Chapter 82: Chapter 82: Apprentice War (Part 1)
Orey McKinotos was an outstanding apprentice at the Secret Keeper Wizard College, who with his exquisite shaping wizard abilities, easily defeated many rivals over the past decade’s exams, earning the final reward as well as the nickname “Conqueror.”
But Orey remained very calm.
As an apprentice from a wizard family, the idea of wizard apprentices dueling on the platform couldn’t stir the slightest interest in him.
He longed for bloody battles, where only through such combat could his true strength be displayed.
Recently, the academy had finally announced the content of the exchange tournament, and the rules of the Apprentice War immediately piqued his interest.
In this war, there were no Guardian Wizards; all apprentices engaged in real, bloody combat.
This rule made Orey’s blood boil; this was the fight he had been waiting for!
Upon entering the battlefield, the first thing that hit him was the scent of earth.
Orey looked around; he was standing in a forest, and not far from him was a giant crystal stone floating in mid-air.
This, he assumed, must be one of the resource points mentioned in the academy’s rules.
“The concentration of magic power is so high, at least twice that of the Wizard World.”
A voice came from behind Orey, and turning, he saw a man with black hair watching him.
“Balto, I didn’t expect to find you here.”
Orey’s eyebrows raised; this black-haired man was his old rival at the academy, Balto the Mechanic from the Alchemy School.
“Don’t be so unfriendly; we’re all teammates in this war,” Balto said with a cunning smile, like a black fox.
“It better be so,” Orey responded coldly, then shouted to the surrounding apprentices, “I am Orey McKinotos from the Secret Keeper Wizard College. Apprentices, gather around me!”
As the winner of the decade’s exam, Orey held a high reputation among the wizard apprentices.
In times of war, it was only natural for the weak to seek the protection of the powerful.
“Fifteen hundred apprentices,” Orey counted the number present and found that almost all the apprentices at this resource point were from the Secret Keeper Academy.
“One thousand five hundred apprentices at a resource point, four thousand five hundred at three points; that’s roughly the same number of people from our college participating in the war.
It seems that the other two areas should be the same, each with about four thousand five hundred people.”
“That’s a staggering number of apprentices, Orey,” said Balto, joining him, “With this number of apprentices, the amount of magic stones we’ll get each month, on average, will be less than one per person.”
“Then we’ll go plunder the Black Wizard apprentices’ resource points,” Orey replied without hesitation.
“Oh, it seems our Conqueror already has a plan,” Balto laughed.
Orey gave him a cold glance, “Take advantage of the fact that the war has just started, and everyone has a lot of magic stones, and take as many of the Black Wizard apprentices’ resource points as possible.
Kill them outright if possible, and if not, weaken them as much as we can.”
Balto nodded thoughtfully, “That’s a good idea, indeed. With your influence, the apprentices from our college will surely follow you. If we can gain the upper hand early on, the rest of the war will be much easier to fight.”
“What about you?” Orey asked, staring at Balto, “Mechanic Balto, will you follow me?”
Balto hesitated a bit,
“I’ll pass; offensive attacking is not my strong suit. I’ll cheer you on from the back. Leave me three hundred people, and I’ll repair some things on the side.”
“You think I will fail?” Orey asked sharply, his tone a bit harsh.
Balto smiled, a hint of cunning in his eyes.
“One must always be prepared for the unexpected.”
On the other side of the battlefield, the Black Wizard Apprentices began their own plan.
Richard, as the Legendary Apprentice from the Black Tower Wizard Academy, naturally became the leader of the Black Tower Wizard Academy Apprentices after displaying just a sliver of his own strength.
Unfortunately, within this group of apprentices, Richard didn’t find Ali.
“Random assignment really is a headache.”
Richard rubbed his head and then set his gaze on a bald apprentice not far away.
The bald apprentice was clad in a red robe, holding a staff as tall as a man. The head of the staff emitted an extraordinary Magic Fluctuation, revealing that it was no mere trinket.
“Orey, what are you planning to do?”
Orey was a formal apprentice of Master Alon from the Black Tower Wizard Academy, majoring in Shape-shifting School. In the last bloody examination, he was also one of the twenty who entered the Secret Realm.
“I… I don’t really have any ideas.”
Orey touched his bald head, pretending to be very shy.
In his opinion, it was a foolish thing to seize the apprentices’ leadership at the start.
The White Wizard Apprentices outnumbered the Black Wizard Apprentices by almost three and a half times when it came to manpower. At the beginning, when everyone’s Magic Stones were the most abundant, even fools knew that the White Wizard Apprentices would rush over to give the Black Wizard Apprentices a hard strike.
At this time, taking command not only meant bearing the greatest pressure but also carried a high risk of failure.
Orey considered himself smart; only a fool would compete with Richard for leadership at this moment.
Seeing Orey had no intention to lead, Richard scoffed inwardly, understanding the other’s plan.
Leadership at this stage was indeed a hot potato…
But though the risk was high at this time, the potential rewards were equally immense.
“Since you don’t have any ideas, I’ll just thicken my skin and take the role of leader,” Richard smiled at his fellow apprentices, self-appointing himself as the commander.
As long as the leader demonstrated their strength during this initial period and achieved a certain degree of success, their leadership position in this war would be very stable.
War was no child’s play. In a situation involving life and death, everyone preferred to trust a leader who had shown capability.
Richard’s self-appointment was met without opposition; his strength was sufficient, a senior apprentice towering at the apex of the pyramid among these apprentices.
“Since no one objects, then I’m going to establish some rules.”
Using the Levitation Skill, Richard flew into the air to make himself as visible as possible to all apprentices.
“This is war, and on the battlefield, orders must be followed without question. I won’t send anyone on suicidal missions, but since this is war, danger is inevitable. I expect my orders to be carried out, not to be refused.
I hate being refused!”
Saying this, Richard exuded the pressure of a senior wizard apprentice.
“There’s nothing in the Academy’s rules that forbids us from infighting. If anyone doesn’t follow the rules, hmph!”
Richard snorted coldly, the implication clear.
After waiting a while and seeing no one among the apprentices come forward to object, Richard returned to the ground.
To tell the truth, Richard actually hoped someone would cause trouble, giving him a chance to assert his authority.
But unfortunately, the apprentices of the Black Tower Wizard Academy were all clever; no one wanted to slap Richard in the face at this moment.
After coming down, Richard didn’t issue any orders but chose to send Wuni flying, ready to reconnoiter the White Wizard Apprentices’ movements.
With the help of Wuni’s vision, Richard easily saw a group of White Wizard Apprentices hurrying their way.
“To make a move right after arriving, that’s really not giving any face.”
Richard sighed and issued his first order.
“Prepare for defense! The White Wizard Apprentices are coming!”