The Furnace's frontline was like a sharp blade, ruthlessly piercing into the depths of the Emerald Isle Great Forest, carving out a path forward.
Groups of Furnace apprentices moved through the forest. Among them was Lynn, who followed the newly opened path, advancing deeper into the Emerald Isle Great Forest.
The towering trees around him still reached for the skies, but the feeling was entirely different from when he first came here.
Back then, the branches and leaves were so dense that they nearly blocked out the sky, forming a natural canopy that sealed away sunlight and the heavens.
But now, the leaves seemed withered, and the forest appeared much sparser than before. It had lost its former vitality, and the once tightly interwoven branches could no longer shield the sunlight.
The blazing sun above now shone down freely, illuminating the scenes within the forest.
The path ahead was unnaturally wide, lined with broken trees and withered branches.
On Lynn's wrist was a brass-colored bracelet, faintly glowing with a dim light.
"Another damn Furnace contract… just like how Aestry forced us back then…"
Lynn's expression darkened this was the second time he had been forced into servitude by one of these wretched master-servant contracts.
He had just maxed out his progress in potion-making and resonance and was about to attempt repairing auxiliary potions and testing the effects of resonance.
Then, suddenly, he received a command from the Furnace, forcing him onto the battlefield.
His frustration was understandable.
One might be excusable, but twice? No more. He made up his mind if he could find a way to break free from this place, he would figure out how to dissolve this master-servant contract once and for all.
A long line of apprentices advanced deeper into the forest. However, before long, some began to disappear.
As they moved further ahead, nearly half of the apprentices in Lynn's group had vanished.
Lynn wasn't surprised he had expected this before entering.
This was the second layer formation hidden within the depths of the forest.
"Still not caught by the formation yet? Seems like there aren't many of us left…"
He muttered to himself while scanning his surroundings. The once-crowded procession now felt eerily empty, with only a handful of people remaining.
Suddenly, his gaze sharpened as he spotted a familiar figure an apprentice he had once exchanged information with, the so-called "Birdman."
The owl perched on the apprentice's shoulder seemed to notice Lynn's gaze. It pecked at the apprentice's hood, prompting him to turn around and look at Lynn.
"It's you? The guy who bought the counterfeit potion."
The apprentice's tone was blunt and sharp, immediately calling out Lynn's identity.
Lynn narrowed his eyes slightly. He had deliberately concealed his identity back then, yet the other party had somehow managed to recognize him.
And now, this person had also ended up on the battlefield…
"What? Surprised? Defending the Furnace is our basic duty, after all… heh."
The Birdman apprentice sneered with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
Lynn, however, could tell that the other apprentice had been forced into this, just like he was.
After all, the so-called "duty" was nothing more than an order issued by the high-ranking wizards of the Furnace not long ago.
To protect the Furnace, apprentices were required to investigate the inner regions of the Emerald Isle Great Forest this was the most basic obligation assigned to them.
"Do you have any intel on what's inside?"
Lynn had conducted his research before coming here but found something strange there were no available reports.
Or rather, there were reports, but they were exorbitantly priced and could only be exchanged with battlefield merit points.
Unfortunately, Lynn had none, so he had no access to any intelligence.
The Birdman apprentice shook his head and let out a cold laugh.
"If you have to ask, that means you haven't been inside yet, huh? Since we've traded before, I'll give you a free tip those damn apprentices are hoarding information to farm battlefield merit points. That's why no intel is being leaked."
Lynn pondered over this, finally understanding why there was no widespread information on the battlefield despite so many people being there.
It turned out the apprentices were leveraging their experiences to earn merit points.
"By the way, you"
The Birdman apprentice had just begun speaking when, suddenly, his figure vanished along with the owl on his shoulder. It looked like he had been pulled into the formation.
Lynn's eyes narrowed slightly. Seeing this, he had a realization.
"That guy and his owl… they didn't disappear at the same time."
As a third-tier apprentice, Lynn's mental power was extremely strong. He was certain that his eyes weren't deceiving him.
The Birdman apprentice had vanished first, and only an instant later did the owl disappear.
This meant that the apprentice and his owl had entered the formation separately.
"Hope that guy isn't a wizard who put all his abilities into his pet… or he's in trouble."
Lynn mused to himself when, suddenly, his vision blurred. The surroundings flickered rapidly.
He didn't panic he knew he had been chosen by the formation and was about to enter the next stage.
He glanced down at the brass bracelet on his wrist, feeling somewhat puzzled it was supposedly used to track battlefield merit points, but he had no idea how it worked.
At that moment, his vision abruptly froze, and everything around him went still.
To his surprise, he found himself in an unfamiliar forest.
The towering trees on either side and behind him were lush and thick, their intertwined branches forming a natural barrier.
Ahead of him, a narrow path stretched into the distance, barely wide enough for a single person. It led toward an unknown abyss.
Lynn touched the two spatial artifacts hidden beneath his robe both were packed with potions and enchanted tools. He was fully armed and ready.
Sharpening his focus, he activated his mental power, preparing for any dangers ahead. Then, without hesitation, he stepped forward.
Tap. Tap.
The silence around him was unnerving, sending a chill down his spine.
The massive trees stood densely interwoven as if the forest itself had devoured all signs of life.
There were no birds, no insects, not even a whisper of wind only the sound of Lynn's footsteps rustling through the fallen leaves.
He remained highly alert, cautiously moving forward.
Then, he stopped abruptly.
The path ahead was blocked by a dead end.
"…A dead end. I should have taken the other path at that fork earlier."
Lynn murmured, a creeping unease settling in.
But then an unexpected change occurred.
All around him, the trees began to shift in an eerie, unnatural way.
Lynn's eyes narrowed as he witnessed something horrifying faces began emerging from the tree trunks.
Men and women, young and old countless human faces rapidly formed on the bark, staring at him.
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