Death, Devotion, Dissonance

With a reaction like that, it was hard for Evin to judge whether they were enemies or not. They were probably just the staff of the Island, but thinking it best to at least be prudent, he brought up his spear from his back and assumed a combat stance. Even if the stance was most likely completely wrong, it would at least serve as some kind of threat. His actual plan was to reach for the lodestones inside his pocket to turn them all into World of Life energies, since the room was made of ketricite. 

"I'm a student searching for the unspoken area," he quickly declared.

The guards eyed each other with some surprise, before releasing their weapons. 

"You got lost there, kid?" one of them asked.

Another slapped him on the head and hissed. "He just mentioned the unspoken area, you dumbass." 

"Oh. Yes. Of course," the guard that got slapped answered, but still looked unconvinced and asked another guard. "Isn't this the second day? We didn't for some reason drink till we blanked out and missed a day… or something."

The others looked like they wanted to facepalm, but from the way they sighed afterwards, Evin understood that it was a usual behavior from that one guard.

"Uh, sorry, is this the unspoken area?" Evin asked. 

"Technically, no," one guard that seemed to be the leader of the bunch answered. "This is a Castle that's found next to it and its purpose is to protect random students from entering the Unspoken area."

"So the trial's located deeper inside?" 

"It is."

"And what should I do to challenge the area?"

"First of all, the trial's are locked, so you must possess its key. There's also its map, but that's optional. Both items are held by the Ruler, so you must perform an exemplary deed to be able to obtain it. I've heard that the Ruler's daughter was missing, so perhaps finding her and bringing her to the Ruler will help," the lead guard said in a monotone, practiced voice. 

Hearing the guard, Evin pulled out the key and the map he got from the Ruler. "Are you talking about these?"

The guards looked shocked upon seeing the two items, and the leader hurriedly spoke. "In that case, you can definitely tackle the Laboratories if you want to, but I recommend you do it when you get three Castle cards. If you enter the trials and someone else comes and claims this place as theirs, you'd have a really tough time exiting the place. After all, if the new owners of the Castle decide to attack you, we won't be able to deny their orders."

'Oh? Guess we got pretty lucky,' Evin thought and pulled out the three Castle cards. 

Seeing the new batch of cards, the guards looked like they had nothing else to say. Seeing such a reaction, Evin couldn't help but feel good about himself. 

"How do I claim a Castle as my own, and what can I do with it?" Evin asked.

The leader, who was named Aksan, immediately turned subservient for some reason (even starting to call Evin 'lord'), and began to explain everything he knew about Castles.

Castles, like Dagan explained beforehand, were like special properties that the students could rent for the time they were participating in the Helm's Worthy. It was basically like a defensible mini-mansion for the students' use, with 10 guards, supplies, a medic, and living quarters. Aside from these more normal things, there were also a few very useful magical devices inside. 

One of them was something called 'Scrying Set. It was a device with a few separate parts: a bunch of devices that acted like a Talisman of Seeing and a metal Talisman that allowed the user to see whatever the other parts were currently seeing. 

The spying devices were installed all over the Castle, and would be sending the images to the metal Talisman, which Evin would possess. Evin tried it out, and found out that the moment he used it, his sight would be replaced by what the other devices were seeing, and that he could freely switch between the different ones. 

Aksan then showed him the four ketricite cannons of the Castle and briefed him on how the guards at the Castle would go about in a defense. 

Evin learned that every one of the guards here were competent Apdenul users, as was common for Easterners. Not only that, Aksan was also someone who could showcase the specialty of the easterners, which was to briefly turn permeable. 

According to what Evin learned about the Easterner mages in the Social Studies class… was that they weren't very good at using the magic Worlds overall. Sure, they could still Chant and control the World energies, but the effects they could achieve were pretty limited. Most adult mages in the East could only cast magic at the level of the commoners students that Evin faced the other day. 

But the reason the Easterners were able to repel the invading forces of the other nations was thanks to their incomparable talent at using the World of Earth and the World of Life. 

The bodies of earth that the top easterner mages could create were akin to fortresses in the sky, requiring tremendous amounts of mages and mana to break down. There was even something Evin heard in history class about how the Oasis's Magi, the leader of all mages in the East, raised an entire Oasis city from the ground, so the spell of an enemy mage could only hit empty sand. 

Obviously, not everyone was able to achieve the same feats, but the things that the easterner mages could do with the World of Life were pretty standardized amongst them. Most of them could also strengthen their bodies much more efficiently than the other races. What would require a human five lodestones, an easterner could replicate with only two. But aside from their efficiency, their powers weren't that impressive. Evin reckoned that Arza was actually more adept at strengthening himself using the World of Life compared to most mages from the east.

But that was fine, since their talents didn't lie in that. They shined much more in the field of self-healing. 

It was a simple task for Easterners to regrow their lost limbs, their pierced organs and even their ruptured hearts. As long as their brains were functioning, an Easterner mage was practically immortal. 

Couple that with the ability to turn permeable that appeared in some Easterners, they truly did become immortal. They could turn either their whole bodies or parts of their body to be partly invulnerable, meaning that if they wanted to, they would never get hit by an enemy spell, ever. They would be able to infiltrate through any wall, as long as they didn't stumble upon a ketricite one. And the most unfair of all, was they could do all indefinitely without using any mana or World energy.

It was no wonder why the Oasis was the only country in the world that had never been occupied in history. 

As for why they hadn't conquered the world yet with these abilities, was that they lacked in offensive magic. Sure, it was hard for other mages to deal with their invulnerabilities, but those that could turn permeable were few.

And the thought that Evin would find one in this test, and that he would serve him felt a bit unreal. How did Aksan came to work here in the first place?

"Well, that's about it for the capabilities of this Castle. Do you have any other questions, my lord?" Aksan asked.

At this point, Evin was getting used to being called like this.

"Can you tell me what you know ab0ut the Laboratories?"

"Ah, about that… I'm afraid that even we don't know much about it… but I do encourage you to explore the place with others. It's not that I doubt your capabilities, it's just that the enemies you'll find inside won't be so simple to deal with compared to what you've met on the other areas. I just want to tell you to be more respectful of the Laboratories. If you feel yourself in danger, make sure to make escape without hesitation… though my lord should also be vigilant even when escaping through places you've already been to before."

'It's not that I want to challenge this place alone, it's just that it's my best choice for now… but I do agree that I should be more careful.'

"I'll heed your advice," Evin replied and asked. "Is it possible for some of you to accompany me?"

"No," the answer was immediate. "But at least you can stay reassured, knowing that you can explore the place without worrying about other students interrupting you. And even if the students somehow manage to break through our defenses, you can still know it through the Scrying Set."

"That's true… Well, in that case, I'll get going."

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