A short distance from the shores of the lake, down the eroded stone steps, through the cold, wet passages and a few bare stone statues, Bland's dungeon-like rooms connected to each other's underground offices.

Brand, dressed in a black robe, was holding the big-headed monster fish he had just caught on the lakeside.

He walked over to a large mechanical table and placed the frozen fish on the table.

The workshop-like room looked a little different from a few months ago, in addition to the large mechanical table in the center, the various complex magical machines and parts arrays and tools placed around it, there were several more shelves full of crystal test tubes for concocting solvents, cabinets with various powdered potion bottles, and a complete set of temperature-controlled mixing furnaces on the mechanical table.

It seems that Brand is preparing to refine some kind of potion.

He took out more than a dozen kinds of powder from the cabinet next to him, mixed them, shook them well, poured them into a hexagonal crystal tube, and then placed the crystal tube in the air on the furnace table, and inserted a dark green magic crystal card into the side of the furnace. After a while, a six-pointed star-like heating area lit up on the furnace table, which quickly changed from pale yellow to blue-purple under Brand's adjustment, and the powder in the crystal tube began to emit a pale gas that was difficult to distinguish with the naked eye.

Seeing this, Brand turned to the side.

Looking at the frozen big-headed monster fish, and then at the silver cutter he had just taken in his hand, he gestured, frowned slightly, and then cut out the eyes of the strange fish a little clumsily, and there were still a lot of gelatinous tissues attached to the fish's eyes. Brand waved his hand, and the rest of the fish disappeared from the machine, where he had left it.

He put on mechanical gloves, chose an extremely thin rotary knife, and then carefully cut open the two eyeballs layer by layer, and finally took out two dark green crystals from them, and under the dim light of the lighting crystals, there seemed to be two dark green flames burning in the dim light of the illumination crystals, reminiscent of the soul fire that often burned in the eyes of the dead skeleton.

The blood-colored gaze didn't linger on the two crystals for long.

Brand took off his gloves and pulled out a vial of alchemy, which contained a small dark red grain of blood, the one he had gathered in the depths of the Gundi Forest in the south of Lothar a few months ago, the blood he had spilled on the Forsaken he had tracked.

After carefully perceiving it, he made sure that there was no longer any pale gas in the crystal tube on the furnace table, and he placed the two dark green crystals cut out of the strange fish's eyeballs into the crystal tube along with the small dark red blood particle.

"Bang-"

There was a pop in the hexagonal crystal.

A moment later, a small turquoise flame ignited at the mouth of the tube, and at the same time, the powder in the transistor began to hiss and melt into a turquoise liquid.

After a while, the flames gradually extinguished, and all that remained in the transistor was the turquoise transparent liquid tumbling under the scorching heat.

Brand finally stopped, and with an extremely solemn face he took out a magic book from the cabinet, the cover of which was dark and oppressive with a skeleton and two white bone claws on the cover of white paint.

He spread the book on the stage, turned a page, and began to chant in a low voice:

The breath of the dead, the blood of the enemy, show me a trace......

The room became dim, the pale hands clenched the hot crystal tube, unknown magic lingered in the palm, the surrounding objects began to tremble slightly, the liquid in the crystal tube struggled and screamed as if it had life, a huge shadow swept by, Brand's chant suddenly became loud, so there was an unwilling wail from the crystal tube, and a trace of black breath slowly stained the turquoise solution.

After some time, the liquid in the hexagonal crystal tube became dark and viscous, and Brand finally stopped chanting.

Bloody eyes opened, and he immediately closed the book and locked it back in the metal cabinet, only to begin to gasp for breath, apparently the magic just now was a great drain even for him.

It wasn't until he took two recovery potions in a row that he could barely stand up straight.

Back in front of the mechanical table, he took two empty vials and placed them on the table, then shook his head, took two more empty vials, but hesitated for a moment, took one vial, and finally left three vials on the table, and then divided the dark viscous liquid in the crystal tube into four parts, and encapsulated three of them in three crystal bottles.

Brand looked at the last liquid left in the crystal tube and took a sip from his head.

Leaning around, he let out a muffled snort of pain in his throat.

Blood-colored eyes flickered and darkened, and he stumbled out the door......

……

……

Whispers in the dark, identical pale masks.

"Year of the Stars, Tenth Meeting of Wings of Dawn, Executor Five, you're late again. ”

"You're late again. ”

"It's late again. ”

……

"Executor No. 5 applied to join the meeting. "The voice is a little hoarse.

Darkness, silence.

Under more than a dozen pale masks, no answer came.

The atmosphere became solemn.

"The Scepter has contacted me, Tracer No. 1 has survived, Forsaken has halved the chance of survival for the malevolent old man who broke away from the contract and lost contact with the Order, and I have used the dark magic of Vengeful Blood to make a final attempt to track him down. ”

Too much news poured in in a moment, and the darkness continued to be quiet for a moment, then exploded violently.

"Actually ...... with black magic"

"Tracer No. 1 survives ......"

"When did you contact ——?!?"

A whisper rang out in no particular order, and the meeting of Dawnwings seemed like it had never been more chaotic.

"Quiet. A solemn voice rang out from under several different masks at the same time.

Darkness returns to silence again.

"It was agreed that the number of executors of the fifth will join this meeting halfway, and the number of participants will be fourteen. ”

"Not as an example. ”

……

"Please elaborate on the number five executor. ”

"The Deacon of the Seat of Scepter contacted me last month, and I have indicated that I am willing to return to the Seat of Wand, and the contact revealed that there is a plan in the Academy area, but I am not the executor of the plan, and I only get a docking rune. It is suspected that the plan has something to do with the sudden increase in adventurers in the vicinity, and it is basically confirmed that the Forsaken have not returned to the [Interior] (referring to the former Eye Order). ”

"[We] (referring to Wings of Dawn) have news about this. ”

"The Scepter series has changed a lot in recent years, and several projects have been launched under the seat, but the exact reason is not yet known. ”

"I don't know. ”

"It's not clear. ”

"Ask the fifth executor to win the trust of the scepter and cooperate with the plan for the time being, while the rest of the executors keep a close eye on the scepter series. ”

"Is it possible that the outsider [Lothar One] in the Aurora Core event (referring to Strayer, a member of the Wings of Twilight of the Outer Order) is the executor of the plan?"

"It's a possibility, but I've been keeping a close eye on Lothar One, and I've only found that it's an outside member, not a direct member of Wand's line, and that Lothar One can be used by us if necessary. ”

"Keep watching. ”

"Keep watching. ”

……

"Tracer No. 1 (referring to Honorom) returned to the academy a year later, and it is speculated that even if the Forsaken survive, there is a high probability that they will be controlled by the Nature Temple. The clues I have pursued have disappeared in the Frost Mountains, and I have had to use the dark magic of Vengeful Blood—"

"—but black magic has long been banned by the Ring of the Sky, and even if you use it in private, it will attract unwanted attention, and we have long agreed that we will try not to-" A voice from the other direction interjected.

This is a risk that must be taken. If the Forsaken are indeed under the control of the Temple, we must identify and adjust accordingly as soon as possible, and since the interior is beginning to be exposed anyway, I think the time has come for a more radical approach. ”

"Agreed. ”

"Agreed. ”

"Against. ”

……

"But the black magic [Blood of Vengeance], the number five executor is not the dead, how can he bear the backlash of [Blood of Vengeance]. ”

"I reconciled the sparkling crystals in the eyes of the dragon's breath scavenging fish, and divided the potion into four parts and took it at regular intervals......

"It's only divided into four parts, even if there is a ghost crystal concoction magic power backlash, I'm afraid it's not something you can bear. ”

"I've taken the next serving, and the remaining three will be taken half a month apart. ”

"I can handle it. ”

……

……

Winter days in Iluvita are much quieter than in summer, especially on sunny days, when bubble snakes hide under the snow and snooze, jerboas carefully drag their treasured food out of their nests to dry, and even the noisiest of grumpy fire baboons involuntarily laze and lay on the branches of trees near the warm lake to bask in the sun all day.

But the silence didn't last long, and a creepy click soon made all the animals in the forest basking fidget, the sound of countless pairs of teeth hitting each other up and down at the same time.

"Cheer me up!"

On the icefall beach near the cliff on the side of the forest, the bearded dwarf Sandi Hammer said loudly:

"I've given you enough time to practice since the last class, now control your magic to weave a cold shield on your skin, don't be stupid and rely on consuming mana to keep warm, that's too cost-effective, don't you hear? Just your little magic will definitely be used up before the end of class! Just say you, Cleo! And you, Marcas!"

In front of the dwarven professor stood a hundred and ten thinly dressed students.

"Yes, yes...... Yes, know, know, teach, teach...... Confer. ”

Cleo and Marcus, who were named, had a great deal of effort to answer, and the rest of the students were not in the mood to gloat at all, at least no one could control their chattering teeth at this time, and everyone was too busy to take care of themselves.

Maureen felt like he was about to lose both ears.

Because his attention was elsewhere during this time, he didn't put a lot of effort into practicing the homework of this course, [Cold Shield], but who wants to weave a cold shield on the chest is one difficulty, and it is another difficulty to weave a cold shield on the ear, and it is even more difficult to control the magic to weave a delicate protective layer on the ears that are about to freeze and lose consciousness.

The moon god was on top, if only there were fluffy goblin ears like the pointy-nosed professor, the boy couldn't help but think.

Even the black fire was explicitly left in the dormitory by Professor Hammer, otherwise the fire elemental Xiao Hei would be a little warmer in the ring imprint.

This is a class for the Magic Usage course.

Although Professor Hammer's class was always dangerous, the students thought that just like the first class, Professor Dwarf would find a large piece of ice crystal or something for them to stick their hands on for a while to test their mastery of the cold protection.

Under his feet is a meter-thick mixture of ice and snow, and next to it is a huge ice hanging directly from the snow peak, and the sun that has not yet risen above his head is naturally blocked by the mountain peak, and a trace of warmth can't leak out, this is not counted, Professor Iron Hammer still doesn't know where to get a third-order [Strong Wind Technique], and he is half-baked and whistling on the side to blow cold wind on the side of the hundred and ten students, and it is also a shame that they are all professionals who are connected to the sea of magic power, and I am afraid that it will be completely cool in a few breaths for an ordinary person.

While trying to save his ears, Merlin glanced at Barron not far away, and felt sympathy in his heart.

The Kadir boy from the Eternal Winter Icefield was originally quite comfortable, but Professor Hammer glanced at him and pulled him aside to stand with the three dragon students of Xiatvisberg and Tilna, the Dwarven Professor prepared a special meal for several of their students who had a talent for resisting frost - the Three-Ring Magic [Deep Cold Ice Breath]:

Wrapped in the light blue chill that made Morin's scalp tingle, even Thea Tevez and Borg were a little struggling—a faint dragon scale pattern had appeared on their skin, and Tilna, who was a Vis Demon Spirit, had even dimmed the bright blue magic channels circulating on her body, and Barron's bald head was soon covered with a layer of light blue ice caps.

When he saw the ice cap, Morin couldn't help but shudder.

"Professor, although it is very inefficient to directly consume mana to keep warm, it is still very cost-effective to use the first ring magic [Heating Technique] or the second ring magic [Protection Technique]. The little vampire Aeno also had a slight ability to resist frost, and at this time he sniffed and reluctantly asked his own question.

"As I said a long time ago, although the magic effect is good, it takes cards to cast, and in many cases we don't prepare so many magic cards, at least we don't store too many magic cards in the rune title page, if you suddenly encounter a cold snap on the border of the northern order, it will be cold by the time you find the cards you need!"

On the other side, the blonde Alice wanted to answer: "But-"

The dwarf professor glared at Alice, and the pale yellow third-order card [Strong Wind Technique] in his hand flickered, and the whirring cold wind suddenly strengthened a few points, and the ice slag poured into his mouth so that people couldn't even breathe.

No one is speechless at this point.

Maureen was already glad that Marcus had the foresight to prepare the frostbite ointment.

I just don't know if he's prepared enough, and I don't know if the ointment will be useful if his ears are frozen, and if he can't do it, he will have to go to the Tree of Life and ask Lady Sinis to help him pick it up, or simply use some magic potion to grow a new pair of ears......

"That's not going to work?!" The dwarf professor waved his big furry hand, "Hold me firm! Stand up! Hurry up and finish the cold cover, I haven't let you go diving in the ice lake on the mountain in iron armor!"

"Why are you staring so wide?!Think I'm lying to you? That's the basic requirement for this course next year, if you don't believe it, you'll know if you try it next year!"

Next year, this course will not be a compulsory course for the Law School, who will choose your course! In an instant, the hearts of all the students of the Law School sincerely welled up with a deep sense of fascination, and compared with the students of the Battle School, it seems that the tears they have suffered in the past few months on their homework on the history of magic are nothing.

But in any case, Professor Hammer's demanding requirements are basically within the students' ability.

As time passed, the vast majority of students were able to complete and maintain the cold protection layer in time before their bodies showed frostbite, and Strayer completed the weaving very quickly, without even twitching his nose during the whole class, and even though the cold wind whirled on the corners of his mouth with his trademark smile, he was as decent and generous as ever.

It's a pity that Morin, who neglected to practice, was not among them.

Finally, after class, the boy hurriedly asked Marcus for frostbite ointment and applied it to his ears as if they had been petrified, not to mention, it was really useful, and the ears that were originally unconscious actually hurt fiercely.

"Shhh

"Yo, what are you rubbing on your ears?" Cleo's merciless sneer was immediately heard, "Why, is all the time spent sleeping in the sleeper's time?

Ridicule to ridicule, the Clio still took a few steps back vigilantly, since the last time he was beaten by Morin in the simulation arena, this guy seems to have a psychological shadow, and he is always nervous to prevent Morin from hurting people.

Merlin glanced at Clio disdainfully, and when he saw that the other party took a step back nervously, he was happy, thinking about whether he should find an opportunity to beat this guy again, maybe the other party would not have the courage to bother himself again in the future. However, the dissatisfied gaze of Professor Hammer on the side still made the young man feel a little guilty, after all, among so many students, he was one of the few who was applying frostbite ointment, and if he practiced carefully according to Professor Hammer's requirements, this situation would hardly occur, but it was a pity......

He really didn't have that much time.

It was inconvenient to explain anything to the dwarven professor, and he didn't want to entangle with Clio anymore, so he took advantage of the fact that he had some free time at noon and didn't care about lunch, so Merlin waved goodbye to his partner and ran back to the dormitory alone.

He took out Talisa's training badge and activated it with his magic, and a moment later, he was in the island illusion of Victor Academy.