Lena entered the Magic Altar on the seventh day, and Senior Sister Faye left on the eighth day.
Shadow Valley, which used to house hundreds of magic apprentices, saw a near-extinction of entry-level apprentices, followed by the entry of Advanced and semi-Magicians into the Magic Altar.
By the tenth day, the number of apprentices in the entire valley had dwindled to less than three hundred, and almost all of them were mid to low-level apprentices.
It was at this time that the academy actually suspended the action of transporting apprentices into the Magic Altar.
Sain didn't know exactly what had happened.
"So, any apprentices successfully arrived or any other news?" Vice Dean Dadalon asked in the detection room at the top of the Magic Tower.
"Dean Martin and Dean Joni are keeping an eye on the Space-Time Rift. Although some of the Advanced apprentices and semi-Magicians were lost, most of them made it through."
"At the moment, there is no detailed information or situation coming from the other side, only through the energy elements diffused from the Space-Time Rift, we can roughly deduce that it's a plane with an abnormally rich concentration of earth elements."
"Earth element?" Vice Dean Dadalon frowned at this news.
Having fought in the Black Realm for thousands of years, he suddenly felt something was amiss.
This was purely intuition.
The source of unease was not due to the special situation in the other dimensional plane, but because he suddenly thought of something else.
"An earth element plane? Why is the concentration of earth elements abnormally rich?"
"Dean Martin and Dean Joni are both Earth Elementalist, could this have something to do with Dean Martin?"
"Also, ever since over a hundred years ago, the dean has not appeared in Mosobla City, including me, I have never seen him in person."
"Could it be related to the dean?"
"Rumors in the Black Realm hundreds of years ago claimed that the dean had failed to break through to the fourth level and was on his deathbed."
"But judging from the grand achievements that the dean made in building Mosobla City over a hundred years ago, this rumor should be self-defeating."
"Then why has the dean not appeared in public for so long, always having Martin as his proxy?" Vice Dean Dadalon thought of many things for a moment.
He didn't used to think so much, but lately Dadalon couldn't help but feel anxious and exhausted, especially after receiving threats from SurfaceHoly Tower.
He even had a bold guess that the so-called exploration of the Space-Time Rift was actually a scheme to divide a rich and abundant alternate dimension.
It was all a trick played by Dean and Martin, his teacher and student duo.
Otherwise, why did Martin invite Mosido, an Alchemist, to Shadowy Territory a hundred years ago, including those dark creatures that contacted him first? There seemed to be some hidden agenda.
All these thoughts in Dadalon's mind made the level-two Dark Magician shiver with fear.
But these situations may not have much impact on Dadalon, and they may not even be true.
Because the Earth Elemental alternate dimension does exist, and as long as they successfully invade it, loot and plunder a bit, it won't be a waste of the hundreds of years he has spent as the Vice Dean in Shadowy Territory.
As for what the Dean and Martin were really up to, Dadalon, as a level-two Dark Magician, should not participate in it casually.
In the Black Realm, strength is everything.
The Dean, as a third-level Great Dark Magician with a reputation in a certain area of the Black Realm, was not someone Dadalon could recklessly talk about.
Moreover, if he really had any relationship with the old Dean, Dadalon would probably be the beneficiary.
Because with a powerful Dean leading the way, there would be many benefits and fewer external threats.
The only thing that made Dadalon unhappy, even angry, was that he felt deceived from the beginning when he took on the role of Vice Dean.
"I don't know if Joni, that woman, knows something. Maybe I can test her," Dadalon thought to himself.
...
The suspension of sending apprentices to the magic altar in Shadow Valley made many surviving magic apprentices breathe a sigh of relief.
But not Sain.
Sain was extremely worried about his girlfriend Lena.
What was it like inside the magic altar?
What exactly was the Space-Time Rift? And what was the alternate dimension like?
Lying in an empty tent at night, Sain tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
If given the choice, Sain would rather be sent to the deepest part of the magic altar together with Lena.
Even if there were real dangers, he hoped to face them with Lena by his side.
Perhaps more than a decade ago, when Lena chose eight-year-old Sain, their bond for life had already been set.
He even thought of his Senior Sister, who was not just his girlfriend Lena.
Sain's feelings towards his Senior Sister were complicated, with a special emotion between fellow disciples and a unique love affair between a man and a woman.
Of course, with his growing concern for the two women, Senior Sister's flaws of being difficult and capricious had long disappeared.
As Sain endured the torment of waiting, half a month passed.
Finally, there was news from the academy.
Once again, some apprentices would be sent into the magic altar, starting from Intermediate apprentices, with a limit of 50 people.
"I'll go!" Sain, an Intermediate apprentice, was the first to speak up after receiving the order from Headmaster Dadalon in the spacious Shadow Valley.
Sain's words caught the attention of all the apprentices in Shadow Valley, including several Dark Magicians who were interested in this proactive Intermediate apprentice.
Headmaster Dadalon seemed to have some impression of Sain and pointed at him, saying, "Aren't you Mosido's disciple? I remember you."
"Yes, Your Excellency, I am the fifth disciple of my mentor," Sain respectfully replied.
Dadalon nodded and said approvingly, "Not bad, you're a talented and courageous young man."
"Go ahead, you will be one of the first Intermediate apprentices to enter the Space-Time Rift," Dadalon waved his hand towards the magic altar.
Ignoring the pointing and scrutiny of other magic apprentices around him, as well as the other Dark Magicians in the valley, Sain walked to the very center of the magic altar.
He took a deep breath and strode into the altar after Vice Dean Dadalon had finally gathered all fifty apprentices together.
Unlike the pure white elemental light that could be seen outside the altar, as Sain gradually went deeper into the magic altar, countless Magic Inscriptions and some Energy Crystal Stones embedded in various corners of the altar appeared in his vision.
A thin layer of crimson liquid spread across the surface of the altar, and the faint smell of blood in the air indicated what it was.
At the deepest part of the altar, an oval-shaped energy gate stood in the very center of all the Magic Inscriptions.
After the apprentice in front of him entered, Sain followed suit and stepped through the gate.
At the very moment he entered the energy gate, Sain heard his mentor's voice.