Gray Rock Plane

The blinding blue light faded, and the sensation of warped space receded like a tide.

Benjamin's feet touched solid ground. After a wave of dizziness passed, he opened his eyes.

Following the plan he had devised beforehand, Benjamin activated his Rune Artifact the instant the teleportation ended.

In the blink of an eye, three layers of differently colored shields appeared around him.

Only then did Benjamin have time to carefully examine his surroundings. The densely packed sea of people that had filled the plaza was gone, leaving nothing but desolation before him.

Benjamin stood upon a vast wasteland. Beneath his feet lay uneven gray stone, while in the distance stood an eerie forest shrouded in thick mist.

Farther away, he could vaguely make out jagged mountains resembling exposed bones.

The air was filled with scorching heat carrying the smell of sulfur, mixed with the rotting scent of unfamiliar vegetation. It struck him with a primitive, savage feeling.

"Huh?"

Benjamin voiced his surprise and immediately noticed something was wrong—the elemental power permeating this world was completely different from what he had felt at Noren Academy.

Like wild horses freed from their reins, it was exceptionally active and even carried a violent instability.

He could feel the fire elements around him burning as though they would ignite at any moment, the wind elements restlessly sweeping past his ears, and the earth elements weighing so heavily that they seemed nearly solidified.

This was absolutely not a gentle plane.

The elemental power is this violent... Energy-based spells will be vastly more destructive here, but accordingly, the demands on a wizard's mental control will rise sharply as well. A tiny mistake could cause a spell to lose control and even backlash upon its caster.

Benjamin extended a finger and tried to use his mental power to draw upon the surrounding elemental force.

Watching the gathered energy sphere rapidly swell and burst, he immediately reached a conclusion.

For me... this counts as good news?

After all, his Rune Artifacts relied on the interaction between Talisman Seal structures and environmental elements. Such a violent environment could allow his Rune Artifacts to unleash greater power.

Of course, excessively violent elemental power could very well make the Rune Artifacts more prone to damage.

But from a testing perspective, it could also indirectly verify the stability of his Rune Artifacts.

He looked around, but his view was obstructed by the rolling terrain and towering vegetation in the distance.

The roars of beasts and the beating of wings came from afar, yet no specific threat was visible.

In an unfamiliar environment like this, there's no telling where danger might emerge. Pure attack, defense, and mobility are nowhere near enough for survival in the wild. Reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance are equally important—perhaps even more so. Sensing potential threats, concealing my tracks... those are the keys to surviving in an unfamiliar environment.

Benjamin immediately recognized his shortcomings. "Not bad. Learned something new again."

Firmly committing the thought of prioritize making reconnaissance-type Rune Artifacts next time to memory, Benjamin did not rush into action. Instead, he decided to first test how his existing Rune Artifact prototypes performed on this plane.

The Defense-Type Rune Artifact had already been deployed, and its current performance seemed fairly good.

In particular, the earth-element shield had become more durable due to the elemental power here, though the other two shields seemed to have become quite unstable.

The shields can all be formed successfully. It's just that at the instant of formation, the violent elemental power causes slight fluctuations in the Rune Artifact, requiring rapid stabilization and calibration with mental power... I should mainly use the earth-element shield from now on.

Next...

With a thought, the Movement Rune Artifact disguised as a pendant at his waist gave off a faint glow.

A light, buoyant force surged forth and lifted his body.

He gave a gentle leap forward, and his whole body glided ahead as if supported by an invisible wind, moving far faster than ordinary running.

Under the influence of the Savage Wilderness Plane's violent wind elements, he seemed to be even faster than during training at the academy, though controlling it required slightly more concentrated mental power.

Finally came the Attack-Type Rune Artifact.

He casually pointed at a tall boulder in the distance, his mind stirring slightly.

A fireball the size of an adult's head appeared out of thin air. With a piercing howl, it shot toward the boulder like lightning.

Boom!

A far louder explosion than he had expected rang out. The boulder was blasted to pieces, scattering into flying fragments!

The violent fire elements were instantly triggered under the Talisman Seal's guidance. The fireball seemed more than twice as powerful as it had been on the academy training grounds.

"Wow... wonderful." Benjamin was quite satisfied with the result.

The violent elemental power of this plane had indeed greatly enhanced the offensive effects of his Rune Artifacts.

Though it might increase the difficulty of control somewhat, the benefits far outweighed the flaws.

With the tests complete, Benjamin put away his Rune Artifacts.

He had only two goals for participating in this trial.

First, thoroughly test the real combat performance of Rune Artifacts on the Savage Wilderness Plane and determine their limits, strengths, and weaknesses.

The second goal had only just been established: Benjamin intended to collect samples of materials unique to this plane.

With elemental power this violent, the materials nurtured here were bound to possess unique properties.

As for points?

Benjamin was not particularly concerned about them.

With the Level Two Training Agreement supporting him, he did not need to seize first place to prove himself. As long as his final score placed him in the top ten percent, allowing him to participate in the large-scale assessment held by Noren Workshop five years later, that would be enough.

Steadying his mind, Benjamin activated the Movement Rune Artifact and casually selected a direction in the air where the concentration of elemental power was greater, accelerating toward it.

After all, common sense dictated that the denser the elemental power, the richer the resources—and the greater the danger.

And that suited Benjamin's two objectives perfectly.

During his flight, he also encountered Wizard Apprentices in the air and on the ground who had activated Flight Spells or acceleration spells.

Most of those apprentices looked at him warily.

Clearly, many had not expected to encounter others so soon, much less someone who seemed to be moving faster than they were.

Since they had only just entered this plane, although the apprentices were conscious of the competition, the tension had not yet grown too intense. After all, no one had many points yet, and if they started fighting now, others might take advantage of the situation.

Thus, those apprentices merely gave Benjamin a distant glance before immediately changing direction and cautiously moving away from him.

Occasionally, someone would feel that they could not escape Benjamin's "pursuit." They would stop and assume a battle-ready stance.

Benjamin merely gave such people a hurried glance before controlling the Movement Rune Artifact and heading away from them as well, leaving their range of perception at even greater speed.

He did intend to test the combat power of his Rune Artifacts, but there was no need to fight humans just yet. He should first find a few living targets to test them on.