"He is nothing but a robber who took you away from your real parents!"
Berkeley heard this and did not get angry but simply shook his head,
"I'm not like you, Fina. I remember very clearly that my parents sold me to Teacher Lap for a Gold Coin."
He paused, then continued,
"Without Teacher Lap, I might have become an abandoned child dead by the roadside."
Fina retorted coldly, "That's just what you think."
She glanced around after speaking,
"Those killed by lightning are the apprentices who never took the Magic Potion.
And those who died suddenly had only taken the Magic Potion once or twice and never took the Moon Leaf for the third time."
"It's obvious that this is a ritual with an elimination mechanism."
"Your dear 'father' Lap never cared about our lives, nor did he care about yours!"
She did not hide her reasoning; her voice was not loud but was clear enough for the remaining apprentices to hear.
Many apprentices changed their expressions upon hearing this.
Colin kept a poker face, secretly hiding the collected Magic Potion even more stealthily.
His eyes swept briefly around to ensure no one noticed him before he slightly relaxed.
But doubts overwhelmed his mind.
'…Regardless of the accuracy of Fina's deduction, the current situation she observed is indeed correct.
The deceased apprentices, just as she said, failed to follow the sequence in taking the Magic Potion.'
'…Yet, I have also not taken the Magic Potion, so why haven't I been erased by lightning?'
Colin furrowed his brows.
But before he could think further,
Boom!
A blue-green orb flashed past, and a new batch of Magic Potion was presented.
This time... the quantity was even less, roughly estimated to be only about thirty portions.
The blank black pillar slowly sank, mirroring the sinking hearts of the remaining apprentices.
Whoosh!
This time, they no longer demonstrated any semblance of restraint.
Without a commander, the apprentices moved at the same instant the blue-green light dispersed!
Swoosh!
About twenty Advanced Wizard Apprentices tacitly did not compete with each other but dispersed and occupied two-thirds of the Magic Potion.
The remaining Intermediate Apprentices, some fortunate to be close to the Black Pillar and without Advanced Apprentices competing, were lucky enough to grab a Magic Potion and quickly swallowed it whole.
As for the Basic Level Wizard Apprentices…
"Ah!" a twelve or thirteen-year-old fortuitously grabbed a Magic Potion and cried out in agony as he was harshly knocked aside.
He was brutally knocked away by a frail, pale Intermediate Wizard standing nearby.
The Magic Potion fell from his hands, tossed into the air, and was fiercely fought over by several Intermediate Wizards who had been waiting nearby for a long time!
For a moment, the sound of activated witchcraft, curses, and anguished cries filled the air!
On the other side,
Colin, who had just grabbed a new Magic Potion, suddenly changed his expression and slightly dodged to the left.
A vicious Acid Liquid attack aimed at his head was avoided.
He clenched a Cone Bullet and turned sharply.
In his field of vision appeared Carrie, the female apprentice who had initially forced him to help mend relations with Regina.
At that moment, Carrie looked at him with a surprised face as he dodged the attack.
Hiss!
Colin's gaze turned cold, and without hesitation, the Cone Bullet flew out, shooting towards Carrie!
Bang!
"Ah!"
Caught off guard, Carrie's abdomen was pierced, and the agonizing pain caused her to scream horrifically,
Her painful screams also caused a few onlooking apprentices to hesitate in their steps and quickly turn to attack others!
Colin raised his head, no longer concerned about the dying Carrie, and coldly swept his gaze around before pretending to take the Magic Potion while shielding it with his palm.
Secretly, he stored it like the previous Magic Potions in his chest.
Soon, the situation gradually calmed.
Looking around, including himself, only forty-three wizards were still standing.
Among them, three Peak Wizard Apprentices, eighteen Advanced Wizard Apprentices, and twenty-two Intermediate Wizard Apprentices.
Among the Intermediate Apprentices, seven looked pale as they had not managed to grab any Magic Potion.
And all the other Basic Level Wizard Apprentices were either dead or severely injured, lying on the ground quietly waiting for death to come.
The apprentices were no longer standing close to each other but were spread out around the Black Pillar at intervals.
In this pause between fights, while the new Magic Potion had not yet been presented.
The hall was shrouded in an eerie silence.
The scent of blood was overwhelming, and aside from the Apprentices' panting, only the groans and low curses of the severely wounded could be heard.
There were still thirty-six Black Pillars left in front of them.
But everyone knew that soon there wouldn't be thirty-six blue-green orbs, nor thirty-six Magic Potions.
The Black Pillars would continue to descend.
And only a few among them would survive...
Or perhaps, just one would survive.
Like the other Apprentices, Colin remained calm, yet his mind raced.
He didn't understand why he had escaped the ritual so far...
But he knew that as the number decreased, he, an Apprentice disguised as an Intermediate Wizard Apprentice, would become increasingly conspicuous.
He couldn't continue like this.
Bang!
Suddenly, the sound of flesh colliding with stone walls echoed.
Colin looked toward the source.
In front of the gray-white stone wall they had entered, an Intermediate Wizard Apprentice clutched his head with a somewhat grim expression.
Colin quickly realized.
The hall, generally circular and open, allowed a full view with just a lift of the eyes.
Surrounding the hall were seamless gray-white stone walls, with no possible exits.
And that Apprentice, clutching his head, had clearly tried to return the way he had come.
But he had failed.
That meant they might have no other way out.
Although Colin had vaguely sensed this, having it confirmed now still cast a dark shadow over his heart.
The Apprentice, unwilling to give up, frantically tried the walls around the hall.
Just then!
Whoosh!
A blue-green orb flashed on the Black Pillar.
The next batch of Magic Potions was presented without any sign, this time only twelve.
"No!" The Apprentice who had been searching for an exit screamed and desperately dashed toward the central Black Pillar.
But soon, he stopped in despair.
The Magic Potions had already been swallowed.
At the same time.
Puff!
A mist of blood sprayed from the body of another Intermediate Wizard Apprentice who had failed to grab a Magic Potion in the previous round.
They fell screaming and eventually, like the previous Apprentices, fell silent.
Some Advanced Apprentices also changed their expressions; they hadn't managed to grab this round's Magic Potion.
Grabbing a Magic Potion, swallowing it, was essentially instantaneous.
If luck wasn't on their side, even a moment's delay meant nothing, even if they were stronger than the Intermediate Apprentices.
Nidham was among them.
His expression grim, he scanned the surroundings and decisively attacked the nearest fortunate Intermediate Wizard Apprentice.
Swoosh!!
The joy on the face of the lucky Potion-swallowing Apprentice faded, his eyes dimming as he lost his vitality.
Nidham, holding the body of the Intermediate Wizard Apprentice, controlled his Magic Power, expertly extending his right index finger, and started slicing down the midline of the body.
His index finger, sharp as the finest scalpel, began splitting the fair skin from the lower lip like a hot knife through butter.
Revealing the hidden internal structure of the throat, esophagus, and the stomach.
Then, Nidham slowly bent down, extended his bright red tongue, and meticulously licked clean the undigested Magic Potion inside!
Now, only a little over twenty Wizard Apprentices were left scattered sparsely throughout the hall.
Some Intermediate Apprentices had just been upset about not getting a Magic Potion.
But now, watching Nidham's actions, they couldn't help but feel somewhat relieved.
But soon, realizing the ritual would continue, the blue-green light would flash again, and the Black Pillars would continue to descend.
Their moment of relief flickered out like a candle in the wind.
To the left of the hall,
Colin, watching Nidham, remained outwardly calm but felt a bit sick inside.
Suddenly, light footsteps approached him.
"Colin."
Then, a familiar voice called out.
He looked in the direction of the voice.