“How is it?”
“The poison is very potent, my head feels dizzy.”
Hearing Allen’s response, Melinda’s face darkened as if it could almost drip water.
This time the enemy was formidable. Judging from the spell just now, they must be a 3rd Class apprentice about to be promoted to an official sorcerer. Facing the enemy head-on, she probably was no match, not to mention she greatly dreaded the other party’s tracking methods.
There was also a tricky person at the laboratory.
She had to admit she had underestimated the enemy’s strength. The plan had been thwarted time and again, and now that the situation had turned against her, it was time to make a change.
Melinda shouted loudly to the other side of the collapsed passageway, “Good evening, apprentices from Mongna Ant Land Cottage. If you want to find us, come to the Kanda mining area. We’ll be waiting for you inside.”
As soon as her voice fell, the collapsed rocks shook violently a few times, clearly someone had hastily launched a spell attack.
Melinda knew she had achieved her goal and quickly left with Allen without looking back.
On the other side, the rocks at the collapsed location continued to fall, causing more of the passageway to cave in and forcing the people to rapidly retreat. The cause of this disaster was Heidi suddenly casting a spell.
“Are you crazy?” Ivan couldn’t help but retort. If they hadn’t retreated quickly, they would have been buried alive.
“You don’t understand.” Heidi frowned deeply and did not relax for a while as she explained, “Kanda mine is a magic stone mine. If there’s a problem, it can be very troublesome.”
A magic stone mine here?
Ivan’s eyes widened in disbelief. Not knowing that many apprentices could only earn single-digit magic stones a day, there was actually a magic stone mine here—how many magic stones must be inside, definitely including intermediate and upper-class stones.
“It’s emptied out. We went there before,” Gina added.
“Oh, so it’s empty.” Ivan suddenly felt uninterested.
“Yes, otherwise it would not be our turn as apprentices to come and explore. Heidi said that an empty magic stone mine also has its unique value and is an important asset to our academy. It’s just that we didn’t find any problems on our previous visit,” Gina said.
Heidi discreetly glared at her, really hitting the nail on the head. However, their exploration had indeed not been thorough.
Heidi handed a detoxification potion to Hawtherley, asking him to administer it to Yosef, who was lying on the ground, to ensure he wouldn’t die immediately. After all, he was a rare live captive.
It wasn’t long before the poisonous fumes dissipated.
“What are you spacing out for? Look for the people from the Hunting Team. After all, we’re from the same academy,” Heidi signaled to Ivan and Gina. Seeing their lack of response, she had to remind them verbally.
“You have the strength, what you say goes.”
Ivan released the rapid wood silkworms, letting them search along the holes around them.
Gina released the venomous fire ants.
The small holes were inconvenient for people to pass through, but for the swarm of insects, it was not a problem at all. It didn’t take long before the insects brought back news that the people inside were digging a way out of the mountain and would be able to come out before too long.
Given that, Heidi didn’t bother any further and led the three outside to wait.
After a while, Wolban and his group emerged from inside the mountain in a ragged state. Seeing the others, they clearly let out a sigh of relief.
“Thank you, if only you could have come a bit earlier.”
“Had it not been for an unexpected discovery, we might have arrived even later,” Heidi didn’t take offense to Wolban’s words and simply summarized the events, highlighting Ivan’s contribution, including finding the Array Plate, spotting the enemy’s shadow, and then coming to their rescue.
Her message was clear, that Ivan’s efforts were a big part of why they were able to rescue them in time, which was the truth.
‘This woman is usually so stern, I didn’t expect her to be so cunning—nicely done.’ Hearing her words, Ivan timely moved to the side, making his presence known to prevent anyone from pretending not to see.
Awkward!
How embarrassing!
Wolban’s face went through a series of changes; before setting off, he had talked big, telling the others to just wait and see, and created trouble along the way. Now, undeniably being saved by someone made him feel extremely awkward inside.
“Mr. Ivan, and the three fellow apprentices, thank you for the lifesaving grace. If you need anything in the future, just say the word.” Cooke stepped forward, bowed and thanked everyone on behalf of Wolban, easing his embarrassment.
“Just don’t trip people up behind their backs,” Ivan muttered, as if talking to himself, yet the volume was just enough for everyone to hear.
“I won’t,” Wolban didn’t turn around, yet his voice clearly carried.
He, Wolban, also cared about his reputation; no matter what, he now lacked the face to make a move against Ivan.
Hearing this, Ivan didn’t laugh out loud on the surface, but he was secretly delighted, feeling that some of the animosity from the Hunting Team had been resolved.
“You’re injured, we’ll talk about the rest after returning to the city,” Heidi called out.
Afterward, the group grandly made their way back to Swamp Forest City.
Seeing all the apprentices returned and even capturing a behind-the-scenes mastermind, the happiest was City Lord Simmons. If it were not for the ill timing, he would have thrown a celebration banquet for everyone.
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The next morning, everyone gathered at the Swamp Forest City’s prison.
Wolban stepped forward, gathered a cluster of clean water and threw it on the unconscious Yosef.
Yosef woke from his slumber only to find himself tied to a cross, feeling weak. He also saw a group of apprentices not far away.
“Awake, remember us?” Wolban said coldly.
“Captured by you, seems I’m not dead, hahaha,” Yosef’s eyes showed no panic or confusion, instead he let out a hoarse laugh.
Still so arrogant as a captive, Wolban casually slapped an invisible hand across Yosef’s face, immediately making him groggy and visibly more spiritless.
Ivan recognized that Wolban was using Mage’s Hand, which astonishingly became an interrogation tool.
“Speak up.”
“Speak what?”
“What are you doing controlling the ordinary people of Swamp Forest City, controlling the herds of magicalized wild beasts outside the city, hiding out in the mine? Talk about your plans and arrangements.”
“Pfft!” Yosef lifted his head and glared maliciously at Wolban, “You think I’d tell you?”
“Then don’t blame me if I resort to other methods,” Wolban’s face twisted menacingly.
“Wait,” Heidi interjected.
Wolban turned to look at Heidi.
“Try this.” A pale red rhombic crystal floated from Heidi’s hand, landing in Wolban’s palm.
“The Red Eyes Crystal?”
“Exactly.”
Wolban’s hand trembled slightly.
This woman was ruthless, bringing such an item on a mission. This was an item that the academy alliance listed as highly dangerous, used to extract the memories of living beings, and quite unstable.
The other apprentices were clueless, but they soon learned the purpose of the Red Eyes Crystal.
Wolban pinched the rhombic crystal and patted it towards Yosef. When he pulled his hand back, a red eye seemed to have appeared on Yosef’s forehead, the Red Eyes Crystal from moments before.
Yosef’s face violently contorted, apparently enduring some intense pain. He struggled furiously to no avail. In less than two minutes, his eyes began to turn white, and his body started to spasm.
Then, a ray of light streaked out of the Red Eyes Crystal, transforming into a membrane of light made up of particles, on which the shadow of a person flickered.