The team of sixty people chose to set off in a relatively cool afternoon. Because of the lessons of the mine track, this hike was even more dull than a few days ago.

After leaving the main road, the gap between the candidates became more and more obvious. They were all walking in front of each other with faster physical strength, and they were walking in the end with poor physical strength. As time went by, the entire team was no longer as neat as they had just left the town, and they were sparsely stretched. By the evening, the difference between the head and tail was even reached.

"Huh... I finally stopped to rest." Mercenary Saran breathed a sigh of relief and sat on the bank of the stream for temporary resting points.

The five people in the group gathered together to discuss details about how to capture the wolf warrior after arriving in Taia Forest tomorrow.

"I wonder if you have noticed that the new examiner is talking about survival ability, not the personal survival ability of the mine track?" Evan, who had his hair short, loudly announced his new discovery, which caused the thief sitting beside him to roll his eyes.

"Everyone heard it, Evan." Commander Kemer had long noticed this difference.

"That means... can we collaborate with each other?" Saran asked excitedly. If it is possible, then wouldn't this level be very simple?

"Don't think too simple about the problem." Kemer didn't believe that the three-year adventurer exam would set such simple questions: "Did you forget the sword spider in the mine? Maybe there are unexpected tests waiting for us in the forest."

The examiner's request was to 'hike to the Taia Forest and then catch a wolf-warrior cub.' If you only understand the meaning of the word, it is easy to get caught. The mine track only required that you stay until dawn to pass the test. As a result, a large group of sword spiders ran out, but fortunately they were not stung, otherwise it would be too unprofitable to suffer from lifelong disability.

Everyone fell into silence, which was considered to be the opinion of the group leader.

Noting that one person did not speak, Kemer looked sideways at his side, and Dalid, a wizard known as the team's think tank, didn't say a word, staring straight ahead. Looking along his gaze, Kemer was a little surprised to see two people who shouldn't have walked together.

Victor and Lucien. The former is a mage who does not know the specific rank, while the latter is a paladin of the Holy See. Putting aside the rumors that they are not incompatible with each other, it is also an extremely strange combination.

Victor is slender, with a pale skin color with a bit of pathological appearance, and his cold expression aggravates the gloomy feeling, which makes people feel inexplicably terrifying. Lucien is strong in physique and gives people a sense of health and sunshine at first sight, and with the luxurious armor that represents identity, it makes him look heroic. Such two people stand together to form a sharp contrast, no wonder Daleid focuses on them.

"What do you think?" Kemer asked in a low voice when he touched Dalid's elbow.

"You should also feel that the evil aura emitted by the mage was so strong that it could not be concealed. This type of person is usually called evil among magicians. What makes me wonder is why the Paladin is so close to him..." This is exactly what makes Dalid feel strange.

"Maybe I just want to keep an eye on someone and prevent him from doing evil." Kemer obviously did not think as far as Dalid thought about the relationship between Victor and Lucien.

"No... you don't understand. A hostile relationship like them, either fight or not interact with each other. It is absolutely impossible to get so close. Well... how to describe it?" Dalid pondered for a moment, spread his left hand and snapped his fingers. In an instant, a cluster of bright flames shone on his thumb and index fingertips.

"Did you feel the heat, leader?"

"Yes. Very gentle, good for heating."

Kemer's answer made Polyan, the thief who had been listening to their conversation, sneered. He, who was born in a thief family, understands the meaning of "hostile camp" more easily than Kemer, a civilian.

"Maybe I don't understand what I told. Just like this flame, the paladin exudes holy power that is invisible to the naked eye, which is hundreds or thousands of times stronger than this flame. Ordinary people cannot feel that kind of fluctuation, and they will only have a very peaceful and auspicious feeling. But for the evil people in the opposite camp, that warm feeling is like a hot flame prison. Just imagine what it would be like to be an evil mage and a paladin so close."

"Ah! No wonder I saw the mage writing with a tongue stick while taking a nap in the adventure hall, and letting the knight stay away from him. So that's what happened..." Saran slapped his high-high and finally understood the strange scene he saw in the morning.

"Ha~ That's really hard for him." Kemer threw a pity at Victor, and happened to see the little expressionless lich with impatient face.

[You should stop right now, right?] Victor is inconvenient to speak in front of so many candidates.

"If you can't even stand this kind of contact, how can you serve in the Magic Society in the future?" Lucien said something, and finally Victor looked at him in front of him.

"With your talent, if you really want to continue the journey of a mage, even if you can't go to the Noin Empire, it's okay to enter the Jingyao Academy. The competition within the Magic Association has always been fierce, and the elders have exposed each other for a while. With your current situation, they will be aware of the identity of the necromancer without deliberately investigating it. In addition, the relationship between my father and me is difficult to get promoted within a period of time."

After hearing this, Victor suddenly realized.

The Magic Association is indeed inconsistent with the Empire. If it weren't for no one in charge, Mendel would not have given up the shortcut to directly inherit the Alchemy overall length. He chose to let me go to the Magic Association, which is the weakest.

What is the purpose of this father and son?

Lich was puzzled by the ideal that Mendel repeatedly mentioned.

This ‘ideal’ is probably not just about protecting Taran…

※※※※※※※※※※※※

From Mivira to Taia Forest, the hilly terrain successfully defeated several candidates with poor physical strength.

Since he had greeted the villages that had settled in the forest in advance, when outsiders led by Lucien arrived, someone had already greeted the edge of the forest.

"Victor!"

"It's him..."

Except for Capa, who led the team, the other hunters were young. They all looked surprised when they saw Victor in the crowd. Obviously, they didn't expect that Wood, who had been away from home for five years, would appear in this exam team.

Victor...why are you coming back?

Capa looked at the young man mingling in the crowd with a complicated expression. Victor's body was not found in the remains of the burned tree house. The old village chief was still a little relieved, but he was back.

Noting the gaze focused on exploring, Victor looked back and directly met Cappa's gaze. The strangeness in his green eyes surprised Cappa, who lived next to Wood. The look of looking at strangers was clearly the first time he met, but he was Victor, and even his face turned into ashes, he recognized it.

"You know each other?" Lucien's eyes turned around between the two, and he realized that these two must be old acquaintances.
Chapter completed!