<h4>Chapter 485: Trial</h4>


    Leena’s experiences during her initiate days were far richer and more perilous than Sein’s.


    While Sein was engrossed in his studies at the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, delving into the mysteries of truth and magic, Leena was already undertaking extremely dangerous academy quests in ckhaven.


    Moreover, sometimes the real danger came not from the vicious magic beasts in the dark magic beast forest or the undead creatures in the Catb Chasm, but from the ck mages residing nearby.


    In Leena’s opinion, the ck Magic Academy in ckhaven was far more brutal than the one in Mystralora City.


    The initiate elimination rate there was three times higherpared to Mystralora City.


    Every day, new initiates perished in strange ways.


    Those who died directly on academy missions were considered fortunate.


    Many initiates, aside from falling at the hands of their peers, met another grim fate—bing experimental specimens for irritable ck mages on a whim.


    The mages of ckhaven were generally under significant mental stress.


    Some did not even need a reason to kill.


    It was normal for someone to be killed just because they were an eyesore.


    In such a ce, it was rare to find anyone of sound mind.


    Even those who were not initially mad were on the brink of being driven to insanity.


    After listening to Leena’s ount of her past experiences and the events at ck Magic Academy, Sein held her hands in his.


    “Once this trial on the Knight Continent is over, why don’t youe with me? I’ll bring you to the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring!” he suggested, his eyes alight with determination.


    The intensity and certainty in Sein’s gaze were unmistakable to Leena.


    Yet, despite his invitation, she shook her head with a bitter smile, hinting at unspoken troubles.


    “By the way, how did you end up at the ck Tower of Cinderbones?” Sein asked, his brow furrowed in concern.


    He presumed that much of Leena’s troubles stemmed from her affiliation with the ck Tower of Cinderbones.


    Typically, mages who joined a divine tower were bound by magic contracts. These bindings were presumably even more stringent at ck towers.


    In most divine towers, breaking a contract usually resulted in the mage paying a hefty sum of magicoins.


    However, the repercussions of breaking stricter magic contracts could lead to a bacsh, affecting the mage’s focus and mana.


    In ckhaven, viting a contract with a ck tower could cost a mage their life—or even result in their soul being subjected to severe sanctions by the ck towers.


    “Master Fareena advanced to Rank Two shortly after returning to ckhaven. She was invited to join the ck Tower of Cinderbones, so I followed her,” Leena exined.


    In ckhaven, Rank One ck mages needed to pay a certain “protection fee” to join a ck tower.


    However, mages who had achieved Rank Two or higher were exempted from this fee. Instead, they were often recruited by various ck towers throughout ckhaven.


    Strength was the cornerstone for knights and mages in this world.


    With sufficient strength, they could achieve almost anything. Without it, their options were severely limited.


    Leena had initially followed Fareena to join the ck Tower of Cinderbones. However, after the conclusion of the Death Trial over twenty years ago, her exceptional performance brought her to the attention of the ck tower’s upper echelons.


    Consequently, Leena was regarded more highly than her mentor Fareena, as her aplishments were extraordinary among ordinary ck mages.


    Unbeknownst to the outside world, the Death Trial held by the ck Tower of Cinderbones was a joint effort with two other nearby ck towers.


    This meant Leena emerged as the top candidate among all the ck magic initiates of the three towers. It was little surprise that she caught the eye of the ck Tower Master of Cinderbones.


    As for Leena''s unspoken troubles, she was not only bound by a soul contract with the ck Tower of Cinderbones but had also be a wanted individual across various divine towers and knightly orders in the Magus World.


    Leena and Sein spent their first night together nestled close, talking to each other.


    By morning, the campfire in the cave had extinguished, and Sein had consumed most of the cooked bear paw.


    As elemental light filled the cave and then gradually faded, Leena reappeared in Sein’s view—standing only 1.5 meters tall in her most familiar form to him. However, her hair was half red and half ck.


    She flicked her curly hair and said, “The excess umbra elemental energy in my body hasn’t been fully absorbed yet. It will take some time before I canpletely return to my former appearance...”


    Before Leena could finish, Sein stepped forward and embraced her. He could not deny that he foundfort in her current appearance.


    ***


    Leena could alter her forms, though each transformation required extensive preparation and took considerable time.


    Moreover, changing her form impacted both her strength and sensitivity to elemental energy.


    Undoubtedly, Leena was at her strongest when she was tall, with straight ck hair.


    In that form, she could harness her umbra elemental energy to its fullest extent.


    Conversely, her red-haired form enhanced her affinity for pyro elemental energy.


    Sein was curious and inquired about the Umbra Elemental Body Immersion technique Leena used when she was attempting to be promoted to Rank One.


    This method, which she had earned as a reward for finishing first in the Death Trial, was highly coveted by many ck mages.


    Immersion in a dense liquid of the umbra element not only provided a nearly ny percent chance of advancing to Rank One but also enhanced a mage’s aptitude by boosting both their umbra elemental mana reserves and affinity.


    This method exined why Leena, although a recent neer to Rank One, could exhibit strength and a quantity of manaparable to those in theter stages of Rank One when in her explosive state.


    In the Magus World, geniuses were plentiful.


    Nevertheless, both Leena and Sein were considered prodigious among Rank One beings.


    Since Leena had regained her height of 1.5 meters, Sein easily scooped Leena up and nted a kiss on her cheek.


    “Come on, let’s continue our trial in the Knight Continent!” he said.


    In that moment, Sein’s demeanor transformed significantly. Now genuinely happy and rxed, with Leena by his side, he felt everything he did was filled with meaning and joy.


    Leena, unbothered by Sein’s saliva on her cheek, nuzzled her head on his chest and replied, “Yes, together.”


    Together, they headed north to continue their trial.