Chapter 50: Two Battle Lines

After some pre-battle mobilization, that long-haired Mage finally opened the gates of the Mage Tower, pure black, almost as if it would absorb all of a person's gaze.

Seeing this gate, Xia Duo immediately associated it with those three experiences of passing through the door a few months ago; it was truly indescribable, as if one's entire body were soaked in a dark liquid, making one feel nauseated and wanting to vomit.

This time, Xia Duo chose to enter the Spellcasting Focus state, which made it much more comfortable, and he even "saw" that the door was no longer pure black, but a void vortex flickering with intense Magic Aura.

The Magic Net was being crazily distorted here; when a person walked into the door, it appeared to be walking, but in reality, they were being sucked into the vortex and transported outside.

Each Apprentice passed through the door in turn, and when it was almost Xia Duo's turn, he exited the Spellcasting Focus state in time; he did not want to come into contact with something as high-end as a Portal just yet.

After a wave of nausea passed, Xia Duo arrived outside the Mage Tower; a cold wind blew, and Xia Duo couldn't help but shiver, only then remembering that it was already nearing winter outside.

Having grown accustomed to the constant temperature environment of the Mage Tower, he was truly unaccustomed to being outside suddenly; Xia Duo hurriedly hunched his head and tightened his clothes and Mage Robe.

Only then did he observe the scene outside; by the time it was Xia Duo's turn, nearly half the people in the First Floor Hall had already come out, and nearly a hundred people were huddled in front of the Mage Tower, appearing exceptionally crowded.

Just a moment ago in the First Floor Hall of the Mage Tower, about two hundred people didn't feel that crowded, but once outside, even though the Mage Tower was only ten meters thick, a large group of people was blocking the entrance.

This contrast was truly impressive.

Soon, everyone had come out, and the last one was that long-haired Mage.

"Do not run around; go to the Military Camp first to report and have your respective squads arranged." It was still the familiar voice produced by 【Ghost Sound】.

Led by the long-haired Mage, the group of Apprentices went south along the west side of the Savile Town Central Square, passing the solemn and majestic Temple of Amanator and the South District where Adventurers gathered, until they reached a place in the southwest corner of the town, near the river.

The Apprentices leaving the Mage Tower and heading to the Military Camp so high-profilely not only brought a tense and even fearful atmosphere to the town along the way, but they themselves also gradually felt the scent of war.

Although the Military Camp was in the southwest corner, it was not far from the town gate; before entering the camp, Xia Duo saw a group of Commoners dragging their families and pulling luggage, queuing at the town gate.

It seemed the Territory was also consciously gathering its people, but the problem was, Savile Town was only so big—how many people from outside the town could it receive?

Perhaps this was the significance of the Mage Tower conscripting them!

"All Official Apprentices follow me! The remaining Ordinary Apprentices whose names were not called, stay where you are and wait for arrangements."

As soon as they entered the camp, the long-haired Mage used 【Ghost Sound】 to quickly read out a series of names.

While he was reading the names, Xia Duo and the other Official Apprentices were moving toward him, and the Ordinary Apprentices who heard their names also moved closer.

Left in place were only nearly a hundred Ordinary Apprentices with blank expressions.

"Follow me!" The long-haired Mage did not want to waste a single moment, explaining as he walked—

"The rest of those people will go to the west side of the Wolfburg River; although the number of Plain Orcs there is greater than in the south, their strength is not as good as the Mountain Orcs in the south; and you will be clearing out the remaining Mountain Orcs left behind by the main force in the Green Pearl Forest to the south."

"What?!"

Someone was immediately unhappy; it was clear that the danger level of going to the south was higher.

Xia Duo also frowned, but regarding which battle line to be assigned to, Xia Duo had no opinion, nor could he have an opinion.

But the two Ordinary Apprentices that Dien had previously coordinated with had not been called by name just now, so they would not be assigned to the same place as Xia Duo and the others.

He could only look for others again; Xia Duo had not been at the Mage Tower for long, so he could only look to Sami, Dien, and the others to see if they could find two reliable ones, and Xia Duo himself also slowed his pace slightly, paying attention to the performance of the various Ordinary Apprentices.

Soon, nearly a hundred people arrived at a Training Ground in front of a stone building, where a Mage wearing a gold-threaded Mage Robe and holding a short staff was already waiting.

"Lord Aiboke, thank you for your hard work."

The long-haired Mage, or rather Mage Aiboke, only said one sentence, "Everything for Savile!"

"Everything for Savile!" the Mage in the gold-threaded Mage Robe repeated.

"I leave this to you!"

After saying this, Aiboke left directly.

After Aiboke left, this Mage dressed in a similar Mage Robe waved the short staff in his hand, and a patch of light and shadow appeared before everyone, which seemed to be a topographical map of the southern Green Pearl Forest.

"Apprentices, hurry up and choose the area you want to be responsible for on the map. You can discuss it with each other, but everyone's tasks must be arranged before lunch!"

After speaking, he maintained this light-and-shadow map, letting the Apprentices discuss and consult.

"Xia Duo, Xia Duo!"

Dien's urgent voice came over, and he squeezed over at the same time, "Xia Duo, what should we do? Those two people are going to the west; do we still need to find people?"

"Of course we need to find them!"

Xia Duo had already seen the specific task situation; bright red lines on the map divided the southern Green Pearl Forest from east to west into roughly 50 parts.

And there were exactly about a hundred people here, with two people responsible for each area; this was perhaps to account for the fact that it was difficult for Ordinary Apprentices to send messages to seek support.

This was also very similar to the plan Xia Duo and the others had previously discussed, where three Apprentices who knew 【Sending】 would each lead an Ordinary Apprentice (Dien didn't know 【Sending】, so he would be treated as an Ordinary Apprentice).

In this way, when advancing and searching to the south, there would be support not only in the front and back directions but also in the left and right directions.

It was just that the Territory's arrangement directly fixed the two people in the front and back directions together, so they only needed to seek support from the left and right.

Just then, Xia Duo suddenly saw Sami waving at him and hurriedly stopped Dien, who wanted to go find people, "We'll find people later; let me take you to meet two companions first!"

"Okay!" Dien knew that Xia Duo was talking about the other two Official Apprentices, so he followed Xia Duo and moved within the Training Ground.

Squeezing next to Sami, Dewan was also there, and the moment he saw Xia Duo, he noticed Dien, "Dien? Xia Duo, why is he here too?"

Only after asking did he find out that Dien had previously looked for Sami and the others, but Dien's status as an Official Apprentice was too "watered down," so the two had not agreed to join with him.

He hadn't expected him to be brought over by Xia Duo now.

"Dewan, Sami, Dien and I are in a group, responsible for one area. Are you two directly in a group, or are you each looking for another person?"

Sami and Dewan looked at each other, "We'll be in a group of two."

They hadn't been sure what the task would be like before, so they had thought about each pulling an Ordinary Apprentice to increase their odds; now that they knew for sure they could be in a group of two, they naturally wouldn't give that up.

Xia Duo was not surprised by this; if he could choose, he would also prefer to partner with a reliable Official Apprentice rather than a "watered-down" one like Dien.

Fortunately, the relationship between the two was still quite good, and since Xia Duo and Dien had known each other for such a long time, he had already gained the upper hand in terms of decision-making power, which also avoided the disagreements that might occur when teaming up with strangers, as well as the consequences that might arise from such disagreements.