Entering the Academy

"These trees are so strange!" As soon as they disembarked, everyone was stunned by the sight before them.

At a glance, it was an endless white forest. Every tree in the forest was completely white—even the low shrubs and the grass clinging to the ground were no exception. Every corner of the forest looked as though it had been soaked in white dye.

"No wonder it's called the Pale Forest. The name really is fitting," Green said flatly.

"All right, stop gawking. Everyone, follow me." Bru rapped his staff against the ground, signaling for everyone to keep up.

"Pay attention! Don't fall behind. Although most of the Demonic Beasts in the Pale Forest are regularly cleared out by the Academy's apprentices, the forest constantly emits radiant energy, which occasionally causes one or two animals to mutate. If you fall behind and run into one of those mutated animals, I'm afraid you'll enter a graveyard before you even enter the Academy."

Bru's warning worked. None of the apprentices dared look around anymore, and they stayed close within the group.

As for Green, he used his Chip to scan the forest.

Most of the trees in this forest looked no different from ordinary trees. But scattered throughout the woods were always some trees that stood out from the rest. Their trunks were twisted like braided ropes, their branches clawed wildly at the air as though trying to catch prey, and their surfaces bore all kinds of images of humans and animals. The only thing they had in common was that every figure wore an expression of agony and wailed in pain.

"Chip, scan the surrounding environment."

[Command confirmed. Scanning.]

[Unknown high-energy plant 1! Estimated radiation: 2.4 degrees per hour.]

[Unknown high-energy plant 2! Estimated radiation: 3.3 degrees per hour.]

[The forest has remained in a high-energy radiation state for an extended period. Ordinary people exposed to this environment for a short time will experience dizziness and headaches. Long-term exposure will cause irreversible genetic damage.]

Looking at the results provided by the Chip, Green frowned. This environment was far from friendly. Anyone with a slightly weaker constitution who accidentally wandered in here would probably lose their life in no time.

"But this forest is located on the outskirts of the Academy. It exists to keep ordinary people out. Anyone with even a little sense wouldn't charge into these white woods after seeing them." Green thought silently.

"But those strange-looking trees emit even more intense energy. Why is that? What caused it?" Green gazed curiously at the twisted trees with human faces.

Green quickened his pace until he reached Bru's side, then asked in a low voice, "Senior, what's the difference between those twisted trees in the Pale Forest and ordinary trees?"

Bru looked at Green in surprise. He had not expected Green to notice the problem before he had even explained it.

"These pale trees aren't as simple as they look. They eat people. If you enter the Pale Forest at night and stop beneath one of them, the trees will begin hunting. They wrap up their prey and devour it. Those extremely twisted trees are proof that they've swallowed some kind of animal or human," Bru explained.

Hearing Bru's answer, Green nodded. He had known there was something wrong with the forest, but he had not expected this. Then an excited look appeared in his eyes. Large plants similar to pitcher plants? That's worth studying.

Bru had not lowered his voice, so everyone heard his explanation. The people at the edges immediately moved inward, doing their best to avoid touching the white trees. For a moment, the entire group seemed to shrink.

The group continued deeper into the forest. The white trees grew taller and taller, and the radiation grew stronger. Green could clearly feel the temperature in the woods dropping steadily.

Green looked up at the trees overhead. A vast mass of white leaves blocked the sky. Their white surfaces reflected light excellently, and their irregular arrangement kept the road from becoming dark. "The trees' efficiency at absorbing sunlight has increased, causing the temperature inside the forest to fall!"

After another half hour or so, the trees in the forest began to gradually decrease in height. Through the gaps, Green saw a gigantic white city wall.

The trees continued to shrink until they vanished completely. A huge white city wall came into everyone's view.

As soon as they emerged from the forest, Bru said, "We're finally back. I can finally restore my youth."

Bru led everyone to the foot of the wall.

A gigantic human face appeared on the wall and said expressionlessly, "Enter the passphrase!"

Bru had clearly done this many times before. He waved his staff, and a white rune floated out of it, slowly settling onto the white face's forehead.

"Passphrase correct!" After saying this, the white face slowly vanished. In its place, an n-shaped passage appeared in the wall. The passage shimmered with white light, making it impossible to see what lay inside.

"Let's go!" Bru went first, stepping into the opening. Green, following behind him, entered without hesitation.

A jumble of sounds instantly reached them, making the place seem like a harbor. Before Green lay a vast open space. Several tents stood in the middle, with two tables set up in front of them. Many groups similar to Green's were lining up before the tents.

"All right, new students, go line up in front of those tents yourselves. They'll register your information and test your Elemental Affinity. After that, they'll assign you a teacher." Once everyone had passed through the passage, Bru turned around and shouted. He did not even check whether they had heard him clearly.

"Green, registering your information is mandatory. Go register first. I'm going back to prepare my Youth Potion. I've truly had enough of looking like this. I'll come find you later." Bru looked at Green and hurriedly gave him these instructions before immediately leaving the scene.

It seemed Bru had not deceived him. Perhaps before the accident in his experiment, he really had been handsome.

Watching Bru speed away, everyone at the scene was bewildered for a moment. Then, according to their affiliations, they went to line up before different tents.

Green looked toward the tents. After each apprentice finished registering their information, they entered a tent and were assigned to different areas. Every so often, someone would take the students from each area away.

"Elemental Affinity testing and assignments... Looks like I only need to register!" Green had no need to undergo the testing or assignment. He had already completed both.

Green casually chose a line and joined the end of it.

At the table sat an apprentice about Green's age. His hair was a tangled mess, clearly untouched for a long time. Without even raising his head, he placed his hand on a Crystal Orb. Looking closely, Green saw information flickering across its surface.

"Answer my questions truthfully. Don't even think about deceiving me. The Academy will verify your information. Hiding anything won't do you any good!" The apprentice spoke with his head lowered, never looking up.

"Name."

"Green."

"Age."

"Eighteen."

"Where are you from?"

"The Maslow Alliance."

"What rank of aptitude?"

"First-Class Aptitude."

Hearing this, the apprentice, who had kept his head lowered the entire time, could not help looking up at Green.

"Truly First-Class Aptitude?" His tone was filled with disbelief.

Green did not answer. He merely nodded.

"All right, go inside." After hearing that Green possessed First-Class Aptitude, the apprentice's voice became much gentler.

"I've already undergone the Elemental Affinity test, and I'm a Second-Class Apprentice. My Mentor is Lilian. May I ask where I should wait?"

Though Green spoke softly, his words drew the attention of the entire area.

"A Second... Second-Class Apprentice? You're not joking, are you?" The apprentice before Green abruptly rose from his seat and asked in disbelief.

The other testers also turned their gazes toward Green. To already be a Second-Class Apprentice before enrolling, combined with First-Class Aptitude at such a young age—he was practically destined to become a Formal Wizard.

Green merely smiled without speaking, but his actions had already proven his words.

Green caused a commotion at the scene. In the end, the apprentice before him assigned him a waiting area.

Even so, those testers kept glancing toward Green from time to time.