Flunza saw the unconcealed hint of greed from Jebra’s eyes.
“Are you sure you can waste him without leaving loose ends? I can only provide limited help from afar, you mostly have to depend on yourself.”
Jebra frowned and weighed the situation.
“I don’t know, sir.”
“Then trust me, you’ll fail. From what I’ve heard, both Angor and that bird of his have grasped the sequence of gravity. If he insists on escaping, I’m afraid even wizards won’t be able to catch him easily. Let’s see… There’s no point turning him into our enemy for the moment. You just proceed as how you have been doing until now, and while at it, try to obtain that item. Of course, if you see a chance to take it forcefully, don’t hesitate to use it.”
“Um, I still have to follow him around, professor? As I said, he can’t possibly be—”
“The incident at Silver Palm Isle has not come to an end yet,” Flunza interrupted Jebra’s explanation. “Emmagan has figured out our plan to expel his foreign plane invaders from the organization, and he absolutely will prevent us from getting that Mystery item by all means. You’ll be in great trouble if you return to Song of the Deep at such a moment.”
Jebra nodded in acknowledgment. The spies back at Song of the Deep, who were led by Emmagan, always wanted him dead because of his great potential and likelihood of becoming a truth-finder, by which time he and his professor would be a giant threat to them. If they saw a chance to eliminate such a threat in the making, they’d do it.
“If that’s the case, I’ll just find somewhere safe and do my research, or travel to another plane. Why must I stick with Angor?” Jebra protested.
“Heh.” Flunza gave Jebra a side-glance. “Let me see… you just earned a great leap in strength, which saved you two or three years of training effort. Are you sure sticking with Angor is such a bad choice?”
Jebra stuttered but couldn’t find the right words to deny this time. Flunza was right.
“Do you know where he’s going next?” asked Flunza.
“He’s on a recruiting mission, sir. If nothing goes wrong, he’s heading to the Land of Revelation to look for more talents. Other than that, I think he’ll ultimately visit his home, as told by the thugs of Centipede Guild.”
“I see… Jebra, if you do not wish to keep following him, you can stay at the Land of Revelation or hide in one of the mortal nations nearby. But make sure you stay near the sea. Emmagan will not go and track you down personally, but he’s very likely to send someone after you.”
Similar to Angor, Jebra could easily run away from any threats by diving into the seawater, so he should remain near coastal areas.
Jebra was more than delighted to hear a second option. Even though he was glad to receive the unexpected “gift” from Angor’s music box, he still preferred to live a free life than being a constant stalker.
“Understood. By the way, can you tell me what that item can do, professor?”
Flunza shook his head. “I do not know. Telling from what the mermaid said, the music box can help her improve her water-based abilities. But there was something else I sensed earlier hidden in the item. I believe that ‘moan’ you mentioned has something to do about it.
“If I’m not mistaken, that voice was the manifestation of the will of the sea. Anything that contains such ‘willpower’ should be an extremely precious asset valuable to all. And just like I mentioned, that music box is very likely to be a tactical alchemy tool. Claiming it will undeniably benefit us greatly.”
“If I can’t take it by violence, how do we negotiate with him? I don’t think he’ll just sell it to us normally. Besides, he’ll know I’ve been on his tail if I mention this matter upfront.”
“That’s quite easy. You cause a little trouble to him, then you’ll find a chance in the coming mess.”
“Uh, trouble?”
“His name became famous once again when another rumored music box was sold at an insane price at Remnant Auction. But the other incidents around the world are slowly taking over people’s attention. Let’s say, we shall do something to bring him back under the spotlight again.”
“You mean—”
“Send that record to several magazine editors in the southern region. It won’t be long before everyone knows about Angor’s new alchemy creation, and they WILL talk to him about it. When that happens, he probably won’t mind another visitor, naming, you.”
“But sir… aren’t those people going to buy that music box ahead of us?”
“Not many people in this world can afford a high-tier item, and those who pay the money will not easily make the decision before learning the exact nature of the music box. They need time.”
“I see. But will Angor agree to sell it to us at all?”
“Everything has a price. We just need to offer something good enough to entice him. As I know, there aren’t many sea manipulators in Brute Cavern, which meant the music box is of little use to him. I’d say we have a good chance of persuading him.”
With their plan settled, Jebra immediately went toward Angor’s direction again. As he agreed with Flunza, he had to let Angor know that he would like to buy the music box before Angor returned to Fey Continent so that he had fewer competitors.
Behind Jebra, a strange bubble that contained the “evidence” he recorded earlier began moving toward another direction.
…
Angor left the illusion created by Ocean Tuner at night.
He spent two days re-experiencing the illusion for many times and kept dying inside, until just now, when his last attempt, fortunately, dropped him somewhere close to the “goddess” at the very beginning.
And once again, he was greatly shocked by the beatitude and elegance radiating from her form.
After leaving the illusion, he thought he’d remember what he saw in the end for the rest of his life. However… when he tried to recall the face of the goddess, he felt his memory suddenly snapped to a stop.
He still had the impression that the goddess was beyond beautiful, yet no matter how he tried, he couldn’t remember her face as if something censored her face in his mind.
“Maybe it’s the same case as before, that I’m not allowed to look upon her directly?” He left his theory in his notebook.
Due to his strange mental state when crafting the music box, he still had many questions regarding the illusion waiting to be solved.
A moment later, Tulu stumbled to the floor of the boat as he also left the illusion.
When testing his music box, Angor intentionally expanded the area of effect to cover up Tulu as well, both to give him a taste of supernatural tricks as early education and to reward him for diligently driving the boat.
However, Tulu didn’t seem to enjoy it very well.
“I-I was dead again, sir.”
“As expected. You will get used to it,” Angor replied nonchalantly.
“But I don’t think my heart can take it!” Tulu protested. “Mister Padt, can you make the illusion smaller so that it doesn’t drag me in next time?”
“Trust me, you’re going to regret it later.” Angor gave him a meaningful stare.
“No, I’ll not!”
Angor chuckled and complied.
He then spent another two days to go over the illusion of the Ocean Tuner, all by himself. And by the evening of the second day, he finally comprehended the general effect of the illusion.
As he wrote down several discoveries related to water-based skill improvement, Tulu suddenly crept closer with a cunning smile.
“Hey, Mister Padt, can I go with you into the illusion next time?”
“Changed your mind so soon?”
Tulu scratched his head in embarrassment and raised a hand. He then took a moment to painfully gather strength, before some faint vapor came swirling around his fingers.
“I think I know how to control water now, Mister Padt.” Tulu smiled brightly. “It must be that illusion that helped me, right?”
Angor slowly nodded, amazed.
He totally wasn’t expecting Tulu, who had only partially studied a channeling method and had yet to be considered a fresh apprentice, to learn about wielding the water element so early.
“So people with the right talent may receive the boost even faster…” Angor left another entry in his notebook.
As for Tulu, he was truly upset about what he said in all seriousness two days ago.
“I’m done with the initial experiment. I’m not going to activate the illusion any time soon,” Angor said as he put the Ocean Tuner into his bracelet, much to Tulu’s disappointment.
Of course, he didn’t do this just to annoy Tulu. He did need to do something else next, which was to see how fast he could study water-based cantrips after experiencing the illusion for so many times.
