Aid received… Reward: minor active potion.
Aid received… Reward: minor active potion.
Aid received… Reward: advanced elemental gem.
Salun slumped weakly to the ground, his expression exhausted. The others weren't much better.
All the apprentices who were still alive realized the trap in Bloom's words and spontaneously joined Salun's team.
Under the overwhelming numbers, the five Swamp Magic Crocodiles were, as expected, all killed.
Looking around, an apprentice finally began to sob softly.
The ground, littered with severed limbs and blood clots, spoke of the ferocity of the battle.
After all, they were still young; seeing their former companions fall in pools of blood inevitably brought sadness and worry about their own future.
Clap, clap, clap—
Applause rang out as Bloom leisurely descended from the sky, a massive crocodile head clutched in his hand.
“This is truly eye-opening. Excellent. Though lowly as ants, you dared to muster the courage to resist a dragon.
Sacrifice is a monument for the sacrificed, but victory is a song of praise for the victors. You will receive commendations from the School.”
Salun took off his monocle, breathed on it, and began to wipe it with the corner of his clothes, his face expressionless.
The disguise of the monocle was extremely good; at least Bloom in front of him hadn't discovered it was a special extraordinary item.
He just didn't know if it could fool the official Warlocks of the School.
He looked around, a cold sneer forming in his heart.
What good was victory? The dead apprentices could never come back.
Thirty people came; now only fourteen were alive, a mortality rate of more than half.
“You all rest here. I'll go to the other side of the mud pit and dig up the starry vine.”
Bloom commanded, then lightly leaped into the air.
Envy surged in the apprentices' eyes; only High Apprentices could perform flight spells.
Time trickled by, like fine sand flowing through an hourglass.
By the time Bloom reappeared, it was already deep night.
Salun, for the first time in a long while, gazed at the stars in the sky, their light surging with brilliant silver radiance.
“Let's go. Leave one apprentice to clear the battlefield. We can't let the bodies of our companions be gnawed by other Magic Beasts.”
Everyone wore a look of utter disbelief; it was hard to imagine these words coming from Bloom's mouth.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Bloom frowned. Every apprentice his eyes swept over felt a needle-like pain all over their bodies.
This was a peculiar phenomenon that only occurred when one's mental power reached a certain level.
There had been precedents of ordinary people being glared to death by a Warlock.
“I'll do it.”
Just as Bloom was getting a little angry and about to randomly pick an apprentice, Salun spoke in a deep voice, slowly walking out from the crowd.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The apprentice left behind meant being separated from the team and losing the protection of a High Apprentice.
Danik and Beirut, though they didn't understand Salun's decision, would not question it.
His actions had earned him their respect.
Pre-apprentice Mobijie stayed behind to clear the battlefield and had an unexpected encounter. A Magic Crocodile had awakened a powerful stealth talent and had been playing dead, waiting for an opportunity. It only had one breath left, so its first reaction was to retreat into the mud pit and swallow strange stones with healing properties from the bottom. Mobijie secretly followed the Magic Crocodile into the water, remaining vigilant. After a struggle, he killed the Magic Crocodile and obtained the stones. However, he became too greedy, wanting to explore the source of the stones. When he discovered the tri-color mandala flower, he was swallowed whole by a giant lamprey of the Middle-level Apprentice class from within the rock wall.
Salun's face was resolute, behaving like a soldier going to his death.
Moreover, this also earned him the gratitude of the apprentices and Bloom's praise.
“Very good, your name is Salun, right? If you have a chance to take my Necromancy Curse class, I'll tutor you once for free.”
Salun's perceptiveness put Bloom in a good mood.
Of course, he wasn't feeling pity; in fact, it was a School regulation.
Apprentices who died in the swamp, if conditions allowed, had to be buried in the ground.
Speaking of which, Bloom's hands were empty; there was no sign of the starry vine.
He must have some spatial equipment on him.
Salun adjusted his monocle and covertly glanced at Bloom.
He had more methods now.
The advanced elemental gem and the ancient parchment were the confidence he had to stay behind.
After everyone left, Salun began to clear the battlefield.
He deliberately didn't touch the Magic Crocodile's corpse; its extraordinary organs had already been divided among the apprentices.
Salun's team alone got five, accounting for half of the total. And these were all magic crystals!
Salun and Danik each took two, and Beirut was forcibly given one.
“Here it comes.”
Salun's heart stirred, still feigning sleep.
Finally, a severely wounded Magic Crocodile quietly moved to the shore and eventually slid into the muddy water.
“These Magic Beasts truly have tenacious vitality.”
Salun sighed with emotion and followed it.
Its mouth was torn, its belly was pierced through, and its intestines dragged on the ground, yet it wouldn't die. It was truly absurd.
He took a deep breath and plunged into the water.
He tightly clutched an advanced elemental gem in his hand, ready to throw it and make it explode if anything went wrong.
It must be said, the Warlocks of the Gem School were truly geniuses.
Even if Salun hadn't advanced to Warlock Apprentice, he could still use it.
“That pre-apprentice named Mobijie was just an ordinary person. If he could kill this heavily wounded, dying Magic Crocodile, there's no reason I can't.”
Salun pondered in the dark. His vision was obstructed in the muddy water, so he swam very cautiously, preventing a sneak attack from the Magic Crocodile.
“This is my limit!”
He burst out of the water, trying to fill his lungs with as much air as possible.
He could hold his breath for five minutes while diving.
Becoming a Novice Knight not only increased his strength but also his overall physical capabilities.
Both his neural reaction time and his breath-holding duration had made significant progress.
“Again!”
Salun plunged into the water, continuing his search.
His efforts were not in vain. This time, he found the Magic Crocodile at the bottom of the water.
With its torn mouth, it struggled to swallow the strange stones hidden by the aquatic plants.
The stones glowed with swirling red, yellow, and blue light, and there were traces of a giant beast having lived around them.
“It seems this is the Magic Crocodiles' lair. No wonder it wanted to come back to eat these stones.”
“Roar!!!”
Seemingly sensing the enemy's approach, the Magic Crocodile became agitated and restless, but it was all in vain.
The well-prepared Salun killed the giant beast with his own hands in just two minutes.
Without its eyeballs, an extraordinary organ, the Magic Crocodile could only rely on its body's perception of water currents to parry Salun.
This greatly reduced his pressure.
Not to mention that it could no longer release water restraints. No wonder Mobijie was able to kill it.
“These stones are good things too.”
Salun collected them, then cut a large opening in the Magic Crocodile's belly and reached in, fumbling around.
“Found it.”
From inside, he pulled out three strange stones with green, viscous blood.
“That makes a total of twelve stones.”