Adam listened to the conversation of the two mages with a vague understanding. The slightly chatty hall fell into a pin-drop silence all of a sudden, and all of the mages bowed before leaving the hall.
Adam looked up and found a female mage hovering by a platform. She didn't speak nor show any expression, but magic orbited around her, forming a special field. Adam felt that she was a mage who harmoniously controlled the elements.
She raised her hands and with a single clap, a curtain of light was conjured, displaying a huge island.
"I'm the examiner of this battlemage trial, the Transdimensional Mage Priscilla," despite her not opening her mouth, Adam could hear her voice projected in his mind, instantly calming all of his emotion.
After hearing her self-introduction, all the apprentices bowed respectfully, waiting for her orders.
"This island," she pointed to the screen. "This island is an antimage gathering place, held captive by us. There are thirteen antimage families here, and their magic includes ancient magic, like curse magic, negative magic, mutation magic, poison..."
The apprentices hurriedly took note of her words.
"Mage Santa has detained all the Level 3 antimages on the island. Your trial is to destroy all the remaining creatures on the island."
As she spoke, she waved her hand gently, summoning several elemental creatures beside her. They held baskets of unknown alchemy items and distributed them to everyone.
"This is the Bracelet of Merit. All of your actions will be recorded and passed on to me."
Adam latched the bracelet on, feeling a slight tingling sensation on his wrist. He tried removing it, but found that it was tightly welded onto his arm.
"Killing a Level 1 antimage gets you 100 points, and killing a Level 2 antimage gets you 200 points. Anything else rewards you with 1 point. Special tasks will be issued from time to time through your bracelet. You can choose to go as a team, or go alone -- it is your freedom. The standard for completion is 1000 points."
Adam calculated -- if each person required 1000 points to pass, then 1000 apprentices need a total of one million points. Just how many antimages are there on this island?
Sure enough, Mage Priscilla's words caused a commotion, "Mage Santa estimates that there are only less than 150,000 points available on this island."
This means less than 1/6th of the apprentices can pass the test.
"The purpose of this trial is to select elites among the elites," she coughed, suppressing the jeers of the apprentices. "You may be geniuses in your Academy, but you may not meet the Tower's standards. If you die, I can only extend my pity to you."
"This trial is not a game," she continued. "Perhaps you've heard of how weak antimages are, but you forget that it is relative to us mages. To you, they are a great danger -- it is too late to quit, unless you find a way to survive until the end of the trial, you will surely die. Besides, if you try to leave the trial venue in any way without our authorization... your bracelets will explode. Leave now if you wish."
Several murmured whispers could be heard, displaying how hesitant they were now that the stakes were revealed.
However, the voices regained their composure. It was too late to regret it now.
Seeing that no one had left the hall, she nodded with satisfaction, conjuring a giant portal on the floor.
"They're here!"
"The disgusting presence of runes..."
"We aren't your livestock!"
"We need to kill them! Kill them for betraying the true form of magic!"
"Kill them... we need to shine as the true mages."
In the depths of the island, the antimages' voices boomed throughout the island. Under their orders, the entire island became a war zone. Any unidentified apprentice will be attacked on sight.
When he regained his consciousness, Adam found himself standing alone in the wilderness. Once again, it seems that the portal separates all the apprentices. In an unknown environment, Adam needed to find a partner to ensure his survival.
The devil had been sullen and quiet the entire time, since they were forcibly summoned by Adam, dragging them away from the succubi. However, they finally recovered their mood when they arrived at the island, and bounced out of Adam's mind, "Oh! I like it here! Smells just like home."
Adam felt a little disgusted seeing the devil's exaggerated expression, sending an arc of electricity towards them.
"Shut up. Go and see if there's anyone around. Don't do anything if you encounter something, wait for me to deal with them."
After receiving the order, the devil immediately put themselves on guard, knowing the importance of the trial. It wasn't only important for Adam, but for them as well. If Adam doesn't become a mage, then they wouldn't be able to promote as well.
After the devil left to scout the surroundings, Adam stayed where he was and silently adjusted his magical frequency. Although Mage Priscilla's directions were clear, he felt that it was too vague. For example, could he be promoted on trial grounds? And she also implied that there were ordinary, regular people on the island.
Adam feels that this wasn't negligence on her part, but to test on how apprentices are able to adapt to complex situations. He predicts this may affect the final evaluation of the mission.
As he laid silently behind lush bushes, the devil's voice rang in his head, "Master, there's a gathering over here."
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