Warlock Apprentice

The actions of Shadow of the Void aroused curiosity among the onlookers, when suddenly new characters appeared again on the Light Screen.

”New Star Competition, 99th place, Galactic Wanderer.”

After these characters appeared, just like what happened with Shadow of the Void, ripples emanated from the center of the Light Screen, and a new card emerged before fluttering down under the blustery wind onto a man clad in a magic robe adorned with stars.

The people around whispered to each other, and quickly discerned the identity of this man.

It was indeed the very person known as Galactic Wanderer.

After receiving the card, he stood stunned for a moment, then without waiting for others to react, he dashed off the plaza and headed towards the direction of the mountain summit.

Seeing this, everyone was filled with speculation—

Could it be that the card’s purpose is to unlock a prop at the plaza’s boundary, ultimately guiding people to the mountain summit?

Since neither Shadow of the Void nor Galactic Wanderer had revealed the truth, the crowd could only silently conjecture in their hearts.

Nausicaa was also contemplating and speculating, but soon, she was freed from these worries as another line of characters appeared on the Light Screen.

”New Star Competition, 98th place, King of Blackberry!”

Blackberry signified the Blackberry Sea Area. And the King of Blackberry was the ruler who had conquered the Blackberry Sea Area.

The only person present who would take this title and had the right to be called the King of Blackberry was the great Pirate—Nausicaa, once the scourge of the Blackberry Sea Area!

Just like before, a new card surfaced in the center of the Light Screen, and with a flicker, it was blown by the wind and drifted in the direction of Nausicaa.

Before actually receiving the card, Nausicaa had many guesses and imaginings, but when the card landed in her hands, she realized the answer was quite simple.

The card was thin, with a strange symbol on it; next to the symbol was the name of Nausicaa.

Clearly, the card was not carelessly blown away by the wind; it had been aimed at Nausicaa from the start.

When Nausicaa held the card, a strange sensation arose from deep within her.

It was as if someone far away was calling to her: ”Come to me.”

This call was gentle and soothing, imbued with a sense of ”fate” and ”guidance.” Nausicaa looked up towards the source of this feeling.

It was the very road previously taken by Shadow of the Void and Galactic Wanderer.

Nausicaa hesitated for a moment, then decided to follow the call, walking towards what lay ahead.

As Nausicaa made this decision, and her actions responded to the call within her heart, a feeling of exhilaration emerged. This excitement made her quicken her pace, eventually breaking through the plaza boundary and racing up the mountain!

It wasn’t just Nausicaa; cards kept appearing on the Light Screen. Almost every two seconds, a card would fall.

Under the gentle, chilly breeze, these cards seemed to have fallen by chance, yet they invariably found their way into the hands of their rightful owners.

After the contestants obtained their cards, each, like Nausicaa, followed the guidance in their hearts and left the plaza.

In no time, the road leading directly to the summit was crowded with people proceeding one after another.

Nausicaa was among the earliest to climb the mountain, initially thinking that the final destination would surely be the peak. However, when she followed the guide in her heart to the promised land that had been calling out to her, she discovered it was not a palace on the peak but—

—on a tall stone pillar by the side of the road.

These round pillars were scattered all along the path, stretching all the way to the peak, and Nausicaa was standing beneath one of them.

”Could it be that I must climb the pillar?” Nausicaa hesitated for a moment, then turned to look at the others around her.

Near her, on two of the stone pillars, stood people—it was Shadow of the Void and Galaxy Wanderer. One stood at the top of a pillar gazing toward a distant palace, while the other sat cross-legged on a pillar, seemingly immersed in thought.

They had no other movements, which evidently suggested that the top of the pillar could be their final destination in this Rising Star competition.

Nausicaa looked along the path, and at intervals, stone pillars stood at the roadside. In her heart, she silently estimated that there might be a total of nearly a hundred pillars from here to the palace at the peak, a number which corresponded to the participants in the Rising Star competition.

Did this mean that each pillar would have someone standing on it? The higher the ranking, the closer to the forefront palace?

Nausicaa felt that this was probably the answer.

She sighed softly in her heart; being ranked 98th, she was positioned at the very end. If she had won a few more matches during the competition, she might have been placed much closer to the front... What a pity.

Nausicaa shook her head and, following the calling in her heart, climbed up the pillar.

Once she stood atop the pillar, the guiding sensation vanished.

Nausicaa tried to step away from the pillar to continue forward but found that while she could leave the pillar without issue, as soon as she tried to walk forward, a tremendous pressure weighed down on her, forcing her to retreat.

Indeed, as she had guessed, this pillar was her ultimate destination in this Rising Star competition.

More and more people arrived afterward, and none of them was a fool; when they were led to a pillar, they, like Nausicaa, figured out the outcome.

Each contestant found their respective pillars and remained atop them. Some may have envied those closer to the mountain’s summit, but envy aside, they acknowledged that the others had a higher ranking obtained from their own efforts in the Rising Star competition, and by all rights, they deserved it.

This act of dividing people into ranks according to their placement might initially make one feel somewhat uncomfortable, but in the end, everyone accepted this setup.

The Wizards’ Realm is not a Utopia that advocates for equality among all; even in a Utopia, it would be impossible to truly have no class system.

In a world where strength is paramount, such a hierarchy is all too normal.

Nausicaa, being at the bottom, felt a brief moment of contemplation but soon accepted it. She had only entered the Wizards’ Realm a few years ago, and to stand here was already an achievement. Consider that many who’ve practised for decades might not even make it to the top hundred of the Rising Star competition—this time, having met her goal, was already enough.

When Nausicaa came to this conclusion, the image of Angel involuntarily appeared in her mind.

”Angel, that freak, is an exception,” Nausicaa shook her head without hesitation, casting Angel’s image out of her mind.

When people of all kinds had taken their places on nearly all the pillars stretching to the summit, everyone then realized that there were only 90 pillars in total.

Meaning there were ten individuals who had not ascended the pillars.

Beholding this scene, everyone turned their gazes back to the plaza.

Indeed, there were ten people left on the plaza, motionless. And these ten were led by Onassis, the top ten of the Rising Star competition!