A deafening explosion rang out, tongues of bright yellow flame shooting in all directions and scorching the surrounding ground black.
At the very center of the blast, a pit several meters wide and a meter deep had already formed.
The soil was upturned, and scattered across the ground were streaks of black blood, severed limbs, and fragments of organs and bones. The violent inferno had almost obliterated their original shapes, making Leilin spend considerable effort to fish out a few badges from the wreckage.
"One Third-rank! Two Second-ranks! Not a bad haul! The trigger traps made from Explosive Potions really do work!"
Leilin was fairly pleased with his results. This was one of several plans he had devised — using his Mimicry Spell to disguise himself as a First-rank Apprentice as bait, luring enemy apprentices into position, and then springing a trap to finish them off.
With the Chip providing detection, every one of Leilin's "hunts" had concluded flawlessly, without any interruptions.
"Almost there!" Leilin tucked the badges away.
He had to collect enough badges before the enemy forces assembled in force, then go into hiding until the blood battle ended.
To that end, after making one attempt to kill an apprentice using a brief Mimicry Spell and earth spikes, Leilin deliberately began avoiding the use of his own Spiritual Power and magic, relying instead on potions and scrolls for combat, keeping his condition consistently above the red line.
After tidying up the scene, Leilin departed at a brisk pace.
Before long, a male and a female apprentice appeared nearby.
Surveying the obviously post-explosion scene on the ground, along with the White Forest Castle uniforms on the severed limbs, this time it was the female apprentice whose face turned ghastly pale.
"I'll kill him!!! I'll hang his head on the front of my carriage — for a hundred days!!!!"
The female apprentice spoke through clenched teeth.
"You'll get your chance soon enough! We're getting very close to this cunning apprentice…"
Solen the Silver Claw crouched half-low to the ground, plucked a mud-caked green grass stalk, and stuffed it straight into his mouth.
"Though I have to admit, I admire his nerve — actually daring to ambush our apprentices!"
"Cut the drivel! Did you find something?"
the female apprentice demanded.
"Over there!" Solen held the grass stalk between his lips, closed his eyes for a long moment, then pointed in a specific direction. The two of them immediately gave chase.
Deep within a dense forest, a gray-robed figure sat cross-legged on the trunk of a forked dead tree, rather short in stature, gazing up at the sky.
"The sky's gone dark," Leilin murmured.
Inside the secret realm there were no sun or moon — not even stars. Yet strangely, during the day the sky was filled with light, and once night fell that light simply vanished on its own, creating the distinction between day and night.
It looked as though some kind of barrier were directly blocking out the sun and the moon.
"One full day passed, and this is all I've got!"
Leilin did a quick tally of his accumulated contribution points.
Nestled against his chest lay six Apprentice Badges. Of these, five were Second-rank and the sole Third-rank badge had been contributed by the captain of a Third-rank Apprentice squad.
The construction of Second-rank and Third-rank badges was different, making them easy to tell apart.
"According to Academy rules, a single enemy Second-rank Apprentice is worth three contribution points, a Third-rank Apprentice is worth ten, and especially famous ones are valued higher. My haul comes to at most twenty-five contribution points — still a full half short of the fifty I need to exchange for Gelin Water."
Leilin's expression grew somber.
Never mind that he had earned twenty-five contribution points in a single day — today all the apprentices from every faction had been randomly scattered across the secret realm, unable to cluster together, which was the only reason Leilin had been able to exploit the situation.
After a day and a night, the apprentices of the other two hostile factions would certainly have regrouped, hunting Black Bone Forest Academy's apprentices in packs.
Under those conditions, Leilin would consider himself lucky just to keep his life, let alone go snatching badges.
In the previous war between the two factions, Black Bone Forest Academy's apprentices had suffered devastating casualties and were in no position to contend with the other two forces, who had been resting and rearming.
Furthermore, walk dark roads long enough and you're bound to meet a ghost — Leilin had no faith that his simple traps would keep working indefinitely.
"If it comes to it, I'll just have to give up!"
Leilin's expression was resolute. He was not the kind of person to trade his life for profit.
Even if he aspired to become a king of the
"Chip! Maintain surveillance distance! Report any anomalies immediately!"
After issuing the Chip a sentry directive, Leilin carved a hollow into the center of the dead tree behind him, applied some light camouflage, and lay down inside the tree cavity.
The apprentices of all three academies were to remain inside the secret realm for three full days and two nights. While physical fatigue could be pushed through with Stamina Potions and similar means, mental exhaustion was not so easily remedied.
Fortunately, Leilin had the Chip, which he could fully delegate the watch to. Given the Chip's capabilities, the task was well within its ability.
The forest was dim and murky, with the occasional chirp of small insects drifting through the air.
Inside the tree hollow, Leilin closed his eyes, first completing a session of meditation, before finally surrendering himself to deep sleep.
That night was anything but peaceful. Inside the secret realm, battles of every conceivable kind erupted in succession — dazzling and bizarre Zero-level Spells cast casually by numerous apprentices, ambushes, counter-ambushes, honey traps, and every manner of stratagem. Many young apprentices left their lives here for good.
None of it, of course, had anything to do with Leilin.
The next day, when light once again flooded the sky, the great tree at the center of the forest shuddered. A large crack split open the trunk, and from within emerged Leilin's disguised figure.
The power of nature was extraordinary. After a single night, much of the bloodstained redness in the secret realm had faded. The traces of plants and animals had covered over the worst of the carnage.
Leilin stretched with a certain contentment, then walked to the split in the trunk.
He had carved this opening himself last night and remembered it clearly — yet already the edges were showing signs of healing. Leilin even spotted a few small green buds forming along the margins of the crack.
"Remarkable! The flora and fauna inside this Wizard secret realm possess biological activity far exceeding anything in the outside world!"
Leilin rubbed his chin and reached out to pluck a glistening emerald-green bud. "Chip! Scan the sample and log it!"
"Ding! Plant activity spectrum analysis underway — anomalous data detected!"
The Chip's response came, projecting a chart of interlocking green and blue bands before Leilin's eyes. At its center ran an irregular red zone, spreading outward like the tentacles of an octopus.
"Record the composition!" Leilin issued the command silently.
It might come in useful someday! he told himself. Then he went on to collect data on several surrounding plants, archiving each one.
"Warning! Warning! Intense radiation-energy fluctuations detected 523 meters to the southeast — preliminary assessment indicates an apprentice is currently casting a Zero-level Spell!"
Just as Leilin was plucking a leaf with green surfaces threaded by red veins, the Chip's alert sounded.
"A chance!!!" A sharp gleam flashed in Leilin's eyes.
The Gothic Sage's Cottage and White Forest Castle were allies — their apprentices would not turn on each other. A battle at this moment very likely meant they had encountered apprentices from Black Bone Forest Academy!
"With the Chip detecting for me, as long as I'm careful, I have nothing to fear from being surrounded!"
Leilin felt at his chest. Beneath his grey robe, hidden inside his shirt, a hard pendant hung on its chain.
"Or perhaps it's time to test the Pendant of the Fallen Star's power!"
Leilin flicked his grey robe and began creeping stealthily toward the source of the battle.
BOOM!!!
The closer he drew, the more intensely Leilin could feel violent magical fluctuations radiating from ahead. At this magnitude, only a Third-rank Apprentice could possibly be responsible — and moreover, one of the exceptional ones among them.
For enemy Third-rank Apprentices of great renown — the Wizard seeds who had advanced before the age of twenty — Black Bone Forest Academy had set staggeringly high bounties, ranging from twenty to one hundred contribution points.
In other words, if he pulled this off, Leilin would not only be able to immediately exchange for the Gelin Water, he might even scrape together enough for the model of a First-level Defensive Wizard Spell.
But Leilin's feet halted, and a desire to withdraw crept into his mind.
For him, a single vial of Gelin Water for his experiments was sufficient — everything else was surplus. It was not worth risking a life-and-death struggle against a powerful Third-rank Apprentice for that.
Moreover, there was another concern lurking in Leilin's thoughts.
These famous Third-rank Apprentices, though highly valuable, each had their own mentor backing them, and those mentors had undoubtedly invested enormous effort into them.
Even using his toes to think, Leilin could be certain that formal Wizard-class protections had been placed on such individuals. The moment Leilin killed one, his appearance and other details could very well be relayed back to the enemy.
In front of a formal Wizard, the Mimicry Spell was utterly useless!
Even though Dean Sly had intervened to shield Leilin during the blood battle, Leilin had no desire whatsoever to stand in the spotlight and draw the attention of a hostile formal Wizard.
All told, the risk was too great and the reward too slim. Leilin would rather hunt down Second-rank Apprentices, or slaughter Third-rank Apprentices whose potential was already exhausted, than provoke the enemy's geniuses.
Leilin turned to leave without a moment's hesitation.
Suddenly, a man's voice rang out: "Ha ha! Jiamen! You've finally fallen into my hands!"
"Jiamen?!" Leilin's feet stuttered to a stop, and he doubled back.
The battle was taking place in a clearing amid the forest, where the trees had been devastated beyond recognition, opening into a wide expanse of bare ground.
Leilin slipped quietly to one side and observed the battlefield.
At the center of the clearing, Jiamen — clad in a hunter's outfit — knelt on one knee. Green vines were coiled around his body like a suit of armor.
Opposite him stood a black-haired man in a dark overcoat, laughing wildly.