Not only were the colors different, but even the decorative patterns on them were entirely dissimilar.
For some reason, Colin felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity with those vine-like decorative patterns.
"This is the portal to the trial I have prepared for you," Wizard Lap said, looking back with a solemn voice, "and the Circulation Meditation you've learned is the key to entering it."
On hearing this, Colin's doubts were slightly dispelled.
'The different styles... perhaps there's nothing to worry about.
Since it requires the School's specific Circulation Meditation to enter, this place is undoubtedly still under the School's domain.'
Despite this conclusion, he still harbored some doubt.
"Come, come to the stone wall... then use the Circulation Meditation to walk through..." Wizard Lap continued.
"Cough—cough—!"
The next second, he suddenly bent over, coughing violently.
It took quite a while before he straightened up.
Looking at the fresh red flesh strings he coughed into his palm, a shadow of gloom passed through his eyes, and he urged the Apprentices before him:
"My time is running out, hurry, make haste..."
Nidham, who was originally at the front of the group, now hesitated.
Swish.
However, Fina by his side suddenly stepped past him, heading straight for the grey-white stone wall.
Reaching the wall, she paused briefly, seemingly adjusting the Circulation Meditation.
A moment later, she continued forward.
Her figure immediately merged into the stone wall as if a droplet into the sea, causing ripples to spread on the serene grey-white surface.
Seeing this, Nidham hesitated no longer and followed suit, using the Circulation Meditation to enter the stone wall.
Next to them, Berkeley slowly walked up to Lap, with barely-restrained tears in his eyes.
"Master Lap, your injury..."
Lap gazed at him, taken aback for a moment, then sighed.
"Go on, Berkeley..."
"I am expecting you to be the one who is chosen in the end."
"...Yes, Master Lap," Berkeley paused, then responded slowly.
He exhaled slightly, regained his composure, and without further hesitation, stepped toward the grey-white stone wall.
The Circulation Meditation activated, and the stone wall engulfed his form.
Just as they had entered the passageway before.
The Apprentices entered the stone wall one after another.
Colin, who was in the latter half of the group, glanced at Wizard Lap standing beside the grey-white stone wall, watching as the number of Apprentices around him dwindled.
No longer hesitating, he sighed inwardly and began the initial Circulation Meditation as he stepped toward the stone wall.
Despite his doubts and worries...
At the moment, he had no other choice.
Like the other Apprentices, he had to merge with the grey-white stone wall.
As the last Apprentice entered, the ripples on the grey-white stone wall gradually ceased.
Wizard Lap stood quietly to the side, staring at the vine-patterned grey-white stone wall, lost in thought.
He frowned slightly.
The unbearable pain, as if ants were gnawing inside him, surged again from his chest and abdomen, causing his throat to itch, and he couldn't help but break into another violent cough.
"Cough—cough—cough!"
The loud cough echoed in front of the grey-white stone wall, then dispersed along the lengthy passageway behind him, stirring up echoes.
Lap seemed as if he were coughing out his internal organs...
Indeed, he did cough up something.
This time, without anyone else around.
He no longer covered his mouth and nose, as the slender, worm-like fresh red flesh strings, along with mucous, spewed from his mouth and nose.
Looking at them writhing on the ground like maggots, his expression grew even more troubled.
A flicker of fear flashed through his eyes.
Thump!
Orange-yellow flames appeared out of nowhere at the site of the red flesh strings, consuming them.
Sizzle—
In the flames, the flesh strings twisted even more violently!
If one looked closely, they might even hear a spine-chilling scream.
Fortunately, after a short while, the flesh strings finally turned into a puddle of black ash.
Wizard Lap withdrew his gaze, closed his eyes slightly, as if adjusting something.
Moments later, he opened his eyes and strode towards the stone wall.
Like the other apprentices, he entered the gray-white stone wall.
*
*
*
Falling.
Falling—
No light, no sound, only the continual sensation of weightlessness.
Moments later, light appeared.
Colin regained his vision and looked around.
The ground was a flat gray-white, the walls smooth, this place was a spacious hall... seemingly transformed from a giant natural cavern.
Stalactites like ivory tusks hung down from the ceiling.
Whoosh.
Another apprentice suddenly appeared from the stone wall behind, their expression slightly confused, but it quickly cleared.
'So this is what it looks like to come in...' Colin thought to himself.
The sensation of weightlessness had made him think he was falling from the sky, now it seemed just an illusion.
At this moment, in the hall, just as before at the stone wall, apprentices filled the space.
"What are we supposed to do..."
The noisy chatter echoed as the apprentices looked around the empty hall, puzzled.
Hum—
Then, in the middle of the hall, a circle of densely packed black iron pillars suddenly rose, approximately one hundred of them.
After that, wisps of blue-green lights quietly emerged above them.
Followed by that, before the apprentices could react, those lights abruptly vanished, replaced by red flowers.
The flowers were nothing special, just ordinary five-petaled blooms.
But the red leaves were peculiar, eerily shaped like human palms.
There were two, precisely cradling the flower at the center.
"A Yel flower?" an apprentice exclaimed.
This was a rare Magic Potion.
Suddenly, an inexplicable feeling of hunger surged.
"Gurgle—"
The noise of the apprentices swallowing saliva resounded wave after wave.
For peak apprentices like Berkeley or other Advanced Apprentices, it was easier to control this hunger.
But for those below Advanced Apprentice, especially the Basic Level ones, they couldn't help but make swallowing noises, and their stomachs grumbled incessantly.
Yet they all strove to restrain themselves, hesitating to move forward.
Just then, Wizard Lap's voice suddenly came from behind.
"What are you dawdling for? This is the trial I have prepared for you, and the ritual to assist in advancing to an Official Wizard.
This is the first phase of the ritual."
"Go on, consume the Yel flower; it can elevate your physical form to the strength of a Great Knight... Even if you are already a Great Knight, it can enhance your Life Force."
Wizard Lap hovered in midair, his expression calm.
A Basic Level apprentice finally couldn't resist the temptation and rushed forward, grabbing a Yel flower and swallowing it.
The red flower, upon touching his lips, transformed into a thick blood-colored mucus, the similarly red palm-shaped leaves cradling it before pouring into the apprentice's mouth.
He was just the beginning.
Soon, many Basic Level apprentices, unable to resist the temptation any longer, consumed the Yel flowers.
More apprentices remained hesitant.
"The soul is sensitive, it knows what is beneficial for itself, this hunger is natural," Wizard Lap explained,
"If I wanted to harm you, I wouldn't bother with such complexities."
"This is merely a ritual to assist your advancement to an Official Wizard... Only those who perfectly absorb the potency of these medicines will be able to advance to Official Wizards with my assistance."
"Hurry now, in a while, the next Auxiliary Medicine will be presented."
"Hmph." Nidham surveyed the hesitant apprentices around him and snorted in derision before striding forward, becoming the first Intermediate or higher level apprentice to swallow a Yel flower.
At that point, the earliest apprentices to ingest the Yel flowers also slowly opened their eyes, their faces filled with joy.
The distinctive Blood Energy Armor of a Great Knight emerged upon them.
The next moment, more apprentices hesitated no longer and stepped forward one after another.