Dangerous Mission

While Green was making preparations, Lilian suddenly called him over and specially reminded 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; between the lines, she seemed to be warning Green that this year's trial was different from previous ones.

Lilian's unusual reminders put Green on guard. He buried himself in the potion laboratory, intending to prepare more trump cards.

The academy's mission area.

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

Most apprentices had smiles on their faces as they discussed their missions with those beside them. A very small number, however, looked gloomy, carrying an aura of slaughter and bloodshed. The wounds on their bodies told outsiders of the brutal battles they had endured.

At the center of the mission area stood a massive light screen, densely packed with missions. Some apprentices were standing before it, selecting missions suitable for themselves.

The missions on the light screen were categorized by danger level into red, yellow, and green. The red lettering immediately gave off a dangerous feeling, warning apprentices not to overestimate themselves. Yet the generous rewards still drove many apprentices to take risks, and red missions were often claimed by teams of apprentices.

This was also Green's first time in the mission area, and he was quite curious about the scene. His tutoring classes earned Magic Stones at a frantic rate, so he was under almost no financial pressure and rarely came here. After all, every mission carried a certain degree of risk. With bad luck, accidents could happen.

The mission area was especially lively today. Following the academy's notice, the vast majority of freshmen had gathered here. Most of the freshmen had not yet reached the standard of Third-Class Apprentice; only a very small number of Third-Class Apprentices were mixed among them. After all, they had only been enrolled for three months. The time was simply too short.

Green wore light armor, with a satchel hanging from his left shoulder, a longsword at his right hip, another longsword in his hand, and a large pack on his back. He looked fully armed, drawing quite a few glances.

Time slowly passed. Everyone began discussing the Pale Forest, and their attention no longer remained focused on Green. Green quietly retreated to the edge, trying not to attract attention.

Before long, all the freshmen had gathered here. The group mission known among apprentices as the Pale Forest trial was about to begin.

"White House Academy has a total of 2,575 Wizard Apprentices participating in this Pale Forest cleanup assessment, including 725 freshmen. According to the rules, apprentices may form teams of three to five on their own, or undergo the trial alone. All apprentices must enter the Pale Forest and survive there. They may return to the academy only after one month. Upon returning, they must submit the cores of ten magical creatures, or they will be expelled from the academy. Of course, to accommodate freshmen, freshmen who do not form teams need not submit any magical creature cores; they only need to return after one month to pass. Freshmen who form teams can reduce the number of magical creature cores each apprentice in the team must provide to seven, but the freshmen themselves must still submit three magical creature cores."

A White-Robed Wizard appeared beneath the light screen and used some kind of sound-amplifying witchcraft to loudly announce the requirements for the Pale Forest cleanup assessment.

"What? Expulsion?"

"How could there be such a harsh punishment? It wasn't like this before!"

"It's over, it's over! I haven't prepared anything!"

"I'm a freshman! Does anyone want to team up with me?"

The White-Robed Wizard's words set every apprentice in the mission area abuzz. It was not as though the apprentices knew nothing about this matter. During previous Pale Forest cleanups, even failure had rarely brought any punishment from the academy. The sudden penalty caught countless apprentices completely off guard.

Only a small number of apprentices let out long breaths as they looked at the fully packed luggage others had prepared. They had probably been prepared for this all along.

The scene also began to turn chaotic, and freshmen clearly became highly sought after. Every team offered all kinds of terms to entice freshmen to join, but the freshmen were not easily fooled. Joining a team meant bearing the pressure of three magical creature cores, forcing many freshmen to consider the consequences carefully.

But in Green's view, there was not much difference between forming a team and not forming one. For a freshman to survive alone in the Pale Forest, the difficulty was actually no different from being in a team. After all, the trees in the Pale Forest devoured creatures that wandered off alone.

"Failing the mission means expulsion from the academy! This punishment is rather harsh!" Instead, the severe punishment made Green seem to smell the blood and carnage of this trial. In order to stay, the apprentices would definitely stop at nothing to obtain magical creature cores. As time passed, those without enough cores would surely rob other apprentices.

"The training method has become more violent and bloody, yet it still leaves a sliver of leeway. Is something about to happen?" The change in the academy's training methods gave Green a sense that a storm was approaching.

[The academy is a staunch White Wizard Organization. Such a drastic change in its training methods means something major is bound to happen.]

"Chip, analyze the reason based on the academy's history!"

[Analyzing...]

[Results as follows: Every change in White House Academy's training methods has been accompanied by war with the Black House.]

[Reasoning: A large Magic Stone mine has likely been discovered in the Kroensa Mountains! The news has not been confirmed, but both sides are already preparing to fight over it.]

"What kind of luck do I have? Wherever I go, there's war!" Green complained weakly. Only a few months after he had transmigrated, the Lodin Kingdom had been invaded by the Saladin Kingdom, forcing him to flee. Three months after arriving at White House Academy, he had run into a war over Magic Stone mines.

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

"Bru, has that Green you mentioned arrived?" A burly bald man covered in all kinds of runes looked anxiously at Bru.

He could not help being anxious. At first, he had thought the academy would be as usual, that the Pale Forest cleanup was merely an ordinary mission. Yet the academy had caught the students off guard, and now its nature had changed completely.

According to Bru's introduction, Green was already a Second-Class Apprentice and also a Grand Knight, fully comparable to a First-Class Apprentice. Joining the team would not only keep him from dragging them down, but would also increase their combat power. On top of that, he was a freshman, which could lower the difficulty of their mission. He was absolutely the best possible teammate.

"Don't worry. Green won't go back on his word. I'll look again!" Bru was somewhat anxious as well, his eyes sweeping over the surroundings. After all, teaming up brought Green no benefits at all. It would be perfectly normal if he did not want to join them.

"Senior Bru, sorry! I was a little late!" As Bru searched the surroundings for Green, a voice suddenly came from beside him.