As this magic pattern was completed, a dense sinister aura spread through the surroundings.
Mandhela inhaled deeply, feeling her Soul Body rejoice: "This is an aura that nurtures dead souls; do you plan to nurture them here?"
Angel: "You’ll see soon enough."
Angel then performed some operations that Mandhela couldn’t understand, and soon, the sinister aura began subtly changing, shedding death’s scent, gaining a purity and cleansing feel, becoming more serene and peaceful. While still able to nurture dead souls, its versatility widened, now providing tranquility even to life."
"What is this?"
"Deathly Stillness Magic Pattern." Angel: "A magic pattern that nurtures dead souls. However, I’ve slightly modified it, borrowing your energy. Your energy attribute is very special, although it reeks of death, it carries a flavor of rebirth."
"Sure enough, with slight modification and filtering, it transforms into a new effect."
Mandhela couldn’t understand Angel’s explanation, only sensing it sounded lofty and impressive, though she was clueless. Curiously, she wondered what effect this modified magic pattern had.
"What effect? Can’t you feel it?"
Angel glanced strangely at Mandhela, then took out a slightly wilted apple from his bracelet. — He had no idea when this apple ended up in his bracelet, but judging by the bite marks on it, it was probably left by Toby during one of his snacking sessions in the bracelet.
Angel casually tossed the apple, and it landed in the corner of the wall.
Then he pointed at the apple and said, "Can you sense it now?"
Mandhela sensed for a moment, then turned back and stayed silent for a while, "Is this... food preservation?"
Angel nodded, "How is it, not bad, right?"
Before Mandhela could reply, Angel continued to inscribe other magical energy arrays, while also proudly saying, "This was inspired by the ’Dance of Metal’ magazine, which has a lot of alchemy tips for daily use. Though they are quite complicated, I tweaked them a bit, and the effect is quite impressive."
Mandhela felt like retorting, did you use my energy just for food preservation?
But thinking about it, she wanted to purge that energy anyway, so preservation it is. But, why inscribe preservation magic patterns here?
"Isn’t it because you didn’t kill the Princess? To avoid turmoil in Princess Town causing harm to our people, I’m planning to modify this secret room into a long-term residence with protection, concealment, and anti-detection capabilities."
"Since it’s for long-term staying, we should consider the quality of life," Angel chuckled, "This line is also from ’Dance of Metal.’
Mandhela: "... What kind of dubious magazine is that."
"Dubious? I find it quite interesting."
Mandhela let out a long breath, "But, you wizards eat like normal people every day?"
Angel paused.
Eh?! It actually makes sense!
The hunger resistance of a Level 1 apprentice is already strong, Level 2 and Level 3 apprentices even stronger. As for official wizards, as long as energy continues to nourish the bloodline, they can go without food without any problem.
"Moreover, when I went to the Rosewater Pavilion with Tullas, the chef Asaz mentioned that generally, when apprentices travel, they first learn magic bread. Once they master this culinary trick, even a Level 1 apprentice won’t go hungry."
Originally, Angel felt like arrows were piercing him, and when Mandhela mentioned magic bread, another arrow hit his chest.
"So, why do all this unnecessary work?"
Faced with Mandhela’s inquiry, the air suddenly became silent.
After a long silence, Angel slowly said, "The magical energy array is a whole, needing the cooperation of various magic patterns inside, and among them, there can be compatibility or incompatibility. The current magic pattern is very compatible with the whole array, so I inscribed it for this reason."
"Really?" Mandhela squinted in doubt.
"Of course. Besides, this magic pattern also has the effect of nourishing the soul. Why are you focusing on the trivial preservation effect?"
Mandhela: "..." Wasn’t it you who mentioned it first?
Angel: "Forget it, you don’t understand magical energy arrays, I don’t blame you. Compared to these trivial matters, you actually want to ask about Tullas’ response more, right?"
Anyone could see Angel was changing the subject, quite awkwardly, but Mandhela took the bait without hesitation.
All her mind and attention focused entirely on Angel.
Angel gave Mandhela a moment to prepare, and then cautiously chose his words, "You are the one who’s spent the most time with Tullas. You should know him well."
"Before I talk about his reaction, I want to know, with your understanding of him, what do you think his reaction to your departure will be?"
Mandhela was silent for a moment, "Probably no reaction."
Angel: "Correct."
Mandhela didn’t feel any joy at getting it right, instead, her expression instantly fell.
Angel raised his eyebrow, "Isn’t this what you said yourself? You already guessed his reaction."
Mandhela lowered her head, "I thought there might be a surprise."
"If life were full of surprises, how would anything serious ever get done?" Angel said, "Besides, don’t you think, considering you’ve been gone for half a day only? What reaction do you expect? That he would anxiously search everywhere, or cry while shouting, ’Where are you?’"
"Put yourself in his shoes, if you were gone from your relatives for half a day, would you think they’d have any reaction?"
"I don’t have any relatives," Mandhela’s eyes glinted with a hint of darkness.
"If you don’t, then just imagine, is half a day really that long?"
Mandhela stayed silent for a moment, also feeling that Angel seemed to make sense, she had only left for half a day, expecting Tullas to have a reaction to her leaving was really a bit demanding.
"Then if I don’t log in for a few days, by that time, will I..."
"No." Angel rejected without hesitation, "I’m very busy right now, not only do I have to help you handle the aftermath at Princess Castle, but I also have a task to go to Sandworm Market, where’s the time to play these games with you. This time, I needed your help, so I made a deal with you. But, there won’t be a next time."
After a long pause, Mandhela: "Alright, I’ll go see for myself."
After saying that, Mandhela seemed still a bit unwilling, she continued to probe, "So... did Tullas not mention me at all?"
Angel thought for a moment, "Not exactly, I told him you might not be able to log in for a few days."
Mandhela’s eyes lit up, "So how did he respond?"
Angel: "He said he knew. Then he just said he wanted to return to Originheart City, so I sent him off."
Angel originally intended to embellish Tullas’ response, but since Mandhela had earlier hit him with two arrows, Angel skipped embellishment and just delivered Tullas’ direct words to Mandhela.
Angel thought Mandhela would be heartbroken by this, but unexpectedly, Mandhela seemed quite delighted.
While Angel was puzzled, he heard Mandhela mutter softly to herself, "As soon as I left, he went back to Originheart City. Sure enough, without me, he feels bored. Only when I’m by his side does he not feel lonely."
Listening to these increasingly outrageous words, Angel’s expression turned extremely subtle.
He originally thought Mandhela might be hurt mentally, but to his surprise, she had concocted such a narrative in her mind.
And, it kind of makes sense.
But the real situation, Angel knew, Tullas never thought of Mandhela.
Should he tell her the truth?
Looking at Mandhela immersed in her own thoughts, with her lips slightly curled, and a faintly joyous aura surrounding her... after pondering, he decided not to shatter her dream.
Anyone else could be different, but Mandhela’s case was special.
For her, having some fantasy is better than despair.
Besides, the fantasy wasn’t entirely impossible to come true.