Warlock Apprentice

The clerics sounded their horns to create a rising echo in the hall, which suggested the start of the choir selection.

Group by group, potential Krakok singer ladies ascended the stage to show their voice.

The "Hymns of Fairies" was the key that activated the secret treasure, and only certain Krakoks with a special bloodline power could use this key. It had nothing to do with their voices. The point of the ceremony was to find such a key user.

To make it quicker, four singers entered the stage each time, and each of them performed one paragraph of the poem.

Every singer sounded amazing. Angor and Shadow gladly enjoyed the show just for the sake of relaxing.

"So the Hymns recorded the history of Krakoks, right?" Angor spoke to the old priest.

"Yes. Certain wordings are amended to go with the rhyme, but most of what you hear are historical facts."

"I understand the second and third parts. What does the 'warrior who found the first rose for the red queen' mean? Is it something from a thousand years ago?"

The old priest looked into the distance. "Yes, it is, young mister. The 'warrior' in the story refers to our Krakok ancestors. Embellished, of course."

Angor nodded. It was natural for history composers to "dress up" their stories with beautiful words.

"Do you know the reason why Lady Isabelle came and saved us from extinction, young mister?"

The Krakoks were natural builders, but apart from that, they were still mortal creatures with no particular powers.

"So the 'red queen'… refers to Lady Isabelle?" Angor tried.

"Correct. One thousand years ago, a real warrior among our people stumbled into a wondrous garden and helped someone in need, naming, Lady Isabelle. The warrior was my father.

"But he… perished, inside the garden. Lady Isabelle brought his remains to us and gifted us her horn. We can use this horn to summon her."

While talking about his father, the old man's eyes began to water.

Angor considered the story. So Isabelle owed a great favor to the father of Grand Priest and came to save the Krakoks when they were tortured.

She took them into Soul Genesis Garden and placed a magic array that absorbed their souls. But she spared the old priest—the son of that Krakok warrior—and gave him immortality, which kept the old man alive for a thousand years.

Angor waited for the priest to calm down and continued his questions:

"In the second part, the 'lands of serpents' means Akesolya, right?"

Shadow frowned while listening. Angor had mentioned this matter for a second time now, and he wasn't sure why Angor was interested in mortal history. It couldn't be a mere curiosity.

He didn't raise the question. He just paid more attention to Angor's conversation.

The Grand Priest was surprised by it too, but he still answered without much of a thought.

"Yes. It is called Akesolya."

"Do you know where that name came from?"

Shadow was growing more confused, while the old priest didn't seem bothered by the strange question. "You want to know about 'Akeso', no?" said the priest.

"How—yes. So it's called 'Akeso'?"

"It is correct." The old priest noticed that Angor didn't want to talk about it openly and chose to end it here.

And the abrupt stop of their discussion greatly bothered Shadow. "Hey, quit poking around. What's Akeso? What are you talking about?"

The priest only smiled.

"Do you know about Pocratee?" Angor kept asking without minding Shadow.

This one confused both the priest and Shadow.

"Pocratee… I heard it from somewhere," Shadow muttered.

And Angor wasn't expecting this. He failed to find any trace of Pocratee after searching around Water Grasse for a long time. How did Shadow know anything?

"I think Pocratee is… a city, inside Akesolya. Or something like that," Shadow said.

But the old man quickly denied it. "Pocratee is the sanctuary of healers, and it's a piece of land that's protected by Akeso."

Those words helped Angor to confirm that the giant serpent called Akeso was really protecting the last survivor of Pocratee even after the city had turned to ruins.

"Where is Pocratee?"

"I do not know," the priest answered and shook his head. "Such knowledge is only known to the royal branches of Akesolya. As a matter of fact, when our people still lived in Hippocratee, those who wished to become healers must take an oath while facing somewhere toward the southeast. They said that Pocratee was in that direction."

Southeast… Angor tried to recall his journey after getting out of the waterway. And yes, it sounded like where the hidden village lied.

Angor decided to stop asking since Shadow was giving him really curious looks now. Every time he looked away, Shadow would move in front of him as if the man wanted an answer no matter what.

Angor didn't intend to reveal Akeso's information to anyone. A wizard-level monster known by the public would probably be split into several parts by profit hunters within days. The serpent showed him the way out of the concealed village as well as presented him with many gifts. He couldn't just betray Akeso like that.

However, Shadow was smart enough to notice enough details, since Angor also asked him about the serpent's name before.

"So this serpent thing, is called Akeso?" Shadow asked.

Angor remained silent.

"And you're pretty curious about Akeso. You've seen it? Or… maybe you saw something related to it?"

Angor looked down, which gave Shadow confidence.

"I see, you know where Akeso is." Shadow grew excited. "It's still alive? A thousand years… It must be a wizard-level monster now?"

"It's not your business."

Shadow chuckled. "So, Akeso and Pocratee…"

"You better stay away from Pocratee," Angor said when he quickly read what was on Shadow's mind, "That's not something you can sniff about."

Shadow played innocent and rolled his eyes.

"I think I'll warn you, just for the sake of our covenant—step in there if you wish to die. It doesn't matter if you make it as a wizard or truth-finder hero."

Angor knew as a fact that Pocratee was far from safe, considering how the rainbow dragonflies built their nest in the middle of the place. He still didn't know why, and he wasn't strong enough to figure it out either.

"I've told you enough. Feel free to go on if you want a quick death."

Shadow was actually surprised to see Angor acting so seriously. He gave up most of his urge to explore the secret in his mind, but the tiny remains of his idea could rise again… if given the chance.

While they talked, the choir selection also proceeded according to schedule.

Several dozens of singers had finished their performance, and they still hadn't found a proper "key singer" yet.

"Why do this every year? You can't just use the same singer?" Angor frowned when he watched the singer group getting smaller. According to the old priest, about 3% of their female members possessed the required power. That was quite a lot, considering the population of Krakoks.

But it seemed as if their selection was going to fail at this rate.

"No. The bloodline power can only be used once. After each ceremony, we must choose a new singer."

"Once? What will happen to the singer when she uses the power?"

"Nothing in particular. In fact, she will gain fame and wealth for joining the Sky Choir."

A new group of singers had come onto the stage when Angor quickly noticed someone familiar among them.

Papaya from Seedling Village.