Afternoon, July 1861 – Guern
Emeraldshadow Forest · Hossens School Branch
A fine drizzle fell beneath a gloomy sky.
In the center of the Ninth Apprentice Dormitory District, a lush silver acacia tree stood quietly in the rain just as it had nine years ago.
The patter of rain whispered.
Raindrops, like strings of pearls, splattered across its bluish-gray leaves, bursting into wisps of warm mist.
All around it, a group of recently dismissed preparatory apprentices stood with tear-streaked faces, bidding farewell to this place.
"Farewell, School!"
"Goodbye, dormitory…"
"Farewell, grand silver acacia tree! I still remember when spring arrived, how your branches would bloom with soft, pale-yellow tassel flowers…"
Some shouted, some sobbed, and others simply clung to the tree's trunk, shaking their heads silently as tears streamed down their faces.
Nine years ago, these children had all been brought to the Hossens School after testing positive for wizard potential.
The school had provided them with free housing, free food, and free education…
All they had to do in return was learn the foundational knowledge and successfully advance to become a wizard apprentice within those nine years.
But nine years had passed in the blink of an eye.
They had failed.
Now, not only were they being expelled from the school, but each had also signed a crushing debt contract…
Creak.
The wooden door of a stone house near the center slowly swung open.
A slender youth of sixteen or seventeen stepped out, carrying a brown suitcase.
He had a lean build, shoulder-length black hair, and a calm expression. But if one looked closely, a trace of confusion lingered deep within his pale gray eyes.
"Did I… transmigrate?"
"I just went to sleep like normal..."
Before Lynn could properly take in his surroundings
Whoosh!
A strange sound suddenly pierced the air from above.
Lynn looked up.
A figure in a gray robe cut through the sparse rain, streaking across the sky before landing gently beneath the silver acacia tree.
The falling rain was completely blocked by an invisible barrier, stopping half a foot from the figure's body!
"An immortal?!"
"No… more likely a First-Rank Wizard Apprentice!"
A flicker of surprise flashed in Lynn's eyes as fragments of the original host's memory rapidly surfaced in his mind.
He noticed a golden inverted triangle badge pinned to the figure's chest, gleaming like molten gold in the drizzle.
All noise abruptly ceased. Even the sound of rain seemed to grow fainter.
The preparatory apprentices instinctively bent at the waist and bowed their heads in unison, greeting the newcomer with respect:
"Good afternoon, honored First-Rank Apprentice!"
Lynn followed suit, lowering his head reflexively, not daring to lift it even slightly.
In this world where power resided in the individual, the hierarchy between people was far clearer than in his previous life.
"I require an assistant," the First-Rank Apprentice spoke flatly, his voice cold and emotionless. "The task involves an experiment related to physical modification. Applicants must have at least a 'Good' grade in basic physiology."
His tone remained indifferent as he continued:
"In this process, the probability of death is approximately twenty percent, and the probability of mutation is around seventy percent.
"But regardless of success or failure, in return, I will settle your entire school debt."
"Anyone willing may raise their hand now and line up in front of me."
Swish, swish, swish!
Almost the moment he finished speaking, over half of the preparatory apprentices raised their hands and rushed toward him!
Of the remaining apprentices, all but Lynn wore expressions of regret and frustration.
It wasn't that they didn't want to volunteer, but they didn't meet the requirement.
Lynn hadn't met it either.
But even if he had, he likely wouldn't have raised his hand.
The First-Rank Apprentice now stood with his left hand gripping a freckled girl's cheek, forcing her mouth open as though inspecting livestock.
His right hand occasionally reached into her mouth, fingers delicately probing around. Those long, pale fingers twisted with an eerie liveliness, almost as if they were sentient.
They looked soft… and disturbingly slick.
And yet, none of the apprentices lining up seemed alarmed. On the contrary, their faces brimmed with anticipation.
Further back, two boys were even jostling silently over their place in line, faces flushed with tension.
Lynn looked away, took a deep breath, and felt a cold wave of anxiety settle in his chest.
If the supernatural flight he had just witnessed filled him with wonder…
Then what he was seeing now filled him with unease.
"Are you ready, Lynn?"
At that moment, a boy with soft, delicate features and curly hair, wearing a rain cloak and carrying a suitcase, walked up to him.
Lynn's heart skipped a beat. He slowly turned his head to look at the boy, doing his best to stay calm.
After rummaging briefly through the fragmented memories of the original host, he managed a slightly stiff smile and replied:
"Almost… Ant."
Then he remembered.
This curly-haired boy, Ant, had been one of the original Lynn's close classmates.
The two of them, along with three other friends, had planned to leave the mountain together today.
"Really? You seem… kind of off," Ant said, eyeing him with growing suspicion.
Just as Lynn was trying to come up with a response
From the stone house on the right, a chubby boy with a freckled face stepped outside, gazing enviously at the silver acacia tree as he sighed:
"Ugh… too bad my score in Basic Physiology was only a pass…"
"Leona, you're all packed, too?" Ant turned to the freckled boy.
Lynn quietly let out a breath of relief.
Anyone suddenly dropped into a strange and mysterious world like this would feel a strong sense of insecurity at first.
"If only I'd worked a little harder back then," Leona went on, still sighing.
Opportunities like this were rare, and he regretted missing it.
Although these boys and girls had been receiving wizardry education since childhood
It was only basic education.
Before becoming formal wizard apprentices, they had no access to any truly supernatural knowledge.
So in the eyes of real wizards, they weren't much different from ordinary people.
Only in rare cases, like now, when a wizard needed an assistant with a bit of academic background, did they have any value.
Truth be told, they were born at the wrong time.
If this had been decades earlier, back when the Hossens School first relocated here…
Even apprentices who were eliminated might have found positions as servants in the staff-strapped school.
But the school had been weeding out students every year since then, and now, all those roles were long filled. Opportunities like that were no longer available.
To the school, they were like chicken ribs, too wasteful to kill, yet not worth keeping.
So they were simply expelled from the mountain, with a slapdash "debt contract" handed to them, left to fend for themselves.
"Even if your score had qualified, they might not have picked you, Leona."
A tall, thin boy with short brown hair had approached silently from their left. His expression was cold and hard as he shook his head.
Lynn glanced over, then dug through the memories again and recognized him.
His name was Giggs, also one of the original Lynn's acquaintances.
Now, of the five students Lynn had planned to leave the mountain with, only one hadn't shown up: Galito.
"Where's Galito? He's still not ready?" Ant asked.
Whoosh!
A sharp gust cut through the air, interrupting their conversation.
Under the silver acacia tree, the First-Rank Apprentice had already made his choice. With one tall boy in tow, he soared into the air, passing right above Lynn and the others.
Perhaps because he was carrying someone, the apprentice wasn't flying very high, and the trailing air current swept cold rainwater down over them!
Lynn instinctively stepped back, slipping behind the door.
SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH
The others weren't so lucky. The splashing rain hit them squarely.
Wearing his rain cloak, Ant opened his mouth, looking incredibly relieved.
Leona, whose clothes were now soaked on one side, sighed with a droopy expression:
"Sigh… I'm gonna go change."
Giggs, who also wasn't wearing a cloak, slammed the wooden door shut with a scowl.
As for Lynn, he quickly pulled on his leather rain cloak and stepped outside again, eyes fixed on the sky, watching the departing First-Rank Apprentice.
Flight…
No one from Earth could witness something like this and not feel a surge of awe and excitement.
Soaring through the air as if weightless, and with some kind of barrier completely shielding him from the rain
Lynn watched the First-Rank Apprentice until he landed in the distance and vanished from view. Only then did he look away.
By that time, Giggs and Leona had also changed clothes and come back outside.
"Still no sign of Galito?"
Maybe it was because he'd been soaked earlier, but Giggs looked around with a bit of frustration in his voice.
Ant frowned too, then made a suggestion: "It's getting late. Let's all go check on him together."
Leona nodded in agreement.
The three boys headed toward Galito's stone house.
Lynn hesitated for a moment, then quickly grabbed his suitcase and followed them.