The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　As the rumors from this morning have spread further, the third-year students know that he must have gone to the professor to find out what happened, and naturally they want to get the answers from him.

　"Small things."

　Dark responded casually.

　While this answer confirmed the veracity of the rumors from this morning, it also calmed the students down.

　He then declined to elaborate further, citing the privacy concerns of the "victim."

　Under these circumstances, some people still want to investigate further, but most people's curiosity has already stopped there.

　Ultimately, these are just topics for casual conversation, a diversion from a dull life.

　After confirming that it would not cause any more serious consequences, those who were supposed to disperse did disperse.

　But the matter itself is not over.

　The afternoon after "Potion Studies" ended.

　Dark returned to the secluded spot behind the teachers' dormitory. Charles had fallen asleep after receiving treatment.

　The professors regrouped to discuss the operation that would take place that evening.

　In other words, use "Scody's Quill" to go to the castle to investigate!

　Although Darke linked Charles's ability to find the "Hidden Trial" to the activity of the "Divine Cause".

　But until proven in practice, it is only a reasonable speculation.

　Moreover, even if Dark's theory is proven correct, it doesn't mean that the "hidden trial" cannot be found outside of Sunday nights.

　The problem lies in whether the "divine cause" is active enough at other times, such as Saturday night.

　While the activity level of "God's Influence" on Saturday may not be as high as on Sunday, it is theoretically high enough and can be fully utilized.

　Even disregarding "time," what if the user themselves possesses a large amount of "divine cause"?

　After all.

　If the activity of "divine cause" can truly be linked to the search...

　This is related to the difficulty of the "Hidden Trials".

　The first thing to do is to connect St. Mary's Academy's "hidden trials" with "god".

　The so-called "hidden trial" could even be called a "trial of the gods."

　And with this premise established.

　The "Hidden Trial" will become an opportunity and miracle that can be triggered by those who possess a large amount of "Divine Cause".

　Using "Scody's Quill" at this point only further increases the possibility of finding the "Hidden Trial".

　Dark himself wasn't particularly interested in this kind of trial that solidified one's destiny. But if the academy needed his cooperation, he certainly wouldn't refuse. And this matter needed to be addressed sooner rather than later.

　It's only Monday tonight, so "God's Influence" is being somewhat reserved in its activity.

　It was the professors' unanimous decision to take this opportunity to investigate the anomalies of the "Hidden Trial".

　In the vote at the time, Dac also cast a vote in favor.

　therefore.

　7 PM tonight.

　As darkness fell, magic lamps lit up one by one in the castle of St. Marian Academy, and Dark and several professors arrived at the crime scene.

　That was somewhere on the sixth floor of the castle.

　"This is it."

　Professor Cazell inquired with the patrol golem that found Charles and finally confirmed the location of the corner.

　Soon after, they found the classroom door where Charles had entered the "Hidden Trial" nearby.

　"Squeak."

　I pushed open the door, and sure enough, nothing happened.

　“The entrance to the hidden trial usually appears in the form of a door.” “Judging from the marks on the ground, Charles’s words are not false,” Professor Sylph said after careful observation.

　Principal Art said enthusiastically, "With Cazell around, Charles can't lie at all. What we need to worry about is whether his memories have been tampered with. Of course, Professor Harvey has already checked, and there are no signs of modification in his memories. Sarah, did you bring the quill?"

　“I brought it.” Professor Sylph nodded slightly and took a box out of her bag.

　As expected of a divine artifact of the "Three Fates," even though it is kept in a box engraved with a sealing array, one can still feel its mysterious aura.

　Principal Arte took the box from her hand and broke the seal. "Scody's Quill" gradually floated up, enveloped in a silvery-white glow.

　It exudes an extremely strong divine aura! This clearly shows that it is a genuine divine object.

　As the "Three Fates" awaken, the power hidden within this divine artifact is also gradually awakening.

　Fortunately, this was a divine object belonging to Skuld, not Verdandi.

　Verdandi is the second of the "Three Goddesses of Norn" and is the goddess of fate who governs the "present".

　Although it's unlikely he'd be bothered by such a trivial matter, Dark did indeed have some interaction with Verdandi in the Star Tower. He was somewhat wary of her.

　"I offer my sincerest prayers to the goddess who governs the future, that she may guide our destiny."

　Principal Arte murmured, and the "quill pen" seemed to respond to her prayer, gradually spinning in the air.

　It is clearly not as difficult to use as Charles claimed.

　For a time, it was impossible to tell whether the problem was environmental or human.

　Of course, Dak prefers both.

　Although the current environmental factors are somewhat less severe than yesterday, they are still likely to be beneficial.

　Principal Arte herself possesses a large amount of "divine cause," making her an existence who has already stepped into the realm of gods with one foot in the ground.

　She would certainly get a better response if she used the quill pen than if Charles did.

　As the "quill pen" began to spin, everyone quickly exchanged glances and then followed Principal Arte, moving in accordance with the "quill pen's" guidance.

　Not long after, they climbed the stairs and arrived at the seventh floor of the castle.

　Then, the location of the "Hidden Trial" was found in a classroom near the stairwell on the seventh floor.

　Principal Arte entered the classroom and stood before a window, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

　The "hidden trial" of St. Marian Academy has existed since ancient times. But not everyone can trigger it.

　In the years since she became the principal, she has seen students trigger "hidden trials" many times, but she herself has never found one.

　As a result, she always thought that she was not destined for this trial.

　As a result, she found it easily today with just a quick search. Although this "hidden trial" had no effect on her, she felt a sense of satisfaction that "her wish had been fulfilled."

　"Shall we go in and take a look?"

　Principal Arte's mind raced with ideas. And when an idea formed in her mind, it was usually something she was going to put into practice. In fact, she spent less than half a second thinking before opening the window to the "hidden trial."

　As Principal Arte entered the trial, the silver glow on the "quill pen" dimmed and disappeared.

　Professor Sylph caught it as it fell. "Wait here," she said, a hint of helplessness in her voice. Professor Kazel, however, asked with great interest, "Arte's trial... is it from the Magic Academy?"

　"It should be," Professor Sylph nodded.

　Kazel Church

　The instructor said, "I wonder what kind of destiny the Magic Academy's trials will activate."

　Professor Sylph said, "I've heard something about that. It's said to be a 'Sage' destiny. Several Sages from the academy have found the hidden trial."

　Professor Kazel chuckled, "A sage? That's quite good. I'll name him 'The Alchemist Sage.'"

　The professors chatted and laughed, and the atmosphere was not tense at all.

　Clearly, regardless of the anomalies within that "hidden trial," they did not believe it would cause any trouble for Principal Arte.

　They viewed the benefits of the "hidden trial" as neither here nor there.

　Originally, St. Mary's Academy's "Hidden Trials" were positioned as "opportunities for students," small gifts in the process of students' growth.

　For them, it was practically useless, if not entirely. And on this point, Dak, though still a student, shared the same sentiment.

　However, he still asked curiously, "What about the destinies of the Knights' Academy and the Noble Academy?" Professor Sylph thought for a moment and said, "The Knights' Academy is likely to have a 'Hero' destiny. The Noble Academy, on the other hand, will have a 'King' destiny."

　"Heroes and emperors?" A hint of surprise appeared in Dark's eyes. Compared to the "Fools" of the Fools' House and the "Sages" of the Magic Academy, "Heroes" and "Emperors" may not be particularly outstanding, but their impact on reality is clearly different.

　Among them, the "hero" destiny is linked to the "brave one," and the real-world significance of the "brave one" is extraordinary.

　Thinking about it, Dak suddenly realized what Evan Pearson had been looking for during his time as an exchange student.

　He wanted to become a "hero" and obtain the destiny of a "hero" through the "hidden trial" of the Knights Academy, which was clearly the right path.

　Similarly, in the original game, this is very likely the destiny that Vittor Gordes will acquire in the future.

　"Therefore, in addition to the Blood Clan deck and the Dungeon deck, Witt may also obtain the Hero deck."

　Dak suddenly understood.

　"From this perspective, Charles's search for the hidden trial, besides wanting to advance further on the path of magic, is likely also closely related to his 'Emperor' destiny itself."

　Of course, destiny is only one prediction of the future. It doesn't mean that someone with an "emperor's" destiny will become an emperor.

　Even under normal circumstances, those who are clearly destined to be "emperors" may still be disliked by emperors and suffer misfortune.

　Dak lowered his head in thought.

　Suddenly I noticed a ripple behind the window.

　Principal Arte actually came out!

Chapter 1257 Darkdemon and the Symbol of Fate (4k)

　From entering the trial to leaving it, Principal Arte spent less than ten minutes in total.

　As soon as she left the trial, the black vortex behind the window vanished instantly, indicating that the trial had not ended midway, but rather that she had completed it.

　Professor Sylph asked casually, and Principal Arte quickly answered. Upon entering the trial, the first thing she saw was the library of St. Marian Academy.

　The rows of bookshelves looked very familiar, but the books on them were completely different from those displayed in the library today.

　Principal Arte, filled with intense curiosity, looked around. Then, she randomly picked a book from the nearest collection.

　When she opened the book, the words guiding her to the trial appeared within. Her "hidden trial" consisted of answering ten questions.

　These ten questions are purely academic and extremely difficult. However, the basic knowledge required to answer them can all be found in this library.

　Those who are qualified to trigger the "Magic Academy Trial" are all very intelligent and possess a certain level of problem-solving ability.

　Therefore, this "hidden trial" is not difficult in essence. You only need to find relevant knowledge in the library and study it carefully to find a solution.

　The flow of time within the trial world differs from that of the outside world. Roughly, one day in the trial is equivalent to one hour outside. Furthermore, in long-running trials, participants can fast-forward through the story after making certain key choices.

　Therefore, there is basically no need to worry about whether there is enough time.

　Principal Arte spent more than the ten minutes that were visible to the outside world.

　But that's not the time to solve the problem.

　She simply used this "hidden trial" to find and memorize some books that existed only in ancient times.

　Then, after spending a few more minutes, I successfully solved those ten questions.

　This "hidden trial" was indeed no challenge for her. So much so that when she completed the trial and was about to leave, she finally remembered the matter of "destiny".

　"So, what about the [Destiny] of the Magic Academy Trials?" Professor Sylph asked curiously.

　Then Principal Arte raised her hand, her palm slightly closed, and a glowing character, like a rune, appeared on her palm.

　Seeing that everyone was looking over, Principal Arte smiled and explained, "Through the hidden trial of the Magic Academy, one can activate or upgrade the 'Sage' destiny. However, the 'Sage' destiny is useless to me, so after completing the trial, I tried it out briefly and extracted the power bestowed upon the trial participant, then created this 'Destiny Talisman.'"

　"Fate Talisman," Dark said instinctively.

　Principal Arte continued, "The so-called 'Destiny Symbol' is the manifestation of 'Destiny.' Using a 'Destiny Symbol' allows one to temporarily acquire a corresponding 'Destiny.' Of course, the use of the 'Destiny Symbol' also needs to be compatible with oneself. Therefore, this technology itself is actually quite useless."

　But upon hearing this, Dak's eyes lit up, and he immediately asked how to make the "Destiny Talisman".

　After accepting and passing the hidden trial, the participant's corresponding destiny will be activated.

　This is a great thing for the vast majority of people. However, the consequence of doing so is that it will change their original destiny to some extent.