Plane War

"This was the true revelry of wizards. We would plunder resources, plunder truth, plunder knowledge, plunder living beings—everything would be ours..."

Krite's eyes gleamed with excitement. He could hardly wait to obtain more resources and knowledge from other planes.

"It really makes one impatient, Teacher. But why are you bringing me along?"

Thinking of the impending planar invasion war and the vast quantities of resources and knowledge, Taylor found it difficult to suppress his excitement and exhilaration.

Still, he had some idea of the situation. A planar invasion led primarily by wizards was not something a Level 3 Wizard Apprentice like him could interfere with.

Hearing Taylor's question, Krite, who was directing Butler to pack all manner of supplies and tools, patiently explained:

"This is an old tradition of the White Tower Alliance. Any wizard apprentice with potential can be brought to the battlefield of a planar invasion war, where they can earn resources and knowledge through their own efforts. More importantly, they can adapt to war."

"After all, some talented wizard apprentices will become wizards. And as long as they are wizards, they will participate in wars of planar invasion."

After saying that, Krite beckoned for Taylor to follow. Behind them, Butler carried a large chest filled with all kinds of tools, Construct Puppets, and more.

Taylor followed behind Krite as the two entered a room in the Wizard Tower specifically meant for teleportation. Spatial teleportation was one of the Wizard Tower's basic functions, and it could even cross planes. The capability represented the wizards' ingenious application of space.

However, without coordinates, such teleportation was nothing more than blind fumbling. Yet during the early development of Wizard Civilization, the coordinates of many planes had indeed been forcibly explored through methods that were practically reckless.

The two men and one puppet stepped into a hexagram-shaped spatial magic array. The Elemental Pool at the base of the Wizard Tower drew vast amounts of elemental magic power, converted it into spatial magic power, and fed it into the array. Blue light flashed, and the two men and puppet vanished from the formation.

Deep within Taylor's Mental Space, the point of light representing his ability also trembled violently, as if it were drawing spatial magic power from the magic array. Yet Krite noticed nothing at all.

When they appeared again, they were standing atop a magnificent city. Their current location was the plaza at its very center.

Taylor looked up and discovered that the sky was completely black. The city was protected by a circular magical barrier.

"Huh? Strange. Why did this spatial teleportation consume so much energy?"

Beside Taylor, Wizard Krite noticed that the spatial teleportation array beneath their feet was flickering with light at an unusual frequency.

It looked as though it had consumed too much energy and was running short.

That was truly strange. He had only teleported two people and one puppet. How could it have consumed so much?

Could someone have devoured his energy? It had consumed one-third of the Elemental Pool's energy. Under normal circumstances, that would have been enough for dozens of teleports.

Whoever did it had a real black hand.

Bastard!

Somewhat displeased, Krite saw his most valued apprentice, Taylor, staring up at the pitch-black sky. He patted Taylor on the shoulder and introduced the place to him.

"Although Wizard Towers can also perform cross-planar teleportation for the purposes of invasion wars, what White Wizards truly prefer to use are Floating Cities."

"What we are standing on now is a Floating City. On one hand, it enhances the power of wizards' spells. On the other, it can carry vast numbers of Stitched Beasts and Puppet Legions, which serve as the main force in war."

As he spoke, Krite led his apprentice Taylor to a seemingly plain tower and explained to him:

"These ordinary-looking towers are the resting quarters the Floating City has arranged for official wizards like us. They have another purpose as well: wizards inside can manipulate magic arrays to attack and defend."

Through Krite's introduction, Taylor gradually came to understand what kind of war behemoth a Floating City was. The entire Floating City remained adrift beyond the crystal wall system of the Wizard Plane.

The purpose was to make cross-planar teleportation more convenient. The Floating City was divided into two parts: the upper half was where wizards and their apprentices were stationed, while the lower half housed vast numbers of Stitched Beasts and Puppet Legions.

Once a planar invasion began, the Floating City would gather tremendous energy for spatial teleportation, break through the target plane's crystal wall system, and then launch a full-scale invasion with the Floating City at its center.

If powerful natives came to attack the Floating City, the wizards could either personally meet them in battle or control the many magic arrays within the city to repel them.

It could be said that the Floating City was a supreme weapon designed specifically for war.

Directly beneath the tower where Krite and Taylor were stationed lay an enormous underground space. This space was filled with the Puppet Legion personally created by Wizard Krite, including Elemental Golems as well as Magic Mechs developed with inspiration from Taylor.

The chest on Butler's back contained genuine Construct Puppets capable of matching Level 1 Wizards. They were also part of the powerful force Wizard Krite had built for himself.

Aside from the two Construct Puppets used to guard the entrance and put on a show, Wizard Krite had brought seven Construct Puppets on this trip, including Butler himself. In other words, he alone was equivalent to eight Level 1 Wizards.

Back in their temporary resting room, Taylor gazed through the window at the pitch-black sky and the various buildings within the Floating City. Emotion surged in his chest, and he could not help letting out a sigh.

"Wizards truly are terrifying..."

He believed that what he had seen today was still only the tip of the iceberg of Wizard Civilization.

As Taylor was filled with emotion, Kano's voice rang out in his mind.

"Such a civilization is indeed terrifying, but it also suits your wishes, doesn't it, Taylor? From the moment you gained your ability, you should have understood that a path filled with plunder is the path wizards like us ought to walk."

Even now, Kano had not abandoned his convictions.

Taylor had lost count of how many times he had heard words like that.

He was merely an ordinary wizard apprentice who had encountered a little good fortune and thirsted for knowledge. Why did Kano insist on turning him into some Great Demon King-like figure every day?

"Kano, I have already learned how to split off a portion of my mental power. When the time comes, I will place you inside a Magic Mech. How much you can accomplish after that will depend on you."

As a profession most skilled in researching mental power, wizards had their own records regarding the many changes in mental power, even including split personalities. They had also developed all sorts of methods and techniques.

From Krite's library, Taylor obtained a method for separating part of his mental power and attaching it to a puppet. It was a technique created by a puppet scholar wizard who also suffered from split personality disorder.

Taylor chose this method because Kano was still better than him at making use of and adapting to the various dark circumstances and underhanded methods of war, although Taylor did not reject such things himself.

Only the right professional could fully display his abilities.

"Hehehehe, don't worry. I really like to 'play.'"

Kano knew what releasing him into such a war would be for: slaughter, sabotage behind enemy lines, sowing discord, and the like. Put simply, he would be doing the dirty work. He did not reject it. He even enjoyed it.

Please bookmark, vote, and spread the word.