Clearing the Field

Black Isotta Wizard Academy sat in one corner of the Wizard Continent. To the east lay the vast, mysterious Seven-Ring Holy Tower of the Wizard Continent, cut off by the Thorned Bramble Forest; to the west lay a stretch of the endless ocean called the Gem Sea, likewise blocked by the Black Isotta Mountains.

Thus, Black Isotta was a relatively open and independent wizard academy.

Of course, the so-called barriers of the Thorned Bramble Forest and the Black Isotta Mountains were only barriers to ordinary wizard apprentices. To full-fledged wizards who had mastered the ability to fly, they did not pose much of an obstacle.

Half a month later, Green had finally made a full round of Black Isotta Wizard Academy and could be considered to have truly understood the layout and planning of this wizard academy.

Generally speaking, Black Isotta was the true core of the entire wizard academy, but for ordinary wizard apprentices, only the lower seven floors of Black Isotta were open to the public. The nearly hundred floors above remained in a state of absolute secrecy, and only those powerful wizards could enter and leave.

Apart from Black Isotta, the wizard academy had three major gathering places for the vast number of wizard apprentices: the teaching hall, the library, and the bounty loft.

Today was Black Isotta Wizard Academy's once-in-a-decade apprentice enrollment day, and also the unified enrollment day for all wizard academies on the Wizard Continent.

Generally speaking, every wizard academy had its own sphere of influence. According to the strength of the academy, it obtained a corresponding territory, then within its own sphere of influence, selected students with the qualifications to become wizard apprentices.

But clearly, Black Isotta Wizard Academy was not a place that recruited students according to convention or reason. Perhaps it was because, compared to ordinary wizard academies, it was far too powerful.

Crowds of bustling new initiates entered the academy under the guidance of the older generation of wizard apprentices.

With seven parts curiosity and three parts pride, the newcomers took a hurried look at the many buildings inside the academy, pointing and whispering. Some even spouted grand ambitions, saying they would definitely become some great Stigmata Wizard or other...

The members of the Blood Sail Alliance also followed among the newcomer ranks as a formality.

Only, compared to these surrounding newcomers selected from the native lands of the Wizard Continent and arriving here for the first time, the members of the Blood Sail Alliance seemed much calmer. Having gone through a cruel baptism, they seemed to see in these newcomers the same arrogant, world-defying selves they had once been—so conceited and ignorant, so childish and ridiculous.

On the smooth marble square, thousands upon thousands of newcomers stood neatly in formation.

On the towering ceremonial platform, more than a dozen wizards of all shapes and forms sat casually. All wizards seemed to like concealing their bodies beneath broad robes, hiding their secrets.

Among wizards, there were none of those numerous etiquette-laden courtesies that nobles had, especially when high-level wizards dealt with low-level wizards. Their words often carried the attitude of instructions and commands, and this was only natural under the rules of the Wizard Continent.

The wizard world measured time using hourglasses and natural days, though there were also places that used mechanical clocks, counting by hours and minutes.

One natural day equaled twelve hourglasses. Compared to the hour-based timekeeping of East Coral Island, it was more or less one hourglass equaling two mechanical-clock hours.

After three-quarters of an hourglass, the dozen or so wizards on the platform, each with different voices, explained the general rules of Black Isotta Wizard Academy, as well as the various tasks and tests wizard apprentices needed to complete.

Combining this with what had happened on the ocean liner, the members of the Blood Sail Alliance no longer held any naive fantasies about Black Isotta Wizard Academy.

Green summed it up.

Overall, Black Isotta gave newly enrolled initiates a three-year preferential period, but this so-called preferential period was nothing more than a pitiful subsidy of two magic stones per month and a period without compulsory missions.

Three years later, there would be a newcomer trial mission.

Green could figure it out with his toes: this so-called trial mission would absolutely and easily filter out the majority of trash the academy deemed unqualified.

As for the use of magic stones?

Green still did not know the most fundamental use of this stone filled with magical energy, but for the many newcomers in the wizard academy, almost everything that improved strength was tied to magic stones.

For example, borrowing a wizard book from the library for one week required one magic stone, attending a wizard's lecture required half a magic stone per class, purchasing experimental materials would devour any number of magic stones, and if one had more than enough magic stones, a wizard apprentice could even privately ask certain wizards questions, request instruction, or even purchase precious magical wizard tools...

In short, for wizards, magic stones circulated even more readily than the gold coins used among commoners. Everything was because magic stones had actual value; they were indispensable consumables for all wizards.

One hourglass later.

For wizards, whose time was precious, facing a group of ignorant wizard apprentices was truly meaningless and a waste of time. The assembly ended.

However, at the final moment, the wizards finally announced a piece of good news.

"The academy will provide every wizard apprentice with a crystal ball free of charge, as well as the Seven-Magnet Basic Wizard Knowledge Popularization Course. This is the favor bestowed upon you by the great Seven-Ring Holy Tower."

A crystal ball? A wizard knowledge popularization course? The Seven-Ring Holy Tower?

Just as Green was feeling greatly surprised by the crystal ball and the basic wizard knowledge popularization course, the unfamiliar term Seven-Ring Holy Tower caught his attention.

Three days later.

Green, the Yorkris siblings, and Binhanson had taken front-row seats in Teaching Hall Nine early. Since the instructor had not yet arrived, everyone was noisy and rowdy, and Binhanson, that chatterbox who had briefly teamed up with other squads on the ocean liner, began tormenting Green again.

"I'll tell you a secret. Those owls in the academy actually aren't owls at all. I secretly heard from a senior that those owls are the eyes and ears of the law enforcement team. They're the academy's guardians!"

After pausing, Binhanson proudly licked his lips and continued, "Also, supposedly there are two places in this academy that newcomers absolutely must not go. In one place, they say all sorts of strange and bizarre things often happen, and the other place is basically a wizard apprentice arena!"

"Strange things?"

Green thought for a moment. These so-called strange things were probably just the ignorance and fear low-level wizards had toward the knowledge of higher-level wizards.

As for that wizard apprentice arena, Green had also heard about it.

Although Black Isotta Wizard Academy explicitly stipulated that killing within the academy was prohibited, it had never truly forbidden it.

The academy had two unspoken rules.

First, if the method of killing could escape the law enforcement team's monitoring, then the victim had died in vain, and no one would investigate it at all. Black Isotta truly lacked sympathy for the weak.

Second, there was a place called the Desolate Yard.

The law enforcement team was only responsible for collecting corpses there, not for pursuing responsibility, so it was also called the wizard apprentice arena.

On the other side, seeing that Green seemed somewhat unconvinced there really were strange incidents in the academy, Binhanson hurriedly said, "It's true. Supposedly, not only newcomers like us encounter strange things there. Even those lofty wizards encounter them, and they can't stop the strange things from happening at all."

Looking at Binhanson's solemn, sworn-guarantee manner, as if the matter truly existed, Green grew somewhat curious too and asked, "Where?"

"Heh-heh, I knew you'd ask. It's at that abandoned water tower on the south side of the academy. But these strange things only happen at night, and only when you're alone. If you're interested, you can sneak over and take a look tonight..."

Binhanson egged Green on, but Green neither agreed nor disagreed.

Deep down, however, Green did not believe in this so-called strange affair, though he did not dare investigate it rashly either.

Before they knew it, the seats in the hall had already been packed full by the many newcomers. On this side, Green and Binhanson were quietly discussing what they had heard about the academy, while Lafi and the Yorkris siblings were whispering to each other on the other side.

Just then, an abrupt voice suddenly rang out.

It belonged to a girl dressed in gorgeous clothing, her bearing elegant. Unlike the many wizard apprentices, she had not imitated those wizards by buying a broad robe to wear.

The girl had short purplish-brown hair, and on her forehead was a circlet of alternating red and blue gemstones. The delicate purple-black patterns adorning her dress were filled with an air of nobility, elegance, and mystery, accentuating her graceful figure; her snow-white skin was like paper from a painting.

This girl absolutely had an extraordinary background!

Because the noble air that unconsciously flowed from her far surpassed even the former Lafi.

Of course, in the academies of the Wizard Continent, there was no difference between commoners and nobles. The only things that distinguished wizards were knowledge and power.

At this moment, this elegant girl said somewhat angrily to the boy behind her, who was fawning over her like a lackey, "Nine halls in a row without a single seat? Didn't you say there were often plenty of empty seats here? You weren't in any hurry the whole way!"

The boy looked a little embarrassed.

According to the information he had gathered, in previous years it was already quite good if the newcomers filled eight lecture halls. Who would have thought that this batch of newcomers would pack nine lecture halls to the brim, and that there would even be quite a few people outside who simply could not get in?

For a moment, the boy paid the price for his poor information.

His face darkened. The boy absolutely refused to admit his mistake and incompetence in front of the girl. Thinking of this, he turned his gaze toward Yorklianna nearby.

Sure enough, anyone could tell who was weak. Whether on the sea liner or in the wizard academy, Yorklianna's frail temperament would never make anyone fear her.

"You two! Move."

The boy pointed at Yorklianna and Yorkris and shouted. In his mind, Yorkris was probably Yorklianna's suitor.

As he spoke, the boy glanced behind him. After that glance, several people stood up from the back rows of the hall. These people seemed to come from the same region as the boy, and they all walked over, glaring with shared hatred at the somewhat panicked Yorklianna.

Bang!

Slamming the table, Lafi shot to her feet in a towering rage, her eyes practically spitting fire as she looked at the boy. "Are you talking to us?"

Those icy words were practically squeezed out from between Lafi's teeth. One could imagine just how furious Lafi was at this moment.

There was almost no need to say anything more. After a month of fighting together on the sea liner, Green and Binhanson also stood up, while Yorkris was even more furious, blowing his beard and glaring as he roared, "Make us leave? What the hell do you think you are?"

That shout made nearly everyone in the hall focus their attention over here.

Beside Yorkris sat an unfamiliar boy wearing a pair of black-rimmed glasses, looking refined and scholarly.

When the boy saw that Green and the others actually dared to shout at these menacing people, he quickly shifted his body aside and drew a clear line between himself and Yorkris, while sighing inwardly, What a bunch of people who can't read the situation.

His stinging gaze made it seem as though looking at Green and the others was no different from looking at dead men.

Beside this boy with glasses, another girl covered her mouth, a trace of pity appearing in her eyes as she looked at Green and the others.

On the other side, when the boy who had called several people over to back him up heard Yorkris's roar, he was also stunned for a moment.

However, what followed was towering fury!

His eye was very sharp. Almost at a glance, he could tell that among these people, aside from Lafi, who might have a slightly better background, the others all exuded a "lowborn" stink from their bones.

And now, these lowborn scum actually dared defy him!

And they had made him lose face in front of her!

The anger pent up in his chest nearly drove the boy mad. This boy, fully one meter ninety tall, looked down at Green and the others. "You lot, kneel on the floor and slap your own mouths right now. Maybe if I'm in a good mood, I'll let you off. Otherwise, I swear, here... heheh, you definitely won't live past half a year!"

The boy's heart was filled with incomparable rage and malice.

A few lowborn wretches actually dared offend him. No, he had to consult that senior and ask what method to use to get rid of these lowborn wretches!

"Won't live past half a year? Heheh... fine!"

Lafi laughed from sheer fury. "I'd like to see just how you'll make us fail to live past half a year!"

After saying this, Lafi actually stopped being angry. She sat down in her chair and simply stared straight at the boy before her, who was likewise going mad with rage.

"Fine, since you're courting death..."

The boy was just about to speak viciously when, suddenly, with a crisp smack, a resounding slap struck his face hard. The boy turned back in disbelief to look at the friend who had slapped him, his furious face flushed red and veins bulging.

The friend who had slapped him also panicked and explained, "It wasn't me. Just now, I felt like I was being controlled. It must have been..."

At this moment, in the vast lecture hall, a full seventy or eighty people actually stood up without a word. Every one of them wore an astonishing baleful air on their faces. They occupied a full half of the hall and surrounded these dozen or so people, staring coldly at the arrogant fellow who had targeted Green and the others.

The lightsword caster Amlund and the one-armed control caster walked over side by side. The control caster frowned and said, "There's only one-tenth of an hourglass left before class begins."

Amlund, however, gave a light laugh, playing with the exquisite ring on his hand as he said coldly, "That's enough."

Then Amlund shouted into the lecture hall without the slightest emotion, "The Blood Sail Alliance is clearing the place. Anyone who doesn't want trouble, leave at once!"