“You...” Wizard Blood Fury's voice squeezed out from his throat, “you've advanced to an Official Wizard?”
“What's the big deal, Dean? It's just an advancement.”
“What's the big deal?” Blood Fury took a step forward. “How many damn years have you even been cultivating? Huh?”
He pointed a finger at Ethan, tapping the air in front of him. “You were in the class I personally led, damn it. Counting it all up, it's only been ten years. Ten years! You, an apprentice of ten years, are telling me you've advanced to an Official Wizard? And another thing! Weren't you participating in the World War with the Headmaster? Why are you back?”
“Oh, I made some gains, so I came back.”
Blood Fury blanked for a moment. “Gains?”
Ethan had an incredibly sincere look on his face. “Yeah, exactly. The advancement.”
Hearing this, Blood Fury felt the blood rush to his head so hard he became slightly dizzy.
Tsk. To make a powerful Second-Tier Wizard feel this way... all one could say was that sometimes, the truth hurts.
“Inhale... exhale... inhale... exhale...”
Taking a massive effort, Wizard Blood Fury finally suppressed his anger. “You... forget it.”
Blood Fury turned his head to glance at the Spirit Bone Guards who were still struggling. “Ethan, for a mess like this, a fine of one hundred magic stones isn't unfair, is it?”
“Not unfair at all, not unfair at all.” As he spoke, Ethan pulled out a sizable pouch. “Hehe, Dean, not a coin more, not a coin less—exactly one hundred. Alright, Dean, I've paid the fine. I'm off to get certified.”
Blood Fury looked utterly exhausted, as if he had suffered a heavy blow. Stashing the magic stones away, he cursed under his breath, “Get the hell out of here.”
“You got it.”
Ethan turned and walked away. After just two steps, he stopped, turned back, and snapped his fingers.
Snap.
Faint rustling sounds echoed simultaneously from the lawn, the flowerbeds, and the base of the walls. The wildly growing shrubs seemed to have their support stripped away; their leaves withered and curled, their branches went limp and drooped, shrinking from half a person's height back down to knee-level. The blades of grass also sagged, draping over the soil.
For actions that previously required some concentration, Ethan—having now advanced to an Official Wizard—could use his mental power, mana, and Plant Affinity passive to make these plants willingly cut off their own life force with a single thought.
His efficiency had certainly increased by a lot.
Several Spirit Bone Guards stood frozen in place holding their bone blades, broken vine fragments still dangling from their edges.
Blood Fury watched the rapidly withering plants but said nothing.
Ethan, on the other hand, turned and quickly walked away.
Inside the Certification Hall, the staff member behind the Official Wizard certification window was a young, round-faced man.
Just sitting there, he radiated a terrifying aura.
Ethan's eyes narrowed. A veteran wizard?
The man was looking down, flipping through a booklet. Hearing footsteps, he looked up, his gaze sweeping over Ethan. “Certification? This is the certification window for Official Wizards. Apprentices, run along.”
“I'm here for certification.”
“Certification?”
“Yes.”
“Your identity plaque.”
Ethan took out his identity plaque and placed it on the counter.
The man picked up the plaque and casually pressed it into a groove on the counter.
The runic patterns around the edge of the groove lit up. A pale blue light spread along the lines on the surface of the plaque, weaving lines of intricate light patterns in the air.
The light patterns flickered twice, displaying Ethan's basic information.
The middle-aged man swiped his finger across the light patterns, pulling up the certification options.
He looked up, his gaze sweeping over Ethan once more, lingering a bit longer this time. “Show me.”
Ethan didn't waste words. His mental crystal vibrated slightly in his mental sea, and all ninety-nine layers of light patterns lit up simultaneously. An emerald-green light surged from the crystal, piercing through his mental sea and skin, spreading in all directions.
A radiation field unique to Official Wizards expanded from his body.
“That's enough.” The man withdrew his gaze, his finger swiping quickly across the light patterns a few times. “First-Tier Wizard, certification approved. The identity plaque will take a moment to update.”
He took out a palm-sized, dark green stone slab from beneath the counter, pulled the identity plaque out of the groove, and pressed it onto the slab.
The runic patterns on the surface of the stone slab all lit up. Dense, pale gold light patterns surged from the slab, converging toward the identity plaque.
New patterns emerged on the surface of the identity plaque. These patterns were even more complex than before, each one pulsing with a faint energy halo.
The entire process took less than three minutes.
The man pushed the updated identity plaque in front of Ethan. “All set. Official Wizards have one opportunity per year to request aid from the academy. Of course, it costs magic stones, but it's not expensive—two thousand per request. For areas outside the Blood Bone Tower's sphere of influence, it starts at five thousand. Additionally, according to academy regulations, after advancing to an Official Wizard, you can apply to construct a private Wizard Tower. You can choose any location within the academy's territory. The construction materials and basic arrays will be provided by the academy, but any extra features will be at your own expense. Do you wish to apply now?”
“Not for now,” Ethan said.
The man nodded, not asking further. He swiped across the light patterns again. “Alright, then I'll reserve this slot for you. Come back whenever you want to build it.”
Ethan nodded, stored his identity plaque in his storage ring, and turned to walk out.
In front of the teleportation array closest to the certification window, several Spirit Bone Guards were boredly blowing at each other's soul fires.
The bright green flames drifted wildly under their breaths.
Watching them, Ethan felt a bit worried that they might accidentally blow out their teammate's soul fire if they weren't careful.
“My lord, where are you heading?”
“The Thorn Empire.”
The guard took an identity plaque from its waist and swiped it across a groove on the array pillar. Runic patterns lit up from the base of the pillar, spreading along the bone column's surface to the top. Twelve clusters of eerie green fire expanded in size simultaneously.
“Thorn Empire, one-way teleportation. The fee is twenty magic stones.”
Ethan counted out twenty magic stones from his ring and handed them over.
The guard took the magic stones and pressed them one by one into the slots at the base of the pillar. With each press, the runic patterns on the array pillar grew a bit brighter.
The light of the teleportation array slowly dissipated.
Ethan opened his eyes. The stone ground beneath his feet had changed from dark green to grayish-white.
This was the interior of a Wizard Tower.
The space inside the tower was much larger than it appeared from the outside. The ceiling hung high, and bookshelves as tall as the ceiling stood against the four walls.
The shelves were crammed with all kinds of books and scrolls, with fine cobwebs clinging to the spines of some.
The air was thick with a mixed scent of old paper and herbs.
Directly in front of the teleportation array, Gal stood three meters away with his head bowed.
He was still wearing that same dark green robe, with the hood covering most of his face, revealing only the dark brown, leathery skin of his chin.
Several tentacles peeked out from the hem of his robe, the tiny suction cups at their tips gripping the stone floor tightly.
His posture was respectful to the absolute extreme.
His tentacles didn't sway randomly as they usually did; they were all tightly retracted at the edge of his robe.
Even, restrained breathing came from the deep shadows of his hood, and the rise and fall of his chest was deliberately kept to a minimum.
Gal did not know who was arriving.
He only knew that the message from the other side of the teleportation array was very clear.
A First-Tier Wizard.
An Official Wizard.
Rate on N.U.
