Chapter 356 The Trial on the Snowy Field
Hitchhich The next morning, when Luo Yan arrived at the door of the "Adventurer's Home", Fenik, Ilara and Barrett were already waiting there.
The sadness of a friend's passing seems to have been replaced by determination and expectation for the future. There was less innocence in their eyes and more heavy consciousness, as if they wanted to carry with them the persistence that their former best friend had given up, to go on for him and fulfill their dream of entering the academy.
Although Luo Yan felt that they might have moved him, the young man named Leo really saw through it before leaving.
"Mr. Colin, good morning." Fenick took the initiative and looked much better than yesterday.
Luo Yan said in a gentle tone.
"Good morning, it seems that you are recovering well."
Fenick smiled shyly.
"It's okay... It's the last journey, and I can't finish the rest of the journey without cheering up. By the way, where's Miss Sarah? She's not with you?"
Luo Yan nodded.
"She is packing her luggage, let's go first, she will meet us there."
Fenick nodded in understanding and continued.
"By the way, have you eaten? If not, we can wait until you finish breakfast before setting off. The place is quite remote and there is no place to eat."
Luo Yan declined his kindness.
"I've already had breakfast. If you are ready, let's go."
"Okay! It's up to you."
Fenick enthusiastically walked in front to lead the way. The group of people stopped talking and walked together in the direction of Xuebang.
Passing through the chaotic and noisy traveler camp, they climbed a hill all the way east, and the scene before them suddenly became clear.
This is the legendary northern wasteland to the east of the Dragon Tooth Mountains. The vast expanse of snow has no visible edges and is connected to the swamp in the distance.
At the edge of the snowfield, there is the border of the Kingdom of Rhodes and the temporary camp set up by the magicians from the school.
Everything here is completely different from Eagle Rock Territory.
Dozens of uniform white tents are neatly arranged on the snow. The ground has been cleaned by magic, and there is no trace of mud.
Several apprentices wearing simple gray mage robes are controlling soft light balls floating in mid-air to provide lighting for the early morning camp.
The quills in their hands scratched across the enchanted paper, registering information for the students who came to register.
The whole process is quiet, efficient, and full of order.
The tip of the iceberg can be seen in Xuebang's style, which is a kind of rigor that is based on magic and transcends the world.
"Mr. Colin! This way!" Finick found the registration point and waved excitedly, calling Luo Yan and his teammates over.
The group of people lined up in a long queue, following the pious and anxious faces, moving slowly towards the fateful tent.
When it was the turn of Fenick and others, a serious-looking magic apprentice asked without raising his head: "Name, origin, intention."
Before Fenick answered, he leaned into Luo Yan's ear and explained in a low voice: "Mr. Colin, this is just to fill in the intention, no. Don't worry too much. The apprenticeship assessment is a two-way choice. Even if we pass the written test and interview, the final admission will still depend on which master of the mage tower is willing to accept us."
Luo Yan nodded clearly and signaled him to sign up quickly, so as not to patronize himself and annoy the magic apprentice responsible for registration.
That face was obviously getting impatient.
Fenick puffed up his chest and spoke quickly: "Finick, from the Kingdom of Rhodes, wants the Tower of the Great Sage!" The Tower of the School."
Barrett scratched his head in embarrassment and said solemnly: "Barrett, the Kingdom of Rhodes, intends to... Enchantment School."
The three of them quickly stepped aside after signing up.
Finally it was Luo Yan's turn. His calm demeanor almost immediately attracted the attention of the supervising assistant teacher next to him.
This guy doesn’t look like a rookie...
But the teaching assistant has no godhead after all, so he can't see how much a person's soul weighs. So, he just looked at Luo Yan a few more times, without any doubts written on his face, and he didn't say anything more.
On the contrary, the apprentice who was resting next to him saw it and whispered a few words in a low voice.
"This guy is a noble..."
"Noble? Why don't nobles have letters of recommendation? Even the nobles of the principality have them..."
"Perhaps they are the descendants of a declining aristocratic family. There are many such people. They always want to use a little magic talent to stand out in the academic country to revitalize the family... Haha, I think they are in the wrong place. If they want to make achievements and make a fortune, they should go to the New World. This is the place to pursue academics!" An apprentice said teasingly, until the eyes of the assistant teacher next to him drifted, and he closed his mouth nervously.
Luo Yan smiled in his heart when he saw this.
It seems that Xuebang is also a place with strict hierarchy. It is no different from the Holy City, except that it has a different skin that ordinary people cannot recognize.
After the registration was completed, the apprentice responsible for writing and registration distributed a wooden sign with a number engraved on it to each person without any expression.
"The exam will be in the early morning three days later. This is your number. Remember to keep it well. If you lose it, you will not replace it."
Fenick nodded nervously, said thank you, and then turned around and left the registration point with his teammates behind him.
After getting the "tickets" for the assessment, the four of them followed the flow of people and the guidance of the light ball, passed through the camp, and came to an extremely open snowfield.
When they arrived, the sight in front of them made the three of them take a breath.
Thousands of young people from all over Osland have gathered in this snowy field in darkness!
Everyone is in the same nervous and excited mood, waiting for the test that will determine their fate to begin!
"There are actually so many people..." Ilara's face turned slightly pale, and the right hand she clenched tightly in front of her chest felt cold.
She thought that those guys in the traveler camp were all there, but she didn’t expect that the real “Volume Kings” had already been waiting here.
Barrett also swallowed, and then looked at Fenick nervously.
"What's next? Should we wait here for three days...or go back first?"
As the leader of the two young men, Finick frowned and thought for a while, and finally gritted his teeth and made a difficult decision.
"Camp here!"
In three days, there will probably be even more people here, so why not take advantage of the fact that there are few people now and find a good location first.
It is said that Xuebang's written test is not just as simple as answering questions. In the last exam, many people failed without even seeing the questions.
While speaking, he secretly glanced at Mr. Colin.
Luo Yan didn't care much. Anyway, he could meditate to pass the time. Three days passed in the blink of an eye for him.
"There's no rush, it's only three days anyway, just wait."
At this moment, a luxurious carriage stopped on the side of the road, and Sarah, who was driving the car, was wearing a black cloak and nodded slightly to him.
Luo Yan nodded to her, and then stepped into the carriage that looked expensive at first glance, in the envious eyes of all the boys and girls.
"It's incredible... there's not a single piece of snow on the carriage." Barrett suddenly noticed something unusual and couldn't help but exclaimed.
"What do you think? The wood used in that carriage is more expensive than the magic equipment you are wearing combined," Fenik whispered. "The identity of Mr. Colin is not simple, but since he doesn't plan to tell us, we'd better not ask... Come to help, and Ilara is here too. Let’s get the tent ready before it snows yet." "Okay." Barrett nodded nervously, followed Fenik and walked towards the woods on the side.
He is not stupid, he has already seen that Mr. Colin’s identity is not simple.
I just don’t know whether this gentleman is the child of which big family in the Kingdom of Rhodes, or whether he comes from an empire outside the Kingdom of Rhodes.
…
Three days of waiting were long and torturous. Without Leo, the three young men could not catch hares from the snowy fields, so they had to make do with dry bread.
Ilara hesitated more than once whether to go to Mr. Colin for help. However, thinking of the cold and beautiful female guard, she finally gave up this unrealistic idea.
As time goes by, more and more students come from all directions, turning the snowy fields outside the border into a black ocean of tents and people.
Finick's decision is a wise one.
Although this wilderness is vast enough, not all places are suitable for camping. Those who arrive late must either shamelessly squeeze in with others, or they can only stand far away.
Some people came to Luo Yan's carriage and tried to seek shelter, but they were all dissuaded by Sarah's cold eyes.
The air was filled with tense and oppressive silence. Tens of thousands of young people from all over Osland gathered here. No one talked or laughed loudly. There was only the whistling of the wind and snow across the wilderness, and the silent heartbeats composed by people's excitement and anxiety.
Finally in the early morning of the third day, when everyone's perseverance and patience were almost exhausted, a change finally came from the horizon.
First there was a sharp cry that penetrated the clouds and cracked the rocks, piercing the silence of the snowfield.
Everyone raised their heads in unison and saw dozens of black spots emerging from the clouds in the east and descending at an alarming speed.
"It's a gryphon!!" A young man screamed and shouted, and as soon as he finished speaking, there were screams one after another next to him.
"It's not just a gryphon... it's a giant dragon!?"
Luo Yan, who was reading, slightly raised his eyelids and looked at the sky outside the window, and then looked away.
This group of ignorant boys have obviously never seen a real giant dragon. That thing with a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks like a bat is clearly a pterosaur.
The bloodline gap between the two is as big as the Zetas and the Ankylosaurus, they are two completely similar but different species.
While everyone was watching in astonishment, a cavalry team composed of dozens of divine gryphons and pterosaurs with astonishing wingspan swooped down like sharp swords!
They landed in the designated area around the snowfield, their claws pounced on the ground, causing huge waves of snow!
On the back of each giant beast, there is a mage wearing gorgeous mage robes of various colors riding on the back. In their hands, they hold high the flags representing their respective mage towers.
This magnificent appearance made the young people in the snowy field burst into exclamations, exactly the same as the young people cheering in the Royal Arena of the Holy City.
However, this is just the beginning!
The ground began to shake slightly, at first it was like distant thunder, then it became clearer and heavier!
At the end of the snowfield, giant magic energy constructs with a height of more than ten meters were slowly walking towards them with earth-shaking steps.
These giants made of brass and stone made the earth tremble with every step they took. The azure blue magic crystals on their chests shine with dazzling magic light like stardust!
And on their shoulders, there are also teams of mages from different schools. What's even more incredible is that they walked on flat ground in the swamp without sinking into the mud!
Just when everyone was shocked by this steel torrent-like scene, the bright dawn suddenly dimmed.
An unimaginably huge shadow was cast from above the leaden clouds, as if it wanted to encompass the entire snowfield!
Thousands of people looked up at the same time, their faces filled with unbelievable horror.
That is a huge silver-white platform. It is like a sailboat flying in the sky, steering the vast sea of clouds.
The bottom of the platform is engraved with an extremely magnificent magic circle that flows slowly like stars. The strange lines exude a daunting buzz of energy!
"Feizhou...it's actually a flying boat!" A young candidate clenched his fists excitedly, as if he had seen a miracle, and said its name in a trembling voice.
On the platform, thirteen figures stood proudly against the wind.
Their clothes are all different, some are as simple as priests, some are as gorgeous as stars, but each of them exudes a powerful aura as deep as the sea.
They are the representatives sent by the thirteen mage towers at the core of the school!
This scene deeply shocked all the students present, pushing their yearning and awe to the peak.
Although they are just professors who preach and answer questions, in the eyes of tens of thousands of mortals, they are no different from the gods walking on the earth.
The power of faith is condensed in silence...
Sarah frowned slightly, and her hand unconsciously pressed the hilt of the sword under the cloak. The pressure from the sky made her feel instinctive fear.
Gold level?
Perhaps platinum level!
Although that pure power did not surpass the Demon King, it was undoubtedly above her!
Taph stretched out her head from the carriage and looked at the sky, her eyes suddenly widened and her mouth opened wide.
"Copy..."
"Grass?" Luo Yan glanced at the book in his hand and raised his eyebrows.
"I mean copying!! This, this... is clearly copied from the Zeta Empire's Enlightenment! Wait, how did these idealistic lunatics make this thing fly?! They have mastered anti-gravity technology?! No! ! How could they know about the Zeta Empire's spaceship? This is impossible! It's impossible! "
Tuff seemed to be in a state of insanity and began to chatter nonsense.
"What are you talking about? What does this have to do with anti-gravity? Isn't it just a large wind-attribute magic circle? But I admit, the design of this magic circle is indeed a bit interesting..."
Luo Yan glanced at the stunned Tafu, looked at the sky for a while, and touched his chin with interest after a while.
"So that's it."
This thing is probably the "silver sailing ship" mentioned in Hekajelin's notes, but I didn't expect that they actually scaled it down and reproduced it.
It's just that they didn't seem to really understand what they saw in the virtual world. They just followed the example and made a "large figure".
Those magicians were actually standing on the hull of the ship.
In addition to being able to fly, it seems to have no other function.
…
While Luo Yan was silently commenting in his heart, the huge silver-white platform also stopped sinking at the same time.
It is like a temple suspended in the air, overlooking the tens of thousands of candidates who are as small as ants in the snowfield below.
On the platform, three professors with the most unfathomable aura slowly walked to the edge of the platform.
Hunting to see those three faces through the monocular, Fenick's heart was beating fast with excitement.
Looking at Mr. Colin who had just got off the carriage, he hurriedly came over and spoke hurriedly in a deliberately low voice.
"It's the examiner! The one walking in the middle is Professor Hector Lane from the Tower of the Great Sage! Saint Sith is on top, and his expression has always been so majestic! The person on his left is Professor Boris Crewe from the Tower of the Holy Energy School, with a compassionate temperament like a priest, while the person on the right is Professor Leo Sterling from the Elemental School Professor... Do you need a telescope? I can lend it to you."
"No, I can see."
Luo Yan's eyes briefly stayed on the professor of the Sheng Neng School, and he estimated that the person should be on the same level as the four demon generals under his command.
But in terms of showing off, his four demon generals combined are probably no match for this one.
On the floating platform, three professors were chatting and laughing as if no one else was watching. Their voices were not loud, but they were clearly heard by the teaching assistants behind them.
“The little guys this year look more energetic than last year, Hector, it seems we can add some fresh blood.” Professor Leo Sterling from the Elemental School smiled faintly, and arcs of electricity swam between his eyebrows like snakes.
"I wish there could be a few more pieces of gold in the stone. The quality of the students has become worse and worse in the past two years." Hector Lane's tone was calm, and his sharp eyes scanned the snowfield, as if he wanted to get the "real gold" floating on the snowfield first.
Their relaxed and casual posture was completely different from the tense and depressing atmosphere of thousands of people below, and the adoring eyes of the people also made their halo shine even brighter.
Finally, Professor Hector Lane from the Tower of the Great Sage stepped forward.
He did not raise his voice, but the calm and authoritative voice was clearly sent to the ears of every candidate on the snowy field through magic.
"Silence!"
The whole place was silent for a moment.
He paused and continued.
"Xuebang's winter apprenticeship assessment begins now!"
"The assessment is divided into a written test and an interview. Today, we will take the written test first."
As soon as he finished speaking, Professor Hector brought down the two-handed staff made of walnut wood in his hand with a gentle and gentle movement!
The staff clearly struck the silver-white platform, but what shook was the snowfield beneath everyone's feet. White waves rolled along the ground, like an earth dragon turning over!
「Boom——!」
Amid a deafening roar, a huge, black stone monument rose from the ground and thrust straight into the sky!
When the stone tablet stabilized, countless magical words the size of rice grains, emitting soft light, gathered from all directions like summoned fireflies.
H They intertwined and danced, converging into symbols, and were finally branded on the front of the huge stone tablet, forming a dense examination question.
All the candidates subconsciously moved forward, trying to get closer, but some accidentally stepped into the mud or fell into the ice pit with a cry of pain.
Some are natural.
There are also some candidates who are thoughtful and secretly set traps in advance in order to eliminate potential competitors!
Ignoring the commotion in the audience, Professor Hector's voice sounded again, announcing the rules of the written test: "The test questions have been published. Just write the answers on your scrolls before dawn tomorrow. If you get a perfect score of 100, you can enter the interview if you get 60 points..." At this point, his sharp eyes like a falcon looked around the audience, and he said in a cold tone without any emotion.
"By the way, identical answer sheets will be invalid. In Xuebang, it is not just about the exploration and sharing of knowledge. Protecting your own achievements from plagiarism is also part of the assessment. These questions are subjective. I want to see your own thinking."
"If you can't adapt to the rules here, I advise you to leave as soon as possible and go home to farm."
As soon as this statement came out, the whole place was in an uproar!
Tens of thousands of candidates looked at each other with shock and vigilance in their eyes.
The friends around me have completely turned into competitors at this moment!
Professor Hector Lane disappeared from their sight, and the silver-white metal platform rose into the clouds again.
As for the gryphon and pterodactyl knights, they went to every corner of the examination room and sealed off the vast snowfield.
They will not prohibit candidates from leaving.
But once you leave, don’t try to sneak in again.
Fenick swallowed, extremely glad that he had grabbed a good spot in advance, and even more fortunate that he had brought the telescope that Leo had left for him.
Otherwise, let alone passing the exam, they may not even be able to read the exam questions as they are not yet proficient in using extraordinary power!
Of course, if you think about it from another perspective, people who can use extraordinary power to improve their eyesight can basically get these sixty points steadily.
Different from Fenike and others, Luo Yan, who was observing secretly, could not help but smile.
This exam is not only a test of their knowledge and talent, but also a screening of their character and willpower.
Of course he could see at a glance that this set of rules was not only to select apprentices suitable for learning magic, but also to select a group of "smart people" who were most worthy of training from those talented apprentices.
They must be absolutely ruthless to the people around them, be absolutely loyal to the system of Xuebang, do whatever it takes to achieve their goals, and after burning themselves, they must die like ashes in an unnoticed corner—at least not hurt their own people when they die.
Or to sum it up in one sentence, Hecajelin is the gold they want to sift out, and young men like Leo are the dregs they want to grate away.
Idealist?
Happy Saint Sith, there is probably no one in the entire empire who is more materialistic than these mages. They believe in nothing and have no taboos. They follow the coldest laws of the jungle!
Of course, the above is only for the general subjects of the empire, and the nobles who entered the academy through letters of recommendation are not included in this list. If he had taken out Count Sylfen's recommendation letter from the beginning, he probably wouldn't have had to wait here for three days. He would have been sitting in the mage tower where he wanted to go three days ago.
But, wouldn’t this take away a lot of fun?
He is not here to experience campus life.
The harsh trial has begun, and Luo Yan noticed that conflicts had begun to breed among the crowd, and spread toward the young people next to him.
With the disappearance of Professor Hector, the fragile order on the snowfield instantly collapsed!
"Go away! This position is mine!"
"Why do you have it? I saw it first!"
The most primitive conflict broke out first in the area closest to the stone monument.
A tall candidate roughly pushed a thin young man to the ground and took the position he had finally found.
The thin young man struggled to think of an argument, but was frightened by the fierce look in his face and shut his mouth. He could only get up reluctantly and look for opportunities further away.
Similar scenes are constantly playing out in every corner of the snowfield.
But there are no blind people who come to trouble Luo Yan. After all, these people are not stupid. They are just here to take the exam, not to risk their lives... The carriage is not simple at first glance.
The crowd quickly divided.
Some candidates who were well prepared or from well-off families took out portable telescopes. Some geniuses who have awakened their extraordinary power early are trying to activate the magic power to gather in their eyes to make their vision clearer. And more ordinary geniuses whose awakening is still unstable can only push and run like headless flies in the crowded crowd, trying in vain to get closer to the out-of-reach stone monument.
The three young men looked at each other, and their eyes fell on the telescope in Fenick's hand, letting time flow in silence.
They probably used the same set of teaching materials along the way, and they often exchanged their understanding of magic. It was still a bit difficult to write something completely different.
Barrett whispered.
"As long as sixty points is enough, we can discuss and deliberately make mistakes in different places."
"But what about those same questions?" Ilara looked sad, "To be honest, I'm not afraid that we are right in different ways, but I am afraid that we are wrong in the same way..."
Fenick clenched his telescope and gritted his teeth.
ifier |
The two of them nodded in agreement and began to work together to copy the titles on the stone tablet. But those two pairs of eyes were twinkling in unison.
At this moment, on the other side, a certain outstanding graduate from Demon King Academy has put away the quill and stationery floating in the air, and finished writing the question and the answer.
Although the knowledge system of the Empire is different from that of Hell, this topic is not difficult for His Majesty the Demon King, who is well-read.
Especially after studying the notes of another "outstanding graduate" Hekagelin.
"I don't know what score the examiners from Xuebang will give me." Looking at the answer sheet with more than 6,000 words, Luo Yan nodded with satisfaction.
Count Hilfen's recommendation letter is too unfair to these students who take exams seriously.
As a prince who values fairness, he decided not to take it out until the results of the written test and interview were available.