In the teleportation hall of the Arcane Circle, thousands of first-year apprentices are scattered throughout the hall in small teams, fully armed and with solemn expressions. A tense atmosphere permeates the hall. On the front wall, a huge teleportation portal is flickering with a dazzling light.
"Students, I am Victor, the dean of the first-year students. After two months of study, you will face a real challenge - the Free Task Season. It means the academy will no longer provide any special arrangements or safeguards. There will be no emergency rescue, and no one will help you protect yourselves. The only thing you can rely on is yourself and your teammates.
You should all know that the Arcane Circle is famous for emphasizing practical combat ability. Every apprentice who graduates from the Arcane Circle smoothly can quickly adapt to various positions in the secular world, because what we have experienced here is far richer than the outside world! The enemies we have defeated are even stronger than the enemies in the outside world! This is the excellent tradition of the Arcane Circle!
The location of this task is 'Twilight Town', a very special place. Many students know it is the necromancy division of the academy, but many don't know it is the birthplace of the academy, with an extraordinary significance. Countless talented predecessors have left legendary stories there.
Now, your era has come. Opportunities and challenges are in front of you. Here, I wish all students a fruitful free task season, and I also give you a few pieces of advice:
Trust your teammates, help each other, and cooperate as a team to improve your chances of survival; Pay attention to safety, only the living can enjoy the joy of growth!"
Under the guidance of some teachers, a round of applause, not particularly enthusiastic, rose in the hall, and the atmosphere was slightly gloomy.
From the bottom of their hearts, those apprentices who are accustomed to the traditional teaching methods of the continent are not enthusiastic about this real task scenario, especially the students of noble birth, because it is too bitter, and the mortality rate is very high.
A teacher next to Victor shouted loudly, "Get moving! The teleportation gate leads directly to the Necromancy Academy, there's no danger at all! What are you afraid of? Can you really call yourselves Arcane Circle apprentices if you are so timid and fearful?"
Under the scolding, the crowd began to move. After a brief exploration, the apprentices one by one rushed into the teleportation gate, and soon it was Charlie's team's turn.
Accompanied by a strong dizziness, Charlie felt that his whole body was surrounded by a cold air. He slowly opened his eyes, and the scene in front of him was pitch black. The sudden transition from a bright environment to a gloomy one caused a temporary blindness.
"The area around the teleportation gate is limited, those who arrive should move immediately, don't delay the people behind," a hand roughly pulled him aside.
"Ah! Who's touching me! How disgusting!" Only Qingtong's startled cry was heard.
Charlie followed the direction of the sound, and the chip quickly adjusted the pupil size to collect more light, and the scene in front of him gradually became clear.
Qingtong stood in place with a bewildered look, hugging her chest, she should still be unable to see the scene in front of her clearly.
Next to the teleportation gate, a young man with a haggard face let out a sinister laugh. Seeing the just-arrived Qingtong, his sunken eyes flashed with an oily green light, and a long, yellow-nailed claw reached towards Qingtong's full and tempting chest.
Charlie angrily took out an arrow and stabbed it down, intercepting it midway, piercing through the pale claw, as if it had entered rotten leather, soft and tough, the wound turning purple-blue, with no sign of fresh blood. Ah!
The young man let out a cry, immediately attracting the attention of the people around him. "How dare you attack the volunteer! Do you want to die?"
Charlie pulled the two girls behind him and said sternly, "You take advantage of others, harassing the girls, how shameful!"
"Inspector! Inspector! There's someone here attacking the volunteer! Come quickly!" The young man let out a strange scream, summoning a group of inspectors in black uniforms, similar to the Arcane Circle inspectors, but in black.
A stern-looking man appeared in front of the two, angrily asking, "You, come over here, don't block the teleportation gate!"
After bringing the two groups aside, the man asked, "What's going on?"
Soon, a circle of onlookers gathered around, some were apprentices who had just teleported in, and some were local apprentices.
The young man hurriedly said, "This person suddenly shot an arrow at me for no reason! His attack was ruthless and incomprehensible! He is defying the school rules and provoking our necromancers!"
The man turned to Charlie and asked, "Do you have anything to say?"
Charlie coldly replied, "He took advantage of the moment we came out of the teleportation gate to harass the girl, and I saw him try to attack again with my own eyes."
Qingtong said pitifully, "He grabbed my chest, it hurts so much!"
Seeing Qingtong's pitiful appearance, the onlookers also felt outraged.
Someone shouted, "You people, neither human nor ghost, are really disgusting! It was already unpleasant coming out of the teleportation gate, and now you take advantage of others, truly despicable and lowly!"
This ignited a firestorm.
"What did you say? Discriminating against necromancers, huh? Try saying that again! Be careful I'll pour a bottle of corpse poison down your throat and rot your face!" Some gaunt necromancers also got angry.
"Shut up!" The man roared, his voice shaking their eardrums and immediately silencing the scene about to spiral out of control.
"Do you have any evidence?" The young man stretched out his other withered arm and shouted, "I'm a volunteer, I was just maintaining order near the teleportation gate. With so many people, some accidental touching is inevitable. He heard the young lady's cry and shot an arrow without any consideration, how ruthless!"
Turning to Qingtong, he said in a nasty tone, "Little lady, why are you shouting nonsense?"
His hideous appearance frightened Qingtong, and she retreated behind Charlie.
The man pondered, "Okay, now regardless of who's right or wrong, Simon has already paid the price, which is enough to offset the loss of your friend. Let's end this matter here, alright?"
Simon cursed a few words, but was glared back by the man.
Charlie shook his head and said, "No, I want his hand today! After all, the bones and flesh of necromancers can regenerate, so a little damage doesn't matter, right?"
Simon stared wide-eyed, questioning, "What?! What are you saying?"
The man's face showed a hint of displeasure. "Student, you should learn to forgive and forget. You are in Twilight Town after all, this is the domain of the necromancers, understand?"
Qingtong also gently pinched Charlie from behind, wanting Charlie to let it go.
Charlie took out a white handkerchief and said, "Then choose to have his hand cut off? Or accept my challenge of glory? No rules, life and death don't matter!"
"Are you crazy? Is it worth it?" Simon's haggard face flushed with blood, pent-up anger with nowhere to vent. He felt a chill from the gaze in Charlie's eyes, and was a little afraid.
The man said in a deep voice, "Can I take it that you are challenging our inspector?"
"Your brain is on your head, I can't control your thinking." Charlie pointed at Simon and said, "How can a despicable person like him become a volunteer? Does he represent the average quality of the necromancy division apprentices? If he doesn't provoke me today, will he not provoke others? Have you ever thought about the feeling of the violated? Or do you simply not care? All you care about is the face of the inspector department! The face of the necromancy division!"
The man took a deep breath. "Okay! You are good at seizing on small problems and making a big deal out of them. But you need to understand one thing - for every gain, there is a loss. When you are angrily demanding revenge, have you thought about what you might lose?
I can tell you one thing, in Twilight Town, most of the inspectors have another duty - as night watchmen. Those who have lived here know the role of the night watchmen.
You are a newcomer, a rookie in Twilight Town, and you don't understand the situation. The most important thing is to learn to be observant, learn to be flexible, and learn to remain humble in a new place, instead of being aggressive!"
Charlie smiled. "This is your philosophy of life, but I am the opposite. I feel that if I tolerate it, maybe next time he will stretch those ugly ghost claws into my clothes!"
The man nodded while sizing up Charlie, too angry to speak, and said to Simon, "You deal with it yourself!"
Simon glared at Charlie, gritted his teeth, and pulled out a dagger from his waist, angrily cutting down. The pale, thin arm was severed, the lifeless hand fell to the ground, quickly rotting and emitting a foul odor.
This time, he was silent, as if cutting someone else's flesh and bone. After cutting, he squeezed out of the crowd and left without looking back.
Someone sighed, "He's despicable, but at least he's still a man!"
"You don't understand. The bodies of necromancers have already been ruined by them. Their physical functions are different from ours. Losing a hand is about the same as us just scraping our skin. It just takes a little time to repair it, and a little cost."
"Brother, well done! You vented for us outsiders!"
Charlie smiled and led the group out of the circle.
Colin said, "My eyes haven't adjusted to the darkness yet. If I could see that guy, I'd give him a good one too!"
Qingtong timidly said, "I'm sorry, Charlie."
"It's not your fault, I deliberately won't let him off!"
Qingtong silently looked at him and said, "Charlie wants to establish his prestige."
"Won't we offend some people? I think that inspector made a good point, we shouldn't be too aggressive as newcomers," Davie frowned.
Charlie smiled, "You thinking this way shows that you've matured. In fact, they all have a point. It's just a matter of what choice you make.
These inspectors are a bit inflated with power, and the necromancy apprentices bully the outsiders because of their geographical advantage.
If you submit, you can get by, but the difference is how others will see you. My attitude will increase the difficulty of the task, but it will reduce some harassment from outsiders."