Duke pondered for a moment. If he were to take this Space Ring for himself, it would only mean an additional, slightly larger Space Ring for him.

However, that would also entail the risk of being targeted by the Jokic Clan. Compared to that risk, this Space Ring was not worth it.

Duke didn't let this bit of benefit cloud his judgment and ultimately chose to give up this Space Ring, taking only the Level 1 Magic Stone and some Magic Potion Materials inside.

His Starlight Vine was among them, and having the Starlight Vine meant that this assessment task was at least completed.

Not only that, Duke also found the eyeball of a Colorless Lizard among these Magic Potion Materials, stored in a test tube with a label on it, likely a material Uli used for refining Magic Potions daily.

This assessment did not restrict the sources of Magic Potion Materials. If you were lucky enough, you might have already had all five kinds of Magic Potion Materials without needing to spend time searching, just waiting for the end of the assessment to submit them.

After checking these things, Duke put them all into his own Space Ring, then sent Uli's Space Ring into the underwater current, which would carry it to the depths of the sea.

After finishing all this, he didn't return to that cave but instead went directly to the seabed far from the bottom of the cave.

Duke was not planning to show himself anymore and decided to stay underwater until the end of the assessment, occasionally surfacing for air.

His assessment task was completed; there was no need to continue taking risks.

For the task, he had collected four out of the five kinds of Magic Potion Materials, only missing the teeth of the Sharp-toothed Bat.

Duke didn't plan to risk himself just for these five contribution points and settled down on the seabed for Meditation Practice.

The chaos on the island was no longer his concern. Duke enjoyed the peaceful practice time underwater.

...

In the blink of an eye, it was dusk on the third day of the assessment, and the ships docked beside the island.

With the sound of a conch horn, the end of this assessment was announced.

The Wizard Apprentices on the island came out one after another, boarding the ships.

Duke landed at a secluded spot, shaking off the seawater on his body before heading towards the ship.

On the way, he encountered Simon and a few others— besides Simon's three, there were two more from the small group at the gathering that day.

With Duke, only Went was not there.

Simon breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Duke and said, "Glad you're okay. Did you find the Starlight Vine? We found another one and can give it to you to complete your task."

"No need, I've already found it," Duke replied.

He was grateful to Simon and the others for still thinking of helping him complete his task.

Duke asked, "Are any of you missing task materials? Let me see if I have any."

In his Space Ring, he had the Magic Potion Materials obtained from Uli. If Simon and the others lacked task materials, maybe he could help.

As it turned out, Simon and the others had already gathered all the materials. Although they were scattered after the beast tide, they managed to regroup with the Activated Triangle Plate in hand.

They had been worried about Duke, not seeing him for so long and fearing he might have met with an accident.

Now seeing Duke safe and sound, they were genuinely happy.

The Wizard Apprentices lined up, boarding the ship one by one, and had to submit the required Magic Potion Materials upon boarding.

Only those who submitted at least three kinds of materials would have their assessment marked as passed on the roster.

Those who failed to complete the assessment task would have this recorded in the roster.

Generally speaking, there's one chance for the assessment. If you don't pass this time, you can wait for the next.

But if you fail two consecutive assessments, you would be forced to leave Black Sail.

Among this assessment, many people were in such a situation.

Due to the beast tide, most Wizard Apprentices were struggling just to survive, making it very difficult to collect all the required Magic Potion Materials.

Many seized this opportunity to sell Magic Potion Materials under the ship, charging exorbitant prices.

Jode turned a blind eye to this, apparently not opposing people completing assessment tasks through transactions.

The rules for Black Sail's assessment were quite lenient; anything not forbidden was allowed, just like how it's not forbidden for Wizard Apprentices to directly fight each other.

While underwater, Duke wondered if this was a violation, but remembering the rule that what is not forbidden is allowed, he stayed comfortably underwater.

The organizers of the Black Sail assessment probably never expected anyone to stay underwater for so long.

Duke waited in line for quite some time before it was his turn. After submitting four types of materials, he felt a weight lifted off his shoulders.

By the time all the surviving Wizard Apprentices boarded the ship, it was completely dark.

Many people lay or sat exhausted on the deck, too tired even to speak.

For most people, these three days had been very challenging, pushing themselves to the limit just to survive.

Duke was relatively relaxed; he still felt quite good, leaning against the ship's rail and enjoying the sea breeze, feeling very comfortable.

He saw Merrick, who was sitting at the bow of the ship, lost in thought.

Duke did not direct his gaze over, not wanting to draw Merrick's attention.

Once the ship left the island, it accelerated towards Academy Island.

Duke felt that only a little over two hundred Wizard Apprentices remained on the ship, estimating around a hundred had permanently stayed on that island.

Such a high death rate was already significant, although partly due to the sudden beast tide.

From Simon and the others, Duke learned that the beast tide seemed to have been caused by Uli.

He intentionally triggered the beast tide to drive the beasts to hunt other Wizard Apprentices, a truly malicious act.

They hadn't seen Uli but didn't think he had died on the island, merely assuming Uli had boarded early and was now in the cabin.

Many cursed Uli in secret, thinking if not for him, this wouldn't have resulted in so many deaths.

But such words remained unspoken, as they dared not offend Uli.

When they returned to Academy Island, it was already late at night, the entire island silent and only broken by the ship's arrival.

At the port, the group of third-rate Wizard Apprentices disembarked, feeling a sense of security as they stepped onto the ground of Academy Island.

All were very tired, saying their goodbyes before returning to their dormitories and falling asleep as soon as they hit the bed.

The next morning, shocking news spread among the Wizard Apprentices.

The genius youth of the Jokic Clan, Uli, had unexpectedly died in this assessment, and his body was nowhere to be found.

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