"Desa Rothschild Langer, Desa is from my mother, Rothschild is from my father, they hope I inherit all their virtues."

"Porter, uh, that's not your real name, is it?"

"Of course not. What about you, buddy?"

"Vatare Ellison, you can call me Ellison."

"Naveen."

"Yodel, no last name, doesn't count as a real name?"

"As long as it's not the name you were born with."

"The family that adopted me when I was six gave it to me."

"Then it doesn't matter."

The people gathered in the empty classroom, then realized everyone was here.

They certainly didn't think all 10 people passed.

So, was it all a failure, or would the answer be revealed here?

The ten fell into a wait more agonizing than last night's, but the talkative Desa Rothschild Langer somewhat eased the agitation and tensions brought by the blood-red beams.

A few minutes later, they heard conversations coming from the corridor outside the classroom.

"You really don't need a personal maid..."

Click.

The brand-new wooden door swung open smoothly, Lu Li and the Mother of the Marsh appeared outside the door, surrounded by Vine Cultists.

"Exorcist, Mother of the Marsh..."

They left their seats or stood up straight, greeting Lu Li and the Mother of the Marsh.

"Good day."

The Mother of the Marsh's manners and choice of words were perfect, only her centaur-like half body draped in carapaced skirts desecrated this beauty.

"Tomorrow you will head to Old Belfast for trials, the supplies are ready, you may take whatever you can carry."

The beautiful maid from Vena Refuge held in her arms a pile of stomach bags and Spirit-Calling Guns to the rocks.

Ten Spirit-Calling Guns, symbols of exorcists, ten boxes containing five sets of Sequence Potions including detection, concealment, and attack.

An extravagant setup even senior students at the Giant Tree Academy couldn't afford.

"Do we really deserve to have this now..." Desa Rothschild Langer stared at a Spirit-Calling Gun, his vision no longer seeing anything else.

"You are already apprentice exorcists."

"We are...?"

The incredible surprise descended abruptly, they thought this was a second chance given by the exorcists.

However, they also noticed the apprentice prefix to the exorcist title.

Regardless, as the first batch of exorcists about to be born in The Dark Era, the duties were heavy enough to weigh them down, yet glorious enough to be remembered in history.

Vatare Ellison, the only "Brotherhood" member among the ten apprentice exorcists asked, "May we ask what we need to do?"

"Investigate the periphery of the Land of Vortex, and if possible, figure out how fast it's spreading outward."

The ten apprentice exorcists received their stomach bags, hanging the gun holsters containing the precious Spirit-Calling Guns on their belts or under their arms.

They were indeed precious. Beyond symbolic, these Spirit-Calling Guns were dug out from Vena Refuge's warehouse; there were only about ten, two of which were unusable due to missing parts and bent barrels.

But the remaining ones had been inspected and maintained, wouldn't jam or misfire...hopefully.

Hades provided all the ammo, in exchange, he got temporary usage of the Sunshine Box.

Ownership belonged to Ophelia and Puxiu.

In the hellscape full of fire clouds and magma, they could enjoy sunshine enclosed in the Hell Rock's windowless room. It was just unknown if the Sunshine Box could be replenished by magma. What was certain so far was that flames couldn't do it.

"The camp has prepared a field to practice the Spirit-Calling Gun, you should all be aware of its contamination."

These were recorded in Mysticology Level 1 knowledge.

The maid led them to the underground refuge still under construction.

The refuge was built directly beneath Agate Lake, only here could the deep rock layers prevent the long rainy season's waters from flooding it.

In the vast underground cavity, several worms slowly and quietly devoured the deep earth and stones, leaving natural stone pillars for support.

The practice area for the apprentice exorcists was near the entrance, twenty yards out was a row of empty wooden boxes for them to shoot at, each getting three shots.

"Isn't that too close?"

Desa Rothschild Langer lifted the gun holster along with it, aiming at the wooden boxes just a short distance away.

"Even at this distance, hitting them is hard, I once used my uncle's hunting gun, and that required both hands." Ellison said.

"Wanna bet?"

No one paid attention, they didn't want to mar this sacred moment with dirty betting.

Langer shrugged indifferently, separated the Spirit-Calling Gun with the gun holster, checked the chamber skillfully and smoothly, loaded silver-plated bullets, and aimed at the wooden boxes 20 yards away.

Bang—

The huge echo made them subconsciously cover their ears, the echo bouncing around the vast hollow made the maids go pale with fright, even the worms stopped their gnawing, raising their decidedly unfriendly grotesque heads towards this direction.

The persistent buzzing faded completely after several seconds, as the apprentice exorcists slowly released their ears, they finally understood why the Spirit-Calling Gun's symbolic meaning was greater than its practical use — better in the Old Era, but in The Dark Era, using the Spirit-Calling Gun was like yelling to the surrounding anomalies for miles, "I'm here."

They looked at the embarrassed Langer. The Spirit-Calling Gun still wisping smoke, the wooden boxes remained unscathed.

Quickly Langer fired a second shot, still missing. He had to temporarily observe others shooting before using his last shot.

But everyone's aim was horribly off, the wooden boxes standing quietly there the entire time. They had to move the boxes together to form a box-wall like a barricade, only then did they know where the bullets had gone.

Either too far left, or too far right, but most ended up above.

After deliberately lowering the muzzle and finally managing to shoot closer to the intended target's...surroundings, Langer's final shot also managed to hit the box.

They soon exhausted their three chances, still some distance away from hitting targets within ten yards, but the exorcists didn't give them more bullets.

Because the Spirit-Calling Guns drained humanity, and also because they didn't need to master them completely. The Spirit-Calling Gun wasn't to be a main weapon, it was just symbolic and useful in specific circumstances. Like dealing with the shadow looming over Old Belfast.

Though it was unknown whether it could harm them.

With their stomach bags and Spirit-Calling Guns, the ten apprentice exorcists dispersed and returned to the surface shanties.

In the crimson dusk, Porter walked into the house where Mitra and Gael awaited him.

"Good news or bad news?"

"Maybe, it's about the same for us..." Gael saw the stomach bag and Spirit-Calling Gun at Porter's waist, a hint of sorrow appeared amidst joy.

For some reason, they suddenly felt as if they were going to lose this old friend.

That night, the ten apprentice exorcists, too excited to sleep, were drawn into dreams by Lu Li.

...

The next morning, they arrived at the classroom early, allowing them to see Lu Li gazing absent-mindedly, a rare sight.

He looked at the space beside the fireplace, the flames licking his face, the black eyes seemed to soften.

"Are you ready?"

The quiet eyes returned to them, and after receiving their not-so-unified responses, Lu Li said:

"Let's set off."

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