"I think you are a good person, so I will remind you a few words here."
Lying on a stone slab, looking at Athir in front of him, a gray cat raised its foot and said, "If it is not necessary, it is best not to go to the southern continent recently."
After saying this, it closed its eyes and its furry body stopped moving, as if it was preparing to take a nap.
Looking quietly at the gray kitten in front of him, Athir slowly stood up, his eyes becoming a little solemn.
"The southern continent?"
He looked at the kitten in front of him, muttered to himself, and then continued to walk into the market.
When he came out again, it was several hours later.
"It seems that something really happened at the academy." Walking on the road, Athir's face looked a little solemn.
Judging from the information obtained at the market, the secret realm may have been blocked by several wizard organizations.
No one knew what happened in the secret realm. Several wizard organizations involved reacted abnormally. Several academies have announced their closure, as if they were preparing for something.
"No matter what, we still have to go back to the academy."
Walking to where he tied his horse, Athir had all sorts of thoughts in his mind: "Although the secret realm has been sealed off, judging from the fact that those wizard organizations have only sealed off the courtyards, there shouldn't be much danger for the time being."
"Besides, the resources for becoming a formal wizard are only available in the academy. If you don't go back, you won't be able to find any clues outside."
Standing there, he thought to himself.
After being away from the academy for such a long time, especially after reaching the standard for promotion to a third-class apprentice, he also tried to find resources outside to assist in his promotion, but without exception, there was no news.
The resources for third-class apprentices are like this, not to mention the resources needed to be promoted to formal wizards. Each one is controlled and monopolized by wizard organizations, and ordinary wizards have no way of getting them.
Athir is already seventeen years old this year. If he fails to successfully become a formal wizard before the age of forty, the chance of promotion will become extremely slim.
This was unbearable for him, so he had to return to college.
"I have now reached the standard for promotion to a third-level apprentice. As long as the resources are in place, I can start the promotion at any time."
Standing there, Athir thought to himself, "I am not yet twenty years old, and I have fourth-class qualifications. Theoretically, I have a great chance of becoming a formal wizard. I will be trained as a wizard seed by the academy, and then I will be able to directly obtain the resources to become a formal wizard."
"On the contrary, if I stay outside the academy, even if I can be promoted to a third-class apprentice, the resources needed to be promoted to a formal wizard are all controlled and monopolized by those wizard organizations. It is extremely difficult to find enough resources for promotion. It is basically a matter of luck!"
Thinking of this, he immediately made a decision, mounted his horse, and continued to rush towards the academy.
As time passed, Atier was getting closer and closer to the southern continent where the academy was located.
One morning several months later, Athir came to a plain.
Coming here, he couldn't help but frown.
Through his keen mind, he vaguely felt that something was wrong. The content of certain negative energy particles in the surrounding space seemed to have increased a lot, and it carried a unique aura that made him feel very uncomfortable.
"Chip, detect the surrounding environment and compare it with the last record."
In his mind, Athir spoke to the chip.
The area in front of him was one that Atier had walked through once before when he left the academy several years ago. The chip in his mind accurately recorded the environment at that time.
"Negative energy particles are growing, and an unknown radiation field is appearing in the air. Long-term exposure may produce unknown effects..."
The mechanical sound of the chip sounded in my mind.
Hearing the chip's prompt, Atier frowned slightly, then turned around without hesitation, preparing to bypass the area and leave from another road.
hiss···
At this moment, a strange noise suddenly appeared in front of him, with a creepy rhythm, which made Athir, who was about to leave, pause.
He looked in the direction where the sound came from, and saw a two-meter-long figure rushing out quickly beside a stream.
Swish...
There was a flash of light and shadow, and then the sound of flesh being corroded was heard, accompanied by the sound of the earth crashing.
Athir got off his horse, walked to the front, and looked at the huge figure that was hit by his spell.
It was a two-meter-long giant lizard with black scales that looked like it was wearing a layer of armor.
There is a tumor on the head of this monitor lizard. It looks rotten and there are many light green worms wriggling on it, which looks a bit disgusting.
"Contaminated species?" Looking at the giant lizard in front of him and after a rough inspection, Athir couldn't help but frown.
The so-called contaminated species refers to an individual that is affected by various radiation pollution from wizards and often undergoes some kind of mutation.
The monitor lizard in front of him is like this. According to Athir's observation, this monitor lizard obviously did not look like this before, but it finally mutated and became what it is now.
"Is it because of the radiation here?"
Looking at the giant lizard in front of him and feeling the inexplicable force field around him, Athir thought in his heart.
After a while, he mounted his horse again and walked quickly in another direction.
Time began to pass slowly.
A month later, in the distance, the shadow of Uraldo College could be vaguely seen.
"Boy, stop!" A low, hoarse voice sounded in my ears.
Walking to a huge iron gate, a black crow was standing on the gate, staring at Athir with a pair of pure black eyes.
Just for this moment, Atier felt a slight pain in front of his eyes, as if he was hurt by an extremely strong mental force.
Suddenly, Atier's heart trembled. He didn't dare to look up and continue to look into the other person's eyes. Instead, he took out a black ring on his right hand.
"Sir, this is my mission certificate."
He lowered his head and spoke to the black crow standing on the iron gate in front of him.
After saying this, his hand lightened, and the black ring that was originally on his hand disappeared in an instant and floated in front of the other person.
"Yes, it is indeed the mission certificate of our academy."
Looking at the black ring in front of him, Crow nodded and said, "You are lucky. If you had come a few days later, the academy would have been completely blocked."
As he spoke, the black ring in front of him rushed towards Athir and quietly fell into his hand.
Boom...
With a slight sound, the huge iron gate in front of him slowly opened, revealing the scene behind it.
"Thank you, sir."
Seeing the door open in front of him, Athir thanked the crow and then hurriedly led the horse forward.
After entering the academy, there were obviously fewer apprentices around.
Athir noticed that the ordinary servants who were originally used to handle miscellaneous chores in the academy had all disappeared, and it was obvious that they had not been replaced for a long time.
After walking for several hours, Athir walked directly into the underground market.
There were apprentices walking around here and there, but they were basically first-class apprentices. Second- and third-class apprentices were rarely seen.
Standing there and observing quietly for a while, Atier discovered that the number of first-class apprentices around him had basically not changed much compared to before he left, but the number of advanced apprentices had suddenly decreased a lot.
This is because the academy's compulsory conscription is only aimed at high-level apprentices. First-class apprentices, for example, except for their higher intelligence and mental strength than ordinary people, are not as good as a knight in other aspects. Naturally, there is no need to conscript them, so they basically survived.
However, although the secret realm recruitment has ended at this time, the surrounding atmosphere has become even more depressing, as if something happened during this period of time.
Thinking about these things, subconsciously, Athir wanted to find someone to learn about the latest news in the academy, so he went straight to several familiar places.
The final result surprised him a little.
In several familiar places around, the apprentices that Atier was familiar with were no longer there. It seemed that they either died in the secret realm or had not returned yet.
"It seems that I can only go directly to the instructor."
Looking at the first-class apprentices walking by one by one, Atier thought helplessly.
He walked out of the underground market directly, and after a while, he quickly came to the tower where Mentor Edith was.
When he came here, Athir was relieved to see that on the gate of the tower in front of him, a rune was quietly lit, and it seemed that the owner was still inside.
After hesitating for a while, he walked straight over.
As he walked forward, the familiar tower door detected his presence and opened automatically.
"Athir, are you back?"
When we arrived at the upper floor of the tower, Teacher Edith had already walked into the hall.
She was wearing a white robe, with wide sleeves swaying quietly downwards. She looked at Athir with some surprise: "When I sensed your breath just now, I almost thought I was hallucinating."
"Teacher Edith, you are not hallucinating."
Looking at Edith in front of him, Athir smiled and said, "I'm back."
"It's good to come back now... If it's too late, even if you want to come back, you probably won't be able to."
Looking at Athir, Edith shook her head and said to him, "Except for you and another person, the other apprentices under my command either died in the secret realm or wandered outside and have not returned yet."
"What happened?"
Standing there, looking at Edith's appearance, Athir was a little confused: "When I was outside the academy, I heard that the secret realm has been blocked now..."
"Not only the secret realm, in fact, we have deployed large-scale wizards to seal off the entire secret realm, including the large area of land surrounding it."
Listening to Athir's doubts, Edith's eyes seemed to recall something, and became a little dim, and she spoke directly.
(End of this chapter)