Time-Space Rift

Boom! The Fireball Spell exploded, tearing up a great swath of dirt and gravel across the training grounds.

The low-level apprentice standing opposite Saine let out a scream, then loudly surrendered and stumbled out of the combat area.

One of his arms had been charred and crippled by the power of Saine's Minor Fireball. That was the price the low-level apprentice paid for failing to challenge Saine.

The Black Wizard Academy had never believed in stopping at the right point. Apprentices were injured or killed at the drop of a hat, which also explained why batches of children with qualified Mental Strength arrived at the Black Wizard Academy every year, yet the academy's total number of apprentices never rose.

After Saine stepped onto the field, no apprentices came forward to challenge him for quite some time.

His fearsome reputation seemed to have directly secured him one of the top three spots.

But in this Black Wizard Academy, there were always some who did not fear death.

The one who had challenged Saine just now was one of them.

Weaker than Saine, he had ultimately paid with an arm, making Saine's already ferocious reputation even more formidable.

What made many of the Low-Level Apprentices watching this battle click their tongues in amazement was that Saine had never once drawn his trump-card short staff. With nothing more than his deft command of the Fireball Spell, he already stood out among those of the same level.

Over the past two months, Saine had continuously studied the two Magic Notebooks Mentor Moxidu had given him. Naturally, he had gained much from them.

Faster spellcasting, lower mana consumption, and Saine's own combat talent and sharp reflexes made defeating his opponent only natural.

And this was a one-on-one duel, not a gang fight.

For a magician, sometimes casting a spell faster than your opponent was enough to decide the outcome.

Saine had to thank Mentor Moxidu's Magic Notebooks, and he also had to thank Senior Sister Fei'er's private guidance.

Without them, he could never have made such obvious progress in just two months.

If Saine were to venture into the Saltwater Crocodile's territory again now, danger would still accompany him at every turn, but he would surely be far more composed than he had been two months ago.

His right hand beneath his black robe gripped his short staff tightly. As he used the Strong Acid Scepter to restore his Mental Strength and mana, Saine scrutinized the next opponent who might appear.

By custom, a low-level apprentice who won three consecutive matches could generally receive an academy reward.

Since not every low-level apprentice was willing to stake their life for that academy reward, Saine's sixth-place result last year had been his ranking after two wins and one loss.

Besides Saine's match, battles between other apprentices had also begun across the training grounds.

The area for Low-Level Apprentices was probably the least "worth watching" battlefield, because most of these apprentices knew only one spell. Those who knew two were already as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns.

What truly drew the attention of the several hundred apprentices in the training grounds were the battlefields occupied by Intermediate Apprentices and Advanced Apprentices.

The multicolored gleam of mana made these little ones, who had not spent long in the Underdark, unable to help but harbor hopes for the future and for power, even as they felt the crushing pressure of survival and the dangers lurking on all sides here.

Power was the driving force behind most apprentices' study of magic.

As for the "pursuit of Truth" and the "true essence of magic" Mentor Moxidu spoke of, very few truly understood them.

While the battles on the training grounds raged in full swing, the three Black Magicians in the stands ignored the casualties that had already appeared below and simply chatted among themselves.

In truth, it was mainly two of the Black Magicians gathered together in idle conversation. The other, a blue-haired man with an icy disposition, rarely spoke.

"Master Andis, I heard the Vice Deans discovered a Time-Space Rift in Shadow Valley. Is that true?" One of the two chatting Black Magicians finally could not hold back any longer and asked the blue-haired man, who had barely spoken from beginning to end.

Even among Formal Black Wizards, there were distinctions of rank and status. After all, this was the Underground World, where strength spoke.

Blue-haired Andis was a renowned powerhouse even among the Formal Black Wizards of the City of Mozhsuobula. According to rumors from certain Black Magicians, his strength was second only to the three Vice Deans.

The three Vice Deans were all powerful magicians of Level Two or above. Andis's life level likely had not yet reached Level Two, but since he possessed such a reputation, his strength had clearly reached the pinnacle, and he was likely at the peak of Level One.

Faced with the questions of the two Black Magicians beside him, Andis's icy eyes swept over them without a trace of emotion before he slowly said, "It is true. Vice Dean Lord Martin and Lady Qiongni are over there now."

"However, that Time-Space Rift is very small, and no one knows which Alien World it specifically connects to. Its development value has yet to be determined."

Andis apparently knew quite a few inside details. Everything he said was unknown to the two Black Magicians before this.

Upon hearing it, one of the Black Magicians said with obvious excitement on his face, "I hope it is a Demiplane worth developing. Our City of Mozhsuobula is simply too barren."

"If the Vice Deans had not strictly restricted our actions in recent years, I would have gone to the Surface World to pillage long ago."

"Those magic organizations and noble knights on the Surface World are rolling in wealth. Just find one who's alone and make a move..."

The Black Magician spoke excitedly. Perhaps he had been stifled underground for too long, but one piece of underworld slang unique to Black Magicians after another spilled from his mouth.

The Black Magician beside him nodded repeatedly as well, though he was somewhat more rational than this one.

Besides agreeing with the other man's words, he could not help adding, "We still need to be more careful when we act on the Surface World."

"Ordinary magician organizations and noble knights are one thing, but if we provoke the Holy Tower or the Knights' Hall..." His tone was filled with wariness toward the latter two.

Of course, beyond wariness, there was also an indescribable emotion brewing within him.

Especially at the mention of the words "Holy Tower."

Master Andis was not as bored as those two Black Magicians.

He did not enjoy indulging in baseless fantasies. Still, Master Andis was immensely interested in that Time-Space Rift as well, otherwise he would not have gathered and inquired about so much information.

"Do you think there might be a Complete Rule Plane behind that Time-Space Rift?" It was the relatively rational Black Magician from before who suddenly asked.

Yet those words made him seem not quite so "rational" after all.

A Complete Rule Plane was a world that nurtured countless living beings and possessed a sound system of laws.

Such a world, even the weakest Micro Plane, was not something a mere City of Mozhsuobula could covet.

Only the Holy Towers and Knights' Halls throughout the Wizard World possessed the ability to launch an assault upon an entire world.

The slave creature legions involved in such a war could number in the hundreds of thousands, or even the millions.

How many Formal Black Wizards did the City of Mozhsuobula even have?

Counting them all, there were only around twenty, fewer than thirty.

For strength like that to covet a Complete Rule Plane was no different from a fool dreaming in broad daylight.