The forced mission this time left Colin with just three days of preparation.
Three days later, that is, by May 19th of the Yanan Calendar or earlier, he had to arrive in the Roon Kingdom to report.
Considering the journey, Colin would have to depart no later than the morning of May 19th.
But leaving the administrative building, it was already the afternoon of May 16th. Allowing for a full count, he had no more than two days left, which was extremely limited. Thus, he extinguished the idea of going out to find a place to transform an Ice Element.
However, the Elemental Net Witchcraft outlined on the Golden Paper was right there before him. If he didn't give it a try, he really wouldn't be able to resist the itch in his heart.
After careful deliberation, Colin eventually brought the Magic Stone to the laboratory of the True Knowledge Society Castle, intending to rely on the energy of the Magic Stone to obscure the fluctuations of Magic Power.
But it wasn't until he actually arrived at the True Knowledge Society that he realized no one was there at all.
Not just the members of the True Knowledge Society, but even the Law Enforcement Team hadn't come by.
If it weren't for the fact that the Witch Array was still operating normally and the True Knowledge Library was also still there, the entire True Knowledge Society Castle would have seemed abandoned.
On second thought, it had only been himself and the Wizards of the Law Enforcement Team left here a few days before. Since he hadn't come in the morning... perhaps those Wizards from the Law Enforcement Team saw that no one was coming here anymore, thought their purpose had been achieved, and thus decided not to continue coming for inspections.
Anyway, this was quite convenient.
Shutting the door to the laboratory, Colin exhaled a breath of turbid air and waved his hand to summon a Second Rank Lower Ice Element.
Emitting a chilling breath, the frosty silhouette of a person emerged, and Colin advanced unwaveringly to begin the transformation.
By evening, Colin, observing the collapsed Ice Element before him, sighed and internally declared his first attempt at transformation a failure.
But he wasn't too disheartened. It was his first time, after all; failure was quite normal. At least the experience of attempting the transformation was retained.
Hum—
Another chilling frost figure appeared; Colin stretched his neck and continued on with the second transformation attempt.
The orange rays of the sunset gradually sunk, the horizon lined with gold, clearly visible in the distance, then gradually becoming blurry as the darkness of night crept across the sky and the bright moon found its place among the branches. From the laboratory of the True Knowledge Society came a joyous, low exclamation!
"Success!" Colin couldn't help but wave his fists, his face covered in frost, all smiles.
He sized up the massive figure before him, and the curve of his mouth grew wider and wider.
This was the first Frost Shadow!
It stood approximately three meters tall, its overall shape still a genderless humanoid form. Its head naturally rose into a triangular shape, resembling a crown, and while the features of the face were indistinguishable as male or female, the lines were clear, embodying a unique aesthetic beauty.
In terms of appearance, apart from these details, the biggest difference between the Frost Shadow and the original Ice Element was likely its color.
The Ice Element was a normal pale blue, whereas the Frost Shadow was entirely frost blue—a very special blue, profoundly deep, as if it were the ancient ice at the deepest parts of a glacier, clearly extraordinary at a glance.
Of course, its extraordinary appearance corresponded with extraordinary strength. This Frost Shadow had, according to Colin's senses, likely reached the peak of Second Rank.
As an Elemental Life, the Frost Shadow might not be able to defeat a Wizard at the peak of Second Rank, and its chances against an Upper Second Rank Wizard could perhaps be considered even, or slightly less.
But for a Middle Second Rank Wizard encountering it without a countermeasure, it would be a certain death!
Colin admired the basic form of the Frost Shadow before him, then his thoughts stirred.
Whoosh—
A gust of piercing cold wind, tinged with blue, appeared out of nowhere, suddenly enveloping the Frost Shadow before him. In an instant, both the icy gale and the three-meter tall Frost Shadow vanished without a trace.
Colin gave a slight smile.
The Frost Shadow had inherited the hidden ability of the previous Silent Shadow; it could remain perfectly concealed in any shadow.
Then, Colin proceeded to test the next item—the Black Fog Armor, or perhaps it could now be referred to as Elemental Armor!
Click-click—
As Colin's thoughts moved, pieces of frost blue armor plates suddenly appeared on his body, quickly assembling into a fully encompassing suit of frost blue armor.
The entire armor had a smooth design, with graceful lines, covering every part from head to toe, perfectly wrapped. While providing formidable defensive abilities, it didn't impede movement in the slightest!
Colin extended his spiritual power, and the image of himself in armor immediately formed in his mind.
The frost blue Elemental Armor was luxurious and weighty, it elevated his stature and expanded his form, converting the elegant Wizard in a Wizard Robe into a towering two-meter tall Frost Blue Knight!
A majestic and terrifying presence struck those nearby as if a legend—the Extraordinary Knight only mentioned in tall tales, seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
Colin believed that if he combined it with the Knight Aura, even a Second Rank opponent would likely feel a bit of dread upon seeing this sight.
Next, Colin tested the defensive capabilities of the Elemental Armor... it was about strong enough to block a Middle Second Rank attack, not overly powerful.
But this performance was under the premise that there was only one Frost Shadow.
Colin didn't yet know how many Frost Shadows he could manage to control at the same time with his current level of spiritual power.
But it wouldn't be fewer than four... With four Frost Shadows, regardless of how much the Elemental Armor's performance might improve, just relying on these four peak Second Rank Elemental helpers, Colin could boldly claim to be the best below Third Rank!