Christian opened his eyes, not feeling much pain. He was immediately confused as some kind of unknown plant was growing, or maybe, attached to his body. "What happened? Am I dead?"
"Don't move," Xin'er said. "Menes is removing the poison from your system."
"Is that so? Thank you," Christian nodded.
"Don't forget to thank me as well," Lucretia added, and Christian looked at her in puzzlement.
"Lady Lucretia used one of her magical artifacts to heal you. It bought us enough time for Menes to devise a permanent solution," Xin'er explained.
Christian looked at her bracelets. He was not surprised that this spoiled lady from a noble family had powerful artifacts as reassurance for this test. It would be odd if she did not. Regardless, he still thanked her.
"Don't forget you owe me a life," Lucretia said proudly.
"And how many do you owe me?" Christian snapped back, making her speechless. Although she did not want to admit it, most of them would have died or suffered tremendously during this test had it not been for him. She snorted coldly, deciding to ignore him.
"What happened to the other wasps?" Christian asked.
"They became frantic after losing connection to their queen, so we took this opportunity to eliminate them," Xin'er briefly explained, and Christian nodded. It was reassuring that these creatures were no longer a concern.
"Is this going to take long?" Christian asked, worried the situation might suddenly change.
"I'm almost done," Menes responded. Christian took this brief respite to review what happened, trying to learn from this experience.
'None of this would have happened if I had better ways to deal with poison,' Christian analyzed. 'The potions in my bag of holding are unreliable, so I need a spell.' Christians had some basic knowledge about healing, but it seemed to be insufficient.
'I should learn the Entrail Expelling Curse invented by Urquhart Rackharrow,' Christian thought. This spell might have allowed him to vomit the venom or, at the very least, delay until he found a better solution.
'Then there is my stupid plan,' Christian continued. 'Xin'er already warned me of the wasp's speed, but I wasn't calm enough when concocting this plan. Otherwise, with one Supersensory Charm, I could have increased my reflexes to the point of evading that sting.'
Although the charm did not directly raise reflexes, it would have raised Christian's senses to the point of detecting the queen's movement way in advance, and given his quick reflexes, he might have evaded her final counterattack.
'I'm truly stupid,' Christian sighed. 'However, as Mum said, every failure is an opportunity to learn.'
"It's done," Menes said.
"Thanks," Christian replied as he stood up. He moved his right shoulder, feeling a slight tingle. He cast a few healing spells on himself, quickly returning to his peak.
"Do you guys want to continue or take a break?" Christian asked.
"Let's continue," Lucretia immediately answered. "You've done most of the work, so we're not tired."
"I concur," Xin'er nodded. Menes opened his mouth to say something, but just kept his silence.
"In that case, let's keep moving."
There were three paths: the left, the right, and the center. After a brief discussion, the team decided on the central path, which the queen and the nest blocked. They kept the previous team arrangement, with Lucretia leading and Menes in the back. They walked for about an hour, trying different paths until they reached a blocked area.
"Is this also a dead end?" Christian asked, looking at the weird purple tree roots blocking their way. He had tried casting a few spells, but nothing worked on this thing.
"It seems so," Lucretia nodded, frowning. They've tried every path, but there is no way forward.
"Maybe not," Xin'er suddenly said as she observed the odd plant.
"Can this plant be dealt with?" Christian asked with hope.
"If I'm not wrong, those are devil roots," Xin'er replied. "We need a dark flame spell to burn them."
"Dark Flame Spell?"
"A Dark Art Flame Spell," Lucretia explained. "Well, do you know any?" Christian frowned. "So, you do?"
"This plan is not feasible," Christian said.
"Why?"
"I know a spell, but I've never cast it, and this spell is challenging to control, to say the least. If it gets out of control, we will all die."
"That's the characteristic of most Dark Flame Spells," Lucretia said, almost rolling her eyes. "So, which one is it? Hell Flame? Curse Flame? Or the legendary Karma Flame?"
"I have no idea what those spells are," Christian replied. "I'm talking about the Fiendfyre Curse."
Lucretia frowned after hearing his answer: "If I remember correctly, that's the one who can burn infinitely as long as it has a source to burn."
"That's right," Christian nodded. "If I can't control it, the enchanted flame will spread everywhere and even consume us as fuel to continue burning."
"That is a problem," Lucretia frowned.
"Xin'er, is there another way?" Christian asked.
"That's the only method the book mentioned," Xin'er replied helplessly. Things like the Thousand Eye Enchanted Tree and the Devil Roots were rare, and even legendary magical plants were considered on the verge of extinction. It was rare for any books to mention them in detail, and Xin'er never thought she would one day have to deal with them.
"Hmm," Christian uttered. "I know a spell to absorb life energy. Could I use it to deal with the tree?"
"It's worth trying," Xin'er responded after briefly mulling it over. Christian did not waste time and immediately started. However, after casting the curse, nothing happened. He closed his eyes to increase his focus and repeated his action. This time, he sensed a natural resistance from the tree as it had a consciousness and was actively resisting his spell.
"It's not working," Christian sighed. His words suddenly increased the team's depression. They've worked so hard, so no one wanted to accept this as the end of their trial.
'Should I risk it and use the Fiendfyre Curse?' Christian thought. 'The test is the best way for me to return home. So, if I die here, everything will come to an end. On the other hand, as long as I'm alive, I may find a way home on my own.' This was not an easy decision. The first choice was more radical, but it carried extreme danger. The second choice was more logical, albeit with a smaller chance of success.
"I can help," Menes suddenly said.
"Do you have some flowers that can control or absorb the Fiendfyre Curse?" Christian asked, not hiding the newfound hope in his voice.
"No."
"Then, how?"
"Anti-Magic," Menes answered calmly.
"You can use Anti-Magic?" Lucretia asked. "Hey, we're not as ignorant as he, so don't make such a bold lie." She looked at Menes furiously while Christian wondered why the severe reaction, or why he was also catching a stray.
"Of course, I can't use it myself," Menes explained. "But one of the artifacts I brought can use an Anti-Magic Field. It should be enough to extinguish the Fiendfyre Flame."
"The Abubakar Family gave you such a powerful artifact? Well, given your previous display of talent in the Arcane Art, it's understandable," Lucretia said, not hiding her jealousy.
'So, that spell he used was ancient magic,' Christian thought; he remained curious about what spell Menes used to save himself from the Earth Ant Queen's attack.
"You're overthinking things," Menes said, seemingly bothered by her comments or jealous expression.
"So, is his method feasible?" Christian asked.
"There should be no issue," Lucretia nodded.
"Good." Christian walked to the tree and performed a brief breathing exercise to help him focus. He pointed his wand and moved it slowly but firmly before saying: "Pestis Incendium!" As soon as the flame touched the roots, Christian felt like he was holding a horse trying to get out of his control.
He placed all his attention on reining in the horse, but with each passing second, the horse became increasingly aggressive, making the process more challenging. Christian used all his focus to resist the horse's strength while also trying to reduce the potency of this terrible flame. However, he always felt his efforts were fruitless.
'It's almost as if this flame is sentient and can respond to my attempt at controlling it,' Christian complained before focusing on the task at hand. He struggled for nearly half a minute, trying to rein in the flame to ensure it burned only this annoying plant.
"Now," Christian yelled after seeing the last root disappearing. Menes acted swiftly by activating one of the two rings on his right hand. Christian saw the world before him turn black and white, and once color reappeared, the flame was extinguished.
"What a terrible spell," Christian commented. He felt that all his spells would become useless in that white-and-black world. "At least we now have a trump card for the path ahead," he reassured himself.
"You're wrong," Menes said. "The artifact has a 72-hour cooling time."
"Is that so?" Christian muttered. "What a shame." Although he said that, a part of him felt a sense of relief. He feared Menes would become a threat and used this spell to reclaim his identity card and abandon the team, ultimately leading to his failure of the test.
"What about your other ring? What does it do?" Christian asked curiously.
"Healing," Menes replied succinctly. Christian detected he did not want to discuss it, so he did not press the subject.
"Alright, since we have a clear path, let's move forward," Christian announced.