Everything Colin said seemed to be true.
According to his description, the period when he was "unconscious" perfectly coincided with the moment Lynn remembered the furnace teleportation array breaking.
Lynn's heart stirred, and he suddenly understood some of the truth.
"Did the Furnace break through the formation around the forest and rescue Colin and the others?"
After a brief moment of thought, Lynn finally grasped the sequence of events.
He looked at the confused Colin before him, shook his head slightly, and began explaining:
"Colin, I just arrived in this space. I come from the outside world, where the Furnace War is already over. The Lord of the Furnace controlled the Furnace and destroyed the formation outside the Emerald Isle Forest, freeing all of you..."
Colin was stunned upon hearing Lynn's words.
His thoughts were in complete disarray, unable to process this overwhelming information.
It took a long time for him to recover, but even then, his eyes still held a trace of doubt.
"Then according to what you're saying, those unique auras earlier must have come from people sent by the Furnace? But why don't you have that same foreign aura on you?"
A trace of suspicion flickered in Colin's eyes as he fixed his gaze on Lynn, his tone filled with scrutiny.
"A foreign aura? Could it be… Little Green?"
Lynn's heart skipped a beat as he immediately understood.
Without hesitation, he severed his connection with Little Green.
Sure enough, in the next moment, Colin's expression shifted drastically. The confusion in his eyes instantly disappeared, replaced by a flash of recognition as he blurted out:
"Yes! That's exactly the aura I sensed!"
A chill ran down Lynn's spine.
He quickly reconnected with Little Green, and the unusual aura within him vanished once more.
"If I had come here without being connected to Little Green, I would have been discovered by Aestry and those powerful Wizards long ago..."
Lynn murmured to himself, beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead.
At that moment, he finally understood why the Black Dragon Witch and the two Third-Level Grand Wizards had suddenly ceased their battle and each gone off in different directions.
Most likely, they had been drawn by these "foreign auras," seeking out those who had made it past the third level of the labyrinth.
"Right now, in my perception, you're no different from the flowers, trees, mountains, and rocks around us..."
Colin stared at Lynn, deep in thought, as if he had realized that Lynn had used some method to conceal his aura.
Suddenly, as if something had occurred to him, his expression froze, and he asked in shock:
"Lynn, wait a minute! Do you know Azure Sky Meditation? Does that mean your rank…?"
The joy of their reunion had almost made Colin overlook this crucial detail.
He clearly remembered that their mentor would only teach advanced meditation techniques at the level of a Third-Level Apprentice. But how could Lynn have already learned it?
In his impression, Lynn had only been a Second-Level Apprentice who had recently joined the Furnace!
Even if what Lynn said was true that more than half a year had passed outside advancing from Second-Level to Third-Level in such a short time was simply too outrageous!
However, Lynn merely smiled faintly and nodded lightly.
This action left Colin completely stunned.
He held his forehead as if he had a severe headache, murmuring in disbelief:
"If not for the fact that Azure Sky Meditation can't be faked, I'd suspect that dying so many times and resurrecting has numbed my mind to the point of hallucination..."
"This is insane... Reaching Third-Level after just one year in the Furnace? That's absurd!"
Lynn smiled calmly without explaining further, instead steering the conversation in another direction:
"Colin, you might not know this yet, but right now, the Furnace is offering all kinds of resources to explore the Emerald Isle Forest. Advanced meditation techniques, official wizardry templates everything can be exchanged for battle merits."
Although he did not explicitly state how he had advanced, his words provided a reasonable justification.
Colin pondered for a moment, then nodded, looking as if he had finally found a logical explanation for Lynn's rapid progress.
"Wait! Someone's coming!"
Colin's expression suddenly changed, and his gaze snapped toward the distance. Lynn followed his line of sight and cast a wizardry spell to enhance his vision. Sure enough, he spotted a figure clad in a Nightshadow Fortress uniform cautiously approaching them.
"They must have been drawn here by the aura I released earlier."
Lynn spoke calmly, then pulled out a crystal orb to gauge the intruder's strength.
"Mental Strength: 33, Constitution: 3."
Hearing this, Colin frowned slightly. "Although we can't die here, getting severely injured makes the recovery process even more painful than death..."
A hint of fear flickered in Colin's eyes. He had experienced that pain firsthand.
Because of that, he knew that unless necessary, it was best to avoid combat.
"Lynn, should we run or fight?"
Colin turned to Lynn with a hesitant tone. Their combat abilities were limited here.
Even if two Third-Level Apprentices fought together, there was no guarantee they could win.
"Let's test it out..."
Lynn's gaze turned sharp and dangerous. "I want to see if it works here just like in the previous three trials..."
Deep within the forest, the Third-Level Apprentice from Nightshadow Fortress had a puzzled expression.
Just moments ago, he had distinctly sensed an unusual aura, but it had vanished in an instant. This was extremely strange.
Inside this peculiar space, no one could truly die, which was why he dared to explore the dense forest alone.
"Vine Bind!"
Just as he was deep in thought, vines suddenly slithered down from the surrounding trees, swiftly wrapping around his legs.
"?!"
The apprentice reacted quickly. His mental energy surged as he whispered an incantation, summoning two spectral maidens beside him. They raised their ghostly claws, ready to slash apart the vines binding him.
However, at that moment, a beam of negative energy light burst forth from the darkness. A wild-haired specter shrieked as it lunged at him like a harbinger of death.
"Damn it! There are two of them?!"
His face changed drastically, and he immediately activated an enchanted artifact, conjuring a magical barrier before him to block the incoming specter.
But just then, a massive green figure suddenly dropped from the treetops with overwhelming force, crashing down upon him from behind!
This wasn't a two-on-one fight it was a three-on-one!
"Shit!"
The apprentice barely had time to react before he found himself overwhelmed by three powerful forces. Gasping for breath, he desperately tried to dodge the tree guardian's strike, but he was a fraction too slow.
Boom!
The guardian's massive fist struck him square in the chest with the force of a peak knight's full-powered blow!
The impact nearly shattered his ribs. A sharp pain shot through his spine, his blood surged chaotically, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. His vision blurred, and his body swayed unsteadily.
"It's fine... I won't die... but it hurts like hell... I"
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