The Wizard's Secret Journey

Chapter 105: Backfire (11)

"I think it would be fairest to draw lots to decide the alert time that each person is responsible for."

"No, it's better to take turns."

"How do we rotate? The difficulty of guarding different sections of the road at different time periods cannot be quantified. At the current speed, it only takes 26 days to reach Outpost No. 5. It is difficult to distribute the time evenly. It is meaningless to pursue extreme fairness!"

"Well said, why don't you take on more responsibility, Daphne?"

In Lu Xingzhou's cab, Wilfer sneered.

Lin En sat aside, driving the land boat, and listened quietly to the quarrel between the three Silver Ring apprentices.

These wizard apprentices from the Silver Ring Academy were so meticulous about their interests that Lin En was amazed.

'No wonder the various processes are written so clearly in the task details of Yinhuan College.

"Fortunately, as the apprentice in charge of installing the magic array, I only need to drive the land boat and install the magic array at the same time. The rest of the work is done by the other three apprentices, which avoids trouble..."

In fact, if it were not the case, Lynn would not have chosen to take on this task.

After a while, the quarrel among the Silver Ring apprentices finally ended.

They finally reached a consensus by drawing lots to decide the alert time for each of them.

The difference is that the apprentice who draws the worst time period can get a tiny amount of magic stones as compensation from the apprentice who draws the best time period.

After discussing these, Wilfer and Clifford, who had not yet taken their turn, went straight to the bed behind the cab and sat down. One began to meditate and the other began to sleep.

Only Daphne, who was on guard, had her eyes open.

"Lynn, can I pet your black cat?"

She smiled and walked towards the good fortune at Lynn's feet.

Good Luck glanced at her calmly, then leaped up and landed on Lynn's lap.

"Sir Daphne, I think you'd better concentrate on your work. After all, our safety for the next eight hours depends on you."

As Lin En spoke, he reclined the driver's seat, closed his eyes, and planned to take a nap, hoping for good luck.

The main reason for choosing to sleep now is to cope with the more complicated driving environment at night.

Today, Cuiying Avenue has begun to take shape. The road is wide and solid. The automatic driving function of the Octopus Land Boat is enough to cope with this kind of road in the daytime with sufficient light.

Lin En only needs to perform manual control on some roads with more complex terrain or at night, and the rest of the time can be left to Lu Xingzhou.

This is why he is the only driver required for the 5-day non-stop driving.

Daphne wasn't annoyed by Lynn's words, she just curled her lips.

She looked at Lin En carefully, and after confirming that he was indeed relaxing and sleeping, she looked at the young man with a higher opinion.

"He has a good knowledge of wizard formations... He is thoughtful and calm... I didn't expect that such a small place would have such a wizard apprentice."

Daphne considered it for a moment, and the witch robe on her body moved as she wished. Silver-purple ribbons spread out from the collar, moving upwards, covering her eyes in the blink of an eye, forming two transparent chips.

She continued to look at Lin En and was slightly startled:
'The knowledge aura on the surface of his body has not yet been completely solidified... He has just been promoted to a first-class wizard apprentice?
"...At this age, he has just advanced, his talent can only be described as above average, and he has also learned some knowledge about witchcraft formations, so his strength is probably not that strong..."

Lin En didn't know what Daphne was thinking.
However, he was indeed very relaxed, just as Daphne had said.

After all, the focus of this mission is to set up a magic array, and he is the only one among the four who has the ability to set up a magic array, so of course he is not worried about what the others will do to him.

What's more, Lin En was not without defense. The good luck in his arms was awake.

There were occasional bumps on the way to Outpost No. 26, but they were all resolved by the Silver Ring apprentices without any accidents.

Since those waves were just some low-level magical beasts, the Silver Ring Apprentices dealt with them easily and quickly every time, so Lin En was unable to get a glimpse of much of their respective strengths and methods.

In addition, considering that he still wanted to catch up with the last two compulsory courses, Lin En drove at his best. Lu Xingzhou was driven very fast and did not slow down even at night, which greatly reduced the time to pass some complex sections.

So, on the afternoon of the fourth day, they arrived at Outpost No. 26 ahead of schedule.

The outpost number at the front of Cuiying Avenue has reached the early 40s.

Outpost No. 26 is no longer the most advanced outpost being developed. The surrounding environment has become stable, so there are not many people stationed here for a long time, and it is very quiet.

A first-class wizard apprentice on duty received them and informed them of some information.

"Recently, due to the influence of that second-level monster, the monsters in the Green Shadow Forest have migrated, and the number of monsters around Outpost No. 26 has increased.

"According to observation, a group of 0-level snake monsters seem to have moved in near the location of the witch formation hub. This is the brief intelligence of the investigation."

The first-class apprentice handed over a thin manual.

Daphne took the manual without hesitation and started reading it:
"A level 0 intermediate snake monster may have a level 0 advanced leader...it won't be difficult to destroy it."

After making her judgment, Daphne handed the manual to Wilfer and Clifford at the back and asked:

"When do we leave?"

"Of course the sooner the better." Wilfer said without hesitation, "Finish this mission sooner, get the reward sooner, and take on the next mission sooner... October is not far away, and I think you don't want to miss the 'Holy Mithril Club'."

Lynn listened silently at the side, feeling somewhat curious about the Holy Mihuan Society that Wilfer mentioned.

"What does Clifford think?" Daphne inquired.

"I'm fine with anything." Clifford said indifferently.

Wilfer nodded and said, "Since Clifford has no objection, let's set off now without further delay."

He immediately stood up and prepared to go out.

"According to the mission process, before we officially go to install the wizard array hub, we still need to use the base of the outpost to conduct a comprehensive inspection and test run of the wizard array hub."

Lynn said calmly, sitting in a chair.

Wilfer frowned and said, “It’s afternoon now. After completing these procedures, it will probably be evening. The Green Shadow Forest is dangerous and there will be a lot of unnecessary trouble.

"Before departure, the Wuzhen Hub has been inspected several times. There is no need to inspect it again."

"If it's dangerous at night, then wait one more night and go and set up the magic formation tomorrow morning." Lin En continued in a slow voice.

"Don't forget, according to the schedule, I have already allowed us to arrive at the outpost one day ahead of schedule."

Wilfer's face suddenly turned cold. He couldn't stand Lynn's dull look.

How could a member of a primary school faction in a remote area have the confidence to speak like this!

But there was nothing wrong with what Lin En said, and he couldn't find any basis to refute it.

"Everyone, this is the Green Shadow Outpost. According to the regulations, any wizard apprentice who dares to take action here will be sentenced to six months of hard labor at the lightest, even for Silver Ring apprentices."

The first-class apprentice on duty nearby saw this and gave a timely reminder.

Wilfer turned his head and glanced at the first-class apprentice, hiding the displeasure in his eyes and said nothing more.

"Let's follow the procedure." Clifford stroked his beard and said slowly.

"Yes, the inspection is necessary." Daphne smiled, "Otherwise if something goes wrong and we fail to complete the academy mission, we will all be punished."

Generally speaking, when members of the Horsens School fail in their missions, there are usually only minor penalties. Only in cases with serious consequences will there be severe punishments.

But this is not the case with Silver Ring Academy. The tasks, punishments and rewards it issues are usually equal.

There are as many punishments as there are rewards.

Sometimes, the punishment even exceeds the reward.

After Daphne and Clifford spoke up, Wilfer was unhappy but had no choice but to compromise.

In the following time, under Lin En's command, they worked together to remove the witch array hub and conduct a final inspection and trial run on it.

Throughout the whole process, Wilfer did not slack off at all. Instead, he was extremely serious and hard-working.

Thanks to this, all inspections and trial runs were completed in just over two hours.

At this time, the sun had just set and had not yet completely sunk below the horizon.

Wilfer glanced at Lynn and smiled.

"All inspections have been completed, and the test run has also been done. According to the procedure, we should install the witch formation next."

Daphne didn't respond and glanced at Lynn.

Clifford glanced at the sky and didn't want to rush out to kill the basilisk and install the witch formation in the dangerous night, but he didn't want to be the first to do so, so he turned to look at Lin En.

And Lin En, Lin En just nodded faintly:

"I have no opinion."

Wilfer's words did not violate any mission procedures. Lynn knew that it was useless to refute, so he naturally did not intend to waste his efforts.

After all, he didn't actually want to go against Wilfer. All his previous rebuttals were just to follow the task process and avoid taking the blame.

Wilfer was slightly startled, half-closed his eyes and glanced at Lynn, then turned to look at Daphne and Clifford.

"What do you think?"

"Then let's go. They're just a group of intermediate level 0 basilisks anyway." Daphne said.

"I have no objection." Clifford thought for a moment and replied.

So everyone loaded the witch array hub back onto the land boat and drove towards the witch array location a few kilometers away from Outpost No. 26.

……

Ten minutes later, several people arrived near the emplacement site.

The intelligence from the outpost was not wrong. There was indeed a nest of basilisks lurking here, and they were only intermediate level 0.

After a brief investigation, Daphne said:

"Nothing unusual, hurry up and act."

After she finished speaking, she got out of the car and prepared to kill the basilisk. The remaining two people had no objection and followed her out of the car.

Wilfer walked at the end and suddenly said:

"What are you waiting for, Lin En? Come down and help us kill the basilisk!"

According to the task regulations, clearing out the monsters was not part of Lin En's responsibility.

But Lin En didn't want to make things too rigid, so he said in a slower tone, "Sir Wilfer, we have different divisions of labor. I need to get enough rest to deal with the next wizard array installation work."

Lynn thought he was giving Wilfer face, but sometimes, this kind of lenient attitude would make some narrow-minded people feel uncomfortable.

Wilfer thought that he was superior to Lynn because he came from Silver Ring College, but Lynn's behavior at this time made him seem narrow-minded and always fussy.

Wilfer snorted coldly, said nothing more, and left Lu Xingzhou directly.

Lin En frowned inwardly and became alert.

The process of clearing out the basilisk went very smoothly. Lin En watched the battle carefully from the side and roughly understood the background of the three Silver Ring apprentices.

Among them, Daphne, who looked the most delicate, was actually the strongest. She mastered some lightning-fast silver attack magic, and each time she attacked, she could easily kill several snake monsters. Even those 0-level high-level snake monsters were no match for her.

At the same time, this female wizard seemed to be quite wealthy. After the battle began, her wizard robe expanded rapidly, forming a tight and complex full-body armor that wrapped her up. The whole person looked like a mechanical warrior that appeared in movies and TV shows in her previous life.

The only difference is that the silver-purple armor on her body is not entirely made of metal, and it does not have so many edges and corners. The overall lines are very smooth and beautiful, and does not affect her movements at all.

This was obviously some kind of extremely advanced magical tool with extremely strong defensive capabilities. Even the breath released by a high-level 0-ring basilisk only caused the lavender shield of her armor to shake slightly.

Compared with Daphne, Wilfer and Clifford next to her were obviously weaker.

Not only is the attack power slightly weaker, but the magic tools he wears are also obviously several levels lower.

Of course, compared to the first-class apprentices of the Horsens School, the magic tools equipped by these two people are much better in both quantity and quality.

Lin En looked at the equipment on the people and felt a little jealous.

In comparison, he only had a golden shadow pendant on him, and other low-level wizard tools like the silver wrist sword were not worth mentioning!
Just over half an hour later, all the snake monsters were wiped out by the three Silver Ring apprentices.

"It's time for you to work." Daphne flew to the outside of Lu Xingzhou and took off her witch clothes.

The silver-purple armor shrank rapidly, and the blood and flesh on it were cleaned away by its own cleaning module and fell to the ground.

Daphne inside was spotless and still looked delicate and lovely.

Lin En nodded and controlled the land boat to the designated installation site.

After a moment, Lu Xingzhou was in position.

This is an open space by the lake. After a battle, the area is filled with basilisk corpses.

It is close to a first-level magic vein. The purpose of the hub they transported from Cuilin City is to guide the magic energy here to Cuiying Avenue for use by the super-large wizard formation of the entire Cuiying Avenue.

Lin En left the cab and unloaded the witch array hub with three Silver Ring apprentices.

"It's up to you now, Lynn." Wilfer said with a wry smile. He looked at Daphne and said,

"Sir Daphne, I would like to know more about the witch robe you are wearing. Do you have time?"

"...Of course." Daphne raised her eyebrows, "If you plan to buy it, I have internal channels and can get it at a lower price."

"I want to understand first..." Wilfer said, walking away with Daphne.

Blah, blah—

At this moment, a strange noise suddenly came from the lake nearby, as if some creature was swimming.

Clifford's face turned stern, and he said in a deep voice:
"Daphne, Wilfer..."

Before he could finish his words, several snake monsters suddenly appeared.

But it did not appear from the water, but from another direction, right at the location where the hub of the witch formation was placed!
Several seemingly dead basilisk corpses suddenly resurrected and attacked Lin En who was closest to them!
Daphne also noticed this scene, and she immediately wanted to come over to provide support.

But Wilfer stopped her and said, “Leave it to the apprentice of the Horsens School. He has been watching just now, so he should do something.

"Snakes have strong vitality, especially basilisks. These intermediate-level 0 basilisks are already dead, but their bodies are still moving around according to their instincts. Nothing will go wrong."

"Idiot!" Daphne ignored Wilfer, stared at him coldly, cursed under her breath, and strode to support him.

According to her detection, Lin En was just a wizard apprentice who had just been promoted to the first level, and even his knowledge and spiritual aura had not yet been completely stabilized... Who knew if he could deal with those basilisks?
If it fails, and ends up delaying the progress of the wizard array installation, causing the mission to fail, then everything will be over!

Daphne reacted quickly, but she was taken a little far away by Wilfer after all.

She was still some distance away from Lin, but the basilisks had already come to Lin!
hum!
next moment.

Lin En suddenly turned into a golden mist shadow, rose from the ground, and avoided the attack of the snake monster's remaining body.

He looked at Wilfer calmly, his eyes slightly cold.

The remains of these snake monsters were unconscious. If there was no one interfering, how could they suddenly launch an attack at this time by such a coincidence!
Daphne breathed a sigh of relief when she saw this.

"It's over!" But at this time, Clifford's terrified cry was accompanied by a slight crackling sound.

Daphne looked over quickly and her expression changed suddenly.

An obvious hole now appeared on the surface of the tower-shaped wizard array hub, which had been intact, revealing the damaged complex structure inside.

The acid spat out by the remains of a snake monster just happened to hit the hub of the wizard formation, which had not been properly installed and the defensive shield had not been activated!

The sudden accident caused the four people present to fall into silence.

Wilfer's eyes flashed with panic, but he quickly restrained it and said in a deep voice:

"Lin En, you are closest to the core of the witch formation, why don't you stop the basilisk?!"

Daphne looked at him immediately, her eyes full of anger, and said in a low voice:
"That's enough, Wilfer. You deliberately led me far away just to teach Lin a lesson? Are you satisfied with the result now?"

"What are you talking about, Lady Daphne? This has nothing to do with me."

Clifford frowned, not knowing which side to believe.

As Wilfer was speaking, his panic became less and less, and a plan emerged in his mind.

He looked at Daphne with a smile and said:

"Based on the current situation, this mission has failed.

"If the remains of the serpent damaged the core of the witch formation, then each of us who is responsible for clearing out the monsters has a share of responsibility.

"But if there was a problem with the wizard array during installation, then it has little to do with us."

The meaning that Wilfer wanted to express was very clear. Clifford listened, narrowed his eyes slightly, and nodded slightly.

Daphne next to him was slightly startled, and a thoughtful look appeared on her face.

Wilfer saw this and added fuel to the fire:
“I know that it is a felony for us apprentices to murder each other.

"But I have mastered a magic that can change the consciousness of living things. It can also have a certain effect on first-class wizard apprentices, provided that he has no power to resist!"

Clifford heard this and immediately made up his mind. He said loudly:
"Without further delay, Sir Wilfer!"

He immediately ran towards Lynn, and Wilfer followed with a sullen face.

Only Daphne was still a little hesitant.

When Lynn saw this scene, he just gave Wilfer a cold smile.

Swish!
The next moment, his figure suddenly disappeared out of thin air.

Under a tree far away from the lake, Good Luck showed up and hid quietly. The green shadow mark emerged in her mind, giving Lin En all the power and her talent stored for several months.

Wilfer's expression didn't change at first, until he and Clifford cast several detection spells in succession but still failed to find any trace of Lynn. Suddenly, he could no longer remain calm.

"Lady Daphne!" Wilfer turned his head and tried to seek help from Daphne.

Daphne frowned and sighed inwardly. Two silver-purple ribbons extended from the collar of her witch robe and covered her eyes.

At this moment, a sound crystal was thrown out from the void.

Wilfer reacted quickly and launched an attack, but Lynn had already changed position and avoided the attack.

The sound crystal lit up, and Lin En's voice suddenly appeared:

"In fact, this mission has not failed. The damage to the witch formation hub is only some simple structures on the surface. I can repair the damaged parts."

Lynn's words reversed the situation on the field again.

Daphne has activated the detection module of the witch robe.

She looked around and vaguely found traces of Lin En in the front left, but she did not say anything and turned a blind eye to it.

Lynn was aware of this, and after a moment's silence, he briefly entered a deep hidden state, changed his position, and remained motionless.

Daphne was slightly startled.

Her witch robe is indeed powerful, but Good Luck's hidden talent is not to be trifled with.

What Daphne could detect were actually only the traces left by Lynn when he was in normal stealth mode.

She lost track of Lynn as he went deeper into obscurity, changed position, and remained still.

"How could you, a wizard apprentice from a remote school, have such ability? Do you think we will believe it?" Wilfer sneered.

"How do we confirm that you have this ability?" Daphne asked.

Clifford also stopped casting spells and waited quietly.

If you can continue to complete the task, it must be the better choice.

Wilfer's expression changed, and at this moment, another sound crystal was thrown out.

Wilfer's eyes flickered, and he wanted to smash the sound crystal, but finally gave up the idea.

Although he was unhappy with Lin En, he never thought of letting the mission fail.

Under normal circumstances, the remains of several intermediate-level 0-ring basilisks might not even be able to hurt a second-class apprentice, let alone a first-class wizard apprentice.

The reason why Wilfer left those snake bodies was just to disgust Lin En, he didn't want to hurt Lin En at all. He knew what was important and was afraid of delaying the mission.

But unexpectedly, the hub of the wizard formation was damaged accidentally, which would cause the mission to fail!

Now that there is a turning point in the situation, what does that little bit of emotion in my heart matter?
For Wilfer, what's the harm in swallowing the humiliation if it means losing less profit?

Lin En's voice came through the crystal again: "We can sign the contract, but the prerequisite is to report the mission according to the facts, and I need compensation."

The contract is indeed one of the greatest inventions of wizard civilization.

When Lin En said this, Daphne and Clifford did not doubt Lin En's words. They looked at each other and said:

"We are willing to compensate you and...report the mission as it happened."

After they finished speaking, they looked at Wilfer together.

Wilfer's expression changed again and again, but he finally endured it.

If he didn't accept it, he would be standing against the other three wizards...which was not a wise choice.

However, the principle followed by Silver Ring Academy has always been to only look at the results. As long as the mission is successful, his behavior will still be punished, but it will be less severe than mission failure.

"I was at fault in this matter, Mr. Lin, and I am willing to compensate you as much as possible!" At this point, Wilfer did not hesitate to say good things.

However, even though he said this, the price Wilfer was willing to pay would definitely not exceed the punishment for mission failure.

"Really? Then I have to think carefully about what I want."

Lynn was not surprised by Daphne's, Clifford's, or Wilfer's reactions.

There was not even a ripple in his heart.

He had long seen through the profit-oriented nature of these Silver Ring Apprentices, and also understood their treacherous and fickle nature.

In fact, Lin En might not have noticed it, but he was actually very adaptable to this environment.

(End of this chapter)