Chapter 83: Blood Battle in the Secret Realm "A contract? What contract?"
Raylin asked.
"First, you cannot reveal any knowledge related to promotion to formal
"After signing the contract, you will receive one first-rank spell model and one standard dose of Green Water from the Academy, free of charge!"
The Eye of Judgment — Raylin had read about it in an ancient text. It appeared to be a massive rule-entity from another world, possessing no 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 this kind of contract was signed, as long as it fell within the hundred-year time frame, even if the Academy ordered Raylin to go to his death, he would have no choice but to comply.
This kind of contract was essentially a version of a bill of sale from another world, only far more binding.
In his heart, Raylin rejected it without a moment's hesitation. He was someone who yearned for absolute freedom — he found this sort of constraint instinctively repugnant.
Of course, on the surface, Raylin still put on a show of being deeply tempted while struggling with the decision.
Finally, he spoke, his voice slightly hoarse: "Then! Did you also sign this kind of contract, Mentor?"
"That's right! Precisely because of it, I joined Black Bone Forest Academy and became one of its instructors!" Guofate gave a definitive answer. "In truth, the Academy treats us formal Wizards who join from the outside quite well. They don't assign us any particularly difficult tasks!"
"Mentor, you must have had another way in mind when you asked me to come to the Academy now?"
Raylin looked at Guofate with hope.
Signing a contract to obtain resources was merely the most common method, and it had nothing to do with the Academy's current crisis. Raylin naturally didn't believe that Mentor Guofate had asked him to come now just for this.
Hearing Raylin's words, a pleased smile spread across Guofate's face. "As expected — you're as shrewd as ever, with eyes full of wisdom. If not for your rather average aptitude, your future achievements would absolutely surpass
The illusion that Raylin was slightly inferior to Merlin was something he had deliberately created for others to see. Raylin smiled faintly, said nothing, and continued listening to Mentor Guofate's account.
"In truth, the war at Black Bone Forest Academy is far from over!!!"
One sentence from Guofate made Raylin's hackles stand on end.
"What?" Raylin shot to his feet in shock. "I was told that under the mediation of the Night Lighthouse, the war with Gothic Sage's Cottage and White Forest Castle was already over!"
"That news isn't exactly wrong, but it's incomplete. The fighting between official Wizards has ended, but the conflict among apprentices is far from over!"
A bitter smile appeared on Guofate's face.
"The Night Lighthouse is one of the South Coast's most powerful factions, but it's not the only game in town. Behind both Gothic Sage's Cottage and White Forest Castle, there are Wizard powers that rival the Night Lighthouse in strength."
"So, under the Night Lighthouse's mediation, these two factions agreed to stop the war — but they imposed a condition!"
"What condition?" Raylin had a vague suspicion that this had to do with the Academy recalling its apprentices, but he asked anyway.
"The two factions demand that we recall all of our apprentices and engage their apprentices in a Blood Duel — inside a Secret Realm!"
"A Secret Realm!? A Blood Duel!?"
For Raylin, whose knowledge base was exceedingly vast, a quick search through the Chip's database was all it took to pull up information on both terms.
A Secret Realm was originally a general term for places that Wizards had deliberately isolated from the outside world using magic in order to protect their laboratories and resource sites.
Because powerful magical barriers surrounded these Secret Realms, apprentice-level Wizards had absolutely no way to break through on their own. Some Secret Realms belonging to high-ranking Wizards were so dangerous that even official Wizards who entered would perish within.
Over time, certain Wizard factions had also begun combining their magic to form temporary Secret Realms for conducting covert experiments, battles, and the like.
As for the Blood Duel — the name spoke for itself, steeped in madness and carnage.
In the world of Wizards, when two Wizards reached a point of irreconcilable conflict that could only be ended by death, a Blood Duel would be held under the supervision of witnesses!!!
Before the duel, both parties would sign a binding contract stipulating that once one side perished, no family members, mentors, or friends could seek direct retaliation.
It was essentially a form of duel, but with the force of magic backing it, the contract became unbreakable. It was the preferred method for many respectable Wizards to resolve life-or-death disputes without letting the fighting escalate into full-scale war.
"So the Academy recalled us apprentices because..."
Raylin suddenly realized that his throat felt painfully dry, like that of a man on the verge of dying of thirst.
"Because when the contract was being signed, the opposing side summoned the Eye of Judgment as a witness. Our Black Bone Forest Academy has no choice but to follow the contract to the letter. If we don't, every single one of our mentors — including the Headmaster himself — will have their souls cast into eternal oblivion..."
"It's not just you this time. Even the other genius apprentices with fifth-rank talent — including your senior brother Merlin — must participate in this Blood Battle. And the apprentices from all three academies will be in the same location..."
"Wait — you mean the apprentices from the other two academies will team up to attack our Black Bone Forest Academy!"
Raylin felt dizzy. Black Bone Forest Academy's apprentices had already suffered devastating casualties in this war. Gothic Sage's Cottage and White Forest Castle were both powers on the same tier as Black Bone Forest Academy — in a Blood Battle between any one of them and Black Bone Forest, the odds were already fifty-fifty, let alone if both joined forces.
And what remained of Black Bone Forest's apprentices was probably less than half their normal numbers.
"This is insane! How could the Academy accept these terms?"
"We have no choice — our Academy is at a disadvantage. Gothic Sage's Cottage and White Forest Castle want to wipe out our apprentices in one stroke, creating a gap in Black Bone Forest Academy's lineage!!" Guofate said with a bitter smile. "Besides, neither our apprentices nor those of the hostile factions will be permitted to carry any items with the combat power of a formal Wizard. This will be written into the mystical realm's magical defense program — any tool exceeding apprentice-level combat power will be automatically repelled the moment it touches the realm barrier..."
"Can I leave now?" Raylin clung to the last sliver of hope.
"What do you think?" Guofate gave Raylin a deep look, the unspoken meaning sending a chill down his spine.
"Fine!" Raylin sat down in immediate resignation. "You've finished with the bad news, right? There has to be some good news in there somewhere!"
"You brat!" A hint of a smile squeezed onto Guofate's face as he shook his head. "Before the Blood Battle, the Academy will hold a competition with very generous rewards. On top of that, the pay for all kinds of tasks has been doubled, and the Spell Models and potions at the Academy counter have been drastically marked down..."
"Boost the apprentices' strength as much as possible before the Blood Battle?" Raylin thought to himself. He was an optimistic person, and he had already vaguely guessed this outcome, so he wasn't as shocked as he appeared. With no path of retreat left, his mind immediately began racing.
"All of this has nothing to do with advancing to a formal Wizard. Last time, my mentor told me through the transmission that there was a method to advance to a formal Wizard — could it be in the Blood Battle?"
"Exactly! The Academy has issued a Blood Vengeance mission for all you third-rank Apprentices, demanding that during the Blood Battle, you slaughter the enemy's apprentices to your heart's content!!!"
For the first time, a look of frenzy surfaced on Guofate's normally wise and composed face.
"We've marked the enemy apprentices with Contribution Points. Kill a First-rank Apprentice and you earn one Contribution Point — three for a Second-rank Apprentice, ten for a Third-rank. For other named apprentices, we each have corresponding prices."
An indescribable relish crept into Guofate's voice. "The rewards for this mission are extraordinarily generous. As long as you earn enough Contribution Points, you can redeem them for anything — whether it's a Tier-1 Spell Defense Model or Greene Water!"
"This is also the only method of obtaining advancement resources without having to sign a contract!"
"I see..." Raylin closed his eyes, quietly turning his mentor's words over in his mind.
On the surface, Raylin's expression was perfectly calm. In reality, his brain was already churning through calculations, and the Chip ceaselessly simulated countless scenarios, projecting them before his eyes.
A few minutes later, Raylin stood once more and gave Mentor Guofate a slight bow. "If there is nothing else, please allow me to take my leave!"
"Where are you going?" His student's response once again left Guofate somewhat stunned.
"To the Academy's trading district and the counters, of course!"
Raylin bowed once more, and after receiving Mentor Guofate's permission, took his leave.
Walking along the now much quieter Academy roads, Raylin had much on his mind. First and foremost, escaping under the surveillance and pursuit of the Academy's official Wizards was something that should have been utterly impossible.
Raylin considered it for only a moment before casting the idea of fleeing again out of his mind.
The reason he had managed to escape successfully last time was partly due to Guofate's guidance and his own abilities, but the biggest factor was that the Academy had intentionally let him leave. Otherwise, whether back then or now, Raylin couldn't even have made it out of the Academy's main gate.
"Compared to fighting official Wizards, battling the other Apprentices seems like it holds at least a slimmer chance of hope — though the situation is still just as grim!"
Raylin made his way to the Academy's trading district, where the number of Apprentices was marginally greater than in the other areas. However, many of them wore looks of distress on their faces, clearly having received the news about the upcoming Blood Duel as well.
Raylin first stopped by Wus's shop to take a look, but the small wooden hut from before had completely vanished — he had no idea whether the fat man Wus had died or escaped.
Raylin let out a disappointed sigh. After purchasing all the urgently needed materials at the trading district, he headed over to the Spell Model sales counter.