Duke didn't mention about his visit to the temple, believing it was better to keep such things to himself and not inform others.

They discussed current plans on the spot for a while, consulting the map drawn by Simon to decide on their next steps.

The area where the giant spiders were located was definitely not to be approached, nor was the area where they encountered malevolent spirits.

The Lizardmen near the temple were in a state of extreme anger, with two Lizardman Leaders present, making it also off-limits.

After excluding all these areas, they found there weren't many options left.

The remaining areas were unfamiliar to Duke and his team, uncertain if other dangers lurked there.

After some discussion, Duke and his team decided to return directly to the oasis they first encountered.

It was relatively the safest place in the desert, with only one Lizardman Tribe nearby, five kilometers away from the oasis.

As long as they were careful not to draw the Desert Lizardmen Tribe's attention, they would be fine.

Approaching the oasis meant they didn't have to worry about running out of fresh water, as they didn't need to enter and could obtain water by gathering Water Elements around the area.

After their discussion, Duke and his team set off towards the oasis.

In the endless desert, pinpointing a location was challenging, but fortunately, Simon had a map, allowing them to gradually approach the oasis while navigating.

As for Brand's situation and his group, Duke and his team didn't concern themselves with it.

However, it was evident that being hunted by two Lizardman Leaders made survival unlikely for them.

With two Lizardmen remaining for their task, Duke didn't inform Simon and the others that he had already completed his mission, as it would reveal his temple visit.

He planned on using the obtained Lizardman heads to submit the task only if they failed to complete it by the end.

With plenty of time left for the assessment, Duke believed they had sufficient time to accomplish the remaining objectives.

It took them a day to return to the oasis where they initially encountered it.

When they arrived, they did so with utmost caution, given their previous encounter had alarmed the Lizardman Tribe there.

However, upon their return, they found no Lizardman activity within the oasis.

Abel used his hawk-eye vision to scout, noting that the Lizardman Tribe remained unchanged from before.

Apparently, after failing to catch Duke and his team, the tribe had resumed their normal lives.

Duke and his companions found a wind-shielded dune near the oasis, settling there temporarily.

In the following days, they carefully observed and found the Lizardmen behaved as before, sending two individuals daily to fetch water, sometimes making multiple trips.

Duke and his team refrained from taking action immediately, waiting until two days before the assessment ended to make a well-planned, decisive move.

This time, they left no chance for the Lizardmen to escape, incorporating Duke's purchased Magma Bombs. After two loud blasts, they successfully collected the two Lizardman heads, completing the assessment's mission.

After dealing with the Lizardmen, they immediately fled, not looking back, as before.

To ensure absolute safety, they used Magma Bombs, which made a loud noise, surely alerting the Lizardman Tribe to investigate.

Once the tribe realized their people were attacked again, they would undoubtedly send pursuers.

This time, Duke and his team had pre-planned their escape route, heading straight back to their initial teleportation location.

The area was relatively safe, distanced from known hazardous zones.

Duke pondered whether Black Sail intentionally designed it this way, avoiding placing the Wizard Apprentices straight into extremely dangerous zones.

The intent was to use the assessment to train these Wizard Apprentices, not to kill them outright.

The final two days of the assessment passed peacefully, relying on their large reserves of food and water for survival.

By this time, many Wizard Apprentices faced food scarcity and lack of water.

In their quest for food and water, entering the oasis became inevitable, leading to unavoidable conflicts with the nearby Lizardmen, resulting in casualties.

On the tenth day of the assessment, as Duke and his team calculated the time, a blue portal suddenly appeared before them.

They understood this was their exit from the place.

The four of them immediately entered the portal, experiencing a brief dizziness before finding themselves back in a room, with the blue portal behind them.

Meanwhile, more Wizard Apprentices continuously emerged from the portal.

Some stumbled out, wounded and bleeding.

Duke even saw one individual crawl out, leg broken and face covered with cracked wounds, teetering on the brink of death.

It seemed Black Sail anticipated this, quickly tending to the severely injured Wizard Apprentices.

Those individuals were extremely fortunate; as long as there was a breath left, any severe wounds could be healed.

Then it came time to submit their task materials; Duke submitted their drawn map and the four Lizardman heads, receiving an assessment pass remark.

After submitting the task, commotion arose behind them.

Two Wizard Apprentices had been chased by several Lizardmen who stormed through the portal into the room.

Both Wizard Apprentices had long stomach wounds, likely inflicted by Lizardman scimitars.

As soon as the four Lizardmen arrived at the portal, Selene snorted coldly, and invisible blades sliced them into countless pieces, leaving a bloody mess on the ground.

The two Wizard Apprentices sat on the ground watching the scene, experiencing a sense of relief.

Out of the one hundred and fifty Wizard Apprentices participating in the assessment, only one hundred and four emerged alive, while forty-six perished during this assessment.

Moreover, only a few teams completed the task.

Out of the one hundred and four survivors, only forty-seven completed their tasks, submitting a comprehensive map of the Lizardman Tribe, defense force distribution, and the required Lizardman heads.

Duke noted that, looking around, Brand and his team were nowhere to be seen, confirming they had failed to escape the pursuit of the two Lizardman Leaders.

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