Apprentice War

Saine remained in the underground mines of the Blazing Stone Mountain Range for an entire month.

During that month, no outsiders disturbed Saine.

It seemed that, for the time being, no Advanced Apprentice or stronger from other academies had crossed the Apprentice Zone to cause trouble for Saine.

Following the normal course of a Regional Academy War, if Advanced Apprentices or stronger from other academies wanted to pick a fight with Saine, they would inevitably have to bring along a considerable number of mid- and low-level apprentice legions.

Cases like Saine's, where one person swept through several regions alone, were rare in every Regional Academy War.

Although Martinez from the previous session had been arrogant and powerful, he had not been like Saine, touring all five major regions in his very first year.

Indeed, every one or two hundred years, some exceptionally dazzling geniuses and Heaven's Chosen would always emerge.

But most of these geniuses referred to apprentices like Gade of the Great Earth Academy Holy Tower.

Such apprentices still mainly earned points through the conventional and normal methods of Regional War.

Apprentices like Saine and Martinez could only be called "anomalies."

And Saine was an anomaly even rarer and more extraordinary than Martinez.

That month did not help Saine resolve the golden glow emitted by his Holy Tower Badge.

Other than recharging the Sun's Eye Mask, repairing equipment such as the Earth Elemental Shield Ring, and restoring his magic power and Mental Strength to their peak condition.

During the latter half of the month, seeing that no apprentices from other academies had come to trouble him, Saine had a sudden idea. Using Blazing Stone and several other magical materials as raw ingredients, he made a batch of single-use consumable magic items.

The single-use magic item called the "Blazing Light Grenade" was an offensive magic item Saine created by taking the shells of the Simplified Magic Conductor Cannon as inspiration and a model.

The explosive power of the Blazing Light Grenades was roughly comparable to low- and mid-level magic.

After all, they were merely simple single-use magic items Saine had hastily developed over half a month. Their power could not possibly be too exaggerated.

The reason he had researched and created this batch of magic items was because the predicament he had encountered while being pursued before had given him inspiration.

An apprentice's Mental Strength and magic power limited Saine's magic; it could not be inexhaustible.

The seventy-two Sun's Eye Magic spells could indeed instantly kill anything, but once the enemy numbers grew too large, they could simply overwhelm Saine through sheer numbers.

With these Blazing Light Grenades, at least the next time Saine succeeded and retreated, when facing pursuit from apprentices outnumbering him by dozens or even hundreds of times, he would have other means to block and disrupt their attacks.

Saine was not afraid of one-on-one combat.

But war was not a stage for Saine alone. He deeply knew where his strengths and weaknesses lay.

One month later, Saine emerged from the Blazing Stone mine and quickly learned some news—the apprentices of the Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower had begun attacking the Azure Source Holy Tower's region.

The Large Resource Point Wind Howling Cliff on the East Side, along with more than a dozen surrounding medium and Small Resource Points, had all already seen the flames of war.

The attack from the Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower had come somewhat later than expected.

Facing the aggressive advance of the Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower, both Quasi-Magician Daniel and Advanced Apprentice Mark had prepared to reinforce Wind Howling Cliff.

Even the mid- and low-level apprentices were fired up. They had yet to realize the cruelty of the Regional Academy War and merely wanted to contribute to their academy.

"I'm going too," Saine replied calmly.

"The Blazing Stone Mountain Range, as a Large Resource Point, also needs someone to guard it."

"Since Apprentice Saine is so powerful and currently holds first place on the points ranking, why not have Apprentice Saine remain and guard the Blazing Stone Mountain Range?" Quasi-Magician Daniel said with a frown.

"Heh, if someone needs to stay behind, then you can stay."

"I heard that before the Regional Academy War began, during the pre-war training meeting, the dean and Grade Directors all mentioned that apprentices with lower strength in the Trial Space were to follow the command of upper-year apprentices and stronger apprentices. Is that right?" Saine said with a light chuckle.

Saine's words made Daniel's expression turn somewhat embarrassed and angry.

However, he did not retort. After letting out a cold snort, he left directly.

In the end, nearly five hundred apprentices, including Saine and Daniel, headed to reinforce Wind Howling Cliff.

Besides them, through contact via Crystal Balls, nearly two-thirds of the Intermediate Apprentices and above across the entire Azure Source Holy Tower Apprentice Zone had also begun moving toward the battle zone.

The remaining third stayed behind to guard against potential danger from the direction of the Secret Language Holy Tower to the west.

It was worth mentioning that the apprentices ultimately left to guard the Blazing Stone Mountain Range were led by Advanced Apprentice Mark and another Quasi-Magician whose name Saine had likewise never heard.

Since Advanced Apprentice Mark had entered the academy's top twenty Combat Power Ranking several years ago, and his personal strength even surpassed that of some Quasi-Magicians, he was clearly qualified to remain and guard the Blazing Stone Mountain Range.

In the end, Mark stood at the highest point of the Blazing Stone Mountain Range camp, watching Saine and the others head east with a complicated, indescribable look in his eyes.

Saine chose to go reinforce the apprentices at Wind Howling Cliff not merely because, as an apprentice of the Azure Source Holy Tower, he had to shoulder part of the responsibility and obligation.

More importantly, he had not become the slightest bit lax in earning points simply because of his current score.

After charging through the five major regions, Saine deeply knew that he was not the only powerful one in this Regional Academy War.

Aside from those top Quasi-Magicians, who could not be underestimated, Gade, the Heart of the Earth from the Great Earth Academy Holy Tower, was in fact a peak existence whose personal strength and abilities did not fall short of Saine's.

Gade was currently on the warfront between the Great Earth Academy Holy Tower and the Thunder Radiance Holy Tower. The Regional Academy War had been underway for less than a year, and at the other party's rate of earning points, his score might surpass Saine's at any time during the nearly two remaining years.

Therefore, Saine was unwilling to halt his hunt as well.

Since he had already reached first place, not continuing to strive and secure his position was not Saine's style.

Wind Howling Cliff lay northeast of the Azure Source Holy Tower Apprentice Zone. It was indeed the closest of the region's three Large Resource Points to the Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower.

The Azure Source Holy Tower Apprentice Zone was even somewhat smaller than that of the Secret Language Holy Tower.

With Saine traveling at full speed on the Metal Discs, he arrived outside Wind Howling Cliff in only ten days.

Quasi-Magician Daniel seemed somewhat unconvinced by Saine. This apprentice, who had mastered formidable wind-element magic, stubbornly kept steady behind Saine and did not fall behind.

The other several hundred apprentices traveling with them would likely need another ten days to half a month before they could arrive.

However, as the apprentice war at Wind Howling Cliff erupted, many other apprentices from nearby regions had already rushed over to provide support.

Saine and the others were not the first to arrive.

Outside Wind Howling Cliff, several thousand Undead Creatures and Dark Beings of various kinds marched forward with slow steps, launching an assault on the steep cliff.

And far behind these Undead Creatures, a dense mass of apprentices was casting magic.

At a rough glance, there seemed to be nearly three thousand Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower apprentices surrounding Wind Howling Cliff at this moment.