It had been three months since Sain arrived at the camp.
When Sain first arrived, Senior Sister Faye said the Portal Generator would be completed in two months.
However, not only did the deadline pass, but also by observing the worried expression on Senior Brother's face and the increasingly busy exploration tasks in the camp, the delay would continue.
Compared to several months ago, there were more apprentices in the camp now.
Sain's camp alone had about fifty people, and the other camp should have a similar number of apprentices.
After finishing the exploration task for the day, Sain returned to the camp and saw a few new faces.
The appearance of several low-level apprentices indicated that even the patience of those formal Dark Magicians had been exhausted, and even the low-level apprentices were sent over.
These low-level apprentices also carried their corresponding elemental pearls upon arriving at the camp.
Without a doubt, the elemental pearls of these few low-level apprentices had been collected by the Advanced apprentices in the camp.
Sain did not see Bosch and Merry, so he only paused briefly before returning to his tent.
During dinner time, Lena, Faye, and the Advanced female apprentice named Marina returned to the tent.
The aroma of mushrooms in the tent did not arouse their appetites but instead caused Senior Sister Faye to frown and exclaim, "Ah? More mushrooms again?"
Having eaten mushrooms for over three months, for more than half of the time, both on top and bottom, it's no wonder Faye was a little tired and full.
"If you don't want to eat them, you can go find those other plant-based apprentices to exchange food with."
"Today when I returned, I saw a few more intermediate and low-level apprentices in the camp."
"They were able to find us through the endless desert, so they must have some food reserves on them. Maybe you will be interested."
Sain didn't even lift his head, his eyes focused on the mushroom soup being stewed by Fireball Art below, and replied to Senior Sister Faye's remark.
Faye made a face at Sain's reply.
"I'm sick of those guys and their magical plants. They always want something from me and never seem to get enough."
"It's like I'm a wholesale supplier of magical tools."
"And as for those low-level apprentices, they were snatched up by the quick-handed ones a long time ago. I have nothing to do with that."
"My Junior Apprentice is better, though. Even though I'm tired of mushroom soup, they always come up with new flavors. What did you add today?"
Faye leaned in and asked Sain.
"Vine debris and a little bit of minced meat," Sain replied casually.
"Meat?" Faye's eyes lit up.
The minced meat from Sain didn't come from humans, he wasn't that twisted.
It was a sizeable piece of monster jerky from Intermediate Apprentice Mali.
Mali and Stanton were the main culprits behind the theft of the low-level apprentices today.
They were the fastest and the cruelest.
Of course, they left some profit for other Advanced Apprentices, so they weren't the only targets.
Mali and Stanton didn't have great personalities, but in the world of Dark Magicians, talking about personality seemed like a joke.
However, in some aspects, these two guys were worthy of praise.
For example, Mali had previously promised to repay Sain's life-saving favor.
At the time, Sain didn't pay much attention to this guy's oath, but he didn't expect the guy to repay him so quickly with a piece of jerky.
The importance of food was self-evident in the Dark Magic Apprentice camp in the desert.
Trading a palm-sized piece of monster jerky for less than one-third of a bottle of Nutrient Potion seemed like a fair deal.
But from Mali's behavior when he left, it was clear that he still remembered Sain's favor.
Sain didn't plan to eat all the jerky at once, as that wouldn't be sustainable for a Magician's development.
Grinding it into minced meat would at least change up their menu for a month.
As an advanced apprentice, Marina eventually sat at the table inside the tent with Sain.
Although nothing had happened between the two promiscuous apprentices during their months together, Sain's perception of Marina had changed significantly.
At least, he no longer felt the vague disgust and resistance he had felt when they first met.
Sain had learned the simple and basic Waterball spell from Marina, and in return, he had only been responsible for providing her with three months' worth of food.
During dinner, Faye told Sain some important news: "Senior Brother and the others plan to merge the two camps again. "
"The idea of the Twin Portal Generator has proven to be a failure and is not suitable for the specific conditions of the desert world."
"Even the official Dark Magicians are becoming increasingly impatient. Several Magicians who can contact them have already received ultimatums."
"What is the deadline that the Academy Dark Magicians are demanding?" Sain asked after taking a sip of mushroom soup.
After glancing at Sain and the two women around him, Faye replied in a low voice, "It seems to be three months."
With the deadline given by the official Dark Magicians, the camp became increasingly busy.
Even apprentices like Sain, who had connections, were forced to carry out some distant and dangerous survey missions.
Just half a month later, the two desert camps merged, and the total number of apprentices exceeded one hundred.
During this time, some scattered low-level apprentices arrived at the camp, but no entry-level apprentices appeared.
Sain still hadn't seen Bosch and Merry, which made him feel a little heavy-hearted.
Two months later.
Sain was no longer going out on missions and was under the protection of Senior Brother Zoro.
He and Senior Sister Faye were responsible for maintaining the magical equipment in the center of the camp.
Perhaps it was the result of pressure from the official Dark Magicians, or perhaps these Dark Magic Apprentices just got lucky.
A week ago, two aspiring Magicians in the camp finally pinpointed the exact coordinates of the Yellow Sand World and made contact with the official Dark Magicians from the Wizarding World.
According to the senior brother Zoro, the space portal generator would be activated in two weeks.
By then, besides activating all the elemental pearls on their side, the official Dark Magicians and the deans on the other side would also make an effort to construct a normal passage to maintain communication between the two worlds.
Finally being able to leave this world, Sain couldn't help but feel relieved.
However, as the day of the Portal Generator's activation drew closer, a gray storm seemed to rage at the end of the yellow sand, casting a shadow over many of the apprentices, including Sain.
Over a dozen apprentices had already gone to investigate the situation, including one aspiring Magician and two advanced apprentices.
Although the final result revealed that the main area of the sandstorm did not cover their camp, who knows if there will be any unexpected occurrences.