Wizards begin by accessing the Inspiration panel.

Chapter 162 A Blade from Behind

At this moment, the fair hand covering Meiluo's mouth gradually loosened.

This gradually eased Meiluo's tense mood, because judging from the other party's current actions, the other party did not seem to have any ill intentions, and it seemed that the other party had just saved her.

Meiluo turned her head slightly and saw that the other person was also a human girl, who looked to be about the same age as her, with long, bright green hair that was particularly eye-catching.

Most importantly, the other person was also wearing the apprentice robes of the Ignis School, and the pattern of two bone clubs on the chest made her feel especially close to them in this predicament.

It seems that Meiluo has seen the girl who saved her before.

This green-haired girl appears to be a wizarding apprentice from the same cohort as Richard.

Right, she remembered now, the other person seemed to be the third place winner in the freshman ranking competition, named Ao.

Just as Meiluo opened her red lips to express her gratitude, the other party's expression changed, and she cautiously gestured for silence.

Meiluo looked puzzled.

But then her expression changed drastically. She saw that the night elf male knight, who should have already left, had actually returned to the vicinity and was searching for Meiluo's footprints.

This immediately took Meiluo by surprise!

However, when Meiluo looked around, it seemed that she and the girl diagonally opposite her were under the protection of a small protective magic array.

In addition, the vines here are exceptionally lush, almost completely dense.

Meiluo quickly and carefully recalled the process of how she was rescued.

I was lifted up by a thick vine around my waist and carried straight here, so I didn't leave any footprints pointing this way.

Meiluo finally felt a little relieved.

He glanced at the green-haired girl.

It seems that the junior next to me is both bold and meticulous.

When rescuing himself, he had already considered all aspects very thoroughly.

Sure enough, when the night elf man checked again and found that Meiluo's footprints had indeed disappeared on the cliff by the waterfall, he finally gave up and turned to leave.

Out of caution, neither of them made a move or uttered a sound.

After a while, there was still no sign that the other party had returned.

The green-haired girl then said softly, "Alright, now you can rest assured, they're really gone this time!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Meiluo finally relaxed. Like a snake whose spine had been removed, she almost collapsed to the ground, looking exhausted.

I ran for my life for a long time, and I managed to barely save my life.

Thank you, Lady Luck!

"Junior, thank you for saving me. I think I've seen you before during the freshman ranking competition. By the way, you should know Richard, right?" Meiluo spoke first.

"Oh, you know Richard too?" The green-haired girl looked at Meiluo with her bright, big eyes.

"Yes, he and I are both students of Master Srace. My name is Melo, Melo Norris."

"Oh, hello, my name is Ophelia, Ophelia Acorn!" Ophelia smiled.

Richard was one of her few friends, and she never expected that the person she saved would happen to be Richard's senior.

This made Ophelia, who was usually rather aloof from social interactions, feel a special connection with the beautiful girl in front of her, and she became much more enthusiastic than before.

Immediately, the two girls started chatting, one after the other. Because they had Richard as a common topic, they soon became very familiar with each other.

"Ophelia, do you know what happened in the Norman Secret Realm? How can we get out?"

"I'm not entirely sure either. When I returned to the daily supply point in the core area of ​​the secret realm, I found a large number of Night Elf Spider Knights attacking the supply point," Ophelia recalled.

"When I saw that the situation was not good, I quickly evacuated to this area."

"Because I often collect herbs in this area, I'm quite familiar with it. This is one of my rest stops. There's a waterfall nearby, so if things get really bad, I can jump down to escape."

Ophelia pointed to the side, where the previously dense vines suddenly opened up.

As if understanding its owner's thoughts, the vines revealed a window-sized opening, allowing Meiluo to clearly see the waterfall with a drop of over a hundred meters.

Meiluo nodded. Sure enough, in her memory, Ophelia was proficient in plant-based witchcraft, which made her feel right at home in the dense forest. No wonder she was able to easily evade the pursuit of the night elves.

"As for how to get out, I don't know either." Ophelia thought for a moment, then shook her head, looking confused.

This dampened Meiluo's joy at being rescued.

It seems that both I and Ophelia are trapped here!

-

When Richard opened his eyes again, he found himself in a dense forest, hearing the calls of many unknown plants and animals, and the air that filled his nostrils was warm and moist, with a hint of grass and wood fragrance.

Looking around, Richard found that the surroundings were filled with tall trees, shrubs, and many vines.

In terms of species, these plants are mainly ferns of various forms.

This gave Richard a strange sense of familiarity.

In the gray fern field, there are mostly ferns.

However, the tall trees in the gray fern wilderness are fewer compared to this place.

This was his first time visiting the secret realm.

So Richard moved around a few times and found that he felt no discomfort at all.

On the contrary, because of the lush vegetation, the oxygen and negative ion content in the air was relatively high, giving him a very comfortable feeling.

The surrounding light was moderate, not from the sun, but rather like the phenomenon of midnight sun.

Just like outside, the secret realm has day and night, but the sky is brighter during the day than at night.

However, the distinction between day and night in the secret realm is not so clear-cut; there is no blazing sun during the day, nor is there a bright moonlight at night.

Therefore, it is very difficult to determine the cardinal directions in the secret realm.

The method commonly used in the wild to determine direction by the density of tree rings is of little use in the secret realm.

The principle behind determining the direction of plant growth rings is based on the fact that the side of a plant facing the sun grows more vigorously, so the growth rings in this direction will be relatively sparse.

Conversely, the growth rings will be denser.

However, the sparseness of the tree rings here can determine one thing: the direction of the core location of the secret realm.

The energy cycle principle of the secret realm is that the closer to the core area, the stronger the sunlight or energy radiation, and the denser the sun-loving trees. The sparseness of the annual rings of these trees indicates the location of the core area.

Richard used his mimicry bracers to conjure a knight's longsword, casually cut down a tree, examined its growth rings, and determined the location of the core area.

However, he did not head towards the core area.

The first thing he did upon arriving in the Norman Secret Realm was to reunite with Stephanie.

Therefore, he is now moving in the direction he sensed—Stephena's location.

With his survival experience in the Grey Fern Wilderness, Richard sped along!

Relying on his apprentice-level mental strength and the breath-concealing effect of Rodrigo's meditation technique, Richard was always able to detect and avoid some powerful monsters in advance.

Of course, for those monsters that weren't that strong, the kind that Richard could easily defeat with a single sword strike, he certainly wouldn't let go of the energy points that were delivered to his doorstep.

About an hour later, Richard suddenly stopped, his ears twitching slightly, as if there was movement coming from his right front.

He immediately found a large tree to hide under.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, the clear sounds of battle could be heard.

A figure appeared directly in front of Richard's field of vision and quickly fled from right to left.

Richard's keen eyesight allowed him to spot the gray wizard's robes with just a glance.

Although the pattern on the other person's chest is not clearly visible, they must be an apprentice of one of the three major necromancer academies.

Then the enemy being pursued must be...

"boom!"

A fireball the size of a washbasin suddenly struck the trunk of a tall tree a few meters behind the man, causing a violent explosion.

After the scorching flames quickly spread and burned, the tree trunk was then rapidly corroded by the dark gray energy.

Under the combined damage, a terrifyingly large hole was corroded in the tree trunk, big enough to fit a seven or eight-year-old child.

Richard's heart skipped a beat, because although the Dark Fireball was also a level zero sorcery, it required the caster to have an affinity for both dark and fire elements, making it quite difficult to cast.

Clearly, the group pursuing the grey-robed apprentice must be a highly skilled Night Elf.

After a moment's thought, Richard began to prepare for battle, intending to first rescue the apprentice in front of him and find out what was going on.

However, when he saw the enemy behind the other party clearly, he immediately withdrew his eager figure.

What came into Richard's view was a gigantic spider monster, the size of a calf. The dark fireball he had just unleashed was actually its doing, and behind it were at least five dark elves dressed in fine knight armor.

Hiss! The Spider Knights!

Richard hadn't expected to encounter one of the Night Elves' elite forces, the Spider Knights, so soon.

Clearly, this is not an option!

Moreover, judging from this scene, the wizard apprentices of the three major academies in the secret realm are facing a more difficult situation than imagined.

This made his heart tremble, and he couldn't help but worry even more about Meiluo's situation.

Meiluo-senpai, I hope you can hang in there!

Richard frowned, then slowly stepped back, making a slight detour to avoid the other party.

He continued to accelerate towards Stephena's location.

Before long, Richard realized that Stephanie was probably ahead.

Richard then maximized the breath-concealing effect of meditation, using the cover of vegetation to move slowly forward.

Stephania and three male night elf knights were seen chatting and laughing as they moved toward her left.

Moreover, judging from the formation, Stephanie was positioned in the middle of the three, with one of the other three leading the way and the other two protecting Stephanie on either side, but both were about half a body length behind.

This indicates that Stephanie holds a higher position among the four.

After a moment's thought, Richard understood why, and a smile involuntarily crept onto his lips.

Clearly, this three-person Spider Knight squad mistakenly believed that the Stephanie before them was the deceased high-ranking Spider Queen Shadra.

Sure enough, as they drew closer, Richard immediately confirmed his suspicions after overhearing their conversation.

"Your Highness Shadra, how did you enter the Norman Secret Realm?" a male night elf knight asked respectfully.

He was also puzzled. He clearly remembered that the plan only included one princess, Princess Dolores, entering the Norman Secret Realm.

Why has Prince Shadra, who had been missing for some time, suddenly entered the secret realm?

Could this be an order from the mistress?

He was merely an ordinary member of the Spider Knights and had limited knowledge of the operation plan, so he immediately inquired.

Stephania smiled charmingly and said, "I was injured by a formal wizard from the surface world, and my strength was greatly diminished. After recovering for a long time, the Matriarch ordered me to come here this time for a special mission."

"What, do you want to find out Her Majesty's secret orders?"

"Your subordinate wouldn't dare." Fine beads of sweat appeared on the forehead of the night elf male knight.

Richard's eyes lit up; clearly, Stephanie had already begun to deceive him.

As far as he knew, the night elves were a matriarchal society, and the social status of ordinary spider women was much higher than that of ordinary night elf men.

Not to mention someone like Shadra, who was originally a high-level spider woman at the first-level wizard level.

Moreover, judging from the way Your Highness is addressed, the three night elves have already acknowledged Stephania's noble status!

At this moment, Stephania looked around. Although the three night elves found it strange, they also thought that Princess Shadra was being cautious.

But Richard knew that Stephanie was looking for her place.

He could sense Stephanie's location, and clearly, Stephanie, on the other side of the blood oath, could sense him as well.

"Your Highness Dolores, I would be very happy to see you," the night elf knight flattered.

"Oh, Dolores's here too?"

Stephania seemed to vaguely recognize the three words, but due to the unusually fragmented and incomplete inherited memories, she couldn't recall the person's specific face or information.

She only knew that the other party was very familiar to her, and that their strength should not be below her original level.

Just then, a hawk-tailed arrow shot out from the dense forest like lightning, striking the night elf knight who was clearing the way.

The arrow was moving too fast!

The arrow made a whooshing sound as it almost struck its target.

"Watch out!" A night elf behind him cried out in horror as he watched the deadly arrow hurtling toward his companion.

"Ding!"

To Richard's surprise...

Unexpectedly, the night elf knight who he thought was doomed managed to dodge a fatal blow to the heart at the last second, suffering only a severe abdominal wound, but not fatal!

This made Richard's heart skip a beat, realizing that this opponent was different from any he had faced before.

They are absolutely elite; compared to him, they might only be slightly inferior!

"Enemy attack! Protect His Highness!" the dark-skinned man in the center shouted instantly.

Another man in the dark stood guard in front of Stephanie with his shield raised, and whistled. Instantly, his symbiotic spider rushed towards the bushes to the left where Richard was hiding.

Suddenly, to the astonishment of the three night elves, an enormous abomination, accompanied by the sound of breaking grass and trees, burst forth from the depths of the dense forest.

"Knock knock knock!"

Wielding an oversized iron axe and a chainmail, he strode wildly toward the night elves.

The demonic spider, after only one direct confrontation with the abomination, was sent flying several meters away, demonstrating the absolute difference in strength.

Just as the three Spider Knights were on high alert, focusing all their attention on the ferocious abomination before them, Stephania, standing behind them, raised the corners of her mouth slightly, revealing a strange smile.

Her two originally fair and delicate hands had now silently transformed into a pair of black, gleaming blades.

(End of this chapter)