Healing Ice Coffin

It was not just the playing-card guards—there were also many dolls that looked adorably cute. Most importantly, Angel discovered that the rabbit gentleman who had been reading all this time was slowly floating before him, staring at him with tiny crimson eyes.

Angel could not understand its gaze, but being stared at so fixedly made his skin crawl for no reason.

The earlier sense of cuteness was gone. Looking at everything before him, Angel felt only terror.

A playing-card guard suddenly lunged at Angel. Startled, Angel grabbed the book from the table and hurled it at the guard.

That purple-covered comic book suddenly sprouted a gaping, fang-filled bloody maw from the pattern on its cover while still in midair. In a single bite, it chewed up and swallowed the playing-card guard directly ahead. The sight left Angel stunned. While the surrounding creatures were distracted by that bloody maw, Angel abruptly broke through the encirclement and sprinted at full speed toward the hall exit.

"Hee hee hee hee, Shava, don't run. Come play with me~" A ghostly female voice sounded from behind him.

Angel heard it, but did not slow in the slightest, racing toward the next corner. He remembered that once he turned the corner, he would reach the storeroom

.

He would be safe once he reached the storeroom!—He had no idea where that thought had come from, nor whether it was correct. Angel could not tell truth from falsehood either, but this was already his only choice.

The storeroom door was close. Angel strode forward and charged into the storeroom.

Just as he crossed the threshold, a sharp pain erupted across his back, and he fell to the ground.

When he looked back, he saw a red-haired, heavily made-up woman standing outside the door. Her face was covered in dense stitches, and she wore a gorgeous, elaborate gown patterned in dark hues, with a black heart-shaped crown at the back of her head.

Angel did not know who she was, but he noticed drops of blood dripping from her blade-sharp fingernails. Combined with the searing pain in his back, Angel had no doubt that the blood was his.

Malice filled the stitched woman's eyes as she kept shrieking. Yet no matter how furiously she cursed, she did not cross the line even by a single step. It was as though the storeroom door separated two entirely different worlds.

After watching for quite some time and confirming that she truly could not enter, Angel finally let out a small breath of relief.

But after relaxing, Angel began to worry again.

Though he had escaped disaster, what was he supposed to do next?

Angel examined the storeroom again. Aside from the tables and chairs, there was only a lit candle and a red crystal ball—the Eye of Abyras, the talent sphere.

Looking at the crystal ball glowing red, Angel walked toward it as if possessed. With a trace of hesitation, he gently placed his hand upon it...

"Hahahaha! I never expected that in this remote little town, I would not only find an opportunity for advancement, but also discover a talented individual! Heaven bless Moro, heaven bless the Mone Family!" Moro's booming laughter reached Angel's ears.

After a moment of dazed disorientation, Angel found himself back in the "real world." The people around him looked at him with delight and envy, without the slightest hint of anything unusual.

Had they not noticed that I had just crossed over? Or had that not been crossing over at all, but merely the "change" that occurred when a talented individual underwent a talent test? If it really was a "change," it was far too dangerous!

Angel was still standing there in a daze, thinking over the fantastical events in that "parallel space," when he suddenly felt his palm tighten. Turning around, he saw that Leon had pinched his hand after noticing him spacing out.

"Angel, stop daydreaming. Mr. Moro is asking what your 'change' was," Leon said with a smile.

"Oh." Angel answered dully. He felt no joy at all about becoming a talented individual now, only the overwhelming exhaustion of having survived danger. "After I touched the talent sphere, I found myself floating in midair..."

Before Angel could finish, Moro interrupted him. "Floating?! That's right, that is the change! You are undoubtedly a talented individual!"

Angel had originally wanted to tell them about what he had experienced in that "parallel space," but after being interrupted by Moro, he said nothing more. Instead, he smiled politely, nodded, and returned to his place.

"Mr. Moro, since I possess talent, can I now take you as my master and learn a wizard's arts?" Although his unpleasant experience in the parallel space had abruptly changed Angel's mood, it had not affected his determination to become a wizard.

As Moro put away the talent sphere, he smiled. "I am only an apprentice myself, so I am not qualified to teach you. But my mission in coming to the Old Earth Continent this time was precisely to seek out talented individuals for the academy

. Since you possess talent and wish to pursue the path of the extraordinary, leave the Old Earth Continent with me tomorrow and study at the academy! Though White Coral Floating Island Academy is not large, it still ranks among the wizard organizations of the Southern Region. It will not disgrace a talented individual!"

After hearing Moro's words, Angel froze.

He was going to leave this place and go to the unknown White Coral Floating Island Academy?

Even though Angel had guessed as much before, he was still at a loss now.

Could his mentor's illness hold on until he returned after completing his studies?

And he had promised his brother that he would accompany him to the ceremony for inheriting his title. If he left tomorrow, when would they see each other again?

Angel's eyes dimmed slightly. He did not even notice that his thumbs and forefingers kept rubbing against one another—an unconscious habit he had whenever he was hesitant and conflicted.

Seeing Angel like this, Leon naturally could not bear it. Yet he still stepped forward, draped an arm around Angel's shoulders, and murmured into his ear, "Don't worry. Didn't Mr. Moro say it is an academy? You're only going there to study. It's just like how you go to Waterford Noble Academy for further education every spring. It will pass quickly. I'll always be waiting for you to return at the estate."

Angel said, "But..."

Angel hesitated, unable to speak. As his own brother, how could Leon not know what his younger brother was worried about?

Leon said, "You're worried about old Jon, aren't you? This time, when I go to Waterford, I'll seek out the best physicians to treat him. Even if I have to spend every last coin, I'll make sure he lives well enough to wait for you to return after completing your studies and save him."

Angel said nothing. Everyone else believed Jon's condition was merely illness, but only Angel knew that the world's consciousness was driving him away. Unless a wizard intervened, no one could save Jon.

Just as Angel was struggling with his decision, Moro, who had heard everything, spoke up.

"You cannot rest easy about your mentor?"

"Yes."

Moro did not truly understand why Angel was so attached to Jon. The man was merely his first teacher, neither the master who had taught him a profession nor a blood relative. Moro found it difficult to understand the bond of friendship between people separated by generations.

After looking deeply at Angel, Moro suddenly said, "At the Crimson Auction House, I once spent two full years of savings to bid for a magic-patterned hide scroll called the Healing Ice Coffin. Though the Healing Ice Coffin cannot cure your mentor, it can temporarily ensure that his vital signs do not fade away. However, it can only last for five years. Would you accept?"

Five years? Angel's pupils abruptly widened. A great many things could change in five years. Angel did not think he could become a wizard within five years, but as long as there was a chance, there was hope, was there not?

Angel was about to agree to Moro's offer when Leon stepped forward and bowed to Moro. "There is no giving without reason in this world. Although I do not understand the world of wizards, from what Mr. Moro has said, wizards should also be people. And as long as they are people, they cannot escape the ties of human obligation. So may I ask: what condition does Mr. Moro have for being willing to use an expensive medicine he purchased at great cost on Jon?"

Leon's words also brought Angel to his senses. Moro was merely a guide. Even if talented individuals were rare, as a guide who was himself a talented individual, he would not care that much. So then... what was Moro seeking by paying the price to provide the Healing Ice Coffin?

Moro looked Leon up and down, his expression approving. "In five years, the chance of Angel becoming a wizard is infinitely close to zero, so this Healing Ice Coffin would basically be wasted. However, I am still willing to give it to you, so long as Angel agrees to one condition of mine."