"A contract? What contract?" Leilin asked.
"First of all, you must not leak any knowledge related to advancing to a full
"Once you sign the contract, you will receive one First-level Spell Model and one standard portion of Green's Water from the Academy, free of charge!"
The Eye of Judgment — Leilin had read about it in an ancient text. It seemed to be an enormous rule-entity from another world, devoid of consciousness of its own. When Wizards signed important contracts, they liked to use it as a witness.
The binding force it imposed was the strongest among all known contracts, and it could not be undone.
Once such a contract was signed, as long as it fell within the hundred-year period, the Academy could send Leilin to his death, and he would have no choice but to go.
This kind of contract was essentially an otherworldly version of selling oneself into servitude, and its binding force was even more powerful.
Leilin rejected it without hesitation in his heart. He was someone who yearned for absolute freedom, and he instinctively felt a deep aversion to such constraints.
Of course, on the surface, Leilin still put on an expression of both temptation and inner struggle.
Finally, Leilin spoke up, his voice slightly hoarse: "Then! Did you also sign this kind of contract, Mentor?"
"That's right! And precisely because of it, I joined Black Bone Forest Academy and became one of its instructors!" Guofate gave a firm reply. "Actually, the Academy treats those of us full Wizards who join from outside quite well. It won't assign us missions that are particularly difficult or unreasonable!"
"Mentor, you asked me to come to the Academy now — there must be another way, surely?"
Leilin looked at Guofate expectantly.
Signing a contract for resources was merely the most common method, and it had nothing to do with the Academy's current crisis. Leilin naturally didn't believe that Mentor Guofate had called him over now just for this matter.
Hearing Leilin's words, a happy smile surfaced on Guofate's face. "As expected — you're just as shrewd as ever, your eyes full of wisdom once again. If only your aptitude weren't so average; your future achievements would absolutely surpass
Leilin had deliberately crafted the illusion that he was slightly inferior to Merlin for others to see. He offered a faint smile, said nothing, and continued listening to Mentor Guofate's explanation.
"Actually, the war of Black Bone Forest Academy hasn't ended yet!!!"
Guofate's words sent a shock through Leilin that made his hair stand on end.
"What?" Leilin shot to his feet in shock. "Wasn't it said that under the mediation of the Black Night Lighthouse, the war with Gothic Sage's Cottage and White Forest Castle had already ended?"
"The news isn't wrong, per se, but it's incomplete. The battles between full Wizards have ended, but among the apprentices, things are far from over!"
A bitter smile appeared on Guofate's face.
"The Black Night Lighthouse is indeed one of the South Coast's powerful forces, but it doesn't have absolute dominance. Behind Gothic Sage's Cottage and White Forest Castle, there are equally powerful Wizard forces backing them."
"Therefore, under the Black Night Lighthouse's mediation, while these two forces have stopped the war, they imposed a condition!"
"What condition?" Leilin had a vague suspicion that this had to be related to the Academy recalling its apprentices, but he asked anyway.
"The two forces demand that we recall all our apprentices and engage in a blood battle with their apprentices inside a Secret Realm!"
"A Secret Realm!? Blood battle!?"
For someone as rich in knowledge as Leilin, it only took a brief search through the Chip's database to find information on both terms.
A Secret Realm was originally a general term for regions that Wizards had deliberately isolated from the outside world using magic in order to protect their laboratories and resource points. Because the powerful magical effects on the outside of these Secret Realms made it completely impossible for apprentice-level Wizards to break through on their own, and in the case of some high-level Wizards' Secret Realms, even full Wizards who entered could perish within.
Over time, some Wizard factions would also join forces to use magic to create temporary Secret Realms for conducting various secret experiments and battles, among other things.
As for a blood battle — it was filled with meanings of madness and bloodshed.
In the world of Wizards, if the conflict between two Wizards escalated to an irreconcilable point and could only be resolved through death, they would conduct a blood battle under the supervision of a witness!!!
Before the blood battle, both parties would also sign a contract stipulating that after one side's death, family members, mentors, and friends could not seek direct revenge.