Chapter 384 : Rules of the Transfiguration Trial
Chapter 384: Rules of the Transfiguration Trial
“Woo—
The sound of steam hissing echoed endlessly above, and the steel train wrapped in Steam Sprites sped along the tracks as if weaving through clouds and mist.
At this moment, nine hours had already passed since Janna boarded the Magical Steam Train. During these nine hours, the train had long left the snow-covered frozen plains of the Turin Wizard Settlement and entered a narrow mountain tunnel.
Dong dong dong—
“Hello, the meals you ordered have arrived.”
“Please, come in.”
As the carriage door was pushed open, a train attendant pushing a dining cart placed two meal boxes on the small table inside.
“Enjoy your meal, both of you. Goodbye.”
Once the door was closed again, Janna, who had been half-lying on the soft berth, finally removed the Wizard Hood from her head.
“Phew, being a public figure really is exhausting.”
Watching Janna’s seamless, practiced disguising movements, Gawen-Tull, who had been observing the entire time, could not help but praise.
“You’ll get used to it.”
Since the train was traveling inside the mountain tunnel, even with the ceiling lights turned on, the carriage remained dimly lit.
“This tunnel is about fifty kilometers long. I’ve heard that the longest tunnel in the Wizard World is the deep-sea tunnel leading to Atlantis, stretching for thousands of kilometers.”
As he marveled at the pitch-black tunnel outside the window, Gawen-Tull waved his wand and cast a Flash Spell, brightening the space so the two could dine more comfortably.
“The deep-sea tunnel was built jointly by Atlantis and the Sky City over several years. The research and development costs alone were astronomical. Anyway, today’s train meal looks good.”
“It’s not bad, just a bit salty.”
Both Janna and Gawen-Tull had ordered creamy tomato meat pasta. Aside from being slightly on the salty side, the flavor and texture were quite satisfying.
“By the way, when you went to the washroom earlier, Professor Mage’s messenger came by. She asked us to meet her in her compartment at eight tonight.”
“Does that include me as well?”
Hearing Janna’s words, Gawen-Tull, who was not very familiar with Lilith-Mage, felt a little flattered.
“The messenger didn’t specify, so I assumed she wanted both of us.”
“All right.”
As the Magical Steam Train pressed onward, before long it passed through the mountain tunnel and emerged into a rocky terrain swept by gales and heavy rain. Watching the flashes of violet lightning outside the window, Janna, who had been eating pasta, stopped in her tracks.
“This world really is dangerous—”
The apocalyptic storm outside had ended more than an hour ago. Now, the only things visible through the train windows were the night sky shrouded in dark clouds and countless jagged rocks flanking the tracks.
Dong dong dong—
At exactly eight o’clock that night, Janna and Gawen-Tull knocked on the door of Lilith-Mage’s compartment.
“Come in.”
With the owner’s permission, Janna pushed open the door.
“Professor, you wanted to see us.”
“Mm, sit wherever you like.”
Since it was night, and the compartment’s lighting was a warm orange hue, even with the lamps lit, Lilith-Mage’s room appeared rather dim.
“There’s only milk in here. If you’re thirsty, help yourselves from the cooler.”
“Thank you, Professor.”
From the moment the two entered, Lilith-Mage had not lifted her head once. She sat at her desk, her quill continuously scribbling across a sheet of parchment.
Only after a while did she finally put down her pen and look at Janna and Gawen-Tull, who had seated themselves on the sofa.
“The reason I called you over tonight is simple—I wanted to give you some information about the upcoming trial in advance.”
With that, the parchment in front of Lilith-Mage split into two and floated into the hands of Janna and Gawen-Tull.
“On it are the rules for the Transfiguration Trial and the Wizard Invention assessment, as well as records of past trials. You may read through them first.”
Hearing this, Janna accepted the parchment and began reading.
“So many words—”
At a glance, the densely packed text made her frown. But soon she swiftly cast Magic Reading on the parchment, speed-reading its contents with her Spirit Power.
Naturally, Gawen-Tull followed suit, casting the same spell.
“This is—”
As Janna read halfway through, confusion flickered in her eyes.
Because aside from the rules and past records of the Transfiguration Trial, the parchment also contained information about several Wizard Apprentices.
“These… could they be this year’s participants in the Transfiguration Trial?”
As if hearing Janna’s thoughts, Lilith-Mage spoke up before the two had finished reading.
“Oh, and Janna, in your copy, you’ll also find information on new apprentices who have recently made a name for themselves in the field of transfiguration. You may want to pay closer attention to them.”
Janna nodded.
“So these are the personal profiles of ‘star contestants’—”
As the saying went, know yourself and know your enemy, and you’ll never lose a battle.
From the parchment’s descriptions of these “star contestants,” Janna learned that they all came from large wizard settlements and frequently appeared in transfiguration competitions.
Several of them, marked with special notes, not only had excellent transfiguration talent but also possessed outstanding Wizard Talents.
If these people were to participate in this year’s Transfiguration Trial, Janna’s competition would indeed be intense.
“All right, now that you’ve finished reading, let’s get to the main point. Before that, though, I need to understand your real abilities—especially you, Janna.
After all, the Transfiguration Trial is different from Wizard Invention. Transfiguration not only tests your personal transfiguration skills but also how well you adapt to different scenarios while transformed.”
From the parchment’s introduction to the Andrew-Gamp Transfiguration Trial rules and descriptions of past formats, Janna gathered that examiners evaluated apprentices across many dimensions.
Not only did they assess an apprentice’s mastery over the finer details of transformation, but they also judged survival skills and even combat abilities in harsh trial scenarios.