Chapter 135: Forest of Whispers (3/3)

Generally speaking, whenever Antinoya had something to teach him, she would instruct him personally on the spot.

This time, however, she had deliberately arranged for him to attend class somewhere else, which took him somewhat by surprise.

Following the directions Antinoya had given him, Zhao Xu made his way to a mysterious classroom in the Hall of Knowledge.

The Hall of Knowledge was where all the apprentices of the Floating City received their primary training. Since Zhao Xu had always been trained privately by Antinoya, he had never been here before.

Most apprentices received their instruction on the first through third floors.

Yet when Zhao Xu entered the eighth floor, he found the entire corridor deserted.

Unlike the floors below, the entire eighth floor had been sealed off. Not a trace of light penetrated it, and it was utterly empty, devoid of human presence.

Only a weak candle burned in each corner, one every twenty paces.

As Zhao Xu proceeded, he saw numerous murals hanging on the brick-sealed walls. Most of them were highly abstract, resembling the symbols of some mysterious ritual.

Zhao Xu knew that some paintings could easily ensnare or even control anyone who examined them too closely, so he made no effort to study them.

Throughout the corridor, the only sound was the steady tap of his footsteps—tap, tap, tap. At times, it even seemed as though there were someone else walking behind him.

Several times, Zhao Xu abruptly stopped, and the footsteps stopped at exactly the same moment.

At last, after cautiously passing seven or eight classrooms, he noticed that the doors had begun to bear numbers. Room 101 was not far away.

Unlike the enormous halls of the Academic Forum, the classrooms in the Hall of Knowledge were even smaller than those at Zhao Xu’s university on Earth. Some were no more than small conference rooms.

As he walked, Zhao Xu found that most of the classrooms had an air of ruin. Chairs lay toppled across the floor, not even set upright, while several shattered mirrors had been piled in the corners.

The entire eighth floor—from the ground to the painted murals on the ceiling—was utterly devoid of bright color. Everything was a dim, oppressive deep gray.

It looked as though the place had been abandoned for countless years.

As a mage, Zhao Xu was not afraid of genuine supernatural phenomena.

Compared with ordinary people, his Magic Missile alone was enough to restrain many things they could never hope to deal with.

Even so, after walking a few steps, he could not shake the feeling that some shadow was watching him from behind. The sensation was deeply unsettling.

Yet whether he turned around, listened carefully, or relied on his scouting skills, everything indicated that nothing was wrong.

“Protection from Evil.”

After thinking it over, Zhao Xu cast one of his commonly used protective spells upon himself.

At once, he felt a little braver.

He had now reached Room 93, and Room 101 did not seem far away.

Suddenly, a creaking sound came from behind him.

Zhao Xu spun around. The wooden door of Room 92 was slowly swinging open.

He stared at it for a full thirty seconds, spell ready to be unleashed, but nothing emerged from Room 92.

It seemed that the half-rotted wooden door had merely been blown open by the wind after years of disrepair.

The only problem was—where could there be any wind here?

Considering the oppressive atmosphere around him, Zhao Xu realized that his mind was beginning to overreact. If this continued, he would soon start suspecting every shadow and sound.

He reached directly into the side pocket of his handy haversack and thought of lion’s mane. At once, one of the materials lying inside—the lion’s mane—appeared in his hand.

After releasing the ioun stone he held, Zhao Xu gripped the strip of lion’s mane and began chanting, casting his spell.

“Lion’s Heart!”

The moment the spell was completed, he pressed the warm energy in his palm directly into his body.

In an instant, boundless courage surged through Zhao Xu.

At that moment, even if something truly supernatural appeared, he would fear nothing.

Zhao Xu gritted his teeth and charged toward Room 101.

If he encountered something strange in the wilderness, he would certainly cast a spell at it first and ask questions later.

But this was the Floating City. No one knew what special mechanisms might be hidden here.

The Lion’s Heart spell Zhao Xu had cast upon himself was an exclusive divine spell of paladins. It granted immunity to fear for two rounds—twelve seconds.

When he had encountered the dragon before, he had been utterly helpless. He had barely even been able to lift his head, having fallen into the trembling state caused by a fear effect.

Now that he had cast this spell upon himself, whether judged by his genuine feelings or by the spell’s actual effects, at least he would no longer be completely passive while immune to fear.

The distance of ten classrooms passed quickly, and Zhao Xu completed his sprint before the twelve seconds were up.

Yet as he silently counted the rooms, he discovered that the classroom after Room 100 was Room 102.

Room 101 had vanished without a trace.

Zhao Xu stood in the wall between the two classrooms and fell into thought.

Antinoya would never have sent him here to sabotage him.

But Zhao Xu still could not understand why the eighth floor of the Hall of Knowledge seemed so strange at every turn.

Suddenly, every candle in the corridor went out.

Darkness descended at once. Weeping mingled with laughter in his ears.

“Light.”

Zhao Xu instantly took the firefly from his pocket and cast the spell.

The robe upon which he had cast Light immediately began to glow, its radiance about to surge forth and disperse the darkness ahead.

But in the next moment, an even deeper darkness surged toward him like a wave, wrapping around him completely.

The Light spell failed in an instant, and the strange sounds vanished with it.

Thus Zhao Xu stood in the pitch-black surroundings, listening to the sound of his own heartbeat.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

But the Lion’s Heart spell granting him immunity to fear was already entering its final second.

The terror of the profound darkness welled up once more from the depths of Zhao Xu’s heart.

Without hesitation, Zhao Xu reached into his pack and took out another strip of lion’s mane.

At that moment, he needed to keep his mind calm more than anything.

“That’s enough.”

A cold voice suddenly came from behind him.

Then a bonfire sprang to life before him.

Beyond it lay the scene of an utterly ruined, dilapidated forest.

Five robed mages in cloaks sat around the bonfire in a clearing. One place had been left empty, waiting for him.

“The last person to arrive always receives a little extra fright. Since you didn’t cry, go over there and sit down.”

If Zhao Xu had not recognized Ryan’s voice, he would have cursed him on the spot.

Instead, he obediently walked over and sat in the vacant place before the fire.

Only then did Zhao Xu notice Ryan deliberately wink at him.

“You can turn undead, can’t you? I designed this scene specifically so you could show off,” Ryan suddenly said through their telepathic link.

“There isn’t a single undead creature here. Why would I use Turn Undead?”

If Ryan had not mentioned it, Zhao Xu would almost have forgotten that he possessed such an ability.

Whenever he encountered a problem now, he instinctively preferred relying on his own spells.

“You really are an idiot. The positive energy released by Turn Undead is inherently capable of warming people’s hearts.”

“I wanted you to demonstrate your strength, so I arranged a more terrifying scenario for you. The illusion effect was impressive, wasn’t it?”

Only after hearing this did Zhao Xu understand. “Your illusions are far too powerful.”

“Nonsense. This floor is the Mirror of Illusions. The control core is in my hands, so I can manipulate the space and illusions on this floor however I please.”

By then, Zhao Xu had already taken a seat in the corner. He noticed that the two companions beside him appeared to be girls.

Thinking that they must have just endured the same malicious fright arranged by Ryan, Zhao Xu could not help giving them a sympathetic look.

“Are you all right?” asked the female mage on his left.

Zhao Xu nodded. “I feel fine.”

“These illusions exceed the normal boundaries of illusion magic.” The female mage on his right spoke up. “I tested them just now. Some of the things really did have a physical sensation.”

Leaning against the bonfire, Zhao Xu vaguely noticed that the eyes beneath her hood were violet.

“Heh. Who told you these were illusions?”

Ryan suddenly walked to the bonfire and looked around at the six mages.

“Welcome to the Forest of Strange Speech,” Ryan said in a low, hoarse voice.

Zhao Xu guessed that the voice had been created through something like a ventriloquism spell.

“Aren’t you here to teach me the ability to Conceal Spellcasting?” Zhao Xu asked Ryan through their telepathic link.

“That’s the reward for clearing the trial, you idiot. First, you have to take the test. If you cause your teammates to lose, you’ll still be taught the ability, but they won’t qualify.”

Ryan warned him maliciously, “Do you think everyone is as generous as you, teaching people everything?”

Ryan felt increasingly indignant as he thought about it. Back then, he had waited until he was nearly level ten before becoming qualified to learn the technique.

“The eighth floor of the Hall of Knowledge is actually an invisible teleportation gate. Once you stepped out, you were transported to a designated location—this place, the Forest of Strange Speech.”

“I imagine you all heard about it before coming here. Only by passing the test can you obtain that ability, which has never been taught outside this place.”

Nothing was more alluring than an ability other players could not learn.

Even though Zhao Xu knew that he would obtain it, he still could not help listening intently as Ryan continued.

“In a moment, you’ll be divided into two teams. Choose code names for yourselves. Within your teams, you’ll refer to one another by those names.”

“The test is simple. I have placed something somewhere in the Forest of Strange Speech. Find it, return to this bonfire, and you will have passed.”

Ryan spoke each word clearly.

“What is it?” asked one of the mages across from Zhao Xu.

“You’re asking me? Who should I ask?” Ryan immediately revealed his true nature, but quickly corrected himself. “You’ll know it when you see it.”

“Enough. Use this line as the dividing point. You will split into two teams. Leave me by thirty meters within two rounds, or I will cast an instant-death spell.”

Ryan’s tone was icy.

The moment he finished speaking, Zhao Xu and the two female mages beside him quickly rose and retreated to one side.

They did not stop until the three of them had reached a withered tree.

By then, the bonfire where Ryan had been standing had vanished.

“Why don’t we introduce ourselves first?” said the girl who had spoken to Zhao Xu at the beginning. “Code name: Dew. Level-two mage. Player.”

“Code name: Shadow. Level-two mage. Player,” said the violet-eyed female mage.

Both of them then looked at Zhao Xu.

After a brief silence, Zhao Xu said, “Code name: Wind. Level-two mage. Also a player.”

The three of them exchanged bewildered looks.

Who knew when Arthur had suddenly produced three level-two mages?

Source: Truth of Spells