Chapter 2751: Chapter 2752: The Tap Dance of the Black-Faced Sheep
"What do you think of this Shepherd?" Dox looked at Angel.
Angel blurted out without hesitation, "An interesting person."
Dox raised an eyebrow, "Interesting? Just interesting?"
Angel pondered for a moment and said, "Also a person with a story."
Dox chuckled, "Who here doesnât have a story?"
This time, Angel was silent for a bit longer, "Then heâs a person who is both interesting and has a story, but also hides some secrets."
Dox still seemed unsatisfied, muttering, who here has no secrets?
Facing someone who was never satisfied with any answer, Angel chose silence and to turn a blind eye.
Actually, Angelâs first answer already encompassed all of his views on the Shepherd: an interesting person.
From the beginning, Angel had noticed the Shepherd. Among the group of apprentices opposite, the Shepherd was the one Angel was most concerned with.
The reason wasnât the vague title of "Rhythm Apprentice," but because while his peers were filled with urgency, caution, and panic, his demeanor was remarkably calm, out of place with the others.
His calmness was not a facade, nor was it forced composure. It was different even from Grey Merchantâs calmness. His calm had more of a serene, leisurely, and relaxed quality.
How leisurely was he? Earlier, he leaned against a black-faced sheep, closed his eyes, and rested, really sleeping.
In such an environment, to maintain such a relaxed attitude was truly odd.
Perhaps he was very confident in his own strength and indifferent to the joys and sorrows of the world?
Letâs not mention whether the Shepherd is really powerful, even if he hides his strength; under the dual pressure of the Wise Sovereign and the Black Earl, believing oneâs own strength makes outer joys and sorrows indifferent is only possible for a wizard beyond Legend. Yet currently, in the Southern Domain, thereâs no Legendary Wizard besides the Observer.
Or perhaps heâs aware of his future and doesnât care about anything external?
This premise is: heâs a Prophet Wizard, or has received some prophecy and revelation. Such a "Prophet" has a very typical trait of being emotionally indifferent, tending to observe coldly. Although the Shepherdâs emotions are calm, heâs not to the extent of cold observation; he does still have the joy and sentiment that a "Prophet" would lack.
Or perhaps itâs just his nature, indifferent to external matters?
This is hard to verify, as personality is excessively idealistic. But for now, the Shepherd does have a gentle nature, or perhaps... easy-going? But even such a nature is not enough for him to face the current situation and remain so composed.
Ruling out all the above possibilities, Angel still couldnât see the reason for the Shepherdâs composure.
This is why Angel said, "Heâs a person with secrets."
As for what secrets heâs hiding? The battle is not over yet, and if he truly has secrets and those secrets support him far beyond his own strength, they will eventually be revealed in the upcoming battle.
...
On the arena, the wind continued to blow, and with the Shepherdâs flute, the wind on the field changed subtly.
As the melody was long and graceful, the wind gently bound Kaierâs limbs without leaving traces.
When the tune was somber, the surrounding wind turned into numerous wind blades that, like homing birds, wouldnât disperse without hitting Kaier.
This caused the wind blades to appear like green petals, swirling around Kaier incessantly.
As the melody climbed, the heaviness of the wind became more pronounced, not only stifling Kaier but also sealing off the magic power around him, making it difficult for him to mobilize any magic power, forcing him into continuous internal consumption.
This internal drain could be handled short-term as long as the Magical Core didnât deplete, but sustaining over time would be much harder.
Yet, this was just the Shepherdâs wind manipulation. He himself hadnât moved, standing suspended in mid-air, eyes closed, playing the flute.
Kaier knew he couldnât drag it out any longer. The current wind was only "first sight." Judging by the Shepherdâs flute, the melody hadnât yet reached its climax. When the true climax hit, Kaier might find it hard to even stand firm in the arena.
Thus, he needed to quickly deal with the Shepherd... at least interrupt his flute playing.
If according to Kaierâs own strategy, he initially planned to use a space rift to flood the surrounding wind into the void.
But after simulating the battle in his mind, Kaier abandoned that plan.
The Space Series is very special on the Mysterious Side; both tricks and spell techniques have higher backlash probabilities compared to other series, and once backlash occurs, the damage exceeds other types of backlash substantially.
This also means those using Space Series techniques always focus their attention, avoiding the slightest distraction.
Now, the wind was raging all around with no time to focus intently on the spell, very likely causing a backlash mid-spell due to the hurricanes, ultimately leading to defeat.
Therefore, he opted to abandon the "floodgate" method using space rifts.
Since his strategy couldnât take shape, Kaier didnât struggle more and directly summoned the Alchemy Golem in front of him, using the means Angel had provided to fight this duel.
The Alchemy Golemâs body radiated a dazzling metallic sheen, particularly its face, seemingly painted, enhancing the metallic reflectiveness. Its face had been inscribed by its creator with an eerie clown smile, giving a strange and mocking aura whenever it acted.
The Shepherd didnât pay any mind to the Alchemy Golemâs appearance; he seemed lost in his performance.
Not until the Shepherd played halfway, noticing the thinning of the surrounding wind, did he open his eyes, puzzled.
Upon opening his eyes, he was met with a large metal fist.
Startled, the Shepherd quickly swiped the flute to deflect the hand in front of him, then released a wind vortex from one end of the flute. The vortexâs recoil quickly sent the Shepherd retreating.
In this brief contact, neither side was injured, but the Shepherdâs playing was interrupted.
As the Shepherdâs playing stopped, the surrounding wind grew sparse, and the heavy wind that had been binding Kaier gradually dissipated.
The battle seemed to return to its starting point.
"The wind has disappeared?" the Shepherd murmured, "No, the hymn in the wind hasnât vanished. The wind hasnât disappeared, itâs been transmuted."
Previously engrossed in playing, he hadnât noticed the changing winds outside. Now he finally realized that the surrounding wind hadnât disappeared but had "betrayed," as he termed it "transmutation." The total amount of Windâs Force hadnât changed; the reason it felt weaker was that the wind was being transmuted away by the opponent.
Thus, the hymn was still there, and the wind was still there, but the battle had undergone a seismic shift.
The wind he controlled had been transmuted. This was the first time the Shepherd encountered such a situation in battle.
Generally, strong wind can only transmute weak wind.
The difference in the strength of the wind here lies in the strength of the person controlling it.
The earlier wind transmutation indicated that the Shepherd was at a disadvantage in the windâs power contest.
This is very strange.
The Traveler opposite is a Space Apprentice, so to deal with the Windâs Force, he would generally devour it or banish it to the void.
But he didnât use the Power of Space and instead used the Windâs Force to fight head-on?
And he actually won in the end? How did he do it?
...
The changes on the field were also noticed by the spectators.
"The wind was transmuted? Could it be that the Traveler cross-trained in the Windâs Force?" Fen Mo asked with some doubt.
Neither the Evil Woman nor the Gray Merchant answered her question, as they were fully focused on the arena. Instead, the defeated Ghost Shadow beside her said, "Even if he cross-trained in the Windâs Force, could he be stronger than the Shepherd who specializes in the wind?"
"Then if itâs not cross-training, what could it be?" Fen Mo also didnât believe that the Traveler could defeat the Shepherd in a wind duel. Even among the wind apprentices, very few can defeat the Shepherd, who is, after all, a âRhythm Apprenticeâ of the wind!
But it was difficult to falsify the duel on the arena; the Traveler indeed transmuted the Shepherdâs âweak windâ into a strong one, which means the Traveler is superior in the Windâs Force!
Fen Mo speculated again: "Could it be that the Traveler has dual affinity?"
Dual affinity is not that rare, but generally speaking, during the apprenticeship, one wouldnât divide their attention to train in multiple affinities due to limited longevity and time. When one becomes an Official Wizard and lifespan increases significantly, only then is there time for multi-affinity training.
Therefore, even though Fen Mo speculated that the Traveler has dual affinity, her words were still filled with doubt.
Ghost Shadow: "Even if itâs dual affinity, how strong do you think the Travelerâs Windâs Force needs to be to transmute the Shepherdâs wind?"
Before Fen Mo could answer, Ghost Shadow provided an answer: "At least he would need to become a âSequence Apprenticeâ to steadily transmute the Shepherdâs wind."
"And how many in the wind series can become Sequence Apprentices? Among them, none fit the Travelerâs traits."
Rhythm, Sequence, Metamorphosis, Leap Transition, Samsara, these are the extremes desired by Elemental Wizards in single affinity.
Though there are Rhythm Apprentices in various series, the true extremity at the apprentice stage is not the Rhythm of Wind but rather the Rhythm of Water.
In wind, the ultimate form is the Wind Sequence, and at the apprentice stage, this corresponds to what is known as a Sequence Apprentice.
Whether Rhythm Apprentices or Sequence Apprentices, itâs not that they have mastered rhythm and sequence; theyâve only begun to glimpse a hint of the true path.
To truly understand and embark on this path of extreme pursuit, one must at least become an Official Wizard.
Still, to glimpse even a hint of the true path at the apprentice stage is enough to indicate great potential.
In the Southern Domain Wizard World, apprentices who glimpse the true path are rarely unknown figures. Even if the apprentice is very low-key, Wizards capable of teaching such apprentices wouldnât help conceal them, as this is a chance to prove their teaching prowess.
The existence of the Tea Party also makes it difficult for these potential apprentices to hide their identities.
Thus, even though Ghost Shadow mentioned a "Sequence Apprentice," he didnât believe the Traveler was one.
Yet if heâs not a Sequence Apprentice, how did the Traveler achieve wind transmutation?
As Ghost Shadow and Fen Mo pondered, the Shepherd on the arena provided a new direction for speculation.
"Is it this?" the Shepherd pointed at the Alchemy Golem: "Can it transmute the wind?"
Kaier remained silent.
The Shepherd didnât mind, chuckling, "Since you donât want to answer, Iâll experiment myself."
At the end of his words, the Shepherd played his flute, not a simple tune but a crisp shepherdâs melody.
With a Yordle flavor, the melody finished, and four black-faced sheep emerged in neat left-right, left-right steps, walking out from behind the Shepherd.
It was as if a large door behind the Shepherd had summoned these adorable lambs from a lush prairie to the arena platform.
With the entrance of four black-faced sheep, the originally serious scene took an abrupt turn.
The four black-faced sheep ignored the Shepherdâs calls, bleating and circling him in unified steps, akin to tap dancing.
The Shepherd, usually serious, became awkward due to the four unruly black-faced sheep.
Most embarrassing of all was the Alchemy Golem opposite him, still with a "Joker face."
The arena, with the bleating and self-directed tap dancing of the black-faced sheep, seemed to transform into a circus performance.
"Black One, Black Two, Black Three, Baby, if you donât stop, you wonât get to eat Windmill Grass for a month." The Shepherdâs calm demeanor was broken by the four black-faced sheep.
Fortunately, the four black-faced sheep seemed to care about their feed. When the Shepherd threatened with food, they immediately behaved obediently.
The Shepherd coughed and thanked Kaier for not attacking during his awkward moment.
Then, the battle began dramatically once more.
However, this time, the Shepherd did not play the flute but moved along with the rhythms of the black-faced sheep on the platform.
Meanwhile, with every tap from the black-faced sheep, a wisp of breeze was generated, swirling around them and ultimately forming a vortex-like presence.
The black-faced sheep turned into wind vortices, jumping and galloping on the arena, consuming every obstacle Kaier created by absorbing them into wind remnants.
Even the space rifts didnât faze the black-faced sheep; they leaped through the fissures, losing only a little wind and no other damage, while the lost wind was replenished with successive taps.
They resembled perpetual machines, chasing... the Alchemy Golem.
Yes, the Alchemy Golem.
They completely ignored Kaier... perhaps as per the Shepherdâs command.
But Kaier wasnât free from danger, as the black-faced sheep chased the Alchemy Golem, and the Shepherd began to attack him as he roamed the arena.
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