Chapter 56

A week passed in a flash.

Since the underground world was generally dark and lightless, although Cen sometimes also walked around on the deck, he was not clear about the specific route they were taking to the Shadow Valley.

When a week later, Cen and the others finally arrived at a brightly lit underground valley, he somewhat uncertainly asked Lina beside him, "Is this the Shadow Valley?"

A large number of magic crystal lamps and magical equipment appeared in various corners of the Shadow Valley, illuminating it as if it were daylight.

Cen also saw two towering magic towers.

A blue energy shield covering the entire Shadow Valley remained undispersed, its elemental energy source seemingly coming from the two magic towers in the center of the valley.

After arriving at the Shadow Valley, Cen not only felt the terrifying aura of over a dozen official black mages but also discovered many elemental puppets here.

Some of the equipment and materials unloaded from the airship were carried to their respective locations by these earth elementals.

Their dull faces and features indicated that these earth elementals had little intelligence and were likely summoned by powerful black mages.

Similar to how Cen summoned low-level skeletal warriors with his low-level magic, these earth elementals clearly surpassed his skeletal warriors by a significant margin. He estimated that even the smallest earth elemental could shatter his small skeleton with a single slap.

It was unclear how powerful these earth elementals were, but there were about twenty to thirty of them in the entire Shadow Valley.

Whose work was this powerful black mage?

After arriving at the Shadow Valley, the black magic apprentices who had been in the cabin for a week were urged by the official black mages and the Owl Academy inspectors to disembark.

Cen also saw the figure of Owl Seven.

However, the two did not engage in any conversation, only nodding slightly to each other.

The black magic apprentices were mostly gathered in groups of three or five.

Upon closer inspection, it was evident that among the intermediate and advanced apprentices, those who had a master were generally grouped by their respective schools.

As for the intermediate and lower apprentices who had not yet found a master, and even the weaker entry-level apprentices, they gathered based on their dormitory or close relationships.

There were very few true loners.

Cen, with his girlfriend Lina, approached his senior brother Zorro and senior sister Phoebe.

Although the fat Bos did not directly join them, he stood not far from Cen.

Mery did not come over directly; she had her own school and was now with her two senior sisters.

"We won't be staying in the Shadow Valley for a short time. Although the area is large, the terrain limits the number of tents, and the mentors can't help us much in this regard."

"So, we need to go and secure two tents first," Senior Brother Zorro whispered to Cen.

"Alright," Cen replied.

As they spoke, the "whoosh" of a whistle sounded.

The airship that had brought Cen and the others here slowly ascended after unloading everything, eventually disappearing into the dark sky of the underground world, leaving no trace.

...

The tents that Cen and the others ultimately secured were in the golden area to the right of one of the two magic towers in the valley.

A position closer to the magic tower meant that in case of any crisis or emergency, they could immediately approach the tower and seek the protection of the official black mages inside.

Additionally, the terrain here was relatively flat and open, not far from the large magic altar in the center of the valley.

Standing at the tent entrance, Cen could see the magic altar emitting a white elemental glow in the distance.

Senior Brother Zorro introduced Cen to the fact that the spatial rift was located within the magic altar, fixed by the altar itself.

The Black Magic Academy was indeed not easy to deal with. When securing these two tents, Cen and the others had small-scale conflicts with two other groups of black magic apprentices.

Advanced apprentices and quasi-mages were rarely seen in the academy on a regular basis, but this trip to the Shadow Valley clearly brought all the apprentices from the entire academy, as summoned by the official black mages.

There were a total of eleven quasi-mages and twenty-six advanced apprentices, a force that left Cen secretly amazed.

When distributing the tents, Phoebe and Lina, the two women, were together, while Cen stayed with Senior Brother Zorro.

The fat Bos joined them at some point.

Considering Cen's face and the ingot of red copper the fat man offered, Senior Brother Zorro turned a blind eye and tacitly allowed the fat man to sleep in a corner of their tent.

Senior Brother Zorro was the one who most resembled Mentor Mosido, immersed in experiments and alchemy research every day in the Black Magic Academy.

He had no romantic relationships and not even a single friend to talk to.

Like the other quasi-mages whom Cen did not know or had never heard of, Senior Brother Zorro was a strange and powerful presence to the vast majority of the magic apprentices in the academy.

...

On the second day after arriving at the Shadow Valley, the official black mages issued a series of orders.

Indeed, this time the academy had hastily gathered all the apprentices for the Shadow Valley mission.

Including Senior Brother Zorro, the eleven quasi-mages were the first to enter the depths of the magic altar.

It was unclear if it was due to Mentor Mosido's care, but Senior Brother Zorro was the second to last to enter among the eleven quasi-mages.

"Do you think these little guys can help us install the coordinate generator on the other side of the spatial rift?" After the quasi-mages, including Zorro, stepped into the magic altar, a black mage in the magic tower asked the person beside him.

"Who knows? This spatial rift is too small, not even able to accommodate a first-level creature."

"Mosido and the vice-dean spent so much time here, just to continuously reinforce the spatial altar to protect these little guys' fragile bodies."

"Even so, the unstable spatial rift is extremely dangerous for us, let alone for them."

"If two-thirds of them can make it through, that would be quite good, and we still don't know what the other side is like," a black mage shook his head and replied.

Interdimensional exploration itself is fraught with uncertainties, let alone through a spatial rift rather than directly descending from another plane.

If the other side of the spatial rift is a completely uninhabitable wasteland, these little guys will be in trouble.

In fact, the resource demiplane that most black mages in Mithral City yearn for is, under normal circumstances, a dangerous place where first-level creatures cannot survive.

For example, if it were a fire elemental demiplane, Cen and the other apprentices would likely be roasted to a crisp in no time.

And any world that can be adapted to by first-level creatures is invariably a complete world with its own rules.

However, these worlds also come with dangers. Even if the rules and climate are similar to the wizard world, Cen and the others, as outsiders, will inevitably be rejected by the plane's will and hostile to the native inhabitants.

Therefore, regardless of what the other side of the spatial rift is like, these apprentices, who are not even at the first-level creature standard, are almost certain to face a life-and-death situation.

It's no wonder that Mentor Mosido went to great lengths to prepare so many life-saving items for Cen and the others.