Development Direction

Inside the Ancient Ruins.

Henry Hodgson quietly followed behind the Grants Academy students.

A large group of Navy Mages accompanied him.

In a deep voice, he said, "You saw it too. Those Uruk Kingdom students have been picking up treasures all the way in. As long as we kill every last one of them, those treasures will be ours!"

The accompanying Strategist said somewhat worriedly, "There's a Magus named Ivin Anxia among those students. She's rather strong..."

Henry sneered at that.

"Isn't that why I'm here?! I'll hold her off while you kill all those students! Don't tell me you're afraid of a bunch of greenhorns who've never seen a battlefield?"

The Strategist continued trying to dissuade him. "But if the Uruk Kingdom finds out, it'll be a disaster. Their Storm Mage can even strike down the King of Chaos."

Henry gritted his teeth. "Then I'll kill that Ivin too. I refuse to believe the Uruk Kingdom will still know it was us! There are countless mages inside the Ruins right now."

"No, Commander. They also have a Mysterious Curse Master. I heard his divination abilities are extremely powerful. He might be able to find out that we did it."

Henry felt like coughing up blood. He grabbed the Strategist by the collar and roared, "This won't do, that won't do—then tell me what will! I refuse to believe you don't want those treasures!"

Thinking of that blue-haired little girl's uncanny ability to pick up treasures just by walking around, the Strategist swallowed greedily and said, "We can tell the other mages that they have a huge amount of treasure. Let them attack the Glantz students. Once they're done fighting, we'll show up and wipe them all out. Then the Glantz students won't have been killed by us, and the Uruk Kingdom might even thank us!"

Henry's eyes lit up. "Right! Hah, you really are my Strategist. Devious enough. And you—cast some Shielding Magic on us. Don't let the Uruk Kingdom divine the truth!"

Before long, the group prepared to spread the news.

However, just as they dispersed, a blinding flame suddenly ignited in the humid space.

It happened far too suddenly. The magic equipment on Commander Henry's body could not hold out for even a second, nor could his flesh. He was burned away on the spot.

All the soldiers froze. Before panic could spread, flames rose from the Strategist beside him as well. He could not last even two seconds before vanishing from the face of the earth!

"A curse!"

"It's the Uruk Kingdom's Mysterious Curse Master! He saw through our plan!"

All the soldiers instantly fell into chaos, screaming and running about like headless flies. Hekate spared none of them, burning every last one to ash.

"Those who dare plot against my little disciple will end up like this."

Hekate roasted every Sierbon Soldier on the Star List and snorted.

"Still, they died a little too easily. That was letting them off cheap. The soldiers' crimes mean the King of Sierbon should get a taste too. I'll make you sick, so you'll remember this lesson."

Through Star Speech, Hekate learned the King of Sierbon's name and cast a Plague Curse on him.

This was an Archmage's curse. Anyone who was not an Archmage could forget about dispelling it.

The King of Sierbon had been enjoying himself with his concubines when he suddenly went limp and collapsed heavily onto the bed, unable to rise. The frightened concubines screamed.

A severe illness struck without warning.

Half a month later, the Ancient Ruins had been emptied out. The Grants Academy students returned laden with spoils, and Teacher Emand was delighted as well. He had not taken any treasures; instead, he had dismantled and taken down the murals.

The other students of ancient history had also collected plenty of records of civilization from the Ruins.

Furia returned soon afterward.

She brought over a beautiful Small Crystal Ball and said, "Teacher Hekate, Sister Betty told me that you like divination. I found this crystal ball in the Ruins. It's for you."

Hekate took it and examined it. It was only an exquisitely made crystal ball with no special effects, but in consideration of her little disciple's thoughtfulness, she accepted it with a smile.

Furia had also brought back many ancient Mermaid Baby toys for Little Bubble to play with.

Before long, Teacher Ivin arrived.

"That Ancient Ruins was a Mermaid Ruins from a very long time ago." Teacher Ivin's eyes gleamed.

After more than a year of cultivation following the previous war, Teacher Ivin had also broken through to become a 2-star Magus.

She was the second strongest fighter in the Academy.

The strongest was naturally Dean Ornis. His Magic Aptitude was far higher than Teacher Ivin's. Among all the teachers, Teacher Ivin's aptitude could only be considered average; she had purely relied on her long lifespan to reach this point.

However, Teacher Ivin was much prettier than Dean Ornis.

"Looks like Teacher Ivin made a major discovery?" Hekate smiled.

"Mm... I wouldn't call it a major discovery. Through those murals, I learned that their race believed the Magic Concentration between heaven and earth was rapidly declining. The human empires had even invented devices that gathered magic power, making the magic power throughout the world even thinner. This was extremely detrimental to their race's growth, so they went elsewhere."

"That place was very strange. They only mentioned two words: 'Creation.'"

"I don't know whether they got it wrong." Teacher Ivin shook her head.

Naturally, the magic world had mythological tales too, including beings such as creator gods. But the Creation mentioned by the ancient Mermaid race definitely had nothing to do with the creator god of those myths. If one could create the world, would one care about declining Magic Concentration?

So, this Creation meant the next Magic Level after Archmage—the Creation Level that Elisa had once mentioned.

Elisa stood above an Archmage. She was only one step away from breaking through to Creation Level, but that single step had held her back for decades, and she had not found the slightest method of breaking through.

Hekate said, "That is the level after Archmage. Perhaps someone among the ancient Mermaid race became a Creation Mage and led them away."

Teacher Ivin's bright emerald eyes immediately dimmed. Speechlessly, she said, "I'm not even an Archmage. How am I supposed to break through to Creation?"

"Hekate, it's up to you!" Teacher Ivin quickly placed a hand on Hekate's shoulder, as though entrusting her with some great mission.

Hekate: "..."

Another half month passed.

Hekate's magic power reached the limit of a 2-star God of Magic, and she helplessly emerged from her Meditation State.

This feeling was exactly the same as when she had reached the magic power limit of a 1-star God of Magic. It seemed she still needed to find a way to develop her Divine Spark.

Elisa had been able to break through so smoothly because she had always walked the path of the Empress. She had never stopped or taken the wrong path, which was why she had smoothly broken through beyond Archmage.

Hekate, however, was different. Her path had barely developed at all. She had entirely relied on her life experiences from her previous life to condense her Divine Spark and take the first step.

"It's far too difficult to turn this world into one of universal harmony." Hekate rested her chin on her hand and thought. Reforming the existing monarchic system so thoroughly could not be done overnight. Just like Elisa, her path to becoming Empress had not been achieved in a single stroke.