Chapter 200: Entering the Dream World, the Competition Begins
“This is really…”
As one of the contestants in the Witch Academy exchange competition, I naturally sat in the audience section reserved for witches. After all, we are the hosts, and there’s no need to deliberately showcase the academy’s features here.
Watching the participants from various academies take the stage, showcase their skills, and then be guided to their respective seats, I must say it was indeed a refreshing way to understand them, and it was quite visually engaging.
After scanning over them, I lost interest, except for a brief moment when I noticed the Holy Angel Academy, where I looked a little longer.
Because, yesterday, Manager Shali contacted me, hoping to focus more on the contestants from this academy if possible.
I seemed to have understood the conflict between Shali and the Holy Angel Academy. When I was working part-time at the store, I had noticed Shali’s unusual emotions towards the Holy Angel Academy, and even Tan Han’s abduction could not be separated from the manager’s efforts, especially since Tan Han initially enrolled in this academy.
As for why she holds such animosity towards the Holy Angel Academy, the manager did not say, but her attitude was visibly clear.
For this reason, after contacting me, the manager was willing to open her small treasury again, on the condition that “Extraordinary Knowledge” was not included.
I naturally accepted this offer. Not to mention that the manager’s small treasury indeed contained many items I found tempting, and targeting a competitor was just a side benefit. Looking at the manager’s demeanor, it seemed she had also discussed this with Tan Han, so with our positions in mind, the potential for a “joint effort” between the Witch Academy and the Holy Angel Academy would likely disappear before the exchange competition began.
Moreover, the possibility of us teaming up with the Holy Angel Academy was very slim. From the very beginning, they occupied the high ground, clearly having the advantage.
Before the competition began, this exchange event wouldn’t have all contestants enter the dream world right away, as there would be a presentation of rules and a map display, etc. After all, this is a competition for all academies; we couldn’t leave the audience in confusion, could we?
In fact, the opening ceremony was also being live-streamed among other academies.
Academies from around the world had to overcome time zone differences. For many, the first thing they did after arriving at the Witch Academy was to adjust to the new time, which meant that when many students arrived, it coincided with the Witch Academy’s competition. However, not all academies came to watch, as adjusting to the situation was very important.
The timing for the opening of the exchange competition must have been discussed thoroughly. The three main top-tier academies had no issues, while the smaller academies would need to overcome their challenges. This demonstrated the varying levels of influence among the academies; without strength or status, they were not qualified to fight for their own interests.
One major highlight of the exchange competition was naturally the “Academy Ceremony” related to the rankings of each academy.
This was an activity that, once initiated, would become the core of the entire event, drawing the attention of all contestants during its preparation.
Whether it was the Holy Angel’s Holy Light Prayer Ceremony or the Aphhemia Forest Elf’s Hymn to the Mother Goddess Ceremony, these would serve as means for each academy to showcase itself.
The ceremony didn’t need to be overly grand; prioritizing scoring was the key, after all, they were just new students and had to consider practical circumstances.
Thus, these ceremonies were essentially a simple prayer for holy light or a poem praising the World Tree. Similarly, the ceremony corresponding to the Witch Academy was just a witch tea party.
Seemingly simple yet quite intricate, the preparation phase for the ceremony was also time-consuming.
If the ceremony were only a few minutes long, then forget about academy rankings; everyone would compete to hold their own ceremonies.
Take the witch tea party as an example; it couldn’t be held just anywhere. The hosting ceremony of the witch tea party required a place special enough to be called commemorative. Tan Han’s earlier suggestion to forge the ancient city ruins was based on this reason. That ancient city acted as a decisive barrier that separated the ancient battlefield from the main passage to the other side. It was a relic, perfect for hosting the witch tea party.
Moreover, the witch tea party required the participants to be a certain distance apart before it could commence. They had to wait for the suitable attendee to arrive for it to officially start, as the party’s significance was to provide joy and gatherings for witches who had traveled from afar.
At this moment, Teacher Lina was rarely sharing various stories and meanings behind the ceremonies on the arena stage. This was also a cultural exchange among the academies, whether the ceremony was solemn, joyful, bloody, or dark, each had its own unique characteristics.
I was also listening intently below, as the rules wouldn’t be explained as thoroughly as Lina did, and this was a way to understand other academies better. For me, it felt like listening to an extraordinary world-building setting.
Of course, it was also crucial to observe the opponent’s ceremony’s weaknesses and limitations. Breaking an opponent’s ceremony could not be achieved merely through absolute strength.
Just like the witch tea party, as long as someone could entangle the distant witch intending to participate, that tea party could never be held, or it couldn’t proceed when there was only one person remaining.
The introduction of the ceremonies was a long process, but no one found it boring, as it was not just Lina’s storytelling, but also the powerful backdrop of the Earth Vein System enveloping the arena, making each ceremony’s imagery quite striking.
Naturally, Lina wouldn’t be careless with ceremonies that weren’t from the Witch Academy, as that would be irresponsible for the exchange competition.
However, when it came time for the actual enactment of these ceremonies, they were likely to fall short, as this was a competition; how could anyone fully devote themselves to organizing the ceremony?
As time went on, the audience’s enthusiasm gradually waned, but it didn’t matter since the ceremonies being described at the end were those of the smaller academies. Without strength, they had no say. This was clearly reflected in the order of proceedings.
As this segment concluded, everyone finally welcomed the moment they had been eagerly anticipating.
Please welcome the new contestants of this exchange competition!
Accompanied by exhilarating music and grand Earth Vein effects, everyone’s attention turned to the contestant seats.
At this moment, all the contestants stood up in such an atmosphere, amidst the enthusiastic cheers of the audience and all the expectant gazes, walking toward the central area of the arena.
Not only in the arena but also countless people watching the livestream wore expressions of excitement and joy that words couldn’t describe.
Whether it was in the baking house at this moment, or Sister Bai on-site, or the roommates who couldn’t secure tickets.
At this moment there were also academies aside from the Witch Academy, Aphhemia, Holy Angel Academy, and those from the Witch Academy’s other side, awake in the middle of the night setting alarms for coffee.
On the way forward, Tan Han led the way at the front, while I stood at the back as the finale. I could hear the enthusiastic calls of the seniors around us shouting our names, and I could only smile back at each of them.
In the middle, a few excited ones waved their arms in response to their expectations.
Arriving at the central dream equipment capsule, according to the area division, I found my designated position, which was rather inconspicuous, an edge slot.
Unlike the dream equipment I had experienced before, this dream equipment capsule was largely transparent, allowing the external view of the inside. For my part, this was unnecessary; after all, would anyone really watch the people inside the dream equipment while battling in the dream? Probably not!
I smiled and shook my head, fiddling with the dream device before opening the hatch. Observing how efficiently the others were entering, I hesitated no longer and lay down inside.
Those who were not ready yet were also assisted by senior volunteers into the equipment, as this time, the dream exchange competition required everyone to enter as a whole.
At this moment, I only felt a shift in the scene before me, and as I became a bit dazed, when I noted my surroundings again, I found myself in the public area of the dream world.
However, unlike the area I arrived at last time, there was nothing there. This time, a beautifully scenic background was selected, and instantly added over a hundred people to the space.
After a moment of disorientation, everyone began to adapt to this environment.
This timing was the last moment for adaptation; if someone encountered an unexpected situation, they might need a substitute to take their place.
But it seemed, no one was in such an embarrassing situation.
The formal competition had not started yet, and naturally there was one important process yet to go through: the notice for withdrawing from the competition.
There were many considerations for withdrawing from the competition: perhaps the last life faced d*ath and they did not want to endure the pain of dying, or they were trapped and being threatened as hostages, or even if they hadn’t died after three lives, they might have accumulated a lot of points and didn’t want to lower their final scoring by dying.
Once a withdrawal was announced, no matter how many resurrection chances there were, one would not return to the arena.
And now, it was time to go through the withdrawal notice.
The simplest way to withdraw was, of course, d*ath, or simply asking to withdraw and confirming it.
At this moment, regardless of who it was or what clothes they originally wore, everyone’s attire was uniformly replaced with pre-set outfits representing their respective academies.
Including me; at this moment I was dressed in a fitted dress with three layered skirts, in dark colors. The lower half was matched with short lantern pants, complemented by thigh-high black stockings, fastened with a leg ring. I wore quite fitting little leather shoes, simple to stride in, yet they felt comfortable.
On my shoulders was a cloak unique to witches, topped with a large witch hat. The overall look was simple yet carried a hint of witchy flair.
This witch uniform was set as an alchemical item, and it wasn’t counted among the carryable alchemical items, so I guess I found a loophole. However, the effect of this alchemical-tech-made uniform could only be described as… not very effective.
And I glanced around; it seemed the uniforms of other academies also had traces of alchemy, indicating a tacit approval of the operation.
In this final moment, I also moved closer to the group from the Witch Academy.
At this point, they were prepared with their items: alchemical items, or weapons and armor. Strictly speaking, they could only bring three items. Seeing that they had taken out their things, I didn’t hesitate either—I picked my flying broomstick, magic wand, and the pair of bracers that Sister Bai gave me. This pair of bracers counted as an alchemical item, just like some who were equipped with full sets of armor, which only counted as one item.
The bracers weren’t of much help to me now; their body enhancement and catfolk transformation benefits were minimal, and I already had a spellbook that could serve as a replacement. Still, some items held symbolic significance greater than their practical use, and I didn’t have many alchemical items to bring anyway.
In fact, I could have brought storage equipment since there were many competition-use props available during the competition. It wouldn’t make sense to hold everything in hand, but once I realized I could get storage equipment during the competition, I decided against it. Since I could obtain it, there was no need to waste it; plus, an empty storage item wouldn’t help me much either; it was uncertain how well I would fare in getting good items anyway. Bringing something gifted by Sister Bai felt more meaningful, as though I were competing with her blessings. Isn’t that better?
Don’t underestimate the bond between Sister Bai and me—ah.jpg
“Xiao Han, everyone, let’s reiterate our initial plan for this exchange competition one last time, and stick to the plan,” Tan Han said, seeing everyone was gathered, but she didn’t specify the details to prevent others from overhearing our specific plans and getting prepared in advance.
As for the ceremonies, our witch academy’s ceremonies are considered the easiest to conduct.
Once the preparations for the ceremony begin, notifications will be sent, and a huge light pillar will indicate the location of where the ceremony is to be held.
Ceremonies can be planned by multiple academies simultaneously, but only one can start at a time. Once one ceremony is successfully planned and initiated, then the efforts of other academies would be wasted.
Thus, while organizing their own ceremonies, it’s essential to cooperate in disrupting the organization of the others; that’s the correct division of labor.
The preparation time was gradually coming to an end.
Everyone was making their final preparations, waiting for the moment when time descended upon the battlefield.
Even I had put on the bracers, tightly gripping my broomstick. This broom was no longer the one Teacher Ji had given me—it was the latest model provided by the academy to every contestant capable of using and bringing a flying broomstick. This was not a loophole; after all, what academy wouldn’t arm its students to the teeth?
I had no other thoughts beyond bringing a broomstick and wand; everything else was casual.
I adjusted my hat. The witch hat sat firmly atop my head, as if it had its own power to stay put, even with strong winds; otherwise, such a large hat would bring us trouble and little else.
It mostly served as a symbol of witchhood.
As time approached zero, at that moment the public area transformed around me, expanding the scenery outward, even the figures not far from me vanished completely.
Perhaps from their perspective, I had disappeared from view as well?
I held onto my hat as a strong wind blew towards me, causing my face to sting, even flipping the brim of the hat facing the wind.
I barely opened my eyes, and the scene before me was the central ancient battlefield.
This was the location of the ancient battlefield ruins, the ground stained crimson with bl**d. Even the sandy soil bore a dark red hue, and the sky was bl**d-colored, filled with a ferrous scent permeating the air, mingled with the taste of rust entering my mouth.
Even the resilient weeds could not take root here; the strong winds whipped up the dust from the ground, drawing my gaze toward the distance where a sandstorm was forming.
Truly worthy of being the central ancient battlefield; such an environment delivered a huge shock right from the start.
This atmospheric phenomenon would soon be heading my way, and amidst such a sandstorm, I couldn’t even determine my direction.
Moreover, there was no one around, which meant this was the worst-case scenario, with everyone having scattered. At least within my line of sight, there wasn’t a single living person.
Realizing the situation, I immediately hopped onto my broomstick and flew into the sky. Simultaneously, I opened my Memory Shelf, and the map appeared before my eyes. I needed a prominent building or geographical feature to confirm my location and determine my direction.
As for the sandstorm behind me? Naturally, I’d avoid it if I could; I didn’t want to waste magic power just to disperse such a storm.
