The Wizard's Pursuit of Truth

Xugus Wizard’s face was completely devoid of a smile, his brows knitted together. Everyone at the Dark Land Headquarters had already received the news regarding the outcome of the Secret Realm competition.

His judgment had actually been wrong. Wang Ya Harak had suppressed the freshmen from the Wizard Clans’ direct lineages and taken first place in the Secret Realm competition.

Xugus Wizard wasn’t concerned about losing the ten thousand Magic Stones, but this result was beyond his expectations. ’What kind of method did he use to turn the tide, suppress all the other equally powerful Wizard freshmen, and take first place?’

He was quite curious and now took special note of the name Wang Ya Harak. He reached out with his right hand and tapped lightly on the empty space in front of him.

A projection gradually materialized. All the Wizards present turned to look. The image was a replay of what had happened inside the Secret Realm competition.

All it cost was double the Magic Stones.

When they saw the unique way the Flame Demon Fear Witchcraft variant was chained, the expressions of the Wizards present flickered with surprise. Even Xugus Wizard, who had once fought against Sul, the head of the Rhine Lineage, felt his pupils contract.

He was certain that this Witchcraft was not part of the Rhine Lineage’s teachings—at least, the multiple variations that followed were not.

Only about a year had passed since their last battle.

Xugus Wizard’s eyes glinted as he pondered something.

”Let’s go. The Secret Realm competition is over. It’s time to pay our old friends a visit.”

Xugus Wizard stood up, and Wizard Yi Si did the same. They represented the White Bone Lineage, which was also the White Bone School.

A smile touched Saiya Wizard’s lips, and they decided to go along, representing the Water Swamp School, the Water Swamp Lineage.

”This time, the top ten of the Secret Realm competition finally has a few more freshmen of commoner birth. I, for one, have my eye on a particular freshman,” the Green Demon Wizard said with a light chuckle.

Erin Wizard said, ”Green Demon, you handle it. I have some business to attend to and must return to Withered Wood Tower.”

At the same time, the Demon Dragon Lineage, Rhine Lineage, and Fierce Tiger Lineage all sent their heads or their seconds-in-command as representatives to the post-Secret Realm assembly to recruit new freshmen.

This year’s Secret Realm competition was different, after all. A considerable number of Extraordinary Schools were in attendance—a chain reaction set off by Wang Ya.

In previous years, after the freshman Secret Realm competition concluded, it was typically the Extraordinary Schools dominated by Wizard Clans that went to recruit new members.

The top ten was usually filled with freshmen from Wizard Clans, leaving no room for those of commoner birth.

The heads and seconds-in-command of the School Lineages would only be asking for a snub if they went. Freshmen from Wizard Clans rarely joined them, and the potential of commoner freshmen would only begin to show after they advanced to Level 2 Wizard Apprentice.

.....

「Freshman Square.」

A giant projection screen displayed the names and information of every Wizard freshman, ranked according to their number of Dark Badges.

The Wizard freshmen below could all find their own ranking on the screen.

Those ranked lower on the list looked dejected. There was nothing to be done about it; their Power was simply no match for the others.

Even the Wizard freshmen ranked near the top weren’t overly joyous, as many had only reached their positions through sheer luck.

They had chosen to withdraw from the Secret Realm early. While the number of Dark Badges they managed to keep wasn’t large, it was far better than the zero badges held by the freshmen who had been eliminated.

Many of the freshmen glanced guiltily out of the corners of their eyes at some of the others standing at the very back.

Among them were genius freshmen from the Wizard Clans, like Riley Shebel and Jim Novy. They stood expressionlessly in the last row, some with arms crossed, others with hands clasped behind their backs or cradling the back of their heads.

Apparently annoyed by the stares, Riley Shebel glared back fiercely, baring his sharp canine teeth.

Those Wizard freshmen quickly averted their eyes, not daring to look again.

’A bunch of worthless freshmen who got shit-faced lucky. They should just enjoy it while it lasts...’ Riley Shebel was furious. His Power was far greater than that huge crowd of freshmen ranked ahead of him.

He also began to reflect on his mistakes.

Encountering a powerful opponent like Wang Ya Harak was part of the problem. A Fire Element Wizard was indeed a partial counter to him.

But more importantly, he had been too overconfident and had underestimated his opponent.

He now faintly regretted why he had eaten the Extraordinary Cultivated Creature his clan had prepared for him.

’If I had kept it, I would have at least had a way to hover and fly. Even if I couldn’t beat that Wang Ya Harak, I could have temporarily retreated through the air.’

He wasn’t the only one reflecting; the other defeated genius freshmen were also contemplating the reasons for their failure.

They wondered if they could win the next time they met, provided they could compensate for these shortcomings.

Jim Novy was thinking about starting with a counter to Wang Ya’s Elemental Witchcraft. He’d also have to pay attention to environmental factors to prevent being besieged by Extraordinary Creatures again.

’That tactic is just impossible to guard against.’

’Who would have thought he would orchestrate such a massive spectacle?’

’Wang Ya Harak’s victory was a narrow one. If we hadn’t fallen for his trick, if we had noticed something was wrong earlier and escaped the encirclement of Extraordinary Creatures, we still would have had a fighting chance.’

But a loss was a loss. Jim acknowledged his opponent’s Power; strategy was also a form of Power.

With those Extraordinary Creatures alone, Wang Ya Harak was practically invincible. Given enough time, he could have eliminated them all one by one.

”Brother, I let you down.” Harlech Qiuji lowered his head, his face flushing with shame.

’To be eliminated so soon after entering the Secret Realm... I did even worse than some of the commoner freshmen.’

Dante Qiuji clapped his younger brother on the shoulder and laughed heartily. ”You ran into the two most terrifying monsters in the Secret Realm. It’s only normal that you were defeated. Don’t worry about it. I’m just like you—ended up with a big fat zero.”