the name of someone he hunts as a sinner, thus there was no need to dwell on the identity of the other person.

The ponytailed man said, "My name is Dao Shen."

Dao Shen? Is that a name?

Angel was puzzled when the ponytailed man suddenly turned to glance at the Ersi Clan’s muscular man who had accompanied him earlier, who was now waving to him and gesturing forward persistently.

Dao Shen seemed to realize something, his gaze instantly turned cold, he spoke to Angel: "It’s nice to meet a fellow human here, though I don’t know how you entered the Mirror Domain, this place is extremely dangerous. I have important matters to attend to now, so I can’t continue chatting. However, you are likely to attend the gathering later on, right? If you need my help then, you can reach me through this."

Dao Shen quickly said this, removed his leather gloves, and gently tapped the Blood Hunter badge with his slender alabaster fingers.

Blood light surged out instantly, but soon Dao Shen contained it, eventually condensing into a red badge.

It resembled the original Blood Hunter badge, except it looked more ethereal, like a kind of illusionary product.

He handed the illusory badge to Angel, and said: "Crush it to contact me. As a fellow human, hoping you... take care."

After speaking, Dao Shen said no more, turned, and walked briskly towards the Ersi Clan.

When Dao Shen and the Ersi Clan connected, they swiftly accelerated, dashing rapidly towards the front.

In the group of races ahead, a figure in black robes seemed to sense something, crouched down, transforming into a pool of dark water that merged into the shadows, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

...

Angel hadn’t seen the black-robed figure transform into dark water within the crowd, but he could sense that Dao Shen seemed to be in pursuit of someone, in the wide corridor reminiscent of a river channel, he and the muscular man from the Ersi Clan rushed in the same direction.

Could that direction be where the person they’re chasing is?

"Blood Hunter... Hunting sinner bloodlines?" Angel muttered softly: "Could it be, he’s hunting the so-called sinners?"

Yet, in Dao Shen’s eyes, who is considered a sinner?

Angel was merely muttering to himself and didn’t expect anyone would actually answer.

But unexpectedly, Laplace, who had remained silent, provided the answer: "Blood Hunters originate in the Wild Realm. You can understand them as being an Extreme Sect of some humans in the Wild Realm."

"In their terms, sinners are those who collaborated with the Wild Realm’s Wild Gods for power—essentially the ’human traitors’ you mention."

"Of course, it’s not just these traitors; they also hunt some Half-Bloods."

Half-Bloods, are the offspring of Barbarians and humans.

The exterior of Barbarians is nearly indistinguishable from humans. Wizards have studied Barbarians and traced their ancestry, finding no relation with humans, rather more closely linked to certain void-dwelling Magical Creatures. But curiously, Barbarians aren’t reproductively isolated from humans. This is also the primary reason why the Wild Realm casts a covetous eye on the Southern Domain.

Baruba, whom Angel knows, is a mixed-blood of Barbarians and humans.

Due to Baruba’s circumstances, Angel doesn’t actually harbor much dislike towards Half-Bloods, and moreover, there’s quite a number of mixed-bloods in the Wizard Realm.

The Extreme Sect always talks about "reclaiming," but their enforcement isn’t all that stringent.

In this regard, the Extreme Sect has essentially tacitly accepted the existence of mixed-bloods to some extent.

Even the Southern Domain Wizard World has not completely eradicated mixed-bloods, so why would Blood Hunters in the Wild Realm hunt them?

Faced with Angel’s confusion, Laplace shook her head: "I don’t know, nor do I understand why they would target half-bloods. Perhaps they think half-bloods are easier for the Wild God to control?"

"However, Blood Hunters are divided into the Extremist Faction and the Conservative Faction. Extremists hunt half-bloods, while Conservatives generally do not. That Dao Shen earlier is likely a Conservative."

"How do you distinguish between Conservative and Extremist?" Angel asked in confusion.

Laplace pointed to the badge on Angel’s hand: "Generally speaking, extremists wouldn’t leave such things behind. Better yet, they wouldn’t even wear this badge."

Extremists will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. They certainly don’t wear badges openly to announce they’re Blood Hunters, nor do they wear Blood Hunter uniforms. Instead, they are like a venomous snake lurking in the shadows, lying in wait to strike when its prey is least suspecting.

Conservatives, on the other hand, adhere to their own set of principles. Similar to the Knight’s Code, they engrave in their hearts what should and should not be done.

They usually wear uniforms and badges, showcasing their identity.

Of course, they are not so rigid as to adhere to rules to the death. They also adapt to the current situation to hide their identity, but ordinarily, they act according to their principles.

Compared to the Extremists, Conservatives are actually more flexible and possess a greater sense of "justice."

"Leaving the badge with Angel upon the first meeting, it seems like he’s a good person?" Luigi muttered.

Laplace glanced at Luigi and said indifferently: "Judging good or bad simply by faction is not appropriate."

An Extremist may have a gentlemanly demeanor, while a Conservative might hide a beastly nature. Overall, Conservatives certainly have a better reputation than Extremists.

Luigi: "So do you think this Dao Shen harbors any malice toward Angel?"

Laplace did not answer directly, but softly said: "Angel should know better."

Angel has the ability to perceive emotions, which Laplace had sensed even without explicit confirmation.

Angel: "So far, there seems to be no malice towards me. But this doesn’t allow us to judge Dao Shen as good or bad... By the way, his name is quite a tongue twister."

In the Universal Language, both "Dao" and "Shen" are long words, with relatively complex syllables. Together, they’re akin to a tongue twister.

Laplace: "Most likely not his real name, Blood Hunters typically use aliases to present themselves; this might be his alias. However, I recall a Wild God in the Wild Realm is called Dao Shen..."

Laplace didn’t delve further, sensing this Dao Shen lacked any divine powers, implying no connection with the Wild God. Therefore, perhaps it’s just a coincidence in names.

Angel softly murmured "Dao Shen," memorizing the person.

Next, as Angel moved forward, he studied the badge in his hand and soon confirmed it to be an illusion.

However, it wasn’t conjured out of thin air; it had a medium. That medium was a drop of diluted blood.

The badge’s appearance was irrelevant; the key was this drop of blood.

By destroying this drop’s internal structure, it could link to a distant, identical structure.

Dao Shen stated "crushing the badge connects with it," likely referring to this internal structural sensing.

Understanding the badge’s principles, Angel didn’t delve deeper, casually storing it away.

...

Around a fifth of an hour later, they arrived at a massive crystalline cavern.

Surrounded by pink, yellow, and green crystals, paired with overhead lighting, the cavern appeared somewhat dreamlike.

However, few appreciated such a dreamlike scene.

At least, among the various races "setting up stalls" here, they completely ignored the surrounding dreamlike lights, constantly watching passing crowds for potential marks.

Indeed, in this cavern larger than New City’s square, it’s filled with mirror domain races’ small stalls.

But this isn’t the main arena for the Fortress Gathering, just a small "appetizer."

"This is the free trading zone." Luigi: "There are more than ten such zones, all surrounding the main arena of the Fortress Gathering."

"The overall species setting up stalls here aren’t particularly powerful ones... But, there are powerful individuals who lack invitations yet want to sell things."

In other words, there’s a high probability of finding good things here.

"You’re suggesting we can set up stalls here as well?" Angel asked, rubbing his chin.

Luigi: "You could... However, if you’re promoting the log-in device, there’s no need for a stall."

"Leave the log-in device promotion to Glaipnir. If you want to sell other items, then set up a stall."

"Do you have something to sell?"

Angel pondered, then shook his head: "No."

Luigi’s eyes lit up: "Then why not accompany me to find suitable music scores here?"

Angel: "..."

Luigi: "There are quite a few good things here; perhaps you’ll find something you like?"

Angel: "Even if there’s something I like, I don’t have Crystalline..."

As Angel said this, he focused on Luigi.

Luigi stepped back, waving to Angel: "I don’t have much Crystalline left, just enough to buy music scores... If you need Crystalline, once the log-in device is promoted, you won’t lack it, or you could sell something..."

"By the way, I just saw a stall selling instruments. They might have music scores; I’ll go check it out." With that, Luigi eagerly turned and left.

Luigi quickly ran off, while Angel turned to look at Laplace.

His gaze questioned: Should we stay here?

Laplace pondered, then softly said: "On the first day, the Fortress Gathering doesn’t have much to see other than the showcase area. Besides, the showcase requires all races to converge before opening."

This means, although the Fortress Gathering has shops, with the presence of showcase brochures, buying items can be done with the brochure, so in terms of liveliness, this place might be more bustling.

We can first look around here.

Meanwhile, wait for Glaipnir.

Since Laplace said so, Angel casually nodded, as he indeed felt curious about the products of various races.