Chapter 83: Chapter 83: Cave Beneath the Lake

Simon followed closely behind Duke, and the others soon realized and began to line up as well. The first in line was the boy with round glasses who had asked a question earlier. He stepped directly into the purple magic array and disappeared instantly. The wizard apprentices in line behind him let out gasps of surprise upon witnessing this. Though most of these wizard apprentices came from the West Coast, they had rarely seen such a witch array. Duke was seventh in line, and the teleportation was proceeding quickly. In no time, it was his turn. He approached the witch array, and Jode watched him expressionlessly, saying nothing. Duke took a deep breath and stepped directly into the magic array. A wave of dizziness washed over him, with a brief feeling of weightlessness, nowhere to land yet not falling, leaving him with a sense of insecurity as he couldn't find a footing. However, this feeling was fleeting, and when Duke regained his senses, he found himself in a forest. It was dusk, the golden sun was touching the ocean horizon, casting orange light through the trees, leaving dappled shadows on the ground. Duke quickly scanned his surroundings but found no one else present; the area was somewhat quiet, with only occasional unfamiliar bird calls audible. He tucked the parchment recording his task into his space ring and began to slowly explore ahead. As it was nearing sunset, Duke planned to find a place to spend the night. This island harbored advanced magical beasts, all possessing casting abilities. Even the weakest advanced magical beasts were as strong as second-class wizard apprentices, with stronger ones generally matching first-class wizard apprentices in strength. Ordinary third-class wizard apprentices would struggle to handle advanced magical beasts. However, there were no level-one beasts on this island, ones that would match official wizards. If such level-one creatures existed, these wizard apprentices would face total annihilation. Black Sail was assessing them to select promising talents, not to slaughter them. Duke needed to use the time advantage of arriving early to find a suitable hiding place. On the ship, many wizard apprentices were still lining up to enter the teleportation array, with over three hundred people needing time to be fully teleported. Many of the wizard apprentices complained, "Why not teleport all at once? This is so unfair." They naturally didn't dare shout, nor show any dissatisfaction to Jode, but quietly grumbled to their friends. Jode, however, heard them clearly and said solemnly, "This is yet another lesson for you, not to pursue fairness. You must realize that fairness is not the nature of this world!"