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"Are you coming?"
Sonia looked a bit puzzled and cast a doubtful glance at Ash.
In the life of a mage, Void Realm Exploration was undoubtedly a crucial part, perhaps even the most important one.
Most of the world's adventures, breakthroughs, and promotions occurred within the Void Realm, and many mages would spend their entire lives exploring it.
Compared to the Void Realm, reality was rely a stage for mages to flaunt during their leisure ti.
Even though the Void Realm was so important, there were still no established strategies for exploring it.
Perhaps there were so, but Sonia couldn't access them given her current status.
During her class that afternoon, Sonia specifically asked Professor Trozan for any helpful tips about the Void Realm, but Trozan could only spread his hands helplessly.
"The reason mages have equal standing is because we're all equally ignorant in the Void Realm."
Sonia knew Professor Trozan valued her and could recognize that he was a typical swordsman, disdainful of lying to deceive the weak like her.
Since even a Three-winged Holy Realm Mage had no effective strategy, Sonia did not place any high hopes on the Observer.
"There are indeed dangers in the Void Realm," Sonia cautioned, "If I die here, it'd take three days to recover my spirit."
Mages could indeed die in the Void Realm.
The most common death was, of course, drowning.
When mages tried to explore the Deep Sea or remained static in the water, the Sea of Knowledge could overwhelm them.
That's why Sonia was so surprised by the small boat—it ant they were spared the risk of drowning.
The death of a mage in the Void Realm would cause significant trauma to the soul. The stronger the mage, the greater the trauma and the longer the recovery period.
A novice Mage like Sonia only needed three days of rest, while a formal Silver Mage would need at least fifteen days, and a Golden Mage would take months. It was said that the recovery ti for Holy Sanctuary Mages and Legendary Mages was asured in years.
Not being able to explore the Void Realm ant that one's growth speed would slow down by 90%, so mages had various views on Void Realm Exploration: so were conservative, trying to grow steadily, while others loved to take risks, with the bet being lavish models if they won, and becoming the models themselves if they lost.
Sonia used to lean towards adventure because she had nothing to lose. But now she leaned towards caution—after revealing her swordsmanship talent, Professor Trozan assessed her as 'reaching Gold in twenty years, and possibly the Holy Domain in forty.'
In the Kingdom of Stars, a Two-winged Golden Mage could be considered a minor noble, achieving what Sonia considered her life goal.
If she could ascend to a Three-winged Holy Domain, she might establish a family and beco famous for a while.
So Sonia's petty mindset was quite normal. She wasn't unaware of a better future, but the pressing reality forced her to hold onto what she had.
The world was beautiful and worth fighting for. She could only agree with the latter half.
But no matter how conservative she was, Sonia had to explore the Void Realm; staying put was not an option. Nurous school teachers, and even Professor Trozan specifically reminded her: never linger in the sa place.
No one knew what would happen if soone stayed in one place for too long, but those who stood still after entering the Void Realm soon stopped breathing in reality, unable to be saved even by a Healing Mage, because their souls weren't in their bodies.
Thus, there was a saying: if you stand still in the Void Realm, your body assus you're dead and dies on the spot.
"I heard that when you first enter the Void Realm, it's safest to head towards the shallowest fog," Sonia said.
This was not a strategy, at most a tip summarized by the senior mages of Sword Flower University, with less than a 60% success rate, while the other 40% encountered danger.
But on this completely unknown sea, a 60% chance was worth a gamble.
"No, we need to go that way."
Ash pointed toward the densest fog, through which nothing could be seen, instilling a hint of fear. Sonia wanted to say sothing, but the small boat automatically steered in that direction, diverting her attention, "You can control this boat? Is this boat yours?"
"Yeah."
"And yet you tricked into jumping into the sea earlier!?"
Seeing Sonia grasp the wooden sword again, Ash quickly explained, "I only just discovered I could control this boat. I sincerely ant it when I told you to jump into the sea!"
"Sincerely hoping to make look foolish?"
"Sincerely wanted to see you wet... hey hey, calm down, calm down, we've entered an unknown area and might encounter danger at any mont!"
The white fog rushed in, and the unknown could appear at any ti, leaving Sonia no choice but to sit down in frustration.
However, as they passed through layers of white fog, Sonia felt sothing flowing into her body. Her consciousness beca more clear, her skin began to glow silver, and a wealth of swordsmanship knowledge suddenly surfaced in her mind.
This was why mages had to explore the Void Realm—simply moving within the Void Realm allowed mages to automatically gain its knowledge and condense their knowledge into Magic Power of Silver!
When a large amount of Magic Power of Silver settled and ford, it would manifest as a Void Wings Mage's emblem of strength: Silver Wings!
Suddenly, Sonia understood why mages loved imrsing themselves in the Void Realm.
This feeling of gaining knowledge every second and becoming stronger with each mont was akin to the comfort of stretching wide in the morning.
While Sonia enjoyed the pleasure brought by knowledge, Ash behaved like a slacker student pulling small tricks during class, constantly watching the map on the Light Screen.
In the center of the map was a small boat, surrounded by eight squares. The small boat was entering the upper left square.
Indeed, this was the ga's "Void Realm Exploration" mode. As Ash moved the small boat in the ga, the small boat in the Void Realm moved correspondingly.
Besides moving, Ash could also check the information in these eight squares:
"A Waste of Effort," "Seeking Death," "A Waste of Effort," "A Waste of Effort," "A Waste of Effort," "Worth Going," "Troubleso," "Better Not Go."
Among the eight hints, "A Waste of Effort" clearly ant the square had nothing, "Seeking Death" indicated danger, Ash couldn't figure out "Better Not Go," while "Worth Going" was clearly a ga hint.
Soon, after passing through layers of white fog, an island shrouded in thick mist appeared before the two.
Seeing this, Sonia suddenly recalled that the place where the Observer once conducted her dream trial was exactly like the Void Realm!
No wonder the Observer was so confident; being able to use the Void Realm for trials ant exploring the Void Realm was no big deal!
The boat slowly ca to a stop, and as the two stepped onto the island, the thick mist suddenly dispersed, revealing a Hunter wearing a wide-brimd hat and holding a long rifle.
"Beyond seven steps, the rifle is faster."
The Hunter raised the rifle and took aim at the two of them, "Within seven steps, the rifle is both precise and fast!"
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