Swish!
The blue-green orb reappeared, and another peculiar auxiliary medicine emerged—
Moon Leaf.
It was a crescent-shaped white leaf that could enhance life force and slightly boost spirit.
This plant was now the third of its kind.
But the apprentices did not hurry forward; rather, they stood silent in a tacit agreement.
At a glance, some of the black iron pillars surprisingly did not manifest orbs.
Crack.
Those that were empty at the top silently sank into the ground, about a third of the total number.
Originally, there were over a hundred Black Pillars in the hall, but now that a third had disappeared suddenly, only about seventy or eighty remained.
There were roughly just over a hundred apprentices gathered from the School here.
Back when the hall had over a hundred Black Pillars, there were over a hundred magic potions appearing, and everyone could have one, even with some to spare.
But now, with only eighty-something Black Pillars left, it meant that the offered magic potions, the Moon Leaves, had also decreased to just over eighty pieces.
Clearly, that wasn't enough for the hundred-plus apprentices in the hall.
Colin mingled in the crowd, slightly lifting his head to scan around.
In mid-air, Wizard Lap's figure quietly vanished, nowhere to be seen.
He withdrew his gaze and turned his head to silently observe the surrounding apprentices.
Most were puzzled, and whispers of confusion were faintly heard.
"The number of magic potions has decreased..."
"Where did Teacher Lap go?"
"How should we distribute them now..."
The vast majority struggled to restrain their desires, hoping that Wizard Lap would come forward to explain.
But the figure of Wizard Lap did not reappear.
Gurgle.
Finally, a Basic Level apprentice unable to restrain his craving, hungry for the exotic scent, broke the standstill.
Swish!
He stepped forward swiftly, gulping down the magic potion.
After ingesting, the magic potion slowly took effect.
His face showed joy as his blood became more abundant and his spirit fuller.
Seeing this, no one was willing to wait any longer, especially those who had tasted the sweetness of magic potions before,
they could not sit by and watch these Moon Leaves being divided by others!
Colin quickly stepped forward, seizing a Moon Leaf with a speed beyond ordinary.
After he obtained the Moon Leaf, he did not swallow it; instead, he covered it with his hand, feigning ingestion while quietly pocketing it.
Previously, when the first plant, the nightflower, was presented, Wizard Lap was watching from mid-air.
Almost everyone swallowed the nightflower in front of Wizard Lap.
But after the second auxiliary medicine was presented, and Wizard Lap's figure had left,
a long-haired Wizard Apprentice,
perhaps seeing Wizard Lap's figure disappear,
did not hide the fact that he hadn't swallowed the nightflower like Colin, secretly spitting it out.
Instead, he unabashedly regurgitated the blood-like liquid that the nightflower had become.
This caught Colin's attention.
It also made him realize that clearly, some apprentices just swallowed the nightflower without actually ingesting it.
Soon,
the scramble for the Moon Leaves ended.
Those who had not obtained a magic potion showed signs of regret.
But, lacking the strength and luck of others, they said nothing more.
Colin turned his head slightly to look around.
At that moment, the long-haired male wizard, who had spit out the nightflower just as he had, was not far to his right, brazenly holding the magic potions presented in the second and now third instance.
Colin's gaze flickered.
Not many apprentices, like the long-haired male wizard, existed, but there were quite a few, mostly Advanced Wizard Apprentices.
They all held the magic potions from the last two offerings... As for whether they had ingested the first nightflower, Colin could not tell.
He only distinctly saw that the long-haired male wizard had spit out the nightflower.
And other Intermediate or Basic Level apprentices, mostly unable to resist the temptation of the exotic scent, had already swallowed the auxiliary medicines.
Just as Colin withdrew his gaze, preparing to turn back,
Crack!!
Several bolts of lightning struck out of nowhere!
In the corner of his eye, the long-haired male wizard was instantly reduced to char, the Advanced Wizard Apprentice did not even have time to scream.
Such might was beyond the capability of an apprentice!
Two or three other apprentices suffered the same fate.
Colin's pupils dilated, and before he could react,
another anomaly occurred.
An invisible force swept through the ceremony.
Pfft!!
"Ha—gh—ha—gh—!"
"Ah—!"
Among the crowd, some wizard apprentices suddenly burst into clouds of blood, collapsing with cries of agony, they soon fell silent.
Thus, in an instant, the grey-white floor of the hall lay scattered with over forty bodies.
The remaining sixty or so apprentices stopped their movements in shock and terror, looking at each other bewildered.
The entire hall fell silent.
"...What's going on?"
After a long while, an apprentice finally muttered.
As his words fell, a swell of noise rose like a wave.
"Where is Teacher Lap?!"
"Teacher Lap must know what this is all about!"
"..."
On the right side of the hall, Nidham's face was ashen, he turned his head and asked Berkeley not far away,
"What does this mean, Teacher?"
The lightning had been unexpected and powerful.
Even though he was a Peak Apprentice, he was not confident that he could survive such a lightning strike.
And that blood mist was even more strangely eerie.
"I don't know," Berkeley shook his head, then after a pause continued, "Maybe something unforeseen occurred."
"Heh!"
Fina, standing to one side, let out a cold laugh. She couldn't stand Berkeley's trust in Lap.
So in a low sneer, she said, "Berkeley, don't be naive. Do you really think Lap is your father?"