Belle

Chapter 41 Belle

With a surge of magical energy, the second secret realm of the trial grounds officially opened.

Standing atop the giant tree, Raffi, one of his eyes transformed into an eagle's pupil, granting him a field of vision exceeding human limits. He roared down at the foot of the tree, "Southeast, 6,800 meters!"

"Oh, I see. Let's go grab a spot."

After responding, Yocris, following Raffi's earlier instructions, carried a large axe and ran wildly toward the entrance of the secret realm, exuding a ferocious aura, almost like a savage primitive man.

After a long howl from the giant steel bristles beneath Robin, the ground trembled violently as he charged headlong into the secret realm. Some vegetation and trees were crushed and overturned by the massive steel bristles, creating an exaggerated and frightening spectacle.

Robin shouted from afar, "Sister Raffi, you'd better hurry!"

"Ah! Wait for me! I haven't gone up yet..."

Binghamson's voice came from afar.

Two giant leaf-like wings sprouted from Raffi's back, and she slowly descended from the treetop. Yorkriana walked over and said timidly in a low voice, "Sister Raffi, Brother Green, let's go too."

Raffi lightly tossed her short, dark brown hair, revealing a crescent-shaped earring.

Nodding slightly, Raffi held the map thoughtfully and whispered, "The location of the secret realm is a bit different from what we expected. There should be several strong teams stationed there, which is a bit troublesome. Green, you protect Leona in a bit."

Raffi didn't mention protecting herself, partly because of her agile and nimble figure, and partly because she never showed her vulnerable side to others.

"understood."

Green stood silently beside Raffi and Yorkriana, his eyes peeking out from behind his pale mask. He gave a soft reply, yet his presence exuded a sense of composure and reliability.

The three of them then ran towards the opening of the secret realm, but their speed was much slower than that of Joseph, Robin, and Binghamson.

……

This is a huge altar that rises from the ground.

At the top of the altar, there was a bead the size of a fist, emitting a light that was too bright to look at directly, as if it contained terrifying energy.

Centered on the altar, six pillars inscribed with countless mysterious runes rose simultaneously within a radius of several dozen meters. These six pillars faintly formed a large-scale imprisoning array, seemingly imprisoning something terrifying within it.

"Hehe, I was indeed the first to reach the secret realm."

A witch apprentice with wind elemental wings on her back spoke excitedly. Her rare purple-blue robe revealed large expanses of snow-white skin. Her alluring figure landed steadily beside the six totem poles, and her face was pure and beautiful.

The witch apprentice stared at the alluring bead in the center of the altar, her eyes sparkling and her face showing a look of rapture.

However, as a wizard, even just a wizard apprentice, after ten days of elimination, there are now very few reckless people left. The witch apprentice did not rush to seize the treasures on the altar.

After a spell was cast, a tiny earth elemental mouse appeared right at the witch apprentice's feet. It was so lifelike that it even gave the witch apprentice a little affectionate kiss.

"Sweetie, baby, go and fetch that bead back for me."

The witch apprentice bent down and gently patted the earth elemental rat's head.

Without making any unnecessary movements, the earth elemental rat charged headlong into the magic circle formed by the six pillars.

puff……

Something seemed to flash across the ground of the magic circle, and the earth elemental rat vanished instantly.

"So there really is a guardian, and they even built this confinement magic circle. It seems this guardian isn't some terrifying being controlled by a wizard. Hmm, was that guardian an invisible creature? Or did it launch a sneak attack from underground? It was too fast; I didn't even see it clearly."

The witch apprentice shook her head and sighed, "Forget it, let's wait for the others and see if there's a chance."

With that said, the witch apprentice simply found a clean spot and sat down to wait for the other witch apprentices to arrive.

A moment later, a team of four Dark Realm wizard apprentices arrived at the altar secret realm in a flurry of activity. Two of the four were powerful individuals with a mark value exceeding ten, while the remaining two had mark values ​​between five and ten, clearly indicating that none of them were weaklings.

"Um?"

The four Dark Realm wizard apprentices all looked at the first arriving female wizard apprentice and frowned.

The first female wizard apprentice to arrive had no mark on her body, yet she acted without any restraint; the mark on her forehead indicated that she was from the Black Tower Wizarding Academy.

The witch apprentice shrugged and laughed, "Hehe, don't look at me like that. I tried, but the guardians here are very powerful. I can't get the treasures in this secret realm."

"Then why aren't you leaving?"

Seeing this person's uninhibited manner, the Dark Realm wizard apprentice felt uneasy and didn't provoke him.

"But I want to see who actually took this treasure. That way, my trip won't have been in vain, since I was the first one here... sigh..."

The witch apprentice pouted, looking regretful.

The four Dark Realm wizard apprentices exchanged glances. One of them gritted his teeth, pulled a bright green bird from his sleeve, and with a shout of "Go!", the bird flew over the magic pillar and rushed toward the altar.

However, just as quickly, the bird disappeared into the magic circle after flying only a few meters in. Its inexplicable disappearance caused the four Dark Realm wizard apprentices to change their expressions and no longer dare to rush into the magic circle.

Afterwards, a dozen or so more people gathered here in scattered groups. These people all had strong imprint fluctuations, so they were probably wizard apprentices who were confident in themselves and planned to compete for the second secret realm.

A moment later, a massive wave of energy appeared in the senses of the wizard apprentices near the altar, causing everyone around the altar to change their expressions.

"The Desperate!"

The second trial grounds opened a total of ten secret realms, and there were seven Desperate Ones in the trial grounds. Statistically speaking, there was a considerable chance of encountering those Desperate Ones in each secret realm.

As a lithe and agile male figure appeared in everyone's sight, the title "Mechanical Heart" was silently recited by everyone present.

The right arm appeared to be a completely mechanical prosthesis, or a mechanical arm collar worn on the arm, gleaming with a solid metallic sheen.

A huge mechanical tail, like a scorpion's venomous tail, gleamed with a chilling light. The rest of the body was covered by a wide robe, leaving one wondering what else was special about it.

Seeing that so many people had arrived, yet none of them intended to enter the magic circle to seize the treasures on the altar, the Mechanical Heart didn't even try. Instead, it sat on the ground, holding a complex metal ball in its hand, examining it as if it were some kind of mechanical component, looking quite troubled.

Throughout the entire process, Mechanical Heart remained silent, seemingly someone who preferred to quietly delve into the knowledge of witchcraft.

Rumble!

The tremor of the earth made everyone look back into the depths of the forest. Judging from the slight shaking of the ground, a huge creature of considerable weight must have arrived.

As a small tree was overturned, Robin appeared riding on Steelmane, along with Yokris wielding a battle axe.

The two casually glanced at the people gathered around the secret realm before turning their gaze to the motionless Mechanical Heart not far away. After exchanging a look, their expressions tightened.

Unfortunately, some desperate individuals have set their sights on this secret realm.

"Huff, huff... Moon, are you trying to kill me with exhaustion?"

Bingham caught up, panting, but after sensing the fluctuations of the Mechanical Heart's imprint, he said nothing more, and the atmosphere became somewhat oppressive.

However, with the appearance of Yoris, Robin, and Binghamson, the first female wizard apprentice from Blacksorta to arrive at the secret realm had her eyes light up and actually flapped her wind elemental wings to fly over.

"Hehe, it's you guys, what a coincidence!"

The three turned to look at the newcomer and all showed expressions of surprise.

"Belle?"

The Belle before me was the very same male wizard apprentice who offended the Bloodsail League for her sake during Green's first introductory wizarding class. In the end, she was secretly killed by the spellcaster who had manipulated her to establish authority.

However, in the following three years, Belle became one of the most talked-about female protagonists in the academy, and in the newcomer rankings, she was even more famous than the sharp-tongued queen Raffi.

Over the course of three years, Belle became one of the top ten wizards of the new generation at the academy, received the most confessions of love from female wizard apprentices, and was even nominated by some to be the ambassador for the exchange between wizard apprentices in Blacksota. She also gained the recognition of a senior wizard who took her as his disciple.

In short, this witch apprentice was a shining example of positive values ​​at Blacksorta Wizarding Academy, and the person who received the most attention from the academy.

There are even rumors circulating within the Bloodsail Alliance that Amrond and Belle have a secret, intimate relationship that goes beyond friendship.

"Now that you've all arrived, Her Majesty Queen Raffi must have arrived by now as well?"

Belle covered her mouth and laughed, looking adorable, pure yet elegant.

Robin, the only woman among the three, awkwardly replied, "Uh... it's behind, we'll be there soon."

As for Raffi and Belle, the two of them didn't have much contact, but as the two most popular new witch apprentices in Blacksota, many people secretly compared the two of them, and as a result, Raffi was portrayed as almost worthless.

Of course, these events only occurred during a certain period. Later, as the current generation of wizarding apprentices grew up, these matters faded away and were no longer mentioned.

A moment later, Raffi, Green, and Yorkriana arrived late.

Raffi spotted Belle immediately and frowned, asking, "Belle?"

It's clear that Raffi instinctively felt some resistance towards this witch apprentice who was "stronger" than her, even though the two had never actually met.

Belle covered her mouth and smiled.

"Sister Raffi, although we've met a few times before, we've never really spoken. I never expected that our first conversation would be here."

As she spoke, Belle glanced at Yorkriana and Green before focusing her gaze on Green, who was wearing a pale mask and standing quietly behind Raffi.

Because Belle hadn't seen this stranger with her on previous visits to Raffi, and now this person's mark was fluctuating at a level of ten, she couldn't help but feel surprised and asked, "Who is this?"

Raffi said calmly, "My boyfriend."

Raffi completely ignored Belle's astonished expression, her eyes almost popping out of their sockets, and said that Raffi never cared about her reputation as much as Belle did, nor did she ever think about becoming a popular goddess.

Because she is always a strong person who is self-centered.

(End of this chapter)