Slaughter

On the scales, Green put on the Pale Mask. As his body was squeezed as if being stretched into noodles, his vision blurred, and he appeared in an unfamiliar place.

Ugh...

He instinctively wanted to vomit. This kind of teleportation was indeed somewhat taxing for wizard apprentices who had no bloodline wizardry to strengthen their constitution.

Even so, though his head was spinning and his vision swam, Green did not relax his vigilance. Through the blur, he caught sight of two wizard apprentices confronting each other a dozen meters ahead.

"Those two marks..."

The marks on their foreheads belonged to Maze Disk Academy and Ivory Castle respectively. Neither was a wizard apprentice from Black Isotta Wizard Academy.

That said, even if they had been from Black Isotta Wizard Academy, they would still be enemies now.

If they were members of the Blood Sail Alliance, however, there might be some possibility of an alliance.

Green was wearing the Pale Mask at the moment, and the mark on his forehead was completely hidden. The two facing each other could not see the mark on Green's forehead.

But right now, the mark on Green's forehead no longer mattered. What mattered was that he was in an absolutely weakened state!

Almost without any hesitation, the two wizard apprentices who had originally been facing off both attacked Green.

One silently chanted a wizardry incantation, instantly shooting a thin, transparent wind blade toward Green, while the other wizard raised a hand, and an icicle tore through the air toward him.

With two soft pfft, pfft sounds, a transparent protective barrier in front of Green easily blocked the wind blade and icicle, without even the slightest ripple appearing.

"They didn't even reach a twenty-degree energy attack. So weak..."

Forcing down his nausea, Green murmured. These two people's attacks had actually been directly neutralized by the mask's defensive barrier, and Green had not even expended any magic power.

But in truth, this was normal.

This batch of wizard apprentices had only been new students enrolled for three years. With a mere three years of meditation, most wizard apprentices' mental strength was only between 10 and 17.

Occasionally, there were some wizard apprentices born with high mental strength and decent meditation aptitude, but even then, their mental strength rarely reached 20.

As for those who had reached 24 points of mental strength like Green, they could be counted on two hands across the entire trial ground.

And with magic power produced by 10 to 17 mental strength, even after being augmented by an elemental magic array, the energy intensity they could erupt with was only between 13 and 22 degrees. Clearly, these two people's mental strength was not high.

At this moment, the two wizard apprentices' eyes went wide as they stared at Green in horror.

The way they looked was simply as if they had seen a monster.

The wizard apprentice who had used the wind blade had every hair on his body standing on end. Almost without thinking, he turned and ran, even casting an acceleration wizardry on himself as he fled.

The other wizard apprentice was clearly a little slower to react. Amid Green's cruel, savage grin, a flying firebird nimbly flew toward this wizard apprentice.

"No!"

This wizard apprentice only had time to let out a desperate cry before the firebird burned him into a man of flame.

Because the firebird's energy attack degree was far too high—even at its strongest, the attack had already barely reached 60 degrees—this wizard apprentice did not struggle much before turning into ash.

At the same time, the chain mark on Green's forehead seemed to become a little clearer.

Ugh...

With no one to disturb him, this time Green vomited until even the sour fluid in his stomach came out, and at last he returned to normal.

"Hah... Looks like I'll have to study some wizardry to strengthen my constitution in the future."

Green panted.

"If it's bloodline wizardry, although the effects are quick, there will be some side effects. It's not conducive to concentrating a wizard's wisdom, and the body's form will also undergo certain changes. Then mechanical wizardry, potion wizardry... Mm, earth and wood elemental wizardry also have some methods that can strengthen the constitution. Right, perhaps that Life Code Forbidden Zone research is also a breakthrough."

After talking to himself for a while, Green was in no hurry to probe his surroundings. Instead, he took out his crystal ball on the spot and tried calling and contacting Fila and the others.

The trial ground was roughly more than three hundred kilometers in diameter. With the mental strength level of wizard apprentices, normal communication could be carried out within ten kilometers. If the distance was farther, then only simple communication with static was possible, and at an even greater distance, only a vague sense of direction could be perceived, until eventually nothing could be sensed at all.

After repeated failures, it was clear that none of the squad members were near Green.

Shaking his head, Green had not held much hope to begin with. After putting away the crystal ball, he looked at the map. There were no especially obvious landmarks nearby, so he casually walked in one direction.

Bzz...

Green had never been to Thorned Bramble Forest and knew nothing about some of the common knowledge of the forest. At this moment, Green walked into the territory of a swarm of killer bees. Hundreds of fist-sized killer bees came surging toward Green, covering heaven and earth.

"Mm?"

Green also realized his mistake. In Thorned Bramble Forest, wizard apprentices were not the only enemies. The dangerous creatures in the forest were likewise life-stealing hunters of wizard apprentices!

However, the defensive barrier in front of Green rippled with dense waves like raindrops. Although it looked exaggerated, Green's magic power was only being consumed bit by bit.

Because the attack intensity of these killer bees did not reach twenty degrees at all. It was only because there were too many of them that the Pale Mask could not replenish elemental energy from nature in time.

Wizards had always been creatures who fought using wisdom. Those wizards who solved problems with violence at the slightest provocation were either foolish, unless their strength had already reached the level of crushing superiority.

Green took out a small bottle from his sleeve, covered his nose, then gently twisted off the bottle's cap. Immediately, a strange smell spread through the air.

This smell could not really be called fragrant, nor could it be called stinking. If one had to compare it, it was probably the strange smell of some stinky tofu mixed with Chinese toon, milk, and lemon juice.

As this strange smell spread around Green, the killer bees that had originally been viciously attacking him immediately seemed to sense something disgusting, and one after another they left Green in distaste.

Covering his nose, Green seemed to glance unintentionally at a certain patch of grass in the distance.

Almost at the same time, the figure hiding in that patch of grass fled as if flying.

What kind of joke was this? This person had personally seen Green attacked by several hundred killer bees and emerge without a scratch. Fighting a guy who could be called a monster like this was simply enough to make one despair!

"Hmph. You've been peeping for so long, and now you think you can leave just because you want to?"

To Green, before the second secret realm opened, an ordinary wizard apprentice showing themselves before him was no different from delivering five hundred magic stones to his door.

After his nature had been tempered by the terrors aboard the sea wheel, things like sympathy had long since been cast aside by Green. Just as Lafi had once said, cruelty, coldness, and evil were the true essence of a wizard.

Green pointed one hand toward the fleeing figure, and at once, a vine coiled toward the person's feet.

This was the sorcery Green cast using the Heart of Vines earring that Lafi had just given him.

"Hmph! You think such low-grade sorcery can trap me?"

The fleeing figure gave a cold snort. Parts of their body actually began to change shape, and in an instant, their legs turned into a pair of cow hooves. The vines that had wrapped over them had only just coiled around before they were broken free from.

"Is the wizard tool's grade too low? Bloodline sorcery, hmph!"

Taking advantage of the time the other party spent freeing themselves from the vines, Green caught up. A fireball blazed fiercely at his fingertip, and he pointed at the figure, who had already entered his range. "Die."

At once, a firebird flew nimbly toward the other party.

"Impossible! Such powerful fluctuations!"

This figure was actually not as weak as the two wizard apprentices Green had met earlier. They seemed to be quite a bit stronger.

The person made a snap decision. No one knew what sorcery they cast, but with a puff, their body turned into a smear of blood and actually shot into the distance like an arrow loosed from the string.

Boom!

After the wave of fire passed, Green walked over with a somewhat gloomy expression.

However, Green seemed to suddenly discover something else. He dipped a finger into some blood on the ground and sneered. "You actually left behind bodily information. Although I only know some simple curse sorcery, then let's see whether you've cultivated a companion insect."

Muttering like this, Green silently chanted a profound incantation. The blood on his fingertip actually began to emit red smoke, and a wailing, shrieking face appeared in the air for the briefest instant.

At the same time, Green took out some mysterious sorcery materials and placed them on the ground. They faintly formed a crude altar, and in the center of the altar stood a miniature straw doll.

In the distance, the weakened figure cautiously glanced behind them. Seeing that no one had indeed chased after them, they could not help letting out a breath of relief and muttered, "My luck is truly rotten. I actually ran into a monster like that the moment I arrived at the trial grounds. I don't know which academy he's from, and I don't know whether those few fellows favored by my own academy are a match for him."

As they were muttering, suddenly, the figure felt their body turn cold. Their eyes could no longer see anything at all, as if a layer of fog had been pulled over them.

The figure said in despair, "Damn it, curse sorcery. Blindness?"

In their blindness, the figure had no idea which direction they should run and panicked helplessly.

A short while later.

Green, who had tracked them down through Hunting Nose, looked at the fellow who had already been burned to ash and said in a low voice, "You hadn't even cultivated a companion insect, yet you actually went and learned this kind of life-saving sorcery that leaves behind bodily information. Truly foolish."