Dangerous Mission

While Green was preparing, Lilian suddenly summoned him. She urged him to be as careful as possible during the Pale Forest cleanup, to prepare thoroughly, and not to get hurt. She brought it up again and again, hinting at every turn that this year's trial seemed different from those before it.

Lilian's unusual warning put Green on guard. He plunged into the Potion Laboratory to prepare more trump cards.

The Academy's Mission Zone.

Apprentices in all manner of attire came and went. Most wore armor rather than gray robes.

Most apprentices were smiling as they discussed their missions with the people beside them. A few, however, wore grim expressions and carried the stench of blood and slaughter. Their wounds told anyone who looked at them how brutal their battles had been.

A huge screen of light stood in the middle of the Mission Zone, crowded with missions. Apprentices stood before it, choosing tasks that suited them.

The missions on the screen were colored red, yellow, or green according to their danger. The red lettering looked threatening at a glance, warning apprentices not to overestimate themselves. Yet the generous rewards still tempted many to brave the danger. Teams of apprentices could often be seen taking red missions.

This was Green's first visit to the Mission Zone, and he was curious about it. His tutoring classes earned Magic Stones at a furious pace, leaving him with little financial pressure. He rarely came here because every mission carried some risk, and bad luck could bring an accident.

The Mission Zone was especially lively today. Following the Academy's notice, the vast majority of the new students had gathered here. Most had not yet reached the standard of a Third-Class Apprentice, with only a handful who had done so scattered among them. They had enrolled just three months ago, after all.

Green wore light armor, a satchel hanging from his left shoulder and a Longsword at his right hip. He held another Longsword and carried a large pack on his back. Fully equipped, he drew quite a few looks.

Time passed. As everyone began discussing the Pale Forest, their attention drifted away from Green. He quietly retreated to the edge of the crowd, trying not to attract notice.

Soon, all the new students had gathered. The group mission the apprentices called the Pale Forest Trial was about to begin.

"This year, 2,575 Wizard Apprentices from White House Academy will take part in the Pale Forest cleanup assessment, including 725 new students. Under the rules, apprentices may form teams of three to five or undertake the trial alone. All apprentices must enter the Pale Forest and survive there. They may return to the Academy after one month, at which point they must submit ten Demonic Beast Cores or be expelled. To accommodate new students, those who do not join a team need not submit any cores; they need only return to the Academy after one month to pass. For teams with new students, the number of cores required from each other apprentice is reduced to seven, but each new student must submit three Demonic Beast Cores."

A White-Robed Wizard appeared beneath the screen and shouted out the requirements for the Pale Forest cleanup assessment, using some kind of voice-amplifying sorcery.

"What? Expelled?"

"Why is the punishment so harsh? It wasn't like this before!"

"We're done for! I didn't prepare!"

"I'm a new student. Does anyone want to team up with me?"

The White-Robed Wizard's words sent the entire Mission Zone into an uproar. It was not as though the apprentices knew nothing about the cleanup. In previous years, the Academy had rarely punished those who failed. The sudden penalty caught many of them completely off guard.

Only a few apprentices let out long breaths of relief. Judging by their bags, packed to bursting, they had probably prepared in advance.

The scene grew chaotic. New students had clearly become hot commodities, and teams offered all sorts of incentives to lure them in. But the new students were not easily fooled. Joining a team meant taking on the burden of collecting three Demonic Beast Cores, and many considered the consequences carefully.

To Green, though, teaming up made little difference. Surviving alone in the Pale Forest would be no easier than doing so with a team. The forest's trees devoured creatures that strayed from a group, after all.

"Fail the mission and the Academy expels you! That's a harsh punishment!" The severity of it made Green smell the bloodshed to come in this trial. To stay at the Academy, apprentices would stop at nothing to obtain Demonic Beast Cores. As time passed, those without enough cores would surely rob other apprentices.

"The training has turned more brutal and bloody, but they've left a little room to maneuver. Is something about to happen?" The Academy's change in approach gave Green the sense of a storm gathering.

The Academy is firmly aligned with the White Wizard Organization. A change this drastic must mean something major is about to happen.

"Chip, analyze the reason using the Academy's history!"

[Analyzing...]

[Result: Every change to White House Academy's training methods has accompanied a war with the Black Wizards.]

[Analysis: A large Magic Stone Mine is suspected to have been discovered in the Kroensa Mountains. The news has not been confirmed, but both sides are already preparing to fight for it.]

"What kind of luck do I have? Wherever I go, there's a war!" Green barely had the energy to complain. Just months after he arrived in this world, the Saladin Kingdom invaded the Lodin Kingdom and forced him to flee. Three months after he reached White House Academy, he found himself facing a battle over a Magic Stone Mine.

After grumbling about his luck, Green began looking for Bru's team.

"Bru, has that Green you mentioned arrived?" A burly, bald man covered in runic tattoos looked at Bru anxiously.

He had every reason to worry. At first, he had thought the Academy would handle things as usual, and that the Pale Forest cleanup was just an ordinary mission. Instead, the Academy had blindsided its students. The nature of the mission had changed completely.

According to Bru, Green was already a Second-Class Apprentice and a Grand Knight, making him a match for a First-Class Apprentice. He would not hold the team back; he would strengthen it. On top of that, he was a new student, so his presence would make their mission easier. He was the perfect teammate.

"Don't worry. Green won't break his word. Let me keep looking!" Bru was anxious too, and his gaze swept the crowd. Teaming up offered Green no benefit, after all. It would be perfectly understandable if he chose not to.

"Bru, sorry I'm a little late!" As Bru scanned the crowd for Green, a voice suddenly sounded beside him.