Perhaps it was to facilitate widespread adoption. The Deep Red Marking Technique was not complex.
Moreover, with the demonstration by the Great Wizard Grant, it didn't take long for Colin to feel like he had mastered this witchcraft.
On the Golden Paper in the Zeroth Rank Upper witchcraft column, the characters of the Deep Red Marking Technique slowly emerged.
Like the Ancient Tree Heart Witchcraft taught to him by Lillian, the Deep Red Marking Technique was technically rankless.
It was merely because the minimum usage limit was an Advanced Wizard Apprentice that it was classified as Zeroth Rank Upper witchcraft.
It's worth mentioning that, like other witchcraft practices, they also signed a strict contract before learning.
And this contract was far more stringent than the usual non-disclosure agreements signed when acquiring witchcraft.
Perhaps… that is why the Supreme Council dared to popularize this witchcraft.
"I'll demonstrate up to here; we may adjourn,"
on the platform, Grant spoke and then emphasized further:
"This witchcraft will not be recorded on the learning crystals, there will be a dedicated wizard teaching it here every morning.
By the time we disembark, all wizards must have learned this witchcraft. Otherwise, they will not disembark."
"So strict…" Sovoc exclaimed in surprise.
"That's indeed necessary; it's better to popularize such witchcraft as quickly as possible," Mayer said matter-of-factly.
Following the appearance of the Deep Red Marking Technique, his mood visibly brightened quite a bit, driving away some of his grim expression and adding a tinge of rosiness… at least he didn't look like he was on his last legs.
"That makes sense," Sovoc nodded.
At this point, after Grant had finished speaking, some of the wizards had already started to leave.
Colin took the opportunity to speak, "I have some matters to attend to today, so I'll head back first."
"That's alright—" Sovoc turned to look at Mayer, "What about His Lordship, planning to stay here to finish learning this witchcraft before leaving?"
"Of course, I can hardly wait to master this witchcraft!" Mayer responded without hesitation.
The voices of the two men gradually faded, and Colin turned to walk back to his room alone.
He exited the hall and entered the gray-blue corridor.
The floor was shiny, the walls intact, the Bright Crystals emitted a soft white light… everything was back to normal.
"Huh?"
Colin's gaze shifted, and not far ahead seemed to be a familiar petite figure,
Lillian, the senior apprentice…
As usual, Lillian was walking alone at this moment.
Just as Colin was about to go forward to greet her, a voice suddenly came from the side.
"Colin Leonard."
The voice was soft, unhurried, expressing no emotion.
Colin instinctively turned to look.
To the right, a tall knight was watching him calmly.
That voice… Colin hesitated for a moment before responding,
"Knight Eugene."
He recognized the knight; it was one of those identically looking knights under Eugene from their Tin Saint School.
Speaking to him in this tone now… obviously, it should be Eugene's consciousness in control.
"Hmm," a barely discernible grunt came from the knight's mouth.
"Last night, when the Divine attacked, did you see Herard?"
Knight Eugene gazed at Colin, his eyes calm, yet sharp as a hawk's.
"I did not, Lord Eugene," Colin replied, lowering his head slightly, expressionless.
The power of an Ultimate Knight allowed him perfectly to control every part of his body, revealing no hint of anything unusual.
"Hmm," Eugene again responded softly.
Then he suddenly added, "Last night when the monsters attacked, you were lucky, having just Advanced to First Rank Wizard, not only did you survive, but you were completely unharmed, not even a scratch."
"Of course, Lord Eugene. After the monster attack yesterday, Colin had tried to flee outside but was chased back to his room by the monsters, whereupon seeing the message I left, we met up together,"
Eugene turned his head as Lillian, who suddenly walked over, slightly furrowed his brow.
'Attebold's granddaughter, is it…'
He took a deep look at Lillian, said nothing more, and turned away.
"Senior apprentice Lillian," Colin greeted.
What Lillian had just said was his story from yesterday.
Yesterday, he had carefully confirmed that Milo and the batch of wizards he had met when he left had all unfortunately perished.
So, naturally, there was no one to refute his story now.
Lillian nodded, then suddenly asked:
"Did you know, Herard and Silear have both disappeared."
"Disappeared?" Colin asked "confused".
Lillian scrutinized Colin carefully and said:
"Perhaps he fell from the airship and was torn apart by the outer monsters, or was torn to pieces by the monsters and thrown off the airship. Who knows? There were quite a few wizards missing this time."
"Indeed." Colin nodded slightly, his face expressionless.
It wasn't that he didn't trust Lillian, but killing Herard was no minor matter. It wasn't necessary to bring trouble to Lillian, and the fewer people knew about such things, the lower the risk of exposure became.
"Have you started learning the Ancient Tree Heart Witchcraft?"
After walking side by side for a while, Lillian suddenly asked.
"Nearly." Colin shook his head.
Lillian glanced at him, then slowly spoke.
"Well, don't rush. According to past experience, it takes at least a month to get started with this witchcraft."
Colin was taken aback, then nodded.
Their figures gradually disappeared into the distance.
At that moment, another tall figure suddenly appeared.
His features were identical to the knight who had just walked in front of them and left.
Knight Eugene watched Colin and Lillian moving away, frowning.
'No signs of anything unusual...'
The rest of the journey went smoothly.
Aside from practicing daily, Colin occasionally went to the central hall on the third floor to "learn" the Deep Red Marking Technique.
It was only after the number of wizards visiting the hall each day had halved that he canceled this activity and focused on seclusion in his room.
Thus, days and months passed,
and on this day at dawn,
the light white mist melted away under the brilliance of the morning sun.
Three massive gray-blue airships gradually decreased their altitude, breaking through the continual cloud layer.
Standing by the corridor window, Colin suddenly saw a towering large island emerge in his view.
'The destination has arrived...' Colin exhaled deeply.
The huge island was irregularly oval-shaped.
The east side was high and the cliffs steep, gradually lowering toward the west, which ended in a vast expanse of golden beaches.
It was a bustling large island; human activity and buildings were visible as far as the eye could see.
There were settlements on the sandy shores to the west, as well as atop the cliffs on the east.
This was their destination—Gubier Island!
After taking a few more looks, Colin returned to his room to pack up his belongings to disembark from the airship.
Knock-knock-knock—
Just as he was almost done packing, a sudden knock sounded on the door.
Upon opening it, he saw Mayer and Sovoc.
"Good morning, Mr. Colin, Lady Margaret has instructed us to assemble at the third hatch," Sovoc said.
Colin nodded, closed the door behind him, and joined them as they walked to the designated hatch.
As they passed a corridor window, he saw the airship beginning to descend slowly toward a gray-white clearing in the middle of the island.
"Finally, we've reached our destination."
Mayer, watching the scene, could not help but exclaim.
"Yes, in just a few more minutes, we will set foot on the island's soil," added Sovoc, followed by a sigh,
"Unfortunately, it's just the three of us now."
Colin remained silent; after Milo's death, her School did not send another member to join this Alyus meeting.
Perhaps... it was also because almost half of the apprentices participating in the Alyus meeting had been killed or wounded in recent attacks, eliminating the need for as many accompanying wizards.
"Fortunately, we wizards are not going into battle."
Mayer expressed his relief. After the divine attack a few days ago, he had lost the urge to earn Supreme Council contribution points and only wanted to preside over the Alyus meeting before returning to the safety of Neustadt City.
Colin agreed with a nod.
The battlefield was dangerous, but these accompanying wizards from the Alyus meeting were only facing challenges meant for Advanced Wizard Apprentices.
In other words, they were sent to places that were relatively safe and appropriate for the trials of Advanced Wizard Apprentices.
However...
"We are here," Sovoc suddenly said.
Colin looked up and saw they had arrived at the third hatch of the airship.
Beneath the massive gray-blue steel hatch, many wizards gathering to disembark.
Margaret was not far from the hatch on the left.
Colin followed Mayer and Sovoc, moving toward Margaret.
He looked at the bustling wizards and sighed inwardly.
Still... battlefields are ever-changing, and though it's relatively safe, no one can be precisely sure.
One must still be cautious.