Heat and pungent gases—Leo could sense the faint toxicity in the air. It was the perfect environment; his body would undergo the greatest evolution here.
Not one of the three essentials before training could be left out: poison, sealing his mana, and quadruple gravity.
As Leo lay bare-chested deep inside the cave, bored while waiting for his body to reach its limit, he took out the two wizard books Gavarci had given him and began reading.
He had had no time to read in the desert, but that was no problem here. With nothing to do but remain still, Leo had long since been unable to resist. Had he not feared that the excessive heat would affect the experiments, he would even have taken out the portable miniature laboratory he had bought before leaving.
While Leo immersed himself in an ocean of knowledge, the atmosphere in Tiyama's city lord's residence was no longer as relaxed as it had been a year ago.
The entire city was under martial law. All civilians had entered the town, and every soldier had taken to the walls fully armed. Streaks of light occasionally crossed the sky, and the soldiers on the walls watched with admiration and envy written across their faces.
Each streak of light signified the arrival of a mysterious wizard. In just a few days, more than thirty streaks had flown into Tiyama City.
All the civilians were immediately invigorated. They had never seen so many wizards in several lifetimes; this would give them enough to boast about for generations.
No matter how great the problem they faced now, with so many lord wizards present, it would be no problem at all.
Unlike the civilians' excitement and ease, the atmosphere in the city lord's residence was distinctly wrong.
The hall where they had once dined together was filled with more than twenty wizards. The eight wizard apprentices Leo had once met could now only stand outside the hall awaiting orders, along with over a dozen others.
Their auras carried traces of hardship and the scent of blood. Quite a few had unstable auras and were clearly injured. Though they already knew one another, all they could do now was exchange solemn nods in greeting.
All of them silently strained their ears, waiting for news from within the hall.
Had Leo been there, he would certainly have cried out in astonishment at the sight of them. All twenty-five wizard apprentices outside the hall were at the peak level.
Even peak wizard apprentices could only wait outside for orders; the situation inside the hall went without saying.
The twenty-odd people were all first-level wizards or higher. Gru, the level two body refinement wizard who had once held the highest rank, could now only sit among those below.
A wizard whose appearance could not be seen sat firmly in the highest seat. Even though he had already suppressed his aura, its power still reverberated through the hall, weighing heavily on every wizard's heart like a mountain.
As for Samatchi, Tiyama's city lord, his special status merely allowed him to stand bent over by the doorway.
Samatchi was already quite content to stand by the door and listen. Was he not the only wizard apprentice in the entire hall?
Samatchi was so cautious that he dared not raise his head. The person seated at the top was a figure from legend. He had never imagined that he would one day meet this legendary figure!!!
"Vice dean, there are fifteen invading wizards from the Black Skull Academy in total: ten wizard apprentices, three first-level wizards, and two level two wizards. All fifteen are elemental wizards."
"We have engaged them twenty-five times so far, killing three wizard apprentices and one first-level wizard. Our side has lost five wizard apprentices and two first-level wizards."
"The four cities of Tiyama, Kaliduo, Sailisi, and Maheili have lost over ten thousand people. All four cities have now gathered their populations within their walls, and the population losses have stopped."
"The food in the four cities will last three years. We have enough."
"We tried to communicate with the Black Skull Academy's wizards, but they ignored us and instead continued abducting civilians under twenty."
The wizards in the hall listened quietly to the reports. They had previously been scattered across the four cities, and this was their first time learning the details. Their expressions all grew grave.
They held the advantage of terrain, and their numbers were twice those of the Black Skull wizards, yet they had actually lost twice as many wizards as Black Skull had.
Most importantly, two first-level wizards had already fallen in just one year!
Combat of such intensity exceeded what some of the wizards had imagined!
This was not a campaign against another world. This was within the Wizard World, where so many great Stigmata Wizards were present. Such things rarely happened.
The wizards of the Purple Flame Wizard Academy had to delve deep into their memories, perhaps back several hundred years, to recall fighting of this intensity.
The Black Skull wizards truly deserved their reputation for combat. They could fight two against one and still kill their opponents!
The vice dean seated at the head nodded in acknowledgment, looking expressionlessly at the twenty-odd academy teachers below.
He had just come from the Purple Flame Academy to reassure everyone. Otherwise, if this continued, their Purple Flame Academy would collapse under the attacks despite its numerical advantage.
Seeing the teachers' hopeful gazes, the vice dean knew what they wanted to ask. He said, "This matter has already been reported to the great Purple Flame Stigmata Wizard, but the Purple Flame Stigmata Wizard is conducting an important experiment and has issued no specific orders."
As soon as the vice dean said this, the expressions of the wizards in the hall soured. This involved two academies, and both sides had suffered the deaths of first-level wizards. Without a Stigmata Wizard intervening, it could easily lead to all-out war.
At that point, it would no longer be a matter of a few first-level wizards. Even level two wizards might suffer casualties!
That would be nothing short of a disaster!
"As for why the Black Skull Academy has invaded our territory, the dean has already made inquiries with the neighboring wizard academies. According to them, the Black Skull Academy has invaded not only us, but them as well."
"To be precise, the Black Skull Wizard Academy has invaded five academies simultaneously. Just as with us, they have given no reason, and their primary aim is to abduct civilians under twenty."
"Our population losses are relatively small. The other four academies have already lost four hundred thousand people."
"Four hundred thousand?"
The number immediately brought cries of astonishment from throughout the hall.
They had lost only ten thousand people. Compared with four hundred thousand, that was indeed very few.
But an even greater question arose. Though civilians formed the foundation of every major academy's power, no academy lacked people. After all, the populations under their rule numbered in the hundreds of millions.
The Black Skull Academy was powerful, and its population was certainly larger than theirs. Why, then, would it come to their five academies to seize people?
"The Black Skull Academy has yet to respond to the five academies' demands for an explanation and is still abducting people."
"The dean and the other four academies have assessed the situation. Though the Black Skull Academy is stronger than us, attacking five academies simultaneously has required it to deploy almost all its wizards. You could say they are going all out to seize people."
The vice dean's information was a bolt from the blue. Major wars rarely occurred in the Wizard World, as the lord Stigmata Wizards maintained world peace through a tacit understanding.
The Black Skull Academy single-handedly invading five academies was something rarely seen in a thousand years. How could they not be astonished and shocked?
From their perspective, the Black Skull Academy had gone mad!
"Have the great Stigmata Wizards of the other four academies not asked about this?" a wizard asked.
Their Purple Flame Stigmata Wizard had no time, but surely the other four Stigmata Wizards could not all happen to be unavailable?
Hearing this question, the vice dean said somewhat helplessly, "Although there is no definite information, the dean suspects that the great Stigmata Wizards of those four academies have intervened, and may even have gone directly to the Black Skull Academy to demand an explanation in person. After all, their population losses far exceed ours."
"And the result?"
The vice dean shook his head. "I don't know, and neither does the dean."
"But the Black Skull Academy has not stopped its operations, so we can surmise that those demands did not have much effect."
At these words, the hall fell terrifyingly silent. If even intervention by four Stigmata Wizards had failed to stop the Black Skull Academy's operations, how could they stop them?
Sensing the low spirits in the hall, the vice dean continued, "There is no need to worry too much. Though the Black Skull Academy is powerful, dealing with five academies simultaneously has already committed all its strength. The opponents we must face will not outnumber us."
"Most importantly, we are not the Black Skull Academy's main target. We will not face too many wizards, and our academy has enough strength to handle them."
"Before I left, the dean was arranging for other teachers to reinforce us. Ten more teachers are expected to arrive in three days. If necessary, more teachers will follow."
"For these three days, we will not seek to kill the Black Skull Academy's wizards. We only need to keep them occupied. Once the reinforcements arrive in three days, we will utterly crush them with thunderous force."
"Yes, Vice Dean."
The dejected mood in the hall was immediately swept away. In three days, they would confront the Black Skull Academy's wizards with three times their strength. However powerful the Black Skull Academy's wizards might be, defeat was inevitable against three times as many opponents!
Soon, the wizards in the hall hurried away with the wizard apprentices outside. Only Gru and the vice dean remained unmoving in the hall.
Only after the other wizards had gone far away did the vice dean shed his earlier calm and ask Gru solemnly, "Wizard Gru, where is Leo now?"
"According to Ice Woman's report, Leo is training at the volcanic crater," Gru said.
"Go and bring him back. It does not matter how many civilians we lose. As long as nothing happens to Leo, that alone will be a great achievement."
After saying this, the vice dean waved his hand, and a miniature spell formation appeared in Gru's hand.
"These are my teleportation coordinates. If you encounter an opponent you cannot defeat, contact me immediately. I will teleport over at once," the vice dean said.
"Yes."
Not daring to waste any time, Gru strode out of the hall.
With an explosive boom, Gru broke the sound barrier and vanished into the sky.
As the vice dean watched Gru's aura rapidly recede, his heart inevitably grew somewhat heavy. The matter of Leo was of enormous importance. It could be said that his foremost task on this trip was to ensure Leo's safety.
This was not an order from the dean, but from the great Purple Flame Stigmata Wizard.
The great Purple Flame Stigmata Wizard had issued no orders regarding the Black Skull Wizard Academy's invasion, yet had immediately sent an order concerning Leo. Leo's importance went without saying. Even if every wizard present just now died, nothing could happen to Leo.
Before he left, the dean had even told him that if a wizard beyond their ability to withstand appeared, the Purple Flame Stigmata Wizard could personally descend!
The vice dean sighed inwardly, hoping fervently that such a situation would never arise. Otherwise, things would truly be beyond salvaging!