Although Morin had made a lot of preparations and had learned about the materials related to this trial tower, neither what he had learned nor what Professor Honorom had mentioned in his class had mentioned the specific location of the trial tower.

It is only said that in the sacred royal capital, it was established in the same era as the royal capital.

But I don't want to be at the entrance near the White Tower of the High Priest, but there is such an endless staircase that stretches downward.

The steps were wide, and the four columns were not crowded down, and I don't know how long it took to run, and the boy tried to count how many steps he had taken, but the passage seemed to be so full of magic that he quickly forgot where he had counted.

I can't even estimate how much time has passed.

So he began to recall in his mind what the Tower of Trial did and why it was built.

The Trial Tower, as the name suggests, is a place for professionals to conduct trials, or in other words, actual combat training.

Different from the kind of simulated battle in the magic academy, or the magic illusion of the trial ladder, the nightmare beast in the trial tower is a real entity, can be killed or killed by others, the terrain environment is also real, much more extensive and complex than a single arena, it is recorded that the environment in the trial tower is very similar to the environment on the border of order, that is, if a professional can survive here skillfully and perform various tasks, then at least he will not die too miserably due to lack of experience on the border of order.

Because of its good training effect, many trial towers have been built on the continent of Todell from ancient times to the present, as far as Morin knows, the Gesok Empire and the Ralk Empire have their own trial towers, but the locations are not in the capital and are built in relatively remote wilderness.

Only this one in the Divine Capital is located in such a prosperous area, and it is also the youngest one.

Because of the real environment and good training effect of the Trial Tower, not only the students from the surrounding academies come here to train, but also many adventurers who lack experience in chaotic battles come here to train, and even some recruits from the royal capital's standing army will also gather here.

The complex composition of the personnel actually adds to the challenges in the Trials Tower.

At least for students who don't have a lot of experience in the world.

"......Huh?!" Morin, who was following Barron's mechanical steps, suddenly noticed that he had changed from a lower staircase to an upward staircase, and was moving upward, as if his head and feet had flipped up. Obviously, he was still descending just now, but he turned his head to look at it, and found that the straight line connected by the lighting crystal on the edge of the wall behind him was not bent.

What kind of magic or enchantment is it that involves space...... The boy thought as he heard a murmur around him, and knew that everyone had noticed that the direction of the passage or the direction in which they were traveling had changed.

Is it almost the exit of the passage? He turned his head out of the advancing column, looked over the bodies of the students in front of him, and sure enough, he found the gray exit diagonally upwards along the passage.

……

Outside the exit is an ancient square, surrounded by a vast gray world.

The sky was gray, the earth was gray, the front and back were gray, and the right and left were gray, and it was the same kind of gray, stirring up a frenzy of deep and shallow lines, like the wind but not the wind, like bursting lightning and not so dazzling.

Only this square is not so heavy gray, and there is a slight hint of life.

What is this place, Merlin and the group members are in the square, waiting for Professor Ranger to explain.

The square is not large, the bricks on the ground are full of wind-eroded potholes, and every brick and stone is covered with small cracks, perhaps the environment here is too harsh, compared with the records of the royal capital that were built at the same time, this square seems to have withstood more than ten times the passage of time, crumbling and crumbling into the stone and sand of the long river of time at any time.

In the center of the square, a tall, but three-story twisted tower is built of the same pitted and cracked masonry, with crooked walls that are not sure how to put together, and the edges and corners of dead trees bulge out of the surroundings, or the whole wall is twisted and concave, looking strange and withered against the heavy gray background.

This place is perfect for hosting a ghost story contest, much more terrifying than the ruins of their castle, Merlin thought happily.

"Briefly," Honorom beckoned from standing in front of the tight square, allowing everyone to focus their attention on him for a while, "This is the corner of the Dark Side Continent of Tolder, you can call this the Back, the Dark Side, the Shadow Side, etc., you can simply understand our plane as a piece of paper, the Topl Continent is on the front, and this is the back side of the paper." Of course, the real structure of space is much more complex than that, and we won't talk about it, but you'll learn about it later. ”

The formation of about two hundred people huddled together did not occupy much of a place, but it was still very conspicuous in this small square, and from time to time adventurers cast curious glances.

Professor Ranger pointed to the twisted tower and continued: "This is the Tower of Trials, we will enter it soon, you need to survive in it for a whole day, that is, until this time tomorrow, you will be teleported out, be careful not to be careless at night!

Students in the same group will be teleported to a closer environment, please find your group members as soon as possible, take care of each other, and fight together, this is the first principle!"

"The second principle, don't be reckless, safety first! Although you are only entering the first layer, the environment is already quite dangerous, don't be reckless! Please calmly judge the nightmare beast you are facing, once you are defeated, please take the safety of personnel as the first consideration, and if you are in trouble, immediately release a call for help, and wait for other teams and even other adventurer teams to help. Also, for whatever reason, absolutely, absolutely, don't enter the passage to the next floor!"

"The environment on the second floor is much harsher than the first!"

"Third, there is a rigorous battle in the trial tower! Of course, you can take the initiative to fight back when you are attacked, but once you are found to be deliberately attacking other professionals, you will be punished with the most severe punishment, not only this trial tower, all trial towers are forbidden to fight, and it is forbidden to come to train professionals from internal friction and killing, this is the most basic principle, please be sure to abide by it. ”

"Otherwise, you will be punished as a cultist, and when the time comes, you will be sentenced to the punishment of taking your name, and no one will be able to save you. ”

Hearing the name of this most severe punishment, a low cry rang out in the student phalanx.

Honorome was satisfied to see that everyone understood the seriousness of the trial, and took out a bag:

"Each group comes to me to receive twenty trading coins, our final evaluation is scored in groups, the higher the number of order crystal nuclei collected, the higher the group score, when different groups cooperate to kill a nightmare beast and cannot allocate a single crystal nucleus, you can use trading coins instead, the first-order crystal nucleus is equivalent to five trading coins, and the second-order seven crystals. ”

After the assignment was completed, Professor Ranger didn't say anything more, and waved his hand to let the students enter the trial tower in small groups.

On the teleportation array at the entrance, white light flashed, and groups of students disappeared.

……

The white light flashed, and Merlin landed in a clearing, and he leaped to his feet, his back pressed against a thick tree trunk.

Although Professor Honorom had said that teleportation arrays would not teleport people to Nightmare Beasts, it was always right to be cautious when coming to an unfamiliar environment, and Merlin leaned against the trunk of a tree, observing his surroundings.

It is a forest, the trees are tall but not dense, the thick leaf mud on the ground does not know how long it has been accumulating, the soft light from the sky, illuminating the low shrubs and fern mosses, the occasional plants and insects unique to the Black Forest, bright foliage and dazzling spots make people subconsciously alert.

Although everyone was a little impatient to start the actual battle, but when they really came here, it is certainly unrealistic to say that they are not nervous, and a certain amount of nervousness will also help to concentrate and make the reaction more acute.

Not seeing any danger for the time being, the lilac pentagram communication rune on Mo Lin's wrist lit up.

I found that it can be used here! The young man smiled.

According to the standard practice, he should use some destructive magic or markers to attract the attention of other partners at this time, and record the direction of his progress around at all times, and finally gather with the other members of the group by slowly perceiving and searching, but due to the special environment, they cannot use the second ring magic, and this process often takes a long time.

But through the pentagram rune, the directions of the other four partners are directly understood, and there is no need for such trouble. Morin sensed that three of them were closer together, and that he was a little farther away from the other, so he leaned in the direction where the three were closer.

He drew his short sword in his right hand, placed his left hand on the alchemy bag containing various spell casting materials, and walked away in small steps.

If he could, Merlin would prefer to bring a wand as a weapon, and after a lot of practice, he had mastered how to use a wand to enhance the effects of classical spellcasting, because not being able to use cards to cast spells is already much slower than others, and the bonus of a wand is very valuable.

But as promised, he couldn't take Odalon's cane out of the academy, and he didn't dare to bring such valuable things to such a dangerous place, and Professor Wangdel still hadn't made a wand that he could use.

So the young man's hand was still a customary standard short sword.

Of course, he didn't wear armor, and he was still wearing a basic magic robe that enhanced his mana control and perception.

It cost him hundreds of gold coins just here, which made the boy's heart ache.

Because of the special environment, the spiritual perception can not reach too far, fortunately, the trees here are not lush, and the line of sight can still extend a considerable distance, although there are many shrubs, but at least you can see the blue wolf that is rushing towards you.

The biggest "advantage" of the Nightmare Beast is that it has a simple behavior pattern, once the target is confirmed, it will rush straight over and attack regardless of the difference in strength level, and will not hide ambushes or follow in the shadows like wild beasts, nor will it hunt and attack tactically like a real wolf pack.

Of course, attacking frantically regardless of strength is also their terrible thing.

Like the blue wolf that was rushing towards him, which was also the first order, Merlin threw a few seeds out in a hurry. As the wolf roared past, he activated his magic, and moments later four hard thorny branches pierced the wolf's body like spears, imprisoning it in place, unable to move.

The blue wolf was not dead for a while, his cold eyes were still staring at Merlin, and he roared in a low voice.

The boy glanced around, but found no other enemies, so he came closer, and he lifted his short sword and passed it through the wolf's head, and then its body dissipated into mist, and a small black crystal nucleus fell, which was taken into Merlin's hand.

Distance was everything to the mage, and even though Merlin could easily defeat the nightmare beast with his short sword, he used the Thorn Spike with extreme caution to keep the wolf out of at least four positions in case of a temporary change.

After receiving the slightly hot crystal nucleus, Merlin looked at the steely thorns and secretly said that it was a pity.

"The next time you deal with such a nightmare beast, it only needs two seeds, even if the blue wolf can still break down, but the injuries it suffers are enough to make it lose any threat, and it is a waste to use four. He summed it up, for him, in such an environment, spellcasting materials are consumables, and when they are used up, it is difficult to cast the corresponding magic, and they need to be carefully calculated.

"Yo, young man, what a good technique!" suddenly sounded a hearty voice next to him.

I didn't notice his approach! Morin turned abruptly and saw a man in his twenties.

He carried three short spears on his back, a hard shield, and a crescent scimitar hanging from his waist.

Although his weapon was unsheathed, the young man's left hand was still in the pocket of his waist, and he looked at the other man cautiously.

"Huh?" the man was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly said, "It's the first time you've come to the Trial Tower, right?"

Maureen nodded slightly, without words.

"Don't worry, no one here will make a move on anyone else. The other party smiled and said:

"Maybe your teacher didn't explain it to you, did you see the magic mark left on the back of your hand? you will be teleported out through this mark at the appointed time, but it has other functions, once the marked person is killed, the state of death will be recorded, any anomaly will cause the guards to investigate, no one will fight against the Holy Alliance for a few crystal nuclei. ”

"Although there are often people killed in the Tower of Trials, they are all caused by Nightmare Beast attacks. ”

"Hmm. Morin nodded slightly, still not letting his guard down.

Even normal people wouldn't make a move here, but what if they weren't normal? What about the degenerate? What about the mad?

According to Daddy Pike's advice, after all, life is important, and no matter how careful you are.

Seeing that the young man was still on guard, the other party shook his head with a smile and asked, "Have you seen the entrance to the second floor around here?"

The entrance to the second floor is the passage to the second floor of the Trial Tower, a place that Professor Ranger specially ordered not to enter, but there is not only one such passage, but there are many on the first floor, which is convenient for intermediate and high-level trialists to quickly enter the second floor.

"Didn't see it. Merlin shook his head cautiously, thought for a moment, and pointed in the direction he came from: "I'm from over there, about eight hundred paces, and I haven't seen the entrance to the passage." "It's kind of informative.

"Thank you. The warrior smiled, and politely bypassed Morin and left the other side.

"Huh......" watched the other party's figure disappear into the forest, and the boy finally relaxed.

I sensed the position of the partners in the pentagram rune again, and found that the three people who were close to each other had merged a little, and they should have gathered together, and there was still some distance between them and themselves.

But the direction happened to be the direction that the warrior had just left.

"Hmm...... It's more important to be with your peers. Morin thought for a moment, picked himself up, picked up his dagger, and searched in the direction the warrior had left.

Sure enough, he didn't go far before he saw a temple-like entrance, sitting in a small clearing, half-collapsed, the potholed masonry covered with moss, and a deep staircase passage that stretched diagonally down into the darkness, and the warrior was nowhere to be seen, probably already gone.

Morin glanced twice, found nothing special, and prepared to move on.

But suddenly he heard a footstep.

From the forest on the left, the stumbling is leaning towards the fallen leaves.

Compared to Morin himself and the warrior just now, who deliberately controlled the sound of walking, the man in the forest was obviously much more careless, or didn't care if it would attract the attention of others, and he walked over with a fast speed.

Maureen leaned towards the stone wall of the passage.

A moment later, a young man in a dark green robe ran out of the woods.

He glanced at Morin, and without pause, Tata ran into the passage to the second floor.

"The man just now...... Why does it look familiar......" There was a hint of confusion on Morin's face:

"I look like I've seen it somewhere......"

"Yes! That's Assistant Andrew!"