The sun is setting in the west, and the orange light is getting fainter.
After a while, the faint light disappeared completely, leaving only the pale moon in the sky and the lights on the island.
In the Lapp wizard's territory on the hillside on the south side of the island, there is a single-story single-family stone house near the main entrance.
The apprentices are taking classes.
This is a spacious stone house, with ten low wooden tables made of long logs placed neatly on the wood grain floor.
There is also a huge cobblestone fireplace in front and a tall brown lecture table.
The teacher in front of the desk is a middle-aged man with a full beard and a gray wizard's robe. He is talking leisurely.
"...The essence of a wizard's advancement is the continuous growth and sublimation of the spirit..."
More than forty apprentices were sitting loosely under the lecture table, listening to the class attentively.
They were both men and women, and they all sat on the fur cushions they brought with them, wearing wizard robes of the same style as the instructors.
It's just that the instructor's ones are more refined, and the triangular badge on the chest is a different color from their black iron ones, it's a shiny golden yellow.
"...it's almost time."
After a while, the bearded teacher finished speaking. He looked at his pocket watch and announced crisply, "get out of class is over."
Then he closed the thick black book in his hand, tucked it under his arm, and walked out the door.
But soon, he seemed to remember something again, stopped, turned back and looked around the apprentices, paused and said:
"In the next three months, there will be no monthly classes, and the same goes for daily tasks... I suggest you make plans as soon as possible."
As soon as he finished speaking, he left without any hesitation, and with a wave of his left hand, he extinguished the bright crystal hanging on the brown ceiling.
The soft white light suddenly disappeared, and the cool moonlight quietly broke in from the window, adding a little light to the dark room.
But the bright moon was in vain, the room was still dark, and in the silence, there were only the rustling sounds of things being packed and the inaudible sighs.
"Friends!" A young man with short hair suddenly broke the silence and snapped his fingers.
Flame suddenly burst out from the tip of his right index finger.
With the faint light of the fire, he slowly stood up and looked around at the apprentices around him.
Among the apprentices, some turned a deaf ear, some sneered, but more people looked at him.
"Almost ten years ago, we were brought to this island by Lapp wizards on a giant ship." The short-haired young man said slowly.
After glancing around, he looked at a petite blond girl and said, "Erica, you had just turned six that year and were the youngest among us."
The girl seemed a little introverted. After being watched by everyone, she smiled shyly.
The short-haired young man also smiled at her, turned his head and pointed at himself and said, "I was ten years old at the time, so I happened to be the oldest among us."
Then he changed his tone and said, "But...even as the oldest person, I have spent nearly ten years of my life, and I have lived with everyone for half of my life!"
"We take classes together and learn witchcraft together. Although we are not related by blood, our relationship with each other..."
"Ah!"
At this time, a young man with curly brown hair and slightly darker skin in the rear right suddenly sneered, then rolled up his seat cushion, got up and left.
The short-haired young man paused for a moment, then continued speaking as if he hadn't seen him:
"...But the relationship between each other is better than that of brothers and sisters!"
"It's been the last three months. I think everyone here is like me, and they don't have much hope of advancing..."
Although the short-haired young man continued to speak passionately as if he was not affected.
But the brown-haired boy started, and then more than a dozen people left one after another.
Colin was also among them. He quietly walked out of the cabin, carrying his backpack, and stood outside rubbing his head, which had been hurting all day.
The memories in his mind were still confusing. Now he just wanted to return to the stone house where the original owner lived and sort out his memories.
In fact, if there was no severe punishment for not coming to class, he would not have even left the stone house today.
"Colin!"
Just as he figured out the direction and was about to leave quickly, a clear female voice from behind stopped him.
Colin turned around calmly and saw a beautiful girl with blond hair and green eyes.
Her silky-smooth golden short hair just reached her chin, slightly fluffy, and her fair face was embedded with amber-like green eyes.
Scattered memories intertwined in his mind. Colin recognized her based on the name the short-haired young man just heard calling her in the room and some fragments of the original owner's memory.
"Erica."
He responded imitating the tone of the original owner.
Erica nodded and walked towards Colin, frowning slightly, as if she was thinking about something.
"Let's go." After walking next to Colin, she said softly, and then continued walking forward.
After walking for a few seconds, she turned back to Colin and asked doubtfully: "Why are you still there?"
"Here we come." Colin smiled awkwardly and followed Erica.
Erica didn't notice anything strange. Seeing that he was following her, she continued to think about things.
The two walked side by side on the gravel road.
Colin's expression was calm and dull, but he was constantly thinking in his heart.
'Erica... what is the relationship between the original owner and her? Why did she go with him and not talk... could it be his girlfriend? But according to the traces of the original owner's family, he is obviously just a single person...'
Although it has been almost a day since he traveled through time, his memory is still a bit confusing, and it seems that he still needs some time to absorb and sort it out. He can only remember one name for the girl in front of him.
Colin felt a little irritable and put his hand on his throbbing head. To avoid revealing his secret, he remained silent and waited for Erica to speak first.
The two continued to walk on the gravel road in silence. Although there were no street lights or flashlights along the way, the moonlight was clear enough for people to see everything in front of them clearly.
This scene reminded Colin of the nights in the countryside when he was a child in his previous life, when the moonlight was so bright.
Yes, when the moon is bright at night, you can see things clearly without lights... He actually forgot.
My hometown seems as far away now as my childhood.
"Colin...what are your plans?" Erica suddenly asked.
‘Plan? What plan?’ His homesickness was suddenly interrupted. When Colin heard clearly, he was shocked.
He pondered for a moment and said calmly and vaguely: "Plan...how else can I plan? It's still the same."
Erica nodded, as if she understood something, and turned to other topics:
"I don't know how many people can gather after Charlie's speech... But you were right before, weak people are still weak when they gather together. I don't think much of them either. It's not that easy to mix in the gathering place outside..."
Brushing the broken hair around her ears, she was silent for a moment and continued: "I plan to go to the dark forest."
'Dark Forest.'
Colin was startled. There happened to be relevant information in the few memories in his mind.
The Dark Forest is located to the north of the entire wizard gathering place. It is a black jungle full of opportunities but extremely dangerous.
...Junior wizard apprentices go there,
Just die.
He didn't answer.
But Erica suddenly asked:
"Colin, you have a way to advance, right? You've been staying at home lately..."
Colin was silent, his heart trembling.
…He can’t remember anything.
But Erica glanced at him who was silent, smiled reluctantly, and continued, "Don't worry, your secret belongs to you...Wizard, who doesn't have a secret? I'm not interested in it. I'm just
I want to find someone to talk to."
"...Do you remember Ryan?" After a pause, she continued.
Or maybe it was because she heard the word "Ryan" coming out of Erica's mouth, or maybe it was because the memory had reached its end.
The chaotic memories in Colin's mind, like a newly unpacked jigsaw puzzle, gradually began to be sorted out and pieced together into complete memories.
"...Remember," after a while, Colin spoke slowly, his voice inexplicably difficult, "that's our hometown."