For thirteen consecutive days and nights, the giant bird successfully reached the territory of the Highland Alliance and arrived at the Black Forest, where Night Forest Academy was located. The forest was mostly populated by Night Shadow Trees, which devoured light, be it sunlight or moonlight,
so even during the daytime, the Black Forest seemed darker than other places.
“Without any surprises, Night Forest must have been covered by energy radiation contamination and has become an evil land.” Christian looked down at the dark trees.
Compared to before, the Black Forest was now filled with drifting gray mist, giving off an uncomfortable feeling, most likely caused by the energy radiation contamination.
Everyone present was an official sorcerer, and none feared such a trivial matter.
Once the seven people had landed on the ground, the giant bird was instructed to leave this problematic area. It was a bloodline synthetic creature, possessing certain self-defense capabilities, and could be summoned again when needed.
“Naturally, each academy has its own trump card. In the end, they would rather destroy everything than let those bandits have an easy time creating energy pollution is inevitable.” The Patrol Team’s steward Abel chimed in.
Such methods were also available at Mongna Ant Land Cottage, constructed when the academy was first established.
While talking, the seven people stepped into the Black Forest and headed towards the location of Night Forest Academy. As the shadows of the trees swayed, sensing the remarkable aura of the seven, the magicalized creatures lurking in the forest dared not show themselves.
Before long, a dilapidated and massive grave came into view, which was the campus of the Night Forest.
Night Forest Academy specialized in the study of shadow and undead energies; such a location naturally complemented its studies, making it appear reliable. However, the grave was broken open, with various gaps, and the nearby protective enchanted forest had also been burned down.
“We’ve arrived so late, others have probably already scoured the place, is there really a need to investigate little by little?” Wayne couldn’t help but ask.
Of all the academies, Mongna Ant Land Cottage was the farthest from here. Other wizards must have arrived before them, and they would not have been merciful. What was left now was probably some worthless abandoned objects.
“That’s hard to say, you’ll know once you take a look inside.”
Christian led the way, stepping into one of the gaps.
The others followed behind him, instinctively on higher alert.
Just a leak from one of the regular laboratories would cause mutations and turmoil in its surroundings, let alone a destroyed academy. No one knew what an academy’s lab had contained or what had been leaked.
“Sorcerer Ivan, as a member of the Enchantment Group, can you sense the energy of the protective sorcery arrays around us?”
“Yes, there should be some remnants. Such widespread runes sorcery arrays are difficult to completely destroy and usually possess self-repairing capabilities. In situations like this, they could easily trigger some wonderful chain of reactions.”
“Then we need to be more cautious.”
The true campus of Night Forest was deep underground. The seven traversed through a long spiral passage safely and arrived inside the grave.
The entire campus was as large as a type of fortress, mainly consisting of graves and church-like buildings, most of which had become ruins. The surrounding air was damp and gloomy, with toxic fog that carried the scent of decay wafting about.
“Interesting, there’s the smell of decaying corpses.” Wayne didn’t mind it; on the contrary, he sniffed vigorously, as if smelling something intoxicating.
Ivan couldn’t help but glance at him. After undergoing Bloodline Alteration, even his quirks had become strange, and other things were hidden in his body.
“Sorcerer Ivan, do you have a different opinion?” Wayne smiled at him.
“No.”
Ivan’s expression unchanged, his mind flickered with suspicions.
It wasn’t an illusion; upon this meeting, he detected an unusual aura emanating from Wayne, a discovery made after obtaining and conducting certain research on the high-level puppet’s heart.
It was the distinctive aura of a puppet’s heart, which would occasionally emerge from Wayne.
This was quite intriguing, considering that Wayne was from the Steele family, one of the Three Great Families, and had joined the Talent Nurturing Team controlled by the Watkin Family, marking his status as special.
The only uncertainty was whether a controlled creature could maintain the semblance of a normal person.
If so, it would make sense why Wayne, having failed to advance with his 5th Class talent, subsequently took the path of Bloodline Alteration, and it also explained the oddities he felt about the Flash Vortex Secret Realm.
Could this be a stratagem by the Star Moon Alliance?
He did not know, but one thing was for sure, he wouldn’t inform the Academy.
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Within the Night Forest Academy, something emitting a dismal green light hung above the firmament, adding an unusual ambiance to the Academy.
A group of people made no effort to conceal their footsteps, their sounds particularly loud in this otherwise silent area.
“Roar.”
Finally, their arrival attracted the attention of a magicalized wild beast lurking nearby, judging by the noise, it wasn’t small.
“Such a foolish straggler,” muttered Christian as he personally took action. A fierce lightning bolt arced across and slew the beast before it could get any closer.
Arriving late had its advantages; all it meant was that the aggressive test subjects and magicalized wild beasts had been repeatedly cleared by others, leaving only the stragglers for them to encounter.
Under Christian’s lead, the group headed straight to the core of the campus, slowing their pace when they reached an area where the energy was especially turbulent.
Ahead, numerous pure white stone sculptures appeared, featuring plants, humans, and beasts alike. Most surprising were the sorcerer statues, finely detailed down to the minutest feature, their facial expressions of terror vividly lifelike, all posed as if trying to flee.
“I recognize him, Howard Jorne, a wandering sorcerer,” Bernardson remarked, pointing to one of the humanoid statues, its features clearly denoting an old sorcerer.
“And this one here is Nielsen Bass; I’ve heard of him, a particularly cruel villain,” Sorcerer Abel pointed out another.
Their words sent a chill through the others, prompting more cautious steps.
What kind of power could turn a living sorcerer into a lifelike statue? Despite their realistic appearance, there was not the slightest trace of life in them, as per their senses.
Yet, when they turned their backs, they felt as if they were being watched, the sensation seemingly coming from these humanoid statues.
“It’s just a sculpture, nothing peculiar,” someone said skeptically, stepping forward for a closer inspection, but found no energy fluctuations.
“I’ve never heard of Night Forest delving into such powers. Could it be one of their deeply-hidden trump cards, something akin to forbidden power?”
“Let’s look further inside,” Christian waved a hand, signaling them to press onward.
The petrification wasn’t isolated to a single area but spanned a significant region. As they moved deeper along this region, they encountered more plant statues, but no more human figures.
They arrived in front of a unique tomb structure.
Unlike other places, the tomb and the surrounding dirt ring had also petrified into pure white.
The tomb door stood ajar, and after sensing no danger, the group entered to find a deep pit at the center of the floor, presumably where something had been excavated.