The cold moonlight shone down.
On the gravel path, a boy and a girl walked side by side, their dark shadows swaying behind them.
"Yes, our hometown..." Erica said, feeling somewhat emotional.
About ten years ago, in the capital, Ryan, of the Holy Flame Kingdom, she and Colin had their wizard talents detected together. Along with other qualified children from various cities and nations, they were taken to this island by a mysterious and powerful wizard from the Lap School.
Ten years... had just passed by.
"I really don't know if there will ever be a chance to return." Erica lifted her head to gaze at the pure white moon, her golden hair slipping from her youthful and pale face, softly cascading behind her head.
"...There will be a chance." Colin replied softly, his face somewhat pale as he was concentrating on digesting his memories.
Hearing this, Erica forced a smile, assuming that Colin was just comforting her. There were too many incalculable dangers at sea, and one could not return to Ryan without becoming an Official Wizard.
"Do you miss Ryan, Colin?" She continued her questioning while looking at the moon.
"I miss it." Colin nodded slightly, exhaling softly; he finally felt relief, and his head no longer ached.
He lifted his gaze to the moon, which was exceedingly similar to that of his previous world, and added, "...Very much so."
Ten years ago, the original host had been just over seven years old, born into a middle-class family with parents who loved him, and a two-year-old sister.
In his memories, just like Erica, the original host had always missed Ryan very much.
And he... missed Earth now.
Even though he had only crossed over not long ago, the homesickness was much more intense than any homesickness he'd experienced on Earth when away from home.
The gravel path beneath his feet, the Blackstone buildings beside him, the seemingly familiar moon above... everything was unfamiliar.
He clearly and explicitly recognized that he was now in a foreign land, separated by who knows how many parallel universes...
As for Erica and the original host, they actually didn't have any special relationship; they had not even known each other back in Ryan.
It was only later, because they both came from Ryan and naturally felt close because of their identities, coupled with living in neighboring stone houses in the Wizard Territory, that they now could be considered familiar friends.
Erica had come to him because it was on the way back to the stone house where they both lived.
"Colin... If it's possible, I want to ask you for a favor." Erica withdrew her gaze from the moon and turned toward Colin, her golden hair sliding with gravity, once again covering her delicate ears,
"If... I mean, if you become an Official Wizard later and return to Ryan, I hope you can send my regards to my parents..."
Meeting Erica's expectant gaze, Colin's lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to explain something, but in the end, he simply nodded.
After walking for a while, Colin spoke up:
"Dark Forest... it's too dangerous, even if you can't advance after three months, it's only a matter of living in the gathering areas outside, there's no need..."
"But then there will be no hope of ever going home!"
Erica crinkled her nose, cutting off Colin's words,
"On this entire island, only the Lap School has Official Wizards, and only Lap School has the capability to train new Official Wizards...
Moreover, staying with the School, even if you can't become an Official Wizard, there's still hope to return to Ryan with the School's recruitment fleet which sets sail every five years."
She sighed again and continued: "If I become a Wild Wizard out there, there will be no hope left.
You know, once the assessment is over, we'll no longer have the School's protection, and those peripheral Wild Wizards have long been forming alliances.
For basic level Apprentices like us... it's hard enough to even stay alive, let alone attempt anything else."
A look of despondency spread across Erica's face as she said softly, "...Other than trying my luck in the Dark Forest, I have no other options, Colin."
Colin remained silent, realizing that Erica had thought things through very thoroughly.
The original host had been no different, after all. Erica had considered the same things he had... they both missed home in the same way.
"I have no other options, I can only try my luck in the Dark Forest!" Erica repeated, her calm tone revealing her determination as if to encourage herself. Then she added:
"Anyway, I won't be like Annie, selling my body in order to stay at the School."
At this, she couldn't help but shudder.
Colin, too, reflexively felt a wave of discomfort as the image of Annie's hands and feet, replaced with several gray-black slimy tentacles, flashed through his mind.
For a wizard, selling one's body was a literal transaction, and not just in that sense.
Even if they encountered a slightly nicer Advanced Apprentice, it was still a futile amusement, a loss far outweighing any gain.
The two walked in silence for a while longer, and soon, they arrived at the residential area.
The residential area for Basic Level Apprentices was segregated on the outermost western side of the entire School, forming a square region scattered with hundreds of individual stone houses.
The stone houses they lived in were on the far left of the entire area, with Colin's being even closer.
As they arrived in front of the stone house where Colin lived, they both stopped.
After a moment of silence, Erica spoke up,
"Colin…"
Boom!!
Suddenly, a violent explosion accompanied by an eerie scream came from afar, interrupting Erica.
Erica and Colin reflexively covered their ears and looked towards the direction of the sound.
Over the wooden fence encircling the Lap Wizard Territory, at the foot of the mountain on the outer edge of the Wizards' gathering place, an eerie green light glowed like a mist.
The next second, an invisible transparent Spiritual Light came from the very center of Blackstone Castle at the top, just in time to envelope the entire Wizard Territory.
Colin took a few deep breaths to calm himself; the scream from afar was too eerie, and merely hearing it made him feel dizzy and nauseous.
Fortunately, with the activation of the Protective Shield, although the scream still existed, it no longer had the eerie nauseating effect.
"I wonder what sort of ghostly thing it is this time…" Erica muttered as she gazed at the green light.
Colin was silent, a chill inexplicably rising in his heart as the distant green flames reflected in his azure eyes.
He knew he was in the safest part of the entire Lap Wizard Territory on the island, and that the green light would be dealt with by the wizards of the Guard Team, but still, he felt a bit cold.
...That was probably the shock to the soul from a peaceful world upon witnessing the passing of life.
"I wonder how many will die this time…" he whispered softly.
Erica chuckled, no longer paying attention to the distant green flames, and turned to look at Colin, saying, "…You didn't use to think like this."
"Is that so." Colin tensed internally, reverting to emotionless, and responded without showing any change.
"You used to only mock with a comment like, 'Death is simply because of weakness; and to be weak is to err!'" Erica teased, but then her expression sank again.
"…You're right… to be weak is to err."
Colin inwardly sighed, the embarrassment of recalling the previous owner's melodramatic statements quickly fading away.
For a moment, he didn't know how to continue and could only maintain his silence.
Power was the rule of this world... What would have been ridiculed as melodramatic in his previous life had here become the truth.
"Let's not talk about this, I plan to go to the Dark Forest tomorrow morning." Erica smiled and hesitated for a moment before continuing, "No matter what secrets you have, but if the day really comes, please remember my request... Greet my parents for me."
She looked at Colin with eyes like amber, seemingly accumulating fog within their depths.
Colin's lips moved slightly, but in the end, he just silently watched Erica enter the adjacent stone house.
'The original owner had no secret that could help in advancing…' he shook his head and opened the wooden door behind him.
From the beginning, he wanted to explain to Erica, but after hesitating for a long time, he still hadn't said a word.
He understood that even if he told her, Erica wouldn't believe it.
And if she believed it, Erica would suffer even more.
He could see that Erica's trip to the Dark Forest was with the resolve of facing certain death.
He even felt that Erica probably knew that the original owner didn't have any secret that could help in advancing.
She was merely seeking to place a hope on him…
Colin walked into the house and locked the wooden door. Upon turning around, under the moonlight, he saw a huge, ruined pattern on the floor smeared with some unidentified blood.
Seeing this pattern, he sighed again.
"The original owner had no secret that could help in advancing…
It was just a ritual that cost him his life."