Black Wizards and White Wizards

The fog was so quiet that Chen Chuan could hear his own heartbeat.

Seven people, seven pairs of eyes, seven sets of thoughts.

Kras stood where he was, relaxed, his hands tucked into his sleeves like an old teacher waiting for his students to ask questions. But he had almost too much patience, as though he could wait forever, no matter how long they took.

Chen Chuan was in no hurry to speak.

He closed his eyes. He brought out the questions he had already gone over in his mind and weighed them one by one.

About Black Wizards. About the academies. About the true rules of this place.

He opened his eyes.

The blue-scaled girl had already taken a step forward.

She walked without a sound, and this step was just as light. If Chen Chuan hadn't been keeping an eye on her, he would hardly have noticed.

"May I ask?"

Her voice was soft. Beneath that softness was a tautness, like someone carrying a knife while pretending to be empty-handed.

"Why the seven of us? What are Black Wizard Seeds?"

Kras's gaze rested on her for a moment.

It was a brief moment, but it was as though someone had taken a ruler and measured her from head to toe.

"That counts as two questions," he said.

He paused.

"Actually, it counts as one."

A slight smile appeared on his face. It stayed on the surface and never reached his eyes.

"Every test selects the seven people with the most outstanding spiritual power. You can think of them as seeds. Those seven are the Black Wizard Seeds."

"Another way to put it is that Black Wizard Seeds are Black Wizard apprentices."

"Black Wizards prize individual might. One person is an army. They are extraordinarily powerful, the sharpest spear in our Wizard World."

"When a powerful enemy or a heretic appears and someone needs to deal with them—"

"Black Wizards are always the ones who have to step in."

The girl stood where she was, her lips moving as if she had more to say.

But the words lingered on her lips before she finally swallowed them. She nodded and stepped back into place.

Chen Chuan made a mental note of her retreat.

It wasn't that she didn't want to ask. She didn't dare.

She had probably heard another meaning in "the sharpest spear" too—no matter how sharp a spear was, using it still cost lives.

The bandaged man spoke next.

He hadn't moved the entire time, standing there like a stone post driven into the ground. His voice came through the layers of bandages, surprisingly clear.

"I want to know."

"What happens if I don't choose any academy?"

At those words, the others all turned to look at him.

Chen Chuan pricked up his ears too.

This was the question on everyone's mind.

They had risked their lives coming here for nothing more than a good academy. But what if they didn't choose one at all? Was not choosing also a way to survive?

The corners of Kras's mouth seemed to twitch.

"Not choose?"

"Not choosing means giving up."

"When others give up, they die."

He paused, as if waiting for those words to sink in.

"However—"

"Geniuses receive special treatment."

"You would become another kind of wizard. A White Wizard."

"And continue to serve the Wizard World."

The bandaged man fell silent.

He didn't press the question. His post-like body merely swayed ever so slightly before steadying again.

But Chen Chuan sensed a thorn in that answer.

What did he mean by "another kind of wizard"?

The same test, the same seven people. Why did those who chose an academy become Black Wizards, while those who didn't became White Wizards instead?

He gave nothing away and set the thorn aside for now.

The dwarf had kept his head lowered all this time.

Now he finally raised it. His eyes were terribly clouded, as though covered by a layer of old dust.

"Tell me," he said hoarsely. "What can I gain after becoming a wizard?"

It wasn't a clever question, and it was much too direct.

But Chen Chuan could tell that this was the most fundamental question in the minds of all seven.

What exactly had they risked being erased to stand here for?

Kras's answer was straightforward.

"Power."

"Lifespan."

"Knowledge."

He paused.

"And a chance to change your fate."

The dwarf seemed quite satisfied.

He nodded, then slowly lowered his head again.

But Chen Chuan saw it clearly—in that brief pause, what flashed through the dwarf's eyes wasn't satisfaction.

It was something else.

As though he had finally reached something he had kept hidden in his heart for a long time.

The purple-eyed girl Elina gave a soft laugh.

It was a lovely smile. Anyone who saw it would feel their heart sway.

"I'd like to ask," she said, "which academy would be suitable for me?"

It was a clever question.

She didn't ask about the rules or their origins, only where she should go. She avoided looking greedy while genuinely scouting the way forward.

But Kras didn't want to answer.

"That," he said, "is for you to choose yourselves."

"That is also part of the third trial."

The smile on Elina's face froze for an instant, then smoothed out again. She nodded and asked nothing more.

Chen Chuan watched it all.

Will, the book-bearing youth, spoke.

"I'd like to know, what are White Wizards?"

Kras's expression changed slightly.

The change was so subtle that Chen Chuan would never have noticed if he hadn't been watching him all along.

"Black Wizards and White Wizards," he finally said, "are the same in essence."

"Their philosophies are simply different."

"White Wizards place greater value on cooperation. Teams, coordination, the whole. Their combat strength isn't bad either—"

"They simply aren't as extreme as Black Wizards."

Will nodded thoughtfully and asked nothing more.

It was the cold-faced man's turn.

Kras looked over at him.

But the man merely lifted his eyelids.

He didn't speak, nor did he show any intention of speaking. His gaze passed over the churning gray-white above them and settled somewhere no one could see.

Kras waited a while.

Then, without pressing him, he looked away.

At last, it was his turn.

Chen Chuan took a deep breath.

The fog entered his nose, cool and carrying a faint, metallic tang.

He stepped forward.

"I'd like to know if I can still return to my home after becoming a wizard."

Kras's gaze settled on his face.

His eyes were deep, like a well with no visible bottom.

"Yes."

"But you must pay a corresponding price."

"What price?" Chen Chuan asked.

"That depends on the academy you choose and your strength."

After speaking, Kras didn't immediately look away.

He paused. The fog flowed slowly around him, circling him as though listening for what he would say next.

"In any world, this is an eternal, unchanging law."

"As long as you become strong enough—"

"You could even merge your home plane into the Wizard World and make it part of the Supreme Plane."

"However, that condition is difficult to meet."

Chen Chuan's heart gave a sudden thump.

A plane merging into the Wizard World.

Becoming part of the Supreme Plane.

A corner of the thought he had suppressed for so long suddenly lit up in his mind.

So he could do more than just go back and see Blue Star.

He asked no more.

He stepped back into place.

He had already made a decision.

Kras looked with satisfaction at the seven people before him.

None of them looked at one another again. After that round of questions, they had probed what they needed to probe and tucked away what they needed to hide.

"In a moment, you will enter the Black Tower."

"The academies in the Black Tower can all meet your needs."

"Please follow your hearts and make your own choices."

His words fell.

The fog began to move.

It was no longer lifeless. It flowed slowly, circling them again and again, as though it had begun to breathe, or was waiting for an answer.

Seven people, seven directions.

Chen Chuan stood at the very edge, looking up at the churning gray-white.

He knew that once he took another step forward, there would be no turning back.

He clenched his hands.