Chapter 70
High and dense branches of towering trees held a crow with jet-black feathers transfixed, staring intensely at a metallic house not far away.
The door creaked open, and a slightly pale, cold-faced, and slender young man emerged from the house. The young man suddenly turned his head to lock eyes with the crow, slipping his right hand into his pocket.
After a moment, he swiftly withdrew a magic staff from his pocket. Sensing trouble, the crow spread its wings, ready to take flight. However, in the next instant, a powerful shock stiffened its wings, and the world spun around it. The crow tumbled from the tree to the ground, its one remaining eye fixed on the nearby earth.
Footsteps approached, growing louder.
Until a pair of black, hard-leather boots kicked up gravel on the ground and appeared in its line of sight.
“Weird, I had crows following me when I just left the forest. Now there’s another one, a red-eyed crow. Are there only red-eyed crows around here?” Lynn picked up the crow from the ground.
Looking at the red-eyed crow, Lynn discovered something. His expression changed slightly, and he used his fingers to pry open the feathers on its abdomen, finding an eyeball in its abdominal cavity.
“Caw!” The crow emitted a painful cry.
Lynn extended his fingers, plucking the eyeball from its abdomen. The bloodied eyeball rotated slightly on his fingertip. Lynn squinted and leaned down to sniff. “It carries the scent of modification.”
Muttering to himself, a meaningful smile appeared on his pale face.
He seemed to know how he had exposed his tracks.
Yes, his deal with Angley was over.
But that only meant his deal with Angley had concluded.
…
The sky was slightly clear, and the weather was pleasant.
A large number of wizard apprentices gathered in the open space outside the street. Subsequently, a chorus of amazed gasps echoed across the venue.
All eyes turned towards the rear mountain, where the lush forest from yesterday had transformed overnight into a towering stone maze.
Tall walls rose like layers of mountains, extending all the way to the middle of the island, where a towering peak soared above the sea of clouds.
In just one night, the world had changed, and no one knew exactly when the transformation had occurred.
Behind Harin stood a group of small, pointy-eared goblins with a fearful and trembling expression, their skin tinged with yellow-green hues.
These goblins wore simple, dirty clothes, resembling a bunch of radishes just plucked from the soil, covered in mud.
“This island trial is different from the previous ones,” Harin surveyed the surroundings and began speaking. “This time, not only the people on your ship will participate, but there will also be some special contestants.”
“Your performance inside will be observed by wizards outside. If you perform well, some academies might extend an olive branch to you. Each of you will lead a goblin this time,” Harin explained.
“Listen carefully, I will only say this once. Each of you will lead a goblin, and you have one month to climb to the top of the mountain through the maze.”
“In the maze, there will be monster lairs. If you can conquer these lairs, you will gain some ‘resources’ and points. Plundering is also allowed in the maze. If you encounter other apprentices, you can plunder their resources and points. Moreover, everything you gain in the maze can be brought out of this trial.”
“Lord Wizard, may I ask what the points are for?” a wizard apprentice raised their hand and inquired.
“Points represent your achievements. At the same time, points can be exchanged for magic stones. In the wizarding world, magic stones are like hard currency. Honestly, I’m a bit tempted, young lads and lasses,” Harin’s face showed a gloomy smile.
Some noble wizard apprentices’ eyes lit up.
They knew the value of magic stones.
Some commoner wizard apprentices, though unaware of magic stones at first, couldn’t help but get excited when someone explained it to them.
“Choose a goblin for yourself,” Harin said.
Behind Harin, the goblins, huddled together, looked at the approaching wizard apprentices in terror.
Lynn also stepped out of the crowd. It was like choosing merchandise, and of course, he had to hurry to pick one before all the good ones were taken.
Passing by Harin, Lynn’s eyes coincidentally met Harin’s.
Their gazes then shifted away as if they were strangers.
Harin coughed twice.
Lynn’s eyes fell on the second goblin closest to him. It was an elderly goblin.
The wrinkles on its face were more than the other goblins, hunched over with a frail and bony chest, almost protruding ribs.
“It’s you,” Lynn pointed his finger at this goblin.
“I want this goblin too. I actually had my eye on it earlier,” a voice came from the side. A wizard apprentice with a smiling face looked at Lynn. He didn’t know which goblin was good or bad, but he knew that it was enough that Lynn had a good relationship with Harin. He had two wizard apprentice companions beside him.
“Get lost,” Lynn suddenly reached out, grabbing the neck of the wizard apprentice he didn’t know and lifted him high before slamming him onto the ground.
Boom—
Dust scattered.
Then, Lynn pulled out his magic staff from his pocket and viciously smashed it against the fallen wizard apprentice’s temple.
Crack
.The temple caved in directly.
It seemed he wouldn’t survive.
The surrounding wizard apprentices paused, all looking at Lynn. The magic staff could still be used like that?!
Not far away, Anousheh’s pupils contracted, seemingly thinking of something, and looked at Lynn with trepidation.
“Don’t act cheap, I hate cheap people the most,” Lynn calmly shook the magic staff, removing the blood like he had done something insignificant.
Lynn was increasingly inclined to solve complex problems with simple methods, of course, under the condition that he had the confidence to solve the problem, not recklessly.
For example, now, no one stepped forward to speak up for the dead wizard apprentice.
“Do you know him?”
Lynn looked at the other two people beside this wizard apprentice.
“Don’t know.” “Not familiar, just passing by.” The other two wizard apprentices quickly shook their heads.
“You come with me,” Lynn turned back to look at the old goblin.
The old goblin glanced fearfully at Lynn. It felt that Lynn might be a cruel master, but it had no choice.
Harin turned his head, surprised that Lynn chose the oldest goblin, even though there were strong young ones behind.
But the old goblin had more experience than the young ones. It could only be said to have advantages and disadvantages.
“Do you understand what I’m saying?” Lynn asked.
“I understand,” the old goblin replied, trembling.
“We have undergone training, learned the language of the gods,” the old goblin said.
The language of the gods? Was he being treated like a god by this old goblin? It was probably because the wizards who captured these goblins showed their power at the time, and the subsequent training process had an impact.
“What can you do?”
“I can weave ropes, sharpen tools, and select ores,” the old goblin replied truthfully. Seeing Lynn’s furrowed brow, the old goblin hurriedly continued, “I can also cook soup, wash clothes—I can do any kind of work.”
“Okay.”
Lynn rubbed his forehead. Why did it feel like he had acquired a burden? What exactly was being tested in this challenge?
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TL/N: Last week (week 11) owed chapters Friday release (2/2)