Under Viscount Jackson's offensive, several other wizard apprentices soon agreed to come down.
After all, having lived on his territory for so long, and the other party was a great knight, the other apprentices were too embarrassed to refuse.
But there are exceptions. The rosacea apprentice Leylin saw last time refused the invitation of the city lord without hesitation.
Finally, Jackson set his sights on Leylin: "What about you? Mr. Leylin!"
Regarding Leylin, Jackson was somewhat skeptical, because the timing was relatively coincidental, which made him guess that this apprentice was an envoy sent by the royal family.
It's a pity that since Leylin arrived, he spent most of his time in the manor, rarely going out, and no wizard came to seek revenge, as if he just came to live in seclusion.
If it weren't for the mission to explore the withered forest, Viscount Jackson would be completely disappointed.
"After all, there is always a solution, and it's good to form a team and go in!"
Leylin was thinking to himself, but on the surface he put on a troubled look: "I'm currently studying pharmacy, and I'm very busy. Several experiments are at a crucial time..."
"Your Excellency, please spare some time!" Viscount Jackson suddenly said, "I know that Mr. Leylin is buying a large amount of Hof purple leaves recently. This kind of material is quite precious, and other cities don't have much in stock. There are still a lot of them in the City Lord's Mansion. There is a warehouse, as long as Mr. Leylin agrees to act together, I am willing to add these as rewards!"
"Hof Ziye?" Leylin's eyes lit up. He didn't expect to have such unexpected gains. It is estimated that this is also Jackson's bottom line. After "struggling" on his face for a long time, Leylin finally agreed.
After that, several apprentices agreed on a specific time, and everyone left in a hurry, apparently to prepare separately.
Leylin really didn't have any expectations for how much power this group of apprentices who had been devoted to retiring and pampered could display in battle.
"But he's always an apprentice, so he can still cast basic spells!" Leylin comforted himself in his heart.
At this moment, Melfele, who had just left after leaving, walked quickly to Leylin's side, with a frowning expression on his face: "Young man, after we get to the withered forest, you must protect me!"
"My lord! You are a third class! A third class apprentice! And I am only a second class!" Leylin's eyes widened.
"Alas... I am old, and I have almost forgotten the spell model in my memory. You know, constructing a spell model is a delicate job. If there is a mistake in the structure, the spell explosion will kill me!" Alfred looked helpless.
"You! How long has it been since you used spells?" Leylin suddenly had a bad feeling.
"It seems to have been thirty or forty years! You know, I have always regarded myself as a scholar!" Melfield said innocently.
"Do it!" Leylin suddenly felt a little regretful.
Two days later in the early morning, the gate of Jiye City was opened wide, and a group of guards wearing iron armor came out from inside, surrounded by a few people in the middle, and quickly left the gate area.
"I didn't expect that Lord Viscount would be with us!" Melfeller seemed very happy. Having a great knight by his side was a great guarantee for his safety.
Beside him, Jackson was wearing a black steel armor, under the hood of his helmet, which could cover his entire face at any time.
"How are you preparing?" Leylin took an opportunity to secretly ask Melfeller.
"I made a surprise attack on the spell models in the past two days, and I can barely use two!" Melfield replied softly.
"That's good!" The conversation between the two of them was mostly joking, anyway, Leylin couldn't believe that this old slippery man didn't have any cards to save his life.
The wizarding world is not a peaceful place. If there were not a few hands, Melfiler would have died long ago, so why would he still be alive and kicking as his university student
"However, have even the Black Iron Guards been dispatched? It looks like there are two teams, twenty people!"
"Of course, these are the elite forces of the City Lord's Mansion!" Melfiler replied bluntly. In fact, both he and Leylin knew that in the withered forest, the Black Iron Guards of these two teams had only one role, and that was cannon fodder!
The Dark Night Forest is not far from Extreme Night City, and after walking for more than half an hour, the large group of people arrived at the outskirts of the forest.
"The danger here is much smaller than the forest near the Black Bone Forest. At least, as long as ordinary people are careful, they can come and go freely in it, picking herbs and other materials!"
Leylin was walking in the middle of the team, watching the two guards in front of him clearing the way, he was still thinking wildly.
Along the way, Leylin felt that the vitality in the Dark Night Forest had decreased a lot. Even though it was spring, the forest seemed to lack vitality.
Moreover, everyone felt a little heavy on their bodies, and there seemed to be a shadow cast over their hearts, and they felt very depressed.
Leylin looked around, and the surface of the branches also showed symptoms of withering, and the bottom of some young buds even showed a faint yellow color.
"Although the withered area has not yet spread here, there are already signs!" Leylin sighed.
"It's really different here! My family used to be hunters. At this time of year, the woods are always full of animals, and there are many fresh wild vegetables and medicinal materials..."
Next to him, the whispers of several guards reached Leylin's ears.
"Chip! Is there any change in the surrounding air?"
"Scanning, compare database! Conclusion: Oxygen concentration decreased by 3.7%, nitrogen content increased, and unknown inert gas appeared, accounting for about 1.2% of the total, and it is constantly increasing!"
The chip gives feedback.
"Is this inert gas the culprit of the withering event?" Leylin touched his chin and let the chip start to analyze the composition of this unknown gas.
"Be careful! We have entered the withered area!" Viscount Jackson's roar came from the front of the team.
Leylin patted the leather armor on his body. Inside, there was also a gray robe from which the logo of the Black Bone Forest Academy was deliberately removed, which was equivalent to two layers of defense.
For wizard apprentices, they lack effective and durable defense methods like formal wizards. In many cases, the key to victory or defeat lies in whether your spell hits the opponent.
"Instant spells, as well as spell potions, enchanted items, etc., are a great boost to the growth of apprentices' combat power!"
Leylin reached into the leather pouch at his waist, took out a test tube and held it in his hand.
In Bray Canyon, he replenished the materials several times and made a lot of explosive potions, which he prepared to consume in this operation.
As the team continued to advance, the surrounding environment obviously changed.
The ground was dry, the vegetation withered, and the entire forest exuded an aura of death.
Leylin grabbed a dead branch in his hand, his eyes flickered slightly, "It has completely lost its moisture, even..."
With a little force on the palm, the dead branches suddenly turned into white powder, falling from the cracks in the palm.
"Even the internal structure is completely destroyed!" Leylin felt a little heavy in his heart. This kind of strength was already somewhat unexpected.
"Where do we need to be?" Jackson asked to Melfiler.
"Center! Only when I reach the center of the withered area can my witchcraft take effect!" Melfeller took out a spectacle-like thing with a serious face and hung it on his nose.
Thick withered leaves piled up all over the ground, and they were extremely soft to step on.
"Warning! Warning! There are dangerous creatures ahead!" The chip's warning sounded suddenly, just as Leylin was thinking of a reason to remind him.
call! ! Suddenly, yellow leaves flew up, and a black shadow rushed over.
The black figure was extremely fast, its mouth covered with snow-white fangs opened, and a red tongue flew out instantly.
rustle! The tongue wrapped around the waist of a guard at the front of the line, rolled over, snap! The guard's spear fell to the ground.
"Be careful!" At this time, Viscount Jackson's warning voice had just yelled out.
"Ah!!!" There was a scream, and the guard who had been swept away by his tongue just now had been cut into two sections at the mouth of the shadow, and bright red blood and internal organs were scattered all over the floor.
"Damn it!" Viscount Jackson shouted loudly, drew out the broadsword on his waist, and got entangled with that black shadow.
"Slowness!" With the sound of the incantation, the wizard apprentice on the other side finally started to do it. The red-haired clothing store owner waved his hand, and a yellow-green light was stimulated, turning into a ring, and falling on the black shadow.
Hiss! ! ! With the sound of the monster sticking out its tongue, the speed of the black shadow finally slowed down, exposing the whole picture to everyone's eyes.
It has a khaki body with four legs, a snake-like tongue sticking out of its mouth, and a small horn on its forehead.
"Didn't it mean that one has been killed? Why are there still?" Leylin was a little puzzled, but he activated the chip immediately.
"Ding! Unknown creature Strength: 5.5 Dexterity: 4 (6-7) Constitution: 5 Spirit: 3 Similarity to Blue Lizard 67.4% Similarity to Mans Snake 45.8%"
"It's quite a powerful creature. Except for a little low spirit, there are almost no other obvious shortcomings, and the number is unknown. No wonder Jackson can't handle it alone!"
But with the obstruction of slow witchcraft, the speed of this strange lizard dropped significantly. After a moment of entanglement, Viscount Jackson yelled loudly: "Arc kill!"
A bright beam of light burst from the longsword, forming the shape of a blade, across the lizard's neck.
"The knight's secret ultimate move! It has the same nature as my 'Cross Slash'. It seems that Jackson played it more easily, and he didn't even activate the knight's secret technique!"
boom! ! ! The two passed by each other, and the huge lizard charged forward a few more steps before suddenly stopping.
Bark! The khaki scales fell off one by one, and a gap appeared at the lizard's neck, and dark red blood flowed out in large swaths.
"Look!" cried one of the apprentices suddenly.
As the lizard died, its body continued to sink, its scales continued to fall off, and its blood evaporated rapidly. After just a few minutes, only the white skeleton and some scales remained on the spot.