Moon Witch, embark on the journey!

Although the method was unexpected, it seemed that he had indeed found a powerful mentor. So, even if he had to make some small sacrifices in some places, that would not be unacceptable?

While she was still a little flustered, Luna was led out of the room by the other party. When she looked back, she was deeply impressed by the blond boy Shuster's original confidence and now his bewildered look.

Da da.

The witch walked in the corridor with her high heels making crisp sounds. Her figure outlined by her tight dress exuded a seductive charm, which even Luna felt a little uneasy. She quickly controlled herself and looked away.

It's a bit strange, this is definitely the influence of some kind of witchcraft or ability.

“….”

The new mentor said nothing and just walked with Luna, not knowing where they were going.

Come to think of it, I still have no idea about this mentor's personality.

"Master Mentor? Where are we going?"

Luna asked softly, tentatively.

Anessa didn't even turn around, nor did she slow down her pace. When Luna was wondering whether she heard it or not, she replied after a while, her voice was filled with cold charm:

"I've wasted a lot of time. Let me go back to my lab."

In addition to these internally recommended apprentices, there were also a larger number of civilian apprentices. But it seemed that this instructor was not planning to accept more disciples.

As they left the wizard tower, the wizard apprentices and even formal wizards they met along the way didn't seem to dare to greet Enissa and kept avoiding her from a distance.

Luna felt a little uneasy at this moment. If it was just because of strength, it shouldn't be like this. Apart from other things, there should be many male wizards who would curry favor with the mentor, but why do those people look like they have seen a ghost?

I need to collect more information about this mentor later. I wonder if Claire knows her well.

I came to another area with random thoughts in my mind. The buildings here were mostly gloomy and dark in style, and the breath of dark element particles was emanating from every corner.

No matter where a wizard lives, he or she has his or her own residence in the headquarters of the Dark Ring. The same is true for Enissa. The mansion she lives in is quite large and looks like a dark castle. It is the type that looks like it is inhabited by ghosts.

Before Enissa entered, the door of the mansion opened. The concentration of dark elements inside was even higher. In the garden outside the castle, there were some strange plants planted, including pale flowers with human faces, mushrooms emitting black smoke, and for some reason, there were also some things like arms and legs stuck in the soil.

Luna's voice became increasingly stiff, so much so that she was startled when Enissa in front of her spoke.

"Your mental fluctuations have been recorded into the defensive magic array, but it's only elementary. Don't run around, don't touch things in the garden, don't enter the room with a red mark, don't go to the basement, don't shout when you see a ghost, don't touch the undead servants, don't..."

Enissa, who had been quiet all this time, spoke a long string of words at once. During this time, the two of them walked through the garden to the gate of the castle. The witch finally finished her words and turned around to ask:

"Do you remember? If you don't remember, you will die."

"Yes, I remember..."

Luna replied stiffly. Actually, it's not that hard to remember. In short, just don't touch anything!

Speaking of which, at the edge of her vision, in the corner of the strange garden, did she see a pale little girl in a white dress? Although she disappeared when she looked at her again.

After entering the castle, beautiful maids in palace dresses can be seen walking around everywhere. Some are cleaning, some are holding something - but they are all stiff and exude a chill.

"You can tell these maids if you need anything, but you are too weak, so it's best to avoid contact with them. They can easily hurt you."

The two of them went to the laboratory on the second floor, where there were all kinds of strange magic arrays and many bottles and jars, some of which contained eyeballs and fingers that had turned white from being soaked. Luna didn't look at them at all, and just followed the instructor.

"sit."

After finding an empty corner, Enissa asked Luna to sit down. Seeing the beautiful silver-haired girl sitting upright with some trepidation, she smiled slightly:

"Don't be nervous. I am always more tolerant towards beautiful children."

"Yes...thank you for the compliment."

For the next half minute, the purple-haired witch said nothing, but looked Luna up and down, as if she wanted to see through her completely. The witch's eyes were fiery and obsessed, and it took a long time for her to come back to her senses.

As if nothing had happened, Anessa spoke slowly:

"Although I accept you as my disciple, you are too weak now. It is useless. You must reach the strength of a high-level apprentice as soon as possible."

"Teacher, I also hope to become stronger as soon as possible."

"Very good. I will not waste time teaching you the basic courses. You can go and take classes with the other apprentices. Don't bother me unless you have something else to do. You can get some witchcraft knowledge and potions at a discount from me, but it's not free. As my disciple, you can enter and exit Shadow Lake freely after becoming a senior apprentice, but don't expect me to save you if you are in danger."

"You need to help me regularly as an experimental assistant and learn alchemy knowledge. I will also pay you with magic stones as compensation."

After speaking a lot quickly, Anessa suddenly stood up and took out a witchcraft scroll from a cabinet behind her. The scroll emitted strong elemental fluctuations and appeared to be made of some slippery fur.

She placed it in front of Luna and held her chin with her white palm. Looking at Luna, like a girl who got a toy, she said with expectation in her eyes:

"You must sign this contract. If you are unwilling, it means you have given up on becoming my disciple, and all the conditions just mentioned will be null and void."

Luna reached out and picked up the contract, looking at it carefully. She hesitated for a moment, then quickly closed her mouth.

30. Potions and Quests

"This is not what I thought..."

After much hesitation, Luna finally signed the contract.

Seeing that she agreed, the purple-haired witch was obviously happy. She even took out a bottle of potion from somewhere and stuffed it into Luna's hand.

"This is the 'Dark Spirit' potion. Although it is only at the apprentice level, it has the effect of increasing mental strength. After using it, you should be able to become a mid-level apprentice soon."

"By the way, do you want to live with me or with the other apprentices?"

Luna immediately shook her head and refused. This castle was filled with evil and it looked like one could lose one's life if one was not careful.

Although getting closer to this mentor might bring her some benefits, this is not what she needs right now.

Apprentices have an exclusive area in the Dark Ring, which is near the wizard tower. It includes living quarters, classrooms, and some places to accept tasks.

The next day was the day when the apprentices would officially start their classes and training. Luna planned to walk around the area first to get familiar with the environment where she would be staying for a long time in the future.

"Luna! Is that you?"

Luna looked back and saw that it was the petite girl with brown curly hair, Senna. She ran over and muttered:

"I knew it was you as soon as I saw the silver hair. You came here so quickly?"

"Well, the instructor didn't say much."

Thinking of the previous experience, Luna was still a little dazed, and her expression was a little unnatural. Speaking of which, why did this guy come to me on his own accord? Do we know each other well?

"Have you really become the disciple of that Lady Enissa?"

Senna was very curious and looked at her with an indescribable look.

"I heard that the mentor has a very strange hobby, although I don't know the details. It seems that many wizards are afraid of her."

Luna has such a powerful mentor. Far from being envious, she seems to have some sympathy:

"That lady seems to have a nickname called 'Faceless Witch'. She is one of the most powerful wizards in our organization. She is evil... famous."

She looked at Luna and whispered:

"It is said that she has killed several beautiful female witches from rival organizations, peeled off their skins and made alchemical items to wear. Few people have seen her true face... But, maybe it's just a rumor?"

“This shouldn’t be a rumor.”

Luna whispered to herself.

The witchcraft contract she signed with Anissa actually only had one main clause.

That is, if she died due to any accident, the body left behind must be handed over to Anissa for disposal. Of course, it was also agreed that Anissa would not take the initiative to kill her in any way.

"You, please try to protect yourself and don't let anyone hurt your pretty face and body."

Anissa said this at the time, and her eyes were full of intoxication when she looked at herself.

......

No matter what, as long as I don't die, this contract is worthless. On the contrary, the benefits I can get are real.

Luna didn't want to think too much, she patted her cheeks to cheer herself up:

"I want to visit the area where I will live in the future."

"Then... let's go together? I happen to be quite free."

The brown-haired girl said this and glanced at Luna a few times.

"Don't you have a group of friends? Why do you have to look for me?"

"Hey! Those people are not my friends! They are all targeting Master Shuster. I don't consider them my friends!"

Senna said stubbornly. She then added:

"I'm only willing to talk to you because you don't seem to like Lord Shutter, make no mistake!"

"Okay, okay. By the way, did that Shuter end up having no one to become his disciple?"

"Master Shuster became a disciple of a formal wizard from his own family, who is said to be a very powerful wizard as well. Children from big families like him are looked down upon unless they are one of the few top formal wizards."

Luna nodded thoughtfully. For apprentices from these big families, it is indeed most important to expand their network of contacts under the pretext of becoming a disciple. Otherwise, any formal wizard would be enough to teach them.

For example, Anissa clearly stated that she would not teach her any basic knowledge, but would only give her some necessary benefits.

After walking around the classroom, the two came to the apprentices' mission center.

The place was crowded with people. At a glance, there were dozens of apprentices, and most of them were mid-level. There were even a few high-level apprentices, and their auras were obviously more arrogant.

"Two beautiful ladies, do you need a guide?"

A male apprentice who looked a little frivolous came over, looked at them carefully for a few times, and smiled a little flatteringly:

"Misses, are you new apprentices? There are many rules here that new apprentices must know. I can show you around for free."

Probably because today is the day when new apprentices join, many old apprentices gathered here, looking for those unfamiliar faces.

"no need!"

Senna grabbed Luna's hand and walked away, ignoring the old apprentice. As she walked, she said to Luna:

"These seniors all have bad intentions! I heard that many of them will cheat the newbies out of their magic stones, and you can't trust the free ones!"

"Huh? I thought you'd be happy with it. That guy looks pretty good, right?"

The brown-haired girl suddenly became angry and raised her eyebrows:

"What do you think I will do? I am devoted to Master Shuster!"

"Okay, okay, I was wrong."

Luna coaxed her a little and her mood turned from gloomy to cheerful. I have to say, it is quite interesting to have an innocent and noisy guy around, provided that he does not disturb her studies.

"Clean up Instructor Linti's laboratory. The mission reward is five magic stones."

"That instructor likes to do biological experiments. If he's lucky, he'll just have to clean up feces and corpses. If he's unlucky, he might have to fight a mutant monster. In fact, this official wizard won't hurt anyone on his own initiative, but he often loses things and forgets to clean up some things in the laboratory..."

"You need to hunt down the cold fox deep in the glacier, keeping its fur and heart intact. The mission reward is thirty magic stones."

"That's a task for high-level apprentices. We can't beat it."

"I need to sign a contract to be Professor Trier's lab assistant for a month. The mission reward is eighty magic stones."

"That one is actually an experimental subject. If an apprentice accepts it, he will usually die."

I have to say, she is worthy of being an elite apprentice with a formal wizard behind her. Although Senna is here for the first time, she seems to know a lot of inside information.

"I've discovered that... the death rate of apprentices here is not low just from carrying out missions."

Luna couldn't help but complain as she listened to her.

"These are for civilian apprentices who have no resources. If we need anything, we can directly find a mentor. At least it will be much safer than them."

The brown-haired girl showed some pride as a descendant of a wizard family:

"We just need to follow the procedures and there is a certain chance that we can become official wizards. However, most of the civilian apprentices can only survive to become high-level apprentices."

31. First Step

It was really helpful to have a free tool person around to explain things. Luna quickly toured the area where the apprentices lived and finally came to the trading market.

"This is a shop that the organization has opened specifically for our internal apprentices. It sells things that we can use. By the way, the apprentice clerks in charge of the shop over there also take on missions. Although this type of mission is tiring, it is not dangerous and is a rare high-quality mission."