Chapter 46

After tidying up the laboratory, Sain walked toward the dormitory building with a heavy heart.

Due to the recent days of working with his mentor, Mosido, the experiments had been around the clock, so it was technically daytime at the Black Magic Academy at this moment.

Various apprentices walked past Sain.

The entry-level and low-level apprentices heading to their public classes did not dare to disturb this black magic apprentice wearing a white mask and exuding a steady aura.

The reverence in their eyes indicated that they had adapted well to life at the Black Magic Academy.

Since a batch of new apprentices entered three years ago, two more batches had been brought in by the floating giant ship over the past three years.

However, the number of apprentices brought each time was fewer than the previous batch.

The most recent batch came last year, and the entire ship carried very few children. In the end, only about fifty entry-level apprentices passed the test.

Perhaps because the number of new apprentices was smaller, the official black mages teaching the public courses no longer casually killed these ants out of a bad mood as they used to.

Sometimes Sain would think that this batch of new apprentices was quite lucky.

If it were over a decade ago when Sain first came to the Dark Region, the death rate of more than half of the apprentices would have been enough to make the newcomers truly feel what despair was.

In recent years, the death rate of apprentices has been controlled at thirty percent, as mentioned casually by his mentor Mosido, which seemed to be the intention of the Dean, Dadalon.

If it weren't for the fact that there were too many official black mages like Master Kosolon, who had long become indifferent to life and were accustomed to crushing those clumsy or annoying pests, the death rate of apprentices in recent years would have been even lower.

But no matter how low it was, there were still apprentices who would have bad luck or die every day.

Master Kosolon's anatomy experiment class always had a steady supply of fresh specimens.

And these specimens might have been among the apprentices in class the day before.

The cold laws of the underground world made these apprentices even more cautious.

When Sain reached the White Raven Forest in front of the dormitory building, there were almost no low-level or entry-level apprentices around him.

The class time set by the academy was about to start, and no apprentice dared to be late, not a single one!

After walking into the White Raven Forest, Sain did not continue toward the dormitory building.

Instead, he turned his mind and directly entered the White Raven Forest from the side of the road.

The White Raven Forest was quite large, the largest forest within the Black Magic Academy.

Although the variety of trees and plants here was not as rich as in the botanical garden,

there were still some strange and unusual plants and small animals.

Of the more than fifty animal specimens and over two hundred plant specimens that Sain had collected and made, one-third came from the White Raven Forest.

Sain could be considered a regular visitor to the White Raven Forest.

Entering the seemingly pathless dense White Raven Forest, Sain walked eastward.

Sain's final destination was a huge tree canopy on the eastern side of the White Raven Forest.

The entire forest was quiet, with only a few faint chirps and bird calls.

It could make a restless person gradually calm down as they were influenced by the environment.

No apprentice would have thought that in the cold and oppressive Black Magic Academy, there was such a secluded and peaceful place.

The White Raven Forest was located next to the apprentice dormitory. Apprentices living in the higher floors of the dormitory building could only see a dense forest and towering tree canopies when they looked out the window.

They never expected that beneath those canopies, there was such a serene and ethereal scene.

The tense atmosphere and omnipresent danger of the academy also made the low-level and entry-level apprentices dare not explore here.

As for the mid-level and above apprentices, most knew that this was the habitat of the academy's inspectors, so they would not rashly come to disturb.

Only Sain, starting more than four years ago, would come here from time to time, with or without a reason.

Of course, he never came empty-handed.

"Seven, I'm here!" When Sain finally reached his destination, he shouted toward the top of the huge tree canopy, which was nearly thirty meters high.

The sound of flapping wings came, and before Sain could react, a half-human-sized owl appeared in front of him.

This was the academy inspector that Sain had interacted with and gradually become familiar with more than four years ago.

After more than four years, Sain and the owl had become friends.

Since they were friends, they had a basic understanding of each other's situations.

There's no need to elaborate on Sain's side, but the owl in front of him revealed that its strength was at the level of a near-stage magical beast.

The strength of a near-stage magical beast was on par with Sain's senior brother Zorro.

This was a creature stronger than a high-stage magical beast but still weaker than official mages.

It was also from Seven that Sain learned that magical beasts capable of matching the strength of official black mages were called stage magical beasts.

However, such magical beasts were not widely distributed in the Dark Region.

A few decades ago, there were a few stage magical beasts in the underground world near the City of Mithral.

However, they had bad luck and encountered a group of extremely vicious and more powerful black mages.

Not only the stage magical beasts, but even the near-stage and high-stage magical beasts were wiped out by the black mages.

Including the subterranean demi-human strongmen who were rumored to have once been as powerful as official black mages, they were also massacred by the black mages.

The City of Mithral was initially established in the midst of blood and fire, and the dried blood on the city walls was mostly from that time.

Through Seven's narration, Sain could almost see the scenes of hundreds of thousands of ordinary demi-humans charging toward the City of Mithral and the emergence of subterranean beast tides.

However, these scenes were completely turned to dust and debris in the face of the powerful elemental forces wielded by the black mages.

It was the sufficient power that established the City of Mithral as the center of the Dark Region.

Learning this secret history gave Sain a general understanding of the history of the City of Mithral and the specific time when the black mages arrived in the underground world.

Sain also asked the owl about its exact age.

Unlike the taboo of the word "age" for his senior sister Faye, the owl inspector Seven had no reservations about it.

One hundred and thirty-seven years old, that was Seven's true age.

This age was still relatively young in its species, as magical beasts often had longer lifespans and stronger constitutions than humans.

The reason its name was Seven was because it was the seventh in its generation of owls.

Sain had once asked the owl how many owl inspectors there were in the Black Magic Academy and who Seven's senior relatives were.

Seven did not answer these questions, as they seemed to involve the academy's secrets and were strictly prohibited from being disclosed.