Chapter 90

Saien finally entered the academy from the west side.

A huge crack in the academy's wall served as an entrance, allowing Saien to bypass the main gate.

The west side of the academy had always been the residence of formal black mages.

However, when Saien entered this area, the entire academy was eerily quiet.

Only the distant city district continuously echoed with the sounds of battle.

The academy, on the other hand, had become a peaceful haven.

Saien knew little about the western part of the academy.

In the past few years, he had only moved around near his mentor Mosido's residence.

It was impossible for him to casually intrude on the territories of other formal black mages.

Although he knew that some of the quiet houses might still contain things the formal black mages hadn't managed to take with them, Saien was not influenced by this and headed straight for his mentor Mosido's residence.

When Saien arrived at his mentor Mosido's residence, the door was, as usual, tightly closed.

Looking at the white door, Saien was momentarily transported back to the days when he would come here daily to do his experimental homework.

Taking out his identity badge from his spatial ring, Saien pressed it against the door, and a stream of elemental power flowed through, quietly opening the door.

Upon entering the residence, Saien found that his mentor's place was rather messy, and all the rooms were empty.

Saien did not find any traces of his mentor Mosido or his senior students here.

The large experimental tables and alchemical instruments in several rooms were gone, as was the alchemical puppet responsible for cleaning the mentor's residence.

"It seems that my mentor and the others must have left here in time."

"But I didn't sense my mentor's battle aura among the black mages breaking through in the city. Could it be that my mentor left with Vice Dean Martin and the others?" Saien thought to himself, sitting on a white chair on the second floor.

This place had once been where Saien, his mentor, and his senior students would dine, but now, he was alone here.

Another "boom" of a massive explosion and elemental disturbance from the city interrupted Saien's thoughts and urged him to move on to the next place.

After finding nothing at his mentor Mosido's residence, Saien quickly crossed the academy's teaching building and headed for the apprentice dormitories.

Unlike his mentor's place, where he found nothing, Saien believed that if Lina was still alive, she would have left him relevant information at their home.

Although the academy was quiet, as Saien approached the apprentice dormitories, he gradually noticed some bodies.

These bodies were mostly those of apprentices, as well as some dark creatures and subterranean beings.

Since most of the mid-level and above apprentices had been sent by the formal black mages to the Yellow Sand World on a mission, the bodies Saien saw were almost all those of low-level apprentices.

As he reached the outer buildings of the apprentice dormitories, Saien noticed a female body lying in the grass by the roadside.

It was the low-level apprentice Tianti, whom he remembered because she had harassed him a few times.

Tianti's body was partially charred, seemingly injured by a fire spell.

The sight of Tianti's body reminded Saien of his two low-level apprentice friends, Meli and Fat Boss.

His heart tightened, and Saien quickened his pace back to the dormitory.

The familiar dormitory building did not bring Saien the warmth of home.

Instead, the dark and silent hallway made him feel a bit hesitant and fearful.

He was not afraid of any threats in the darkness but was afraid of the reality he could not accept.

However, Saien eventually reached his room. When he pushed the door open, the first thing he saw was a pink note that made him extremely excited.

Lina rarely used pink things, but Saien, who had already understood Lina deeply, knew that she had a gentle and tender side different from her appearance.

Rushing to the note, Saien read the message.

The note seemed to have been left by Lina not long ago. Besides informing Saien that she was safe, Lina's words expressed deep concern and care for him.

Lina indeed believed that Saien had not fallen and even told him about a deeply hidden secret passage in the northern part of the city of Muzobura.

This was something Lina's mentor, Ferena, had told her, and she would also be leaving with her mentor through this passage.

"Northern part of the city?!" Saien couldn't help but look out of the room.

Although Muzobura was an underground city, it was dug out on three sides, with only the northern part connected to a thousand-foot stone wall, and above it was the giant fluorite mine.

Putting the note in his pocket, Saien took one last look at his home and turned to leave.

Leaving the apprentice dormitory building, Saien did not follow the original path out of the academy.

The chaos in Muzobura seemed to be gradually coming to an end. Apart from the continuous falling of giant rocks from the sky, the resistance of the black mages was becoming weaker.

Some surface knights and mages were heading towards the black magic academy, having cleared out most of the resistance. The black magic academy was their last place to clean up, and they seemed to want to collect some spoils of war here as well.

Saien could not guarantee that every surface knight and mage he encountered would be as friendly as Baktar and Midichi.

Moreover, he could not explain why he was here.

Crossing the entire academy from the apprentice dormitories to the west would only waste time and likely result in a confrontation with the surface knights and mages.

The image of the low-level apprentice Tianti's death flashed through Saien's mind.

At this moment, a "boom" of a heavy object falling was heard not far from the apprentice dormitories, in the White Crow Forest, seemingly a giant rock falling from the sky.

Fortunately, the White Crow Forest did not catch fire on a large scale.

Glancing in the direction of the White Crow Forest, Saien headed deeper into it.

The scene in the White Crow Forest had not changed much from what Saien remembered.

All he saw was lush greenery.

Of course, some fallen giant trees and occasional craters marked the area as one affected by the war.

At this moment, Muzobura did not have a true haven.

Reaching the eastern end of the White Crow Forest, where the giant tree canopy met the academy's wall, Saien saw a large irregular rock wedged between them.

After roughly judging whether he had the ability to climb out, Saien cast a lightness spell on himself and prepared to move.

At this moment, a faint "coo" sound came from the other side of the giant tree canopy.

Furrowing his brow, Saien went to the back of the tree.

A blood-stained owl lay in a pool of blood.

Its beak moved slightly, indicating that it was not completely dead.

"Seven?" Saien couldn't help but ask.