Late at night, on Jiamen's suggestion, the five of them abandoned the idea of resting alone and moved into a single room together, assigning people to take turns keeping watch through the night.
Their opponents had clearly done the same.
"They're gone!" Leilin, who had been monitoring the opposing apprentices through his Chip, suddenly spoke up.
At the sound of his voice, the four apprentices who had been feigning sleep on sofas and chairs simultaneously opened their eyes.
"I heard their footsteps leaving, and they're heading straight for the entrance to the Lunar Harp Mountains!" Leilin added.
"They chose to fight at night? After them!!!"
Jiamen said with a touch of excitement.
As survivors of the Blood Battle, Jiamen and the others all had the blood of enemy apprentices on their hands. When it came to such matters, they felt not the fear of ordinary apprentices, but rather an indescribable sense of anticipation.
Without opening their bundles, leaving them aside, Leilin and the others hastily shouldered their packs and left the inn.
Ten dark figures, one after another, vanished from the town under the dim starlight.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!!
Several dark figures, barely visible to the naked eye, hurtled forward at tremendous speed, crossing the town in an instant and entering the mouth of the Lunar Harp Mountains.
"They're not naive enough to think they can shake us off. The only reason to do this is to choose their own battlefield!"
A sharp gleam flickered in Leilin's eyes as he pieced together their opponents' thinking.
But he had full confidence in his team!
His side consisted entirely of Third-rank Apprentices, and they even had four Magical Items. Among the opposing apprentices, the Chip had not detected a single trace of Magical Item energy!
Moreover, among the enemy group, there were two Second-rank Apprentices.
In Leilin's eyes, this was nothing but a vulnerability and a burden!
Crack!!! A branch blocking the path was shattered by Leilin's charge without so much as slowing him down.
The mana that apprentices obtained through meditation radiated outward, greatly enhancing their physical constitution. For Third-rank Apprentices, the physical boost from increased Spiritual Power alone could push their constitution above 2.5, rivaling that of full-fledged Knights!
Furthermore, Third-rank Apprentices could perform various modification experiments on their own bodies, gaining formidable physical abilities.
The pitch-black night and the tangled web of branches and vines posed no obstacle whatsoever to Leilin and his team.
"They've stopped!"
Leilin halted and surveyed the surroundings.
Towering treetops stretched straight up toward the sky, and the dense foliage blocked out the starlight almost entirely, allowing only pinpricks to filter through.
But it was enough for the apprentices' night vision.
"At this distance, we're far enough from the town that they won't detect any spell fluctuations!" Jiamen pinned a green badge to his chest.
"Taking out Magical Items already? Just to deal with a few scraps?" Bosain chuckled, tucking his hands into his wide sleeves.
Seeing the alert the Chip had detected, Leilin was somewhat speechless.
Under the Chip's detection, Bosain was already gripping his own Magical Item, poised to activate it at any moment.
Leilin and Jiamen had grown somewhat accustomed to Bosain's habit of saying one thing and doing another.
On the other side, Shaya and Ross had begun making their own preparations.
As apprentices who had survived the Blood Battle, they all understood one thing clearly: even a lion must use its full strength against a rabbit!!! No matter how weak an enemy appeared on the surface, not even the slightest relaxation could be afforded—otherwise, what you stood to lose was your own life!!!
"Let's go! Take them out!" Jiamen let out a grim laugh and took the lead.
"Phew..."
After passing through a black coniferous tree, Leilin found himself facing a stretch of dark-green marshland.
The marsh's surface was littered with dead branches, broken leaves, and the carcasses of various other animals.
On the far side of the marsh, the five apprentices they had seen before stood waiting in silence.
Unlike before, they now wore badges representing their academy pinned to the chest of their cloaks.
"Gothic Sage's Cottage?" Jiamen said coldly.
"Black Bone Forest apprentices!" The opposing leader had evidently also deduced roughly who Leilin and the others were.
"Looks like a few people are going to have to die." Leilin sighed silently to himself. As two factions that had just emerged from war, Black Bone Forest Academy and Gothic Sage's Cottage could now be described as mortal enemies bound by deep hatred.
Although a ceasefire had been brokered under the Dark Night Lighthouse's mediation, it held at most some binding power over official Wizards. For apprentices, once they encountered each other, the only possible outcome was the death of one side!
After exchanging words, the two groups simply stood staring at each other in silence, and for a moment, even the air seemed to grow heavy and still.
"Actually... we don't have to..."
The opposing leader was silent for a moment before speaking.
Hssss!!!
The instant the opposing leader opened his mouth, a flash of killing intent crossed Jiamen's face, and the badge on his chest emitted a hazy ring of green light.