Warlock Apprentice

Nova Competition.

This grand event of the Southern Domain, after accumulating momentum for a year, has finally reached its climactic explosion on this last day.

The Boundless Battle Arena, the largest confrontation stage within the Infinite Battle Tower, was packed inside and out with people.

This is probably the first time in almost a century that so many Transcendents have converged in one place. Even though these Transcendents are mostly Apprentices, the sight is still staggering.

It’s like witnessing the thriving future of the Southern Domain.

As almost all the seats in the Boundless Battle Arena were filled, a bell tolled inside the venue.

Following the ”ding ding ding” sound, the Boundless Battle Arena instantly plunged into darkness. The noise from the audience seats briefly paused, and during that moment of stillness, a glowing Light Screen descended into the center of the arena, accompanied by a crisp and beautiful female voice ringing in everyone’s ears.

”The Boundless Battle Arena is about to commence, countdown begins now, five seconds.”

With the end of the five-second countdown, the dome of the Boundless Battle Arena began to glow faintly from the center where the Light Screen was. As the light reached its peak, the interior of the Boundless Battle Arena was finally revealed to the audience.

Under the dome was a desolate world.

According to the usual procedure, after the opening of the Boundless Battle Arena, competitors would draw lots backstage, with the winner selecting the battleground. However, the announcer didn’t follow the usual procedure and instead said, ”Next up, the special guest judges will enter.”

As the words fell, the Teleportation Array in the center of the judges’ room began to glow.

The special guest judges entered one after another in order. Angel, having experienced this once before, was comparatively more composed, but when it was his turn to enter, he still felt a slight sense of embarrassment.

Angel was the last special guest judge to make his entrance, and thus received the most attention.

When Angel’s figure appeared above the Boundless Battle Arena, everyone saw merely a flash of a dark silhouette.

Last time, Angel wore an aloof teal gentleman’s suit that exuded alienation and indifference. This time, he simply wore a plain black Wizard Robe, noticeably more low-key.

Angel did not linger long in the air, just glanced around briefly before settling into his floating seat.

After Angel took his seat, he could vaguely hear the audience discussing him below, but he didn’t pay much attention to the specifics.

Once all the special guest judges had taken their seats, the announcer’s voice rang out again: ”Since today’s match is the final of the Nova Competition, to ensure even greater fairness, the selection of the battleground will be done by drawing lots among the judges present.”

As these words concluded, the judges all started to buzz with quiet discussion.

They hadn’t foreseen this procedure either.

Although somewhat perplexed, with all eyes on them, it was necessary for someone to step forward to draw the lot. There were many Apprentices among the judges, obviously not qualified to perform this task, so after exchanging looks, they all turned their gaze towards the few special guest judges.

Among the permanent judges, there were also Wizard Level judges, but as they were officially affiliated with the Infinite Battle Tower, it was better to avoid any suspicion by having the special guest judges do the drawing.

And there were only a few special guest judges. Initially, everyone looked towards Hydra, one of the eighteen Observers of the Crown Star Church, and it seemed that he would be the most suitable candidate for the draw.

”I have already established my stance. Even if I don’t use my abilities, the Perching Serpent will cause the collapse of all other probabilities,” Hydra stated indifferently.

As a Prophet Wizard, every action of Hydra’s could potentially invoke the reaction of his faith’s faction — ”Perching Serpent.”

The others also remembered that Hydra paid special attention to Onassis, and indeed, as he claimed, he had a predetermined stance.

Since Hydra was unwilling to draw the lot, they could only look to the others present. Klemene, standing in for Grishus, actually had the lowest status, so everyone’s attention turned to the two members from the Research and Development Institute.

”How about it, Angel? You do it?” Sabo, who was a permanent judge, suggested.

Angel’s popularity was soaring, and as a new member of the Research and Development Institute, his status was also considerable.

However, Angel shook his head; he just wanted to be a spectator today and had no desire to steal the spotlight.

Time waits for no one, and in the end, the Water Pattern Witch, Falina, accepted the task of drawing the lot for the arena.

Once it was confirmed that Falina would do the draw, a Rubik’s Cube appeared out of thin air in front of her. The cube had many small squares, each representing an attribute of the Boundless Battle Arena.

Falina casually tapped the cube, and as it ceased spinning, five small squares fell from midair.

The first square was blank. The second square had a blue symbol. An observer whispered the meaning of the symbol: ”Ocean.”

The third and fourth squares were blank, and finally, an image appeared on the fifth square—a strange long-horned skull pattern. The observer also quickly interpreted it: ”Giant trolls.”

With all five squares revealed, the final arena for this round of the Boundless Battle Arena was displayed—The Furious Sea of Trolls.

The audience was initially unreactive upon seeing the arena card, but the expressions of those in the judging seats were peculiar.

Even Falina looked slightly bemused.

”Is there something wrong with this arena?” Angel, seated close to Falina on a floating seat, asked curiously.

”Nothing’s wrong per se, but it’s been many years since this card has come up,” Falina sighed. ”Trolls are already among the most difficult obstacles in the Boundless Battle Arena. If it were on land, it would be one thing, but in the ocean, it’s definitely a batch of Ocean Trolls.”

Every Ocean Troll has at least the strength of a Third Level Apprentice. There are even higher levels, but since this is a newcomers’ competition, Wizard Level Ocean Trolls certainly won’t be released. However, even Third Level Apprentice Ocean Trolls can cause considerable trouble for the contestants.

They have to compete not only with their opponents but also cope with the hazards brought by the trolls during the competition.

This scenario is vastly different from the last match, the Spring Waltz against The Deceiver, where the arena drawn was ”Velvet Thistle Plains in the Strong Wind”.

”We can only wish them good luck,” Falina shrugged.

With the card revealed, the Boundless Battle Arena began to transform. The entire dome was covered in a blue halo, with the sound of gears turning inside. A few minutes later, with a ”click,” the blue light on the dome slowly faded away to reveal the scene inside the dome.

The desolate plains turned into a vast ocean.

Although the sea appeared calm, oppressive dark low-hanging clouds filled the sky, and the air was clearly heavy, damp, and restrained—an omen of an impending storm.

On the sea, two exposed reefs were about ten meters apart from each other.

The reason why everyone noticed the reefs was that a door materialized behind them; it was clear that the starting point for the contestants’ entrance would be on the reefs.

”Contestant: Phantom Deer.” The voice on the side, along with the text on the overhead Light Screen, appeared simultaneously.

As the voice finished, the door behind the reef opened.

A young man wearing a deer antler hat stepped out from behind the door.