The children also imitated the adults' movements, holding wooden swords, their faces full of longing for power.
Karl's gaze moved slowly, and with the help of his faith power, he could discern a person's general inclination towards good and evil, as well as their emotional fluctuations.
Most of the people training in this area had relatively simple minds—either for honor, for a living, or purely for the desire for power.
However, the power of faith helps him clearly see good and evil, but it is difficult to accurately distinguish courage and perseverance.
He wants to see such a person who, when facing a powerful enemy far surpassing himself, even knowing he is in a desperate situation,
can still burst forth with an unyielding will, resist, and dare to meet death together for the sake of faith and comrades.
Rather than a speculator who trains on weekdays and seems brave, but collapses and runs away when truly facing death, or pretends to be a hero to gain favor.
This quality, deeply rooted in the soul, is difficult to accurately distinguish through observation and simple perception alone.
Karl's eyes flickered slightly, and he already had a plan in his heart—he needed a trial, realistic enough to test their courage.
"I can only wait these two days to see when the teacher is free." Karl thought to himself.
Additionally, he plans to seek help from Triss, who is quite skilled in spells.
However, in the area of illusions, especially large-scale illusions that require a large scope and deeply affect the victim's spiritual level, her abilities are probably a bit lacking.
Maintaining a large-scale illusion covering the entire training ground and affecting dozens or even hundreds of people simultaneously requires an enormous amount of magic.
With Triss's qualifications, it would be difficult to sustain such a level of illusion for long, and her magic would run out midway.
Ultimately, it seems that only Hen can organize the following trial to confuse the truth and effectively screen out qualified individuals.
......
Karl waited a day in the quiet room of the temple, as the sun rose and set outside the window.
The candles on the candlestick changed one after another, but Teacher Hen never appeared.
He had some idea about the resistance encountered in the Brotherhood of Sorcerers regarding the implementation of the new Eight Schools system, as well as the new concepts of spell classification.
The resistance he encountered was probably stronger than he expected.
Even Hen, as a founder and member of the Upper Chapter, striving to promote such profound changes,
needs to spend a lot of time and energy mediating, persuading, and even suppressing opposing voices.
Therefore, it is quite reasonable that Hen cannot get away for now.
Fortunately, when he met Triss last night, he had already shared his preliminary thoughts about the trial with her.
Although Triss knew she was not capable of creating large-scale illusions, she still said she would come today.
Try using a small set of illusions for a preliminary screening, or discuss more realistic solutions together.
Around noon, the sun shone through the stained glass, casting dappled light and shadow on the floor of the quiet room.
Karl didn't wait for Triss's voice, but was interrupted by a knight.
The knight passed by the civilians praying or quietly kneeling in the main hall of the temple and approached the quiet room in the back to find Karl.
"Lord Karl, a sorceress has come to the temple requesting an audience." The knight patted his chest with one hand, saluted, and reported.
Karl slightly raised his brows. Yennefer had already left Terra, most likely seeking a cure for her infertility, but Geralt was still temporarily resting here.
Apart from Triss, there seemed to be no other sorceress close to him. But if it were Triss,
given their familiarity, she certainly wouldn't wait outside to be announced; she would have immediately followed the knight leading her in.
"Oh? What does she look like?" Karl asked curiously.
The knight thought for a moment and honestly replied: "Returning to my lord, that lady... her hair is gray, like a rat's."
"Dressed... well, quite openly and boldly, and she also walks barefoot."
Hearing the key words—gray hair, open clothes, and barefoot—a look of understanding appeared on Karl's face.
He already knew who was coming. Wasn't it Keira?
Earlier, Hen himself had removed her from her post, and later she had even gone to the point of having to see a doctor.
It had been almost half a year since Triss mentioned her.
It seemed that this "experience" during this period had made her suffer enough, and in the end, she couldn't help but come to the door.
However, whether she has truly repented or was forced to come due to survival pressures and deception remains to be seen upon personal inspection.
"Let her come to me." Karl ordered in an even tone.
"Yes, Lord Karl." The knight accepted the order and left.
After a while, footsteps approached from far away. At first glance, Keira seemed to be maintaining her former glamour.
She had smooth, long, mouse-gray hair, and a dark blue and dark red dress with a deep neckline that exposed large areas of skin and her collarbone.
She even carefully concealed it with an illusion, a slight fatigue on her face, trying to maintain the last shred of a sorceress's dignity.
However, as she followed the guiding knight closer and closer to the door of the quiet room where Karl was,
the calm she had barely maintained with the illusion melted away as quickly as ice and snow in the sun.
Anxiety, panic, and even fear were clearly reflected in her eyes.
Her steps became unsteady, her body began to tremble slightly uncontrollably, and the closer she got to the door, the more she trembled.
The closed wooden door was like an entrance to a trial for her, reminding her of the punishment the sorcerers could give and Karl's cold gaze.
The knight stopped before the door, pushed it open, and turned sideways to Karl inside: "Lord Karl, the person has been brought. Your subordinate will withdraw."
Karl turned his back to the door and only replied with a faint "Hmm."
The knight respectfully closed the door, and the heavy wooden door quietly shut, isolating everything from the outside world.
In the quiet room, only the flickering candlelight and the scent of wax remained.
Keira stood alone, facing Karl's back, and the last trace of her psychological defense finally collapsed.
She couldn't even wait for Karl to speak; her legs weakened, and she knelt directly on the cold, hard stone floor with a thud.
With the movement of her kneeling, the layer of illusion on her body, used to preserve her last dignity, completely disappeared like a bubble, revealing her true and haggard appearance.
Her originally smooth, mouse-gray hair had become dry, disheveled, and dull, with noticeable split ends and tangles, and a little bit of straw at the ends.
Her face was gaunt, her eye sockets sunken, and two thick dark circles were like a panda's.
Her skin had become rough and dark from long exposure to wind and sun, and she was not even as good as those peasant women who toil in the fields.