The goddesses attempted to gain my salvation.

The students were devastated when they saw Ryan was about to leave.

"Mentor Ryan! Please put us down first!"

"That brat threw up all over us. Let us get down here; at least we can get some fresh air!"

"Please, please, sob sob..."

Ryan turned around and smiled, "Aren't there light-attribute individuals among you? Use your brains and think carefully; perhaps you'll be able to get down on your own in a little while."

"Come on."

After saying that, Ryan left.

The students completely broke down, and several girls with poor mental resilience even burst into tears.

Mentor Ryan looks so refined, gentle and handsome, how come he's so ruthless when he does things?

That's it, my illusions have been shattered.

Chapter Forty: The Strange Stone Tablet

Ryan, riding on the light boat, quickly found Miley.

Freya came along with them.

The surrounding tree trunks were covered with students whose clothes were torn, making it look like a ginseng fruit tree.

I must say, it's quite spectacular.

It goes without saying that this is Mila's masterpiece.

"The others are still busy. They'll come over once the students are subdued." Milley led Ryan and Freya to the place where the battle had just taken place.

The ground was riddled with huge craters, and traces of magic remained all around.

"This is it."

The three stopped in front of a pit two meters wide. Miley raised her finger and pointed into the pit.

"This pit was created by an earth-attribute student during the battle with the other students. I didn't pay much attention to it at first, but when the battle ended and I was cleaning up the battlefield, I found a black stone tablet inside."

Ryan jumped down first, and just as Milley had said, at the bottom of the pit, there was a half-section of a stone tablet lying diagonally, with many unrecognizable characters on it.

As a dark magic user, Freya often deals with ancient languages ​​and other less common languages.

Freya squinted, trying her best to decipher the information contained in the text, relying on her extensive knowledge of linguistics.

But after trying for a while, he finally gave up.

"I always feel... these words don't seem to belong to this world."

"Even you are helpless, so I guess the academy can't find anyone who can understand it either."

"However, Mentor Ryan, besides the inscription on it, what's really strange about this stone tablet is that it can absorb magic power."

Miley's words caused both Ryan and Freya to frown.

Ryan braced himself and placed his hand on the stone tablet. The next second, Ryan felt as if something had forcefully pulled out of his body; the magic power in his magic circuits was being rapidly drained!

Ryan quickly pulled his hand back, sensing the circuit's condition.

Everything is fine, except that some of the magic has been drained. It should be fully restored by tomorrow.

Miley sighed softly, "Mentor Ryan, I'm in the same boat as you. Just now, my magic was drained, but luckily I reacted quickly, so I only have a little left."

"Although my body is fine and my circuits are intact, I still feel like there's some secret about this thing."

As Ryan looked at the stone tablet, a bizarre idea popped into his head.

I always felt that this stone tablet... was like some kind of creature, only it had been sleeping for a long time.

It absorbs external magic, constantly nourishing itself, and will break free of its shell once the time is right...

"Mentor Milai, immediately tell the other mentors to finish this quickly and then clear the students out of the scene. After clearing them out, come over here directly."

Miley nodded, and the message was transmitted through the breeze.

About half an hour later, all the mentors, along with Victor, arrived at the scene.

Miley recounted the discovery of the stone tablet and its unique material.

Everyone was shocked.

Victor stroked his beard, his brow furrowed: "A long time ago, I saw something in a history book in the academy library that could also absorb magic."

"That book records a period of time that is too far back. It should be from the time of the full-scale war between the four countries, or even earlier."

It's even further back than the Four Kingdoms War, wasn't that something that happened five hundred years ago?

"The book doesn't mention the exact time. It only says that in a certain year, a meteorite fell. People were surprised to find that there was a strange field around the meteorite."

"All magic is rendered ineffective within this realm. Even the most powerful magicians are no exception."

Ryan thought seriously, nodding rhythmically.

Is it a magic-suppressing stone...?

Ryan suddenly recalled a memory from when he and Claire had just met.

She said that she was once bound by shackles that could seal away magic, which is why she was imprisoned in the dungeon.

Anti-magic shackles, anti-magic stones...

And this strange stone tablet.

Ryan: "..."

"In short, let's first look around to see if there are any other stone tablets. Then, we'll collect all the stone tablets we find."

The search went very smoothly. As an earth-elemental mage, Daphne easily turned the entire ground of the Misty Forest into soft mud, rippling like the surface of water.

Soon, stone tablets began to emerge from the ground.

Ryan counted and found there were seven stone tablets in total, and the inscriptions on the tablets were not the same.

Perhaps if these seven stone tablets are connected, Freya will be able to translate their contents.

With that in mind, the group carried the stone tablet back to the teaching building.

That night, Freya sat down in front of the stone tablet and began to study it.

Beside him were ancient books in writing, piled up like a small mountain, and in front of him, an oil lamp burned slowly.

Freya put on her gold-rimmed glasses and began the long and tedious translation work.

------

The next morning, Freya stared at her dark circles and kept yawning.

The chair was surrounded by crumpled pieces of waste paper.

On the table, a large pile of papers recorded countless complex deduction processes. The top sheet contained only a short sentence.

This was the conclusion she reached after a whole night of hard work.

After carefully putting away the conclusions and organizing all the deduction processes, Freya got up and prepared to go home to sleep.

Just as I left the office, I ran into Ryan, who was on his way to class.

"So, any progress?"

Freya was very tired and leaned against the wall, swaying unsteadily.

“There has been some progress. These characters should be related to the ancient Luden script. They have some similarities in pronunciation, but their meanings are different.”

"To be honest, it was a bit difficult to decipher. However, it was a fruitful night; I deciphered a complete sentence."

At this point, Freya looked up at the ceiling and let out a long sigh of relief.

Her beautiful eyes narrowed slightly, as if she were thinking about something, and she spoke softly.

"Offering sacrifices, we respectfully welcome your arrival..."

------

"Olina will arrive at the academy the day after tomorrow."

The old man in white robes pondered, his expression somber.

"Wester, how's the placement of the stone tablet going?"

West nodded confidently: "Don't worry, old man, it was all taken care of a long time ago, and it was foolproof. There are thirty-three stone tablets in total, all of which are engraved with secret texts and then buried around the academy."

The old man in white robes leisurely stroked his beard.

Although West said that, he had done so many unreliable things in the past that he had long lost his credibility.

If the white-robed elder's identity hadn't been so conspicuous, he would have personally taken charge long ago.

West, West.

Hopefully, this time you can make me look good.

The old man in white robes said, "I hope no one will notice."

West had an expression that said, "Don't worry, I'll handle it."

"Grandpa, don't worry. The places I buried were carefully chosen. Not only are they remote, but they're also buried very deep. Unless it's one of our own, they wouldn't be able to find it even if they searched the entire ground."

The old man in the white robe still felt uneasy, as if something was amiss.

“These thirty-three stone tablets are crucial to the ceremony. Even if only one is taken away, the ceremony cannot be completed. Therefore, no mistakes are allowed.”

“Wester, I hope you’re right. Don’t let us down.”

"The success of our plan depends entirely on this."

West's face still radiated confidence.

That's right.

The place where he buried himself was indeed, as he said, extremely remote and difficult to find.

After all, few people would go to such a remote place as the Misty Forest.

Even if someone did go there, they wouldn't think of turning the entire ground upside down.