"Liana..."

Rushing along, Nidhogg continuously called out on the crystal ball, hoping to quickly make contact with Yorkliana to determine the distance.

Buzz...

Suddenly, Nidhogg’s crystal ball emitted a harsh noise, followed by a connection with Yorkliana, who had been trying to reach Nidhogg. A small, somewhat blurry face appeared on Nidhogg's crystal ball.

Nidhogg was delighted, "Liana, how's it going on your side? Have you managed to contact anyone else?"

Yorkliana appeared to be running, causing the crystal ball to shake slightly. The part of her face not covered by the mask showed anxiety, almost to the point of tears.

"Nidhogg, my brother, Haynel and I are being chased by some sorcerer apprentices from the Mipan Academy. We just managed to contact sister Nina and sister Robin, and we're heading to meet them up ahead."

Haynel was one of Yorkliana's suitors, though he was quite ordinary in appearance, somewhat awkward in his behavior, and not particularly skilled, which is why Yorkliana never agreed to date him. It was unclear how they ended up together this time.

Nidhogg’s expression changed, "What's going on?"

"Haynel used a mystical sorcery and accidentally found a Moon Tear. But when he was digging it up, the sound was heard by some Mipan Academy apprentices, and ah..."

Suddenly, there was a scream from Yorkliana in the crystal ball, which then went black as the ball flew away. Without magic to support it, Nidhogg lost contact.

"Damn it, a Moon Tear! No wonder they are being chased so aggressively. It's said that if a Moon Tear is planted in a sorcerer's meditation room, allowing moonlight to shine on it at night, it can double the efficiency of meditation. This feature interests even high-level sorcerers."

Nidhogg's expression turned grim, and he stopped suppressing his aura. He immediately summoned a wind-element bat and flew at full speed towards the direction indicated.

...

Yorkliana stepped onto loose soil, falling into a quagmire with a scream, losing the crystal ball into the mud.

"Liana!"

Haynel, a short fellow with rough, dark skin likely from a fisherman's family, wasn't much of a talker.

Seeing Yorkliana trapped in the quagmire, and knowing her sorcery was mostly supportive, originally meant to complement her brother Yorkris' spells, Haynel understood the dire situation they were in since Yorkris wasn't around.

Haynel's sorcery leaned towards mystics and alchemy, unsuited for combat situations. Combining their circumstances, the two found themselves in a quick bind, unless Haynel chose to abandon Yorkliana.

Behind them, six apprentices from Mipan Academy caught up. One had a mark intensity of about five, while the rest showed little to no mark aura.

Seeing Yorkliana stuck in the quagmire, the pursuers visibly relaxed.

"Don't touch her, or I'll destroy this Moon Tear!" Haynel shouted, brandishing a peculiar plant from a box.

As Haynel held it, the plant's roots struggled like a child throwing a tantrum, emitting an earsplitting cry.

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For a moment, the wailing was the only sound among the eight present.

"Threatening us? You clearly don't know the Sand River Society of Mipan Academy. If you destroy the Moon Tear, we'll kill you along with it."

The leading apprentice looked tense at Haynel's threat but remained stern.

"Don't... don't touch her!" Haynel shouted nervously.

Yorkliana was neck-deep in the quagmire, helpless, her eyes pleading and full of tears.

"Ha! Sweetheart, don't worry. Just hand over the Moon Tear peacefully and we promise to let you go. You're too cute to kill; I still want to..."

The apprentice approached and, with a laugh, tore off Yorkliana's mask. Seeing her face, he swallowed the rest of his words.

"What an ugly face! Pretending to be so pure?"

His mood did a complete 180 as he looked at Yorkliana with disgust and shouted at Haynel, "You're ruining everything. Last chance, three seconds!"

Yorkliana, covering her disfigured face, shivered with fear, tears welling up in her eyes, making her seem pitiable.

However, her hideous scars and eyeless socket made her pathetic display repulsive to the Mipan apprentices.

With her mask on, Yorkliana seemed innocent and shy, like a beautiful, bashful girl.

Without it, she looked like a hideous old witch trying to appear pitiful.

"No! Don't kill her!"

Haynel screamed, panic-stricken, seemingly unaffected by Yorkliana's appearance, as if already aware of her condition.

Terrified, he threw the Moon Tear away.

The Mipan apprentices' eyes lit up, reaching for the flying plant.

Smack!

A long tongue darted out, and the Moon Tear vanished. Looking again, a sorcerer apprentice had merged into a tree, laughing at them with the Moon Tear in its grasp.

If Nidhogg were present, his keen sense would have identified this sorcerer apprentice as the figure who had secretly followed him for an hourglass's time earlier.

"Skeleton Bell Tower scum!"

The Mipan apprentice who was about to catch the Moon Tear spat out coldly, spraying black water at the interloper.

"Hehe, thanks for the compliment."

The body merged back into the tree, evading the attack.

The black water burned a large hole in the tree trunk, filling the air with a nauseating stench.

"Damn, he got away!"

The Mipan apprentices were furious, rushing to the tree, but found no trace of him.

Suddenly, one apprentice recalled something with a trembling voice, "Didn't the academy's briefing mention keeping an eye out for seven individuals during this trial? Was he the Ghoul Thief from Skeleton Bell Tower?"

The others stopped in their tracks.

Indeed, before the trial, the Mipan Academy's leadership distributed a dossier to all participating apprentices, listing seven "Despairers" from the six academies.

These Despairers were prodigies taken as disciples by second-level sorcerers as soon as they entered three years ago.

The dossier named three from Blacksaw Tower—Undying, Twisted, Gold Eye; one from Time Sandglass—Sun's Child; and two from Ivory Castle—Siren, Mechanical Heart.

The last was the Ghoul Thief from Skeleton Bell Tower.

The information stated that he enjoyed being insulted, often meaning he'd already tricked his offender.

Since no Mipan apprentice in this trial was directly trained by second-level sorcerers, they referred to them as Despairers.

The title spread among them, signifying enemies that invoke despair.

Abruptly, several strong mark pulses appeared on the Mipan apprentices' radar, two exceeding ten points.

"Crap, retreat!"

Yorkliana gleefully cried out, "Sister Nina! Sister Robin! Brother Armland!"

Five figures approached—Nina and Robin, responding to Yorkliana's call, and Armland with two Bloodsail Alliance members.

In the Bloodsail Alliance, Armland's status was unrivaled, commanding deep respect even from the sharp-tongued Queen Nina.

"Hmph! How dare they touch Bloodsail Alliance members? Elder Nina, let’s make sure they don't leave."

Armland stated coldly.

Nina looked upset. Given a minute more, Yorkliana might have been finished, driving Yorkris mad.

Nina responded icily, "Agreed."

As they prepared to pursue the Mipan apprentices, a terrifying mark wave surged from the distant sky, bearing down on them like a destructive flood.

Both Nina and Armland stopped in terror.

"You go, Nina and I will handle this monster! A mark wave this strong…it’s akin to Bibilionna. It's beyond the top ten rankings—clearly a Despairer."

Armland drew his longsword, generating silvery lightning as his magic peaked.

Nina’s skin erupted with plant tendrils, huge leafy wings flapping on her back, lifting her slightly off the ground.

Left hand holding a life-infused longbow, right hand nocked an arrow of compressed energy, her eye adopting an eagle's visage.

Nina declared coldly, "Even a Despairer can't withstand the Life Bow's synergy with the Hurricane Arrow. My life magic grants us assured victory."

Armland glanced at Nina.

Her resolve was intimidating. These were the Despairers!

Armland knew after battling Bibilionna that these Despairers were truly terrifying.

He speculated this trial was a grand scheme by the academies’ leadership for these Despairers—a prelude to the Sacred Tower qualification battle in seventeen years.