Chapter 9 Deputy Dean Alex

"The Airship is preparing to land! All Apprentices, indoor activities are prohibited."

"Repeat."

"The Airship is preparing to land! All Apprentices, indoor activities are prohibited."

The eerie voice of the food-delivery automaton echoed throughout the Flying Airship. After nearly a month of flight, this group of Apprentices had finally arrived at their destination—the Black Tower Wizard Academy.

Richard sat quietly on his bed. After ten days of recovery, his Magic Power had long since been fully restored. Ali, too, had completed the construction of her Magic Rebound and learned all the Zero Ring Spells during these ten days.

Kevin's recruitment made them realize that if they were to fight alone, they would still be at a considerable disadvantage in this examination.

Thus, the two had formed an offensive and defensive alliance as soon as Ali completed her Magic Rebound.

"Richard, what should we do when we get there?" Ali sat on her bed, clutching the bag issued by the Wizard in her hands, her knuckles turning somewhat pale.

The upcoming life-and-death struggle filled the girl, who had never even killed a chicken, with dread.

Even though she was now a Wizard Apprentice.

"What else can we do, just kill people."

Richard's voice was very relaxed, as if the imminent slaughter was no more than going out for a meal.

Boom!

As soon as Richard finished speaking, the two of them felt the room shake. The loud sound of the Airship landing instantly transmitted over.

"The Airship has landed, all Apprentices take your personal belongings, and leave the Airship in order."

Richard and Ali picked up their things and walked out the door, forming a line according to the recruitment Wizard's arrangement and, one by one, disembarked. As they exited the Airship, the skeleton Wizard distributing the Apprentices' pouches also handed each person a strap filled with tubes, each containing mostly a tube of emerald liquid.

"It seems this is the Nutritional Potion," Richard thought to himself.

Outside the Airship was an open area; the lighting was a bit dim, with dozens of Magic Airships arranged neatly in the sky, their huge bodies covering the sun. In their shadows, tens of thousands of Apprentices stood in a large square formation.

Richard followed the line into the square, and floating above the formation was a Wizard in a black robe with glasses and a white beard, standing quietly in the air.

"Zeppelin Type Airship Number 050 has arrived, with 198 prospective Apprentices."

The leader, Taylor, reported to the sky with a respectful bow. Only after the floating Wizard nodded slightly did Taylor quietly depart.

"Silence."

The floating Wizard's voice was not loud, but it reached every Apprentice's ears.

Richard looked at the Wizard, and a fear from the depths of his soul suddenly surged in his heart.

This Wizard was not exhibiting any aura, but to him, he seemed like a completely different being from the recruitment Wizards.

Could this be what a real Wizard looks like?

"Welcome to Black Tower Wizard Academy's 432nd entrance examination. I am your Deputy Dean, Alex, and the examiner for your test.

There will be ten examination venues in total, with one thousand people in each. Each venue will contain ten Magic Beasts, and these beasts will have Magic Tools prepared by the Academy. Apprentice with sufficient strength may hunt them at will.

Details about other exam rules can be found on page thirty-two of the entrance regulations. Those who haven't reviewed them may do so at their leisure.

Now, begin the examination."

With that, Deputy Dean Alex waved his hand, and radiant beams of light arose beneath the Apprentice formation. These lights intertwined with each other, seemingly forming a complex geometric pattern.

Watching the light beneath his feet, a flash of panic suddenly struck Richard's heart.

Could this examination scramble all the Apprentices?

Hum!

A buzzing sounded in Richard's ears, and the scene before him turned into an abstract painting made up of numerous color blocks, causing dizziness and vertigo.

"Is this teleportation?"

Richard muttered to himself, feeling a wave of nausea surging to the back of his throat.

After about three or four seconds, Richard's vision began to clear, revealing a lush primeval forest before his eyes.

Richard leaned against a tree and vomited bile, finding the sensation of teleportation truly unpleasant.

"Led astray by those damned Nobles—those fools have no clue about the specifics of the exam. Now, I can only hope that Ali toughens up."

After spitting out the bile, Richard grumbled to himself, then immediately saw beams of light shooting up into the sky.

The dazzling light was clearly visible even in the daytime.

The location of these beams of light was where Apprentices needed to arrive within fourteen days.

Richard strapped a belt filled with vials around his waist, then immediately headed in the direction of the light beams without wasting any time.

The rule of the Academy was that Apprentices must reach a certain destination within fourteen days, which meant that arriving early was presumably allowed.

And finishing the exam earlier meant safety sooner, which was common sense that Richard understood without thinking.

…

With the end of the teleportation, the silent primeval forest began to bustle with activity as the exam commenced. Tens of thousands of Apprentices began to move almost instantly after the teleportation had ended. There were strong and weak among these Apprentices, including Knights and official Wizard Apprentices; they each performed Divine Skills, all heading towards the towering beams of light.

Riley struggled to move through the dense woods. As a Knight Attendant with exceptional talent, his robust physique, coupled with Wizards' Magic Potions, allowed him to be up and about shortly after sustaining injuries. But tragically, as the effects of the Magic Potions wore off, his groin began to suffer continuous, unending pain.

The pain seemed to remind him, "You're not a man anymore!"

"Damn it, bastard, wait till I master magic, I'll rape you then kill you, tear you into a million pieces."

A fatigued Riley leaned against a large tree, cursing loudly.

His eyes were bloodshot, his teeth clenched; hatred acted like Hallucinogens, numbing his nerves, causing him also to have illusions.

For instance, he thought he saw the figure that had emasculated him emerge from the forest.

"Oh, look who it is. Now the Crystal Ball has a destination."

This figure seemed pleasantly surprised to see him, and with a raise of the arm, Riley once again saw that blue glow.

The blue glow that had castrated him!

It wasn't an illusion!

He had really encountered that mongrel!

A surge of intense fear welled up inside Riley, and he turned to run.

Although he constantly cursed Richard, every night after his injury, Riley would wake up startled by visions of Richard and his blue glow.

Richard had nearly become his nightmare.

Now, the nightmare had come to life.

Bang!

Having left the Flying Airship, Richard held nothing back. A Magic Missile flew from his fingertip, drawing a straight line through the air, then precisely landing on the back of Riley's head.

Then Richard saw Riley's entire occiput cave in, red and white matter spattering all around.

"Ugh!"

Watching the corpse, Richard couldn't help but retch.

Those who kill often know that the first time you kill and retch, is due to the intense fear and shock of bloodshed—a normal reaction.

Though Richard didn't feel fear, as someone who had never even slaughtered a chicken, the pungent smell of blood was quite suffocating.

After heaving for a while, Richard approached and took down Riley's Crystal Ball and the Nutritional Potions he was carrying.

With these things, he could focus on making his way.

After collecting the items, Richard searched through Riley's pockets and, feeling around, he found a black, diamond-shaped crystal. Inside it, Richard sensed an extremely rich Magic Power.

"Could this be… a Magic Stone?"