Chapter 147: Level 2 Wizard

Shadow Forest.

Several days had passed since Lin Wei returned to the academy.

It was deep in the night. The sunlight that usually flickered through the branches and leaves had vanished, and the pathways within the academy were virtually deserted.

The forbidden zone: the "Tower".

Swish—

A pale cyan flame ignited.

Holding a noodle-shaped candle, Lin Wei was enveloped by its glow.

He stepped inside a ring of black stones.

"This time, I didn't feel that bizarre sensation..." Lin Wei muttered, sensing the subtle shift in the environment. "Is it because I am holding the candle myself this time?"

Familiar with the route, Lin Wei walked up to the door of the "Tower".

"Noritz didn't give me the key to enter the 'Tower'..."

Just as Lin Wei was pondering how to gain entry, the door of the "Tower" clicked and swung open from the inside.

"Come in."

Noritz spoke, his back turned to Lin Wei.

"Yes, My Lord." Lin Wei, despite observing Noritz's peculiar behavior, felt no sense of unfamiliarity.

When the two of them entered the "Tower" last time, it had been exactly the same.

"My Lord..." Lin Wei approached Noritz and handed the noodle-shaped candle back with both hands.

"Keep it for yourself. You will be coming here often from now on," Noritz said casually, glancing at the candle in Lin Wei's hand.

Hearing this, Lin Wei nodded gently and tucked the extinguished candle into his sleeve.

Noritz led Lin Wei to the staircase they had encountered before.

"Today, we go up."

Noritz cast a sideways glance at Lin Wei.

"Yes." A flicker of surprise crossed Lin Wei's eyes, but he responded obediently and respectfully nonetheless.

Tap, tap, tap!

Noritz's footsteps were rapid, and Lin Wei followed closely in his wake.

"There are none of those strange sounds this time..." Lin Wei thought, feeling somewhat puzzled. "Is it because we are going up the stairs instead of down?"

Seeming to perceive Lin Wei's inner thoughts, Noritz suddenly spoke up: "Those things have quieted down today not because we took the upward stairs, but because a prominent figure of the academy has arrived, and they dare not act presumptuously."

"A prominent figure of the academy?" Lin Wei echoed.

"Mmm."

Noritz nodded and said nothing more.

"This experiment..." Instinctively, Lin Wei sensed that the matter he was about to become entangled in was far from simple.

This experiment, connected to the death of his former mentor, Seles, ran deep beneath the surface.

Noritz led Lin Wei upward, floor by floor.

Viewed from below, the twisting, spiraling staircase resembled a counterclockwise vortex, inducing an involuntary sense of dizziness.

"What a towering 'Tower'..." Lin Wei muttered inwardly to himself.

"We have arrived."

Noritz abruptly halted his footsteps.

"This is practically the top floor..." Lin Wei glanced at the remaining stairs above, noting there were only three floors left unexplored.

"Stay close to me, and mind your words and actions."

Noritz turned back to look at Lin Wei, offering a cautious warning.

Unlike the subterranean levels Lin Wei had previously visited, this floor was vast, yet it lacked the dense rows of doors. Spanning a massive wall, there was only a single, exquisitely carved wooden door.

Thump, thump, thump!

Noritz gently rapped against the door panel.

"Is that Noritz?" Lin Wei had never heard a voice so hoarse; the speaker sounded as though their throat were filled with gravel.

"Yes, My Lord."

Despite being a formal wizard, Noritz's demeanor was as humble as that of a mere servant.

"Who on earth is inside? Could it be..." Lin Wei vaguely entertained a staggering possibility. "A Level 2 Wizard?!"

A Level 2 Wizard—such an individual existed at the level of academy elders!

"Enter."

The voice drifted from within the room.

As the words fell, a circular hole abruptly formed in the center of the wooden door, with a black wooden core protruding from it.

Swish, swish, swish!

The wooden core split apart from the middle, shattering into several fragments. The entire door panel then fractured, slowly parting like withered flower petals.

"So many people..."

Lin Wei had originally anticipated only a handful of occupants inside, but to his surprise, over a dozen figures stood within.

Every single one of those dozen-plus individuals exuded the aura of a formal wizard; there was not a single wizard apprentice present in the entire room.

In the center of the group stood a transparent, glass-like enclosure, inside of which lay a naked figure. The person was stripped of all flesh, their skin pulled tautly over their bones, with sunken eye sockets, resembling nothing more than a skeleton.

Countless tubes of varying thicknesses were pierced into the body, and at the other end of these tubes were various liquid potions.

Beside the glass enclosure stood an elderly man with graying hair and a bald crown. The hair on the sides of his head was exceptionally dense, making his appearance somewhat comical.

None of the people present intentionally released their aura, yet the moment Lin Wei stepped through the doorway, he felt like a solitary leaf adrift on a vast, turbulent ocean, on the verge of capsizing and perishing at any moment.

Particularly the gray-haired elder—merely casting a single glance in Lin Wei's direction sent a chill radiating from the deepest recesses of Lin Wei's soul.

"My Lord, this is Lin Wei, a student of Seles."

Noritz walked up to the white-haired elder and humbly lowered his head.

"Is his proficiency acceptable?"

The white-haired elder inquired.

"He has already passed the test," Noritz replied.

"Oh?" A flash of surprise crossed the white-haired elder's face. "Merely a Level 3 Wizard Apprentice, yet he possesses such terrifying talent..."

Yet almost instantly, as if recalling something, the elder looked at Lin Wei with a sudden, strange expression.

"A sacrificial offering..." The white-haired elder sighed softly. "Such a pity."

"Come, let him participate."

The white-haired elder waved his hand dismissively, issuing a command to Noritz.

"Lin Wei," Noritz turned to look at Lin Wei. "First, observe and study the actions of these dozen wizards. When the time is right, you will have to step in and perform yourself."

"Yes, My Lord."

Lin Wei had no idea what Noritz meant by performing himself, but he lowered his head and answered regardless.

"Is he that sacrificial offering?"

Lin Wei approached the midst of the group, and the white-haired elder lowered his voice to ask Noritz.

"Yes, My Lord. He is the new initiate with pure shadow affinity," Noritz replied.

"A new initiate? A Level 3 Wizard Apprentice?" The white-haired elder asked in astonishment.

"He previously consumed a sapling of the Stone Milk Flower," Noritz elaborated.

A complex look flickered through the white-haired elder's eyes, and he gently shook his head. "Had he not been designated as a sacrificial offering, perhaps in a few years' time, he would have secured a prominent position among the upper echelon of the Shadow Forest..."

The white-haired elder repeated the word "pity" several times.

Noritz remained silent with a heavy expression.

"Although it is a pity, the matter of the Holy Pearl is clearly far more important..." The white-haired elder's face darkened slightly. "By the way, Noritz, accelerate your cultivation pace. Among the candidates for the next generation of elders, your leading position will soon be compromised."

"Understood, My Lord."

Noritz lowered his head, a flash of ruthlessness vanishing in an instant.