Chapter 46 Owl Seventh

　　After cleaning up the laboratory, Sain walked towards the dormitory building with a heavy heart.

　　Recently, he had been working on experiments with his mentor Mosido, causing his schedule to be flipped upside down.

　　Despite this, it was still considered daytime at the Dark Magic Academy.

　　As Sain walked past various apprentices, they all respectfully avoided disturbing him.

　　He wore a white mask and exuded a calm aura, signifying his status as a Dark Magic Apprentice.

　　These apprentices, who were on their way to attend introductory and basic level courses, had grown accustomed to life at the Dark Magic Academy, and thus, held a sense of awe towards Sain.

　　Over the past three years, two batches of apprentices had arrived at the academy via the floating airship, with the latest batch arriving last year.

　　However, the number of apprentices in each batch had gradually decreased.

　　Last year's batch consisted mostly of children, with only around fifty entry-level apprentices passing the final tests.

　　Perhaps due to the decreasing number of new apprentices, the formal Dark Magicians who taught public courses were not as harsh on their students as they used to be.

　　In the past, if a Dark Magician was in a bad mood, they would easily kill or maim their students.

　　Sometimes, Sain would think about how lucky the newer apprentices were compared to when he first arrived in the Shadowy Territory over ten years ago.

　　At that time, over half of the apprentices would suffer injuries or death.

　　The recent apprentice mortality rate had been controlled at around thirty percent, which Mosido had mentioned was Dean Dadalon's doing.

　　However, if there were not so many formal Dark Magicians like Master Colonso, who had grown indifferent to life and would routinely kill off foolish or annoying apprentices, the mortality rate could have been even lower.

　　Nonetheless, there were still unlucky apprentices who died each day, and fresh specimens were always available for Colonso's anatomy classes.

　　These specimens may have been an apprentice in the previous day's class.

　　The cold rules of the underground world made these apprentices more cautious than ever.

　　As Sain walked towards White Raven Forest in front of the dormitory building, there were hardly any low-level or entry-level apprentices around.

　　The class time set by the academy was about to start, and no apprentice dared to be late, not even one!

　　After arriving at White Raven Forest, Sain did not continue walking towards the dormitory building.

　　Instead, he turned his thoughts and went straight into the forest from the roadside.

　　White Raven Forest was the largest forest in the Dark Magic Academy, although the variety of trees and vegetation was not as abundant as the plantation.

　　However, besides the white raven tree, there were still some strange vegetation and small animals appearing here.

　　Sain had collected more than 50 animal specimens and more than 200 plant specimens, one-third of which came from White Raven Forest.

　　As for White Raven Forest, Sain was also a frequent visitor.

　　Entering the dense White Raven Forest without any apparent road, Sain walked eastward all the way.

　　Sain's final destination was a huge treetop located on the east side of White Raven Forest.

　　The entire forest gave people a quiet feeling, with only a faint sound of insects and birds.

　　It could make restless people gradually calm down and be infected by the environment here.

　　No apprentice would have thought that in the cold and oppressive Dark Magic Academy, there was such a secluded paradise.

　　White Raven Forest was located next to the apprentice dormitory.

　　The apprentices living on the higher floors of the dormitory building could only see a dense forest and towering treetops from the window.

　　They never expected that such a quiet and ethereal scene was hidden under those treetops.

　　As for the low-level and entry-level apprentices, the tense atmosphere of the academy and the omnipresent danger made them not dare to explore here at all.

　　As for the Intermediate and above apprentices, most of them knew that this was the residence of the academy's overseers, so they would not come to disturb them rashly.

　　For more than four years, Sain has been coming here from time to time.

　　Of course, he never comes empty-handed.

　　"Seventh, I'm here!"

　　When Sain finally arrived at his destination, he shouted towards the top of the huge tree canopy nearly thirty meters high in front of him.

　　A fluttering sound of wings came, and then, before Sain could react, a half-height owl with a cat's head appeared in front of him.

　　This is the Overseer from the academy that had crossed paths with Sain more than four years ago and gradually became acquainted with him.

　　Over the past four years, Sain and the Overseer have also become friends.

　　Since they are friends, they have a general understanding of each other's situation.

　　Sain's side doesn't need to be said much, but the specific strength of this owl in front of him, which it revealed itself, is at the level of a quasi-beast.

　　The specific strength ranking of quasi-beasts is equivalent to Sain's senior brother Zoro.

　　These are creatures stronger than high-level beasts, but still weaker than formal magicians.

　　Sain also learned from Seventh that there are creatures in the beast world that can rival formal dark magicians in strength, known as tier beasts.

　　But these types of beasts are not widely distributed in the Shadowy Territory.

　　Several decades ago, there were several tier beasts near the underground world of Mosobla City.

　　But they had the misfortune of encountering a group of ruthless and more powerful dark magicians.

　　Not only tier beasts, but even quasi-beasts and advanced beasts were ravaged by the dark magicians.

　　Including the Subterranean Humanoid strongmen who were rumored to be as powerful as formal dark magicians in the past, but were also slaughtered by the dark magicians.

　　Mosobla City was originally built in this bloody and fiery conflict, and much of the dried blood on the city walls was left over from that time.

　　Through Seventh's narrative, Sain seemed to see scenes of tens of thousands of ordinary subhumans charging towards Mosobla City, as well as swarms of underground beasts surging forth.

　　These scenes were completely reduced to dust and debris before the powerful elemental forces of the Dark Magicians.

　　It was the sufficient strength that established Mosobla City as the center of the Shadowy Territory.

　　Sain learned about this secret history and gained a rough understanding of the arrival of the Dark Magicians in the underground world and the history of Mosobla City.

　　Sain also asked about the specific age of the other person.

　　Unlike the taboo of age for Senior Sister Faye, the Owl Overseer Seventh did not hide anything about it.

　　One hundred and thirty-seven years old is Seventh's true age.

　　This age is still relatively young in its race, as monsters usually have longer lifespans and stronger constitutions than humans.

　　The reason for the name "Seventh" is also because it is the seventh in the owl family.

　　Sain once asked how many Owl Overseers there were at the Dark Magic Academy, and who Seventh's elder blood relatives were.

　　Seventh did not answer these questions for Sain, as they seemed to involve the secrecy of the academy and were strictly prohibited from being disclosed.