This prevented them from engaging in combat, making them simply ram against the invisible barriers in vain.
Seeing Karl's actions, Hen immediately understood his intentions.
With a light wave of his hand, magic flared, and the two isolated Real Dragon Lizards were overlaid with light, perfectly covering and hiding them with illusions.
He visually blended them with the surrounding grass and rocks, making them "disappear" from the sight and perception of Dalton and the others.
Only the phantom dragon lizards he had created remained in the arena to continue the trial.
Receiving Karl's final answer, Hen was silent for a moment, his expression changing and filled with extremely complex emotions.
There was shock, relief, sudden realization, and even a hint of... indescribable loneliness?
In the end, all his emotions turned into a long sigh, and he slowly said: "Karl... your talent, your achievements, are beyond my comprehension, I... cannot evaluate them."
His gaze fell again on Karl's youthful, energetic profile, as if he wanted to get to know this student anew.
"I remember when you first started learning, you didn't even step into the academy's library. All your knowledge came from my oral explanations and your own 'insights'."
"But now... you have not only introduced groundbreaking school ideas and created new spells that don't require incantations."
"Now, a power system that only existed in theoretical speculation has become a reality..."
He paused, his tone becoming extremely serious, repeating what Karl had once said: "As you said before, you really... are becoming less and less like a mortal."
Hearing Hen's sentimental words, Karl touched his nose and showed a slightly awkward but polite smile.
...
In the subsequent period, two more trials were conducted, the participants changing batch by batch.
But the final results were similar to the first batch and in some ways even more disappointing.
Able to overcome instinctive fear under the fierce appearance and oppressive aura of the dragon lizard,
there were still few children who mustered the courage to fight side-by-side with the adult soldiers.
Unable to bear the increasingly realistic threat of "death" and the psychological pressure caused by brutal "sacrifices,"
even some adult knights experienced willpower breakdowns and fear of fleeing in battle.
Karl calmly observed all this, recording everyone's performance.
For adults who chose to turn away from the enemy and abandon their comrades in critical moments,
he had already planned their end: they would be expelled from the Knightly Order.
Loyalty and courage are the cornerstones of Terra; those lacking these qualities are unworthy to stand on the front line against chaos.
Later, they would be assigned to other positions on the territory where they are not directly involved in combat; they can still make some contribution.
But no longer expect to reach the core, Sun Breathing, or possible future methods of becoming stronger.
And for people like Roche, who display astonishing bravery and stand out in desperate situations,
Karl will make them key candidates for development, investing more resources and attention.
As for whether to teach them the Sun Breathing technique – a power system beyond the ordinary – that requires even more careful consideration.
After all, the stronger the power, the stronger the heart needed to master it.
However, Karl had far fewer concerns about Roche, and he didn't need to go through such complicated trials as with others.
Hen watched the last group of trial participants – some dejected, some still shocked, some with expressions of having just narrowly escaped disaster – and casually waved his hand again.
The dozen or so realistic illusions of dragon lizards created by magic instantly disintegrated like sand sculptures swept away by the wind, turning into tiny particles of light and disappearing.
He turned his head, a relaxed and approving smile on his face, and said to Karl: "The trial you devised may be harsh,"
"but compared to those trials where Witchers select apprentices, it is far more 'merciful' and effective."
"The Witcher routine, the imperfect Mountain trials, plus that painful, almost physically and mentally destructive Trial of the Grasses..."
"Hmph, ten exceptionally gifted children go into battle, and only one survives through luck. That's all special grace from the goddess Melitele."
"It's essentially accumulating a tiny amount of useful combat power from corpses – inefficient and completely inhumane."
Triss and Keira, standing nearby, were still immersed in the illusion mastery Hen had just displayed, so shocked they could barely speak.
They had witnessed Hen multitasking, maintaining a large-scale illusion covering dozens of people.
Furthermore, the application of mental suggestions to hint at cognitive distortion and enhance emotions, while also being distracted by calm conversations with Karl.
Most importantly, the dragon lizard illusions created by Hen were so realistic they seemed almost unbelievable.
They were not only flawless in vision, hearing, and smell, but even possessed a sense of "physical presence."
When the Phantom Dragon Lizard's claws swiped or its tail touched a trainee, a muffled thud could be heard.
You could see the trainee being "thrown back" or their hands trembling when blocking – far beyond Keira's fake projections that disappear on touch.
Moreover, Hen was casting illusions on dozens of people simultaneously, interweaving illusion with reality.
The constant interaction between attack and defense imposes extremely high loads on mental focus and mana control.
But from beginning to end, Hen's expression remained calm and steady, showing no signs of excessive mana consumption or mental exhaustion.
This awe-inspiring mastery of magic deeply shocked them. It seemed the gap between them and those standing at the pinnacle of sorcerers was unimaginably vast.
Karl calmly accepted the teacher's praise and nodded.
"The design of this trial was indeed inspired by the 'Mountain' and other trial stages in the 'Witcher Legacy,' mainly testing willpower."
"But regarding their core Trial of the Grasses..."
"After careful study, I felt it was too imperfect and extremely inhumane, so I gave up on it."
"Oh? Imperfect?" Hen's brows lifted in surprise; he knew that although the Witcher's Trial of the Grasses was brutal,
its formula was relatively fixed after centuries of accumulated experience and countless failed cases.
He looked at Karl, his eyes probing: "After obtaining the experimental data and formula, you conducted extensive calculations and analysis?"
Karl nodded slightly and sighed softly: "I restored the original herbal proportions used in the Trial of the Grasses, as well as the alchemical materials and their processing methods."
"Based on this, I conducted over 70,000 simulations and drug property analyses in total."
"The results show that the old formula they use indeed has flaws that can be optimized."