The carriage moved slowly, and after a while, it finally came to a stop.
Sitting in the carriage, Morin could clearly feel the dark energy particles surging within it, and he could also hear the thunderous roar of the horses, which had been modified by witchcraft.
They rode in a carriage back to the dark forest.
Several other wizard apprentices were also sitting in the carriage. When the carriage stopped, Morin and the others opened the door and got out.
The sky surrounding the Dark Forest was a somber gray, which, if gazed upon for too long, could cause feelings of depression and even irritability. However, to the surviving wizard apprentices, everything seemed so vibrant and alive.
Never before had they felt at ease with everything so familiar.
"Roar, oh roar, apprentices, you're back? Haha, welcome, welcome! Come, come, tell the great Lord Hugh what the password is, or I'll swallow you whole! Wahaha, hahaha! Hey, Iman, why are you pulling me? You..." Guarding the Dark Forest were still Hugh and Iman. Hugh was making strange roars when he was affected by Iman next to him and immediately turned his head, his face full of displeasure.
However, following the incredibly tense gaze of Iman, it saw the figure standing in front of the apprentices and almost jumped up.
"Master…Master…Master…" Xiu stood up straight and stammered, almost holding the fork upside down due to nervousness.
"Hugh, Iman, you two seem to be doing well lately."
Augulite smiled, looking at Hugh and Iman with a gentle expression, clearly not as if he were treating ordinary, cold, magical beings.
"Thank you for your concern, Lord. We're all doing well." Iman nodded repeatedly. Despite its ferocious appearance and towering height of four or five meters, it tried its best to appear docile.
"Hehe...hehehe..."
Hugh didn't dare say anything more, he just stood there smiling obsequiously, his smile making him look like a complete idiot.
Augulite's face softened into a kind expression. He looked at Hugh and Iman, nodded, and then led Morin and the other wizard apprentices into the Dark Forest.
Several wizards appeared before the massive open platform of the Dark Forest Castle, their faces showing astonishment as they looked at the wizard apprentices.
Besides these wizards, there were faint magical fluctuations all around, indicating that other wizards were using magic to probe and keep an eye on Morin and his group.
"Alright, stop looking. I'll use witchcraft to send you the relevant information later."
Augulite spoke slowly, his voice not loud, but it carried clearly throughout the surrounding area.
Instantly, the magical fluctuations around them disappeared completely. The wizards bowed to Augulit and then turned and left.
Morin and the other wizard apprentices bowed to Augulite, and then, as Augulite had instructed, returned to their rooms to rest.
"Phew~~" Morin returned to his room. Although he was not injured, he still felt an indescribable fatigue.
He took a long, refreshing shower, then lay down on the bed and fell into a deep, restful sleep.
Maureen slept very soundly.
"Chip, how long have I been asleep?" Morin woke up, gently patted his forehead, and asked.
"Ding! The main body has entered deep sleep!"
"The total amount of sleep time was 17 hours!"
The chip quickly provided a timeframe.
"So long?" Morin was slightly surprised. You see, he was a third-class wizard apprentice with very strong physical abilities, but he still slept for such a long time, which was really hard to imagine.
"I really didn't expect that."
Morin touched his nose, shook his head, and chuckled softly.
Then Morin's gaze fell on his black bag.
The black bag contained the items Morin had obtained during this secret realm experiment. It was filled with extremely precious materials, which Morin had carefully selected. Although these materials came from wizard apprentices, their rarity would likely tempt even a seasoned wizard.
It's important to know that these materials not only come from the collections of members of various wizarding organizations, but also from precious resources of the dark elves in the underground world.
"These things can't be exposed; we have to hide them well." Morin's expression was calm.
He crouched down, gently tapped the third brick beside the bed with his fingers, and then whispered a few witchcraft incantations.
As the sorcery incantation was uttered, silently, a dark and mysterious cave entrance appeared from the third brick, seemingly leading to an unknown and distant place.
This is a manifestation of witchcraft, and the source of this witchcraft is a conjecture that Morin came across while consulting a miscellaneous book in the Dark Forest.
He found it very innovative at the time, so he had the chip perform the deduction, which resulted in a rather peculiar witchcraft. After that, Morin used the cave formed by this witchcraft to hide some secret things.
"Compared to other places, it's much better to store things here."
With that thought in mind, Morin put the black bag into the hole, and after thinking for a moment, he also put in the dozen or so alchemical grenades he was carrying.
"Almost done." After putting everything away, Morin muttered a few spells. He watched the hole close up, nodded, and smiled with satisfaction.
Morin stood up, about to do something, when suddenly there was a knock on the door.
"Who?" Morin frowned.
He opened the door and saw Winnie standing outside, her eyes filled with undisguised excitement and joy.
"Morlin!" Winnie came over and hugged Morlin, saying, "I'm so glad you're okay, so glad, so glad you're still alive."
Her voice carried a faint hint of a sob, a result of her joy. In fact, after spending a year or two together in the Dark Forest, Winnie had come to regard Maureen as her younger brother.
As Maureen sensed Winnie's excitement, she suddenly felt a warmth in her heart.
He smiled and said, "It's alright, Winnie, I'm fine, I'm fine."
After a while, Winnie finally calmed down. She looked at Maureen and said, "By the way, Maureen, your mentor wants to see you."
Should I meet with my advisor?
"Okay, let's go." Morin thought for a moment and nodded.
This time, Maureen and Winnie didn't go to Adrian's laboratory, but went straight to Adrian's residence.
It was a simple courtyard, a small villa, with small flowers blooming one by one, and wisteria cascading down like a waterfall. Soft sunlight shone down, thanks to the power of witchcraft.
Adrian sat in the courtyard flipping through a book, a cup of tea beside him, steaming gently.
At this moment, Adrian didn't look like an apothecary or a wizard; he looked more like an ordinary old man.
"tutor."
Morin bowed slightly.
"Morlin, you've come." Adrian's hair was gray, and when Morlin appeared, he smiled, and wrinkles appeared on his face.
Morin stayed with Adrian for a while, talked with him for a bit, and then left.
It was Winnie who came to see Maureen off.
"Winnie, I have a feeling that our mentor hasn't been doing too well lately?" Maureen asked, thinking of Adrian's earlier demeanor.
Winnie hesitated for a moment, then shook her head and said, "This, I don't know, my mentor... my mentor has been..."
She seemed to have thought of something, and her lips parted slightly.
"My mentor wants me to become a full-fledged wizard. He's getting more and more impatient. He even agreed to help other wizards concoct potions that would harm him, just to get resources for my advancement." Winnie sighed and said these words at the end.
Morin frowned slightly, remaining silent.
"By the way, Winnie, where's Senior Brother Mace?" Morin asked casually.
"I don't know. Mace has been appearing less and less lately. I haven't seen Mace for a long time now," Winnie said after a pause.
Is that so?
Morin thought of something.
He nodded without saying anything more.
Light footsteps approached as Maureen and Winnie walked down the corridor. The lights were dim, and the surroundings were hazy and flickering, appearing and disappearing indistinctly.
"Merlin, do you still remember Lilith?" Winnie suddenly turned her head and looked at Merlin.
"Lilith?"
Molin was taken aback.
Lilith was also Adrian's apprentice. She had a good relationship with Maureen. Later, when Maureen had a conflict with the Olivia wizarding family, she wanted her family to protect Maureen. However, their conditions were too harsh, and Maureen could not agree to them.
I never expected Winnie to suddenly bring up Lilith.
"Lilith is from the Walker wizarding family. Her talent in potion-making isn't actually that high. Her mentor only took her in because of the Walker family's connections," Winnie said softly. "Now, Lilith is no longer studying potion-making with her mentor. She has returned to her family."
Winnie looked up at Morin and said, "Actually, before she left, Lilith really wanted to see you."
"It's a pity, Morin, that you weren't in the Dark Forest at that time."
"Winnie said."
The expression on her face was somewhat complicated.
Morin was silent for a moment, then nodded.
"I understand," he said.
Winnie stared at Maureen, motionless.
Suddenly, she let out a soft breath.
She laughed.
"Morlin, take a good rest. You've just returned from the secret realm, and there's still a lot to face and deal with," Winnie said.
She said goodbye to Morin, then turned and walked toward her residence.