The red alpha must have moved more than a dozen meters in the last ten minutes.

So that's why there's a long way to go. When they finally crossed the Harbour Bridge, Gwen realized. The world of mages may be full of magic, but traffic jams are a major rule of any universe.

"We should change," Alexia sulked as another car of sticky passengers whistled. Gwen tried to lower her head and sit in her seat, but their Carmen Roadster didn't have such cover.

They drove a cool red classic convertible, drove a Mi-1 race car, and the straight eight engine roared like an orc, leaving inefficient mana burning traces. Alexia and Gwen's women's dresses and surprisingly gorgeous faces made their attention even more intense, which further slowed down the traffic jams. A young man's SUV floated around them for a full 20 minutes, and as a result, Gwen felt motion sickness.

"If this were a Class 1 city, I could use my pilot's license," Alexia grumbled bitterly, throwing the bird to another driver who was too close. Her coach's demeanor reminded Gwen of Xiao Yue, although Alesia was slimmer and calmer.

"Madame......" Gwen asked carefully. "Am I your apprentice?"

"Do you want to be my apprentice?" Alicia smiled at Gwen with a red mouth.

"Isn't Yue a better choice? She's gifted and can resonate with people just like you. ”

"That's not what I asked. "When the vehicle started moving, Alicia kept his eyes on the road. "Do you want to be my apprentice?"

"May I tell the truth, ma'am?"

"Shot. ”

"I don't know what it means to be an apprentice...... Gwen admits, and as an adult, she knows the value of blatant honesty.

"Huh. "Alicia laughed okay, let me explain......"

She told her there were apprentices and apprentices. In the classical sense, an apprentice is a person who is able to inherit the material wealth and spiritual knowledge of his master. In exchange, the apprentice is essentially provided with free labour during the apprenticeship, living with his or her master, domestic helper-student-assistant, and heir.

In the traditional sense, Gwen was pointless to be Alesia's apprentice. They are different elements, which means that there is a great deal of disagreement in the philosophy and theory of the spell. Similarly, if Alicia falls, it will be difficult for her most valuable possession, her bright red flame soul, to migrate to Gwen, as Gwen is not a fire mage.

And, of course, the name of that apprentice. It's more like a student following a mentor, or a graduate student following a professor. These relationships are usually temporary, in exchange for measurable results, such as researching a particular spell or doing something for an alumnus.

"I like you, Gwen," Alicia said after listening to Gwen's inquiry. "You work hard and are outspoken, which reminds me of myself at your age, even though our situation is a little different. First of all, your parents are bastards, and my parents were eaten alive. ”

“...... I'm sorry. ”

"You'll get over it. Alicia combed a wayward ring back. "Let me ask you one thing, though. I want you to think about it. ”

"Yes, ma'am. ”

"Would you like to go to the Lilith Prince Hotel?" Alesia asked, much to Gwen's surprise. "Do you understand the opportunity you're going to give up?"

Gwen pondered silently. The contest between pragmatism and sentimentality makes the bitter pill jagged. The rational answer is obvious, but she has long been on this path. Is she happy? But this time she lost some of the connections and connections she preferred to keep.

"I want to stay with Xiaoyue and Elvia," Gwen finally said. "If I can't share it with them, my success won't be meaningful. ”

"That's what I like to hear. Alicia seemed pleased with Gwen's answer. "A little romanticism doesn't hurt anyone. ”

"So, about apprenticeships..."

"You'll be under my protection now, though I'm afraid my regular job will take me to places you can't follow. Still, the right people know who I am in the right place, and they'll either give you a hand or at least leave you alone. ”

"Nominal apprentice?" Gwen whispered affirmation, a little disappointed.

Alicia laughed, glancing at Gwen with her super-naval orb, then focused on the road again.

"Still, I can compete with Xiao Yue," Alexia added nonchalantly. Gwen felt an inexplicable wave of jealousy. "She's a good fit, don't you think?"

"I think so too," Gwen replied, dispelling any doubts. She was too old to be jealous of her.

"That means, when the time comes, I'll take her with me, travel around the world for a couple of years, and so on," Alexia continued. "What do you think?"

"Today is her lucky day," Gwen replied earnestly.

"Well, don't let her get her up to hope. Alicia smiled. "I was very impressed with the field trip next week. ”

"We'll do our best, ma'am. ”

They left the highway and headed for the dormitory, driving for a few more minutes under the airflow and throttle of the thirsty engine. She was a little depressed, but Gwen knew that Alicia had done something incredible for her. She owes this woman so much.

"Miss...... Alicia ......" Gwen cleared her throat. "Thank you so much for everything you did today. I didn't know what I was doing or what was going to happen, but you came to help me when I needed it most. ”

The dormitory comes into view. Alicia parked her car in the bay. Around them, the students stopped and stared.

Alicia told Gwen Cooley, "It's a favor from Principal Bartlett, buy him some chocolates later." ”。 She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. When she spoke again, her voice softened. "But I'm also for you, Gwen, because I believe you're worth saving. ”

"Thank you, ma'am, for everything. Gwen trembled with excitement. Alicia's unexpected kindness is the first time she has felt such a strong sense of dependence since she came into this world. Gwen has Yue and, of course, Elvia, but they are all children, vulnerable and unwise. Alicia was the kind of mentor she needed, someone who could empathize and understand her troubles.

Seeing Gwen's respectful look, Alessia's cheeks took on a lute color.

"See you at camp tomorrow night. She waved goodbye to Gwen. "Go sleep tigers, it's going to be tiring this week. ”

The girls celebrate Gwen's return. One by one, she tells them about what happened at the party and how Alicia unbelievably stopped Gwen's possible murder at the last minute.

"Those guys are bastards," Yue shhhed. "If Derek wants to claw me at me, he's missing half of his face. ”

I don't think anyone would dare to grab Yue with their claws, and Gwen and Elvia fought back in their minds.

"Well, Patrick is fine, just a little too worried about his family's fate," Gwen continued. "But Richard is the bomb. ”

"Your cousin sounds like a nice guy," Yue agreed, "and you can let him vent in the middle of the argument and people will be speechless." Do you see what he can do in battle?"

"No chance. Gwen shook her head. "He said he was shortlisted for four classes or something? Coach Alexia gave him a compliment. ”

"Four houses," Elvia interjected.

"Do they look like aristocrats?" Gwen asked. "We have nobles now?"

"Come on, everybody knows about the prince!"

"Gwen has been so engrossed in learning the theory of magic that she neglects the mundane side of school life.

"Then say it," Gwen admits her ignorance.

Elvia explained that the larger schools established in Sydney and Melbourne were not schools founded by the Frontier Government, but Frontier Branch Campuses that had their roots in the respected first-class schools of the old country. Among these schools, the greatest and most prestigious is Prince College, which has strong ties with Cambridge, Oxford, the London School of Magical Arts, and the highly acclaimed Imperial College London. Each of the major participants has set up a house, a similar alumni club, where talented students are specifically selected to "improve." As for what exactly that meant, Elvia wasn't sure, as her father had never met anyone who enjoyed the benefits.

Gwen thought, maybe Bartlett was singing about some principle.

Privilege of exemption from compulsory military service.

Citizenship privileges of first-class cities.

The privilege of participating in ancient institutions, the originator of spells.

"You know, Avia, this annoyed me for a while, but why don't you go to a school like Lilith?" Yue asked after listening to Avia's explanation, she didn't know that this world existed.

Elvia's sapphire iris matched Gwen's, and the girls read the self-evident answers on her pale face. If someone like Gwen can be easily swallowed up by such a world, then someone like Elvia doesn't stand a chance.

"Okay, sorry I asked. Xiao Yue retracted her question apologetically.

"My father said I better make a normal friend, and those ...... people get married," Elvia replied that I don't regret it. I'm so excited to meet you both. ”

"Me too, Eve. ”

"Three of me," Gwen declared. The trio then shook each other's hands, which further confirmed Gwen's belief.

"Let's kick our ass from tomorrow," Yue announced. "We have to pay back Miss Alesia. ”

"How could we not?" Gwen teased, aren't we a dynamic combination?!"

They got up early, each carrying a backpack with sheets and supplies strapped to it. Their modest uniforms were replaced by tracksuits, which consisted of tapered T-shirts. Girls can opt for a dry fiber skirt, skirt or shorts with knee-high socks, while boys can opt for rails or shorts with high socks. Ivy and Yue find it comfortable to wear skirts, but Gwen prefers to spit on them.

"I wish I had a storage ring," Gwen mused, lifting her backpack. She also had a portion of Elvia's supply, as the little girl immediately became short and looked like a blonde snail. Ivy had mentioned that her family did have some storage rings, but she didn't have access to the rare device, as losing one would add up to the total number of cars.

Their coach was an ordinary old-fashioned bus, mottled with air conditioning that rumbled as it drove towards the fence. As the hike approached the limits of human habitation, Gwen realized that the towers of raised shields stretched out into the sky like daggers, each encased in an almost impenetrable rectangular structure called a shield fortress.

These forts resemble cannon fortifications used in the war against the tide of wild beasts. They are like obsidian mounds a hundred meters high from the bushes. Each fort is said to repair itself and is resistant to damage. From the protruding spire, a huge mana crystal can be seen, half hidden. In advanced spells, Gwen and his company learn that these artificially constructed towers can project resonant barriers that span hundreds of kilometers. A skilled barrier abandoner can further alter the height, thickness, and even elemental mass of the shield against anything the wasteland decides to throw at a human city.

"Hey, Gwen, your father is a barrier mage, right?" someone asked.

"Yes, but not here. Gwen didn't know where her father was stationed. Even in Gwen's old age, her father was reluctant to accept his job, saying only that he "worked for Parliament". When Gwen ran away from home at the age of 16, she didn't care where he worked.

At the checkpoint, the border guards checked and scanned the bus for anything suspicious, after which the children finally crossed the obsidian gate.

"Alright, everyone, listen up! The baritone master is their survivalist coach, Ranger Boone. "We have now crossed the sanctuary of the protective wall. You've just taken your first steps into the real world. ”

A cacophony echoed through the carriage, and Boone waited for the children to quiet down.

"Our base camp is still two hours away," he said, guiding the students. "Groups 1-5 will go to the alpha site, while groups 6-9 (i.e. us) will visit the beta site. ”

"Instructors and medical staff will be on site at the main camp at all times. Your job is to complete at least three of the five objectives. On the third day, you will report to the base camp for roll call, and then return to your designated camp. ”

"Character calling!" Gwen became a divination instructor, now knowing. Each student has their own certificate when they enroll. Their instructor variant has the ability to track assistive devices.

Gwen is very interested in the structure of Maggie's techno, and she experienced the explosive information age of the Internet index world domination in the '00s, although she has not yet had a chance to investigate these issues. Presumably, Magitech is produced in the first-tier cities, while second-hand goods are used in the border areas.

"Check your device in sync. Boone repeated several times what he had been instilling in his students: "They're locked in to tell us where you are in the event of a serious injury or injury." Please don't, I repeat, don't separate from your device for any reason and don't give your device to anyone else

Outside the window, Gwen watched as the sparse bushes turned into a jungle and finally into a deep blue gum forest, their white branches bent like human limbs, reaching out into the mountain sky.

"Gwen, your device," Boone snapped beside her.

The user sees a synchronized message here.

"Good luck. He nodded. "Principle has high expectations for your team. ”

"Thank you, sir. ”

Concrete asphalt gave way to roads paved with gravel, which eventually became dusty laterite fire roads.

The central base camp consists of several permanent concrete structures that do not exceed the size of a football field. One is a double-storey structure with glass windows that are the teacher's residence. The other is the conference hall, a fortification that can accommodate about a hundred adults. However, the most valuable building is the one attached to the instructor's residence.

It's a large communal outdoor mixed bathroom, and from the outside, it has a shower area.

Jun and Henry meet their female counterparts after getting off the second bus.

Each pre-assigned group is formed, expresses their good intentions, and then travels to their designated area by tracking progress on a handheld map.

We'd better not get lost, Gwen looked at the map worriedly. She barely made it through orienteering.

"Hey!" a voice shouted as they reached the edge of the camp. The group turns to Deborah and her three shapeshifters. To their surprise, she cut a beautiful ponytail, and now she has cut it into a small braid.

"Debbie! Gwen greets her childhood friend.

"May the best woman win!" Deborah shouted from the other side of the camp.

"We're going to kick your ass!" Xiao Yue confidently announced, her voice like thunder.

Deborah dumps the bird before disappearing into the bushes.

The group then walked through a thicket that quickly became difficult. Now in the wilderness, Gwen took a moment to come to terms with it all, measured by her past world, "the wilderness."

Their designated line of fire crossed a ridge and followed a ravine, along which the barking trees of the rings stretched out like rough fingers among the overgrown ferns and the stray white grass.

"Look!" Yue pointed, and everyone noticed a huge gum tree more than 30 meters high, with a half-hollow trunk, like the opening of an open cave. Red blood crystals form on its surface, and insects or natural elements strip the bark, giving the impression that a distorted face is bleeding.

"Blood glue," Jun said. "Henry, what's the matter?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Henry replied after blowing it up with a few probing spells.

The group marched in the well-trained formation to which they had become accustomed, carefully searching the jungle for potential danger.

"A target, six o'clock, high, stationary, medium-sized," Henry announced suddenly. The group stopped. Jun is ready.

A full-grown Goanna, a black beast, lazily descends from a tree. It's medium in size, sure, but to the students, it feels huge, bigger than life. They looked at its ballpoint pen-like eyes, measuring them with neither interest nor hostility, its forked tongue swinging from side to side.

"Are we going to kill it?"

"It's just fauna, leave it alone," Jun suggested. "There's no good in killing something like that. ”

The thing approached out of curiosity.

"Or ......not," Xiao Yue swallowed, letting the fiery sparks escape from her hand. She has been worried about snakes and reptiles since she was a child.

"Wait......" Jun lowered a small frost barrier that seemed to scare the reptile away and lure it away.

"Fuck it," Yue said breathlessly. "They're bigger in real life. ”

"They can grow up to six meters ......," Elvia said helpfully. Xiaoyue's skin got goosebumps.

"We keep going. ”

They arrived at their designated campsite and spent the rest of the afternoon building their shelter. Alicia taught the group, who lacked practical mages, some simple techniques for building houses, such as locking branches and other parts in place with ice, and then using ropes to fasten the branches and other parts to the tree. Although there was nothing quite capable of being built by shapeshifters or earthen opponents, they managed to build their shelters, raising and hanging them on the ground to avoid snakes and insects when the sun began to fade.

"Well, that's a goal to accomplish," Jun said after checking out their work. "Please light the lamp for me?"

"Dancing lights. Gwen and Yue put some glowing lights to illuminate the area in 6-meter increments. Cantonese has the warm daylight, while Gwen's has the chilly quality of the electric lighting used in public transportation.

"What's for dinner?" Yue asked.

"Covered," Elvia began to pull out an assortment of instant noodles and a soup pot. "Let's eat something delicious today, and then we'll go hunting wild animals tomorrow. ”

"You can really take that Gona," Henry suggested. "Maybe it tastes good, right?"

Xiao Yue let out a suffocating sound.

"I brought spam," Gwen happily announced, pulling out a few cans of her favorite mystery meat.

They created a controllable magic flame under the pot and heated a large batch of spicy noodles. Ivey also brought a dozen plates and cups that were made by the Metamorphosis Manufactory and made from lightweight, sturdy materials that reminded Gwen of durable plastic.

"Alert. ”

Jun sets up a perimeter spell that can make a loud bang if any unspecified creatures enter its range.

The group ate some melted ice made in June.

After a short clean-up, they rolled out the sleeping bags. Xiaoyue and the kitten can live together, because the kitten is very small, and Xiaoyue herself is also petite. Gwen could barely adjust to the hunchback she was doing, and she realized that she had to curl up in a fetal position to fall asleep. The two boys slept separately.

The group arranged an observation order before retiring in the evening, taking into account the unknown trials and dangers of the next six days.

A constant flame lit up the surroundings: it was still terrible that the girls slept in the complete darkness of the wilderness, without the comforting light pollution of the city, making them unsure that the protective barrier was working.

Xiaoyue and the cat are chatting in the hump next door. Gwen was alone thinking, thinking about coach Alesia, thinking about her friends, thinking about the exploration ahead, feeling her eyelids weigh as night fell.