章 86: Chapter 86: The Intruder
The base was quiet.
Atiel walked lightly along the cobbled path, unable to suppress the smile on her lips.
Just a moment ago, she had successfully cast the **Repair** spell.
This was the second zero-circle spell she had mastered.
"Once I finish the upcoming plant care tasks, I'll have enough contribution points to exchange for another zero-circle spell model book."
"What should I learn for my third spell?"
As Atiel pondered, she made her way toward the magical plant garden.
Before she reached the entrance, she heard cheerful singing and the sound of bell-like laughter coming from inside.
Atiel couldn't help but be affected by the joyful sounds, her smile widening even more.
Entering the magical plant garden, she was greeted by a group of tiny beings sitting on flowers, singing merrily.
Each one of them was less than ten centimeters tall, dressed in outfits made of leaves, with wings resembling petals. Their skin colors varied, ranging from grayish-white to vibrant reds and yellows. They had no hair, only adorned with various flower petals.
They looked like little fairies out of a fairy tale.
In reality, these tiny beings were a type of ultra-small fae.
They were flower spirits.
These unique creatures had been summoned from another world by Lord Sunan.
They were excellent caregivers for plants, capable of promoting the growth of magical flora.
The only downside was that they could be a bit mischievous; she, Sherman, and Corey had often been teased by these little ones while working in the magical plant garden.
However, Atiel still quite liked them.
After all, they were undeniably adorable.
Upon seeing Atiel, the flower spirits immediately flew over, chirping excitedly.
Atiel played with them for a short while before bidding them farewell and continuing on her way.
As she walked, she encountered a humanoid figure that resembled a female elf but had skin like tree bark and hair resembling leaves.
"Good morning, Lady Madeline."
Atiel quickly stopped to greet her.
This figure was also summoned by Lord Sunan from another world and was said to be a Child of the Forest, responsible for guarding the magical plant garden.
Madeline nodded gently at Atiel before continuing her patrol.
Atiel didn't mind; she knew Lady Madeline was somewhat taciturn by nature.
During her two years in the base, Atiel had grown accustomed to discovering new beings from other worlds appearing in the base from time to time.
Arriving at the Silver Moon Flower planting area, Atiel immediately spotted Sherman watering the plants.
"Sherman!" the girl called out.
Sherman turned around, and upon seeing Atiel, a smile broke across his face as he hurriedly put down his watering can and ran over.
"Atiel, what brings you here?"
Atiel rolled her eyes playfully. "Have you forgotten what our teacher instructed us?"
Sherman slapped his forehead, quickly recalling, and laughed sheepishly.
"I remember now! It's today, right?"
The large-scale wizard qualification test had concluded five days prior.
Unlike back then, the base was now more organized, and newcomers who passed the test no longer needed to study at the lord's manor; they could move directly into the base.
However, their teacher had been too busy to find time, so he instructed the three of them to help the newcomers familiarize themselves with the base and explain some precautions.
Sherman had been busy with tasks in the past few days and nearly forgot about it entirely.
"Where's Corey?"
"He's already gone to the base gate."
"Then let's hurry up."
The two walked side by side out of the magical plant garden, discussing the recent test.
"I wonder how many passed this time?"
"Definitely more than when we took it."
"True."
Compared to two years ago, the territory of the Shimmering Territory had expanded by four to five times, and its population had surged significantly.
With a larger population base, it was natural that more children of suitable age with potential would emerge.
Moreover, since it was the first test, the number of participants was certainly much larger.
This year, the base might see more than ten new apprentices.
The thought of soon becoming a senior made Sherman feel inexplicably excited.
The base had been quite quiet lately, and he longed for more people to liven things up, allowing for more opportunities for interaction and learning from one another.
He wasn't worried about resources being stretched too thin with more apprentices.
According to Lady Gritti, the resources in the warehouse could easily support dozens of apprentices.
"By the way, I heard you've recently started making potions? How's that going?" Atiel suddenly asked.
Sherman scratched his head, chuckling ruefully. "It's really tough. I've failed ten attempts at the Brute Force Potion, and all the materials I managed to gather this month went to waste."
To lower the difficulty, Sherman had intentionally chosen the Brute Force Potion, which was relatively suitable for beginners, rather than more complex potions like the lower-tier Active Potion or the lower-tier Dragon Blood Potion. Yet his initial attempts had still ended in failure.
"It's okay. Our teacher said that everyone struggles at first. Once you get the hang of it, it'll get much easier," Atiel comforted him.
Sherman nodded, but he sighed inwardly.
It wasn't that easy.
Unlike Corey and Atiel, who came from wealthy families and could obtain materials from home without relying on contribution points, Sherman had given all his coins to Old Roger. The materials he used daily were exchanged with contribution points.
The materials he wasted on failed potion attempts pained him greatly.
"Speaking of which, what has Corey been up to lately?" Sherman inquired.
He hadn't seen Corey for quite a while.
Although the three of them lived in the base, their busy schedules meant they didn't often cross paths.
Atiel replied, "Corey has been studying how to create Blackstone Leopards, but it seems like he's not making much progress."
"Creating puppets is indeed quite difficult," Sherman nodded in agreement.
He had also attempted to create Blackstone Leopards, but every attempt had ended in failure.
His talent in puppet crafting was even worse than in potion making.
Thinking about puppet crafting made Sherman feel a bit sentimental.
The Blackstone Leopard was a knight-level puppet.
Looking back two years, when knights had seemed like lofty figures to him, he never would have imagined that he would one day be crafting puppets on par with knights.
The changes that had occurred in his life over these two years were immense.
And all of it was thanks to their teacher.
With gratitude swelling in his heart, Sherman couldn't help but feel a sense of appreciation for his teacher.
As the three of them stood at the gate, they were soon greeted by a group of figures approaching from a distance.
Twelve young boys and girls rode on Blackstone Leopards, escorted by a squad of Blackstone Cavalry toward the base.
Leading them was Lord Bred.
"I heard Lord Bred has been promoted to a great knight; he's the second great knight of the Shimmering Territory aside from our lord," Atiel said in a low voice.
"With the Dragon Blood Fruits, there will only be more great knights in the territory in the future."
Sherman replied quietly, his gaze scanning the twelve newcomers.
From their attire, he could tell there were both noble offspring and children from middle-class families among them.
However, there were none like him who came from poor or farming backgrounds.
Literacy remained a significant barrier, effectively locking out commoners and farmers from becoming wizard apprentices.
Sherman had considered changing this situation, but popularizing education involved many complexities. Even the lord would find it challenging to implement significant changes, let alone him.
"Good morning, my three lords."
As they approached, Lord Bred dismounted from his Blackstone Leopard and greeted the three students.
Though he was old enough to be their father, and held the titles of great knight and lord, he still treated Sunan's students with respect.
"Lord Bred, it's been a while."
The three of them promptly returned the greeting.
"Now that I've delivered the newcomers, my task is done; the rest is up to you."
Bred left the newcomers behind before swiftly departing with his soldiers.
Watching Bred leave, the three turned their attention back to the twelve newcomers.
"Hello, seniors."
The twelve newcomers quickly bowed and greeted them, their demeanor visibly tense and awkward.
After two years of meditation and study, Sherman, Corey, and Atiel had developed an air of mysterious depth, making them seem unapproachable to ordinary people.
Even Sherman, who had once been a self-conscious and timid child, now exuded confidence and decisiveness.
Anyone who saw him for the first time would never guess that he had been insecure just two years prior.
Standing before the three, even the noble-born youths felt an inexplicable pressure.
"There's no need to be nervous; from today onward, we're classmates." Atiel said gently.
Her warm smile helped to ease the newcomers' tension somewhat.
"Let's go; it's getting late." Corey said flatly. "We should wrap things up quickly; I still need to get back to crafting puppets."
His somewhat impatient tone reintroduced an air of awkwardness to the atmosphere that had just begun to relax.
Atiel shot Corey a disapproving glance and led the newcomers into the base.
"The base is quite large, with various areas designated for specific purposes, but they are easy to identify."
"Most areas are accessible to you, but places like the prison and energy center are off-limits to apprentices. They're equipped with magical alarms, so be cautious not to accidentally trigger them."
"Ah, and those are clay golems, designed to handle mundane tasks. In addition, there are stone golems primarily responsible for guarding and patrolling the base."
"Besides us apprentices, the base also has Lady Gritti, who guards the warehouse, Lady Madeline, who oversees the magical plant garden, and the flower spirits who assist in nurturing the magical plants. They were all summoned by our teacher from another world."
As they walked, Atiel enthusiastically introduced the newcomers to the base, explaining various precautions.
Sherman occasionally chimed in with a comment.
Corey remained silent throughout the conversation.
Fortunately, the newcomers didn't mind; their eyes sparkled as they took in the sights, finding everything incredibly novel.
Seeing their reactions, Sherman couldn't help but feel nostalgic, as if he were witnessing his own first visit to the base two years ago.
Back then, he had likely been just as wide-eyed as these newcomers.
"Also, there's Yinglong and Lady Amy."
"Yinglong is our teacher's magical pet, a powerful dragon lizard capable of invisibility."
"Lady Amy is our teacher's friend; her origins are quite mysterious, but she isn't here in the base today; otherwise, she would have come to see you."
After touring most of the areas, Atiel led the group to the warehouse.
Lady Gritti was sitting at the entrance, playing the violin. The melodious tune created a calming atmosphere.
Atiel gestured for the newcomers to pause, patiently waiting for Lady Gritti to finish her piece. Once she set her violin down, Atiel approached her.
"Lady Gritti, I've brought the newcomers."
"There are quite a few newcomers this year."
Lady Gritti smiled and glanced over the newcomers before pointing to a stack of books on a nearby table.
"These are the materials Lord Sunan asked me to give to the newcomers, including the Star Ring Meditation Method and some foundational texts. Please take them."
Atiel thanked her and distributed the materials to the newcomers.
"Oh, and there's been a rather unfriendly character in the prison area recently. Lord Sunan asked me to inform you to avoid getting too close to the prison," Lady Gritti reminded them.
An unfriendly character?
Sherman, Atiel, and Corey exchanged glances.
Evidently, the unfriendly individual mentioned by Lady Gritti was another creature summoned by their teacher from another world.
However, they were curious about what kind of situation could lead to Lady Gritti, who was usually kind-hearted, to describe someone as unfriendly.
Curious as they were, the three had always followed their teacher's instructions without question and nodded in agreement.
Leaving the warehouse, the group headed towards the residential area to let the newcomers choose their rooms.
Suddenly, a piercing alarm blared in their ears.
Sherman, Atiel, and Corey's expressions changed simultaneously.
"Someone triggered the magical alarm!"
"It's coming from the direction of the main gate; let's go check it out!"
"Stay here and don't wander around."
After warning the newcomers, Sherman and the others hurried toward the main gate of the base.
From a distance, they could see a squad of stone golems surrounding the entrance.
As they approached, they realized the stone golems had surrounded an intruder.
To their surprise, the intruder was just one person.
The individual was wrapped in a tightly fitted robe, revealing only a pale face with rigid features that looked to be in his thirties, exuding an unsettling aura.
Upon seeing that face, Sherman, Atiel, and Corey felt an inexplicable chill run down their spines.
The man's gaze swept over the three apprentices.
"Three young level 1 wizard apprentices."
"How interesting; there aren't many who take on students these days."
The man's voice was raspy and unpleasant, sounding like sandpaper scraping against wood.
What shocked Sherman and the others even more was that the voice came from beneath the man's robe, and his mouth never moved.
A light breeze passed by.
The three apprentices felt a presence beside them, and they turned to find Sunan had appeared out of nowhere.
"Teacher!"
The three young apprentices hurriedly bowed.
Sunan waved his hand. "You all go back; I'll handle this."
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