Chapter 235: The Underground Space Beneath the Wizard Tower
At this moment, the atmosphere outside the arena was filled with cheers.
The arena was packed to capacity; even those watching the live broadcast on site had numerous seniors present.
This stunning moment was captured at the Wizard Tower, which had been cleaved in two by a massive sword.
The resilient material still retained the shape of the Wizard Tower, but an enormous sword had split it down the center and tipped it over.
The terrifying residual force completely destroyed everything around the Wizard Tower, from the terrain to the vegetation, all collapsing outward from the center.
Such a spectacle was indeed breathtaking.
Of course, this was based on a witch’s aesthetic.
At this moment in the center of the arena, among the neatly arranged dream pods, a sound rang out; this was not the first dream pod to open. Several contestants from smaller academies had already been regrettably eliminated by this point.
The strongest among them had unfortunately exhausted three lives and was eliminated yesterday due to bad luck.
This time, Achir from the Holy Angel Academy took the initiative to exit the competition with three lives intact, knowing he had lost his chance to continue. However, he had still scored plenty of points, even though… despite killing several wizards within the Wizard Tower, he hadn’t topped the scoring, and the exchange competition was still ongoing, so he was bound to be pushed further behind.
At this moment, whether in regret or other emotions, none of it mattered to him anymore.
Achir opened the dream pod, and the lively sounds from the arena were quite different from the disappointment and booing he had anticipated.
But then he considered that this was the Witch Academy, and the majority of the audience was made up of witches, who wouldn’t feel disappointed because of him, right?
Their cheers at this moment were built upon his failure; while not mocking or booing, they stung even more deeply.
His exit certainly caused quite a stir, but perhaps it was for the best—at least in such an environment, he wouldn’t bear too much external pressure.
Achir arrived at the seating area of the Holy Angel Academy, where he was met by classmates and teachers who had come with him.
The expressions of his classmates were full of disappointment and sighs, especially in this large environment where they were mocked by the home crowd of the Witch Academy; their pride had been utterly shattered.
Only his mentor, Gena McIntosh, wore a gentle expression, as if nothing of significance had happened.
“I’m sorry… Mentor Gena…”
“You don’t need to apologize, child. You’ve done wonderfully.”
Gena gently patted Achir’s head and spoke kindly. At this moment, Achir had completed a mission in the exchange competition that he was unaware of, but he could not share this knowledge; all he could do was encourage him.
“However, child, you made a mistake as the team leader this time. Do you know what it was?”
“This… was my error as the team leader—deciding without fully understanding the situation.”
“Are you saying it was a decision-making mistake? No, it was your compromise, child. In the face of adversity and threats, you should not compromise, whether it’s a threat to your interests, to your companions, or a matter of life and d*ath. Your only choice is not to compromise.”
“But my companions…”
“I’m just stating my viewpoint; you have your own decisions. I’m simply sharing my experience. If you have a different perspective on my viewpoint, then present your own choices and facts to me in the future, proving me wrong.”
“No… mentors don’t make mistakes… I understand now…”
Watching Achir leave, Gena McIntosh fell silent. Educating students cannot be rushed, and especially not when teaching a Child of Fortune.
He wanted to say he could make mistakes too, but he bet that Achir would come to understand it himself. Only by overcoming that hurdle would Achir attain a higher realm of spiritual insight.
Also, only by suffering and being wounded would he come to understand what he truly could not let go of.
As team leader, he had taken on a role, sacrificing his companions; however, there are far too many roles to take in life. If one does not learn to let go, life can become quite burdensome.
With Achir’s exit, the remaining students from the Holy Angel Academy subsequently followed suit, as they had lost their final strength to compete in the exchange competition.
Some of them understood Achir’s decision, while others were confused and even thought Achir had dragged them down.
Regardless of their varied mindsets, at this moment, no one cared about their thoughts.
And the one most delighted by the collective withdrawal of the Holy Angel Academy was, of course, Manager Shali, who was currently in the store!
“Hahaha! Good, good, good! That flock of bird people all withdrew! Great! Xiao Han and Tan Han did wonderfully! It’s so satisfying to watch!”
At this moment, Shali, looking at the live broadcast projection in the store, was nearly jumping for joy.
“Oh! I should have gone to the live event! Never mind, I’m happy today! Everything in the bakery is half off! Quick, quick, quick, Xiao Shiqian, organize a free cookie giveaway event! I want everyone to know about this!”
“Alright, Manager, seems like you’re the only one thrilled about the Holy Angel Academy’s elimination. Are you intentionally targeting Xiao Han and Xiao Tan?” Ying Shiqian chimed in.
“Exactly, Manager, why interfere with Xiao Han and them? This seems pretty selfish.” Ying Shiqian echoed from the side.
“Selfish? How could that be? I’m vouching my Small Treasury for this!” Shali’s expression faltered somewhat at her two employees’ comments.
“Ah? Manager, are you really that willing?” Upon hearing “Small Treasury,” both Xiao Han and Ying Shiqian were taken aback. That was the manager’s treasure, even if it was nominally for the club, it was the manager who raised the club single-handedly.
“Of course… Anyway, I’m very happy right now. How about… we contact the new students in the club and go out for a nice meal?”
“Yay! A nice meal!” that was Ying Shiqian.
“Ah? Another nice meal?” that was Tang Yihan.
After all, Shali’s habit of celebrating with a nice meal whenever she was happy was quite… hard to describe. Not everyone enjoyed gathering together for a meal.
At this moment, in the dream exchange competition.
At the site of the cleaved Wizard Tower.
The astonishing commotion here naturally frightened the people nearby, making them hesitant to approach. After all, it looked like gods were fighting here, and anyone affected might just vanish.
Even the abnormal area formed by exotic lightning had completely disappeared under the overwhelming power of Holy Light.
The one who had previously turned into a giant was nowhere to be seen either, which was unfortunate. Perhaps he had been sent away long before the wizards had utilized that exotic lightning grand spell.
Even if he hadn’t died completely, Achir’s sword was powerful enough to send him off; the residual waves from that strike were devastating.
Even I personally felt the terror of such an attack by being present.
Fortunately, the agreement allowed him to leave early.
As for resources… that was hard to say, as they all perished, leaving no spoils behind.
Achir ended up with nothing to show for it.
The cleaved Wizard Tower now revealed its vast and complex internal structure, but due to the excessive violence of the destruction, many areas were beyond recognition.
However, some intricate instruments and wizard weapons could still be identified, though they had been thoroughly destroyed and were beyond repair.
“What is this?”
I kicked one of the few remaining intact objects in front of me. Surviving such an attack was a testament to its quality.
“Did you find something?” At this moment, Tan Han also walked over, surprised at these large objects. However, upon opening them, they were filled with all sorts of strange materials and half-finished wizard weapons that were of no use to us.
“By the way, it seems this is already an underground area, right? Is there more space beneath the Wizard Tower?”
“Not sure, but it’s certainly possible.” I shook my head.
But my hands didn’t stop moving, as I used Spirit Vision to detect an empty space below, indicating that there was indeed space beneath.
Even beneath such a massive structure, there was still space, and it hadn’t collapsed—it was truly miraculous. One had to marvel at how well the Wizard Tower was constructed.
After a while, we discovered an area leading further underground.
“Indeed, there is.”
I lifted a heavy stone slab to reveal a passage leading down. The further we went down, the more solid the foundation felt; the whole area was made of the same materials used to construct the main Wizard Tower. It was no wonder it hadn’t collapsed.
To think the Wizard Tower could withstand such an attack without crumbling apart, merely split in two, was enough to showcase the terror of the materials used.
As we entered this area, a strong smell of bl**d and other odors wafted up.
“It seems we’ve arrived at a significant place.”
Upon reaching the lower level, we were unexpectedly ambushed; however, the opponent’s spellcraft was rather lacking. The only troublesome thing was that one wizard weapon, but they were facing the elite from the Witch Academy, who easily subdued them, and Tan Han and I both opted not to k*ll our opponents.
“One, two, three… I didn’t expect there to be three wizard apprentices hiding here? So weak, yet quite good at hiding,” I said, kicking one of the subdued individuals lying on the ground.
Even after being caught, they didn’t hold back; they started rambling like their mouths were coated in honey. But for some information, we ultimately didn’t silence them.
Instead, we took a more direct approach. Tan Han didn’t hold back, coming up and giving one of them a kick between the legs, instantly silencing one and intimidating the others.
“Tan Han… that move of yours…” My lips twitched as I watched her. That action was so practiced; I found myself somewhat worried about the perverts who might h*rass Tan Han in the future.
“Boys can’t resist that move, right?” Tan Han seemed unfazed. At that moment, the intimidation she exhibited reached its peak before these guys—she definitely would stamp down on them if necessary.
“It doesn’t seem to pose any issues.” After all, it wasn’t me who got hit… wait, I’m a girl now, why would I be afraid of this?
“Are there any other hiding places in the Wizard Tower?”
At this moment, Tan Han didn’t waste words and directly started the interrogation. It was surprising how professional she seemed once she got into the zone.
But since Tan Han took on the role of interrogator, I wandered around underground, as there was still quite a bit of space here.
Mainly because of the strong smell of bl**d; the presence of that smell signified too much—it indicated that people had died here. Also… if they had died instantly, there wouldn’t be that much bl**d, since they would immediately revive after being declared dead.
Only when all lives were exhausted without the possibility of revival would there be corpses.
I hadn’t paid much attention before, possibly due to the dim environment, but when I illuminated the area with my alchemical lamp, I discovered that there were indeed “corpses”!
Moreover, they clearly weren’t the NPCs from the exchange competition but rather leftover contestants.
So someone had been eliminated this quickly?
Unfortunately, I couldn’t discern which academy they had belonged to but could barely identify one unfortunate soul from the Beast Academy.
However, shortly after, I was attracted to another prominent object: a glass container the size of a person, and most importantly, it truly contained a “person”!
A human specimen?
That was my first reaction. After all, this was the Wizard Academy; I wasn’t surprised to find such a thing.
When the light shone onto it, I noticed the glass container was filled with a green liquid, and the “human specimen” appeared before me.
This wasn’t a human; it was a mermaid!
Her lower half was a long mermaid tail—amazing, the Wizard Academy could even manage to obtain contestants from the Sea Tribe?
But after examining her closely, I was stunned by the familiar face; it was Yvette!
The unfortunate mermaid who had left the ocean to find the Elf Alliance! After killing her, I hadn’t paid attention to her again.
Didn’t expect to run into her here.
But why would she be here?
Had she left this dream body behind after dying?
But I quickly dismissed that thought because she was still alive.
Crash!
With a piercing sound of glass shattering echoing in the basement, the pale green water spilled everywhere as Yvette fell to the ground, and I disregarded the other connections to the container, destroying them directly.
“Xiao Han, what happened?” The commotion caught Tan Han’s attention.
“Oh, it’s nothing. I found an interesting thing here and broke it to take a look.” I quickly replied, but my hands didn’t pause.
From the exterior, Yvette didn’t appear to have sustained any serious injuries—just some minor bruises.
Moreover, after being submerged in the liquid for so long, her wounds showed no further damage. Truly, she was a mermaid…
As I marveled, the movement of her tail suddenly underwent a violent change.
The scales seemed to shed like skin, shrinking away, and then two legs took their place.
At that moment, I realized that the mermaid tail was under a sustained magical effect, and the magic appeared to be based on her bloodline…
Other species are truly fascinating, I shook my head as I stood up. At that moment, Yvette also began to stir; indeed, she was among those who hadn’t died completely.
She coughed a few times as if she choked on water. Speaking of which, can mermaids get choked on water when they’re in it? Mermaids are indeed miraculous.
“You bunch of… d*mn wizards… I Yvette Liao… will absolutely…”
Even though Yvette had just come to, she quickly began spewing a string of curses.
I patted her cheek lightly. Surprisingly, her skin felt nice and soft; but… what had this girl been through? Although she had just awakened and was struggling to open her eyelids, her mouth was already cursing.
As she finally regained her composure, she opened her eyes and saw me illuminated by my little lamp.
After a moment of confusion, Yvette’s eyes widened, her pupils suddenly contracting sharply!
“Hi~ nice to see you again,” I said with a mischievous smile.
“You! You you you! How could it be you! Witch!” The expression on her face changed in an instant, presenting an inexplicable sense of humor, and ultimately, she managed to utter just this one sentence.
“Consider yourself lucky; your name is Yvette, right? Did I get it right? I saved you~”
“You… impossible! You must be with the wizards! Don’t! Don’t come near me!”
“Why are you still afraid of me? You were cursing at me so fiercely just now while unconscious; what are you acting like this for now?”
“Cursing? You… how dare you! I don’t need your concern!”
At this moment, Yvette’s mind was still a bit scrambled, her speech quite disjointed.
After being captured by the wizards, she had endured inhumane treatment, hearing despairing discussions about how this was a dream and how research on mermaids could possibly divulge the secrets of their extraordinary powers. It was enough to drive anyone to despair.
However, within that glass container, she had been unable to commit s*icide; her entire body was weak…
Now she had been rescued, yet she felt no joy over her salvation, and worse, fell into the hands of a witch!
Why was her fate so cruel?
“Since I’ve saved you, let me collect a fee.”
As my voice echoed, Yvette instinctively wrapped her arms around herself, fee?
Was there any better reward than killing her for points in the exchange tournament?
“k*ll me or torture me, do as you please!” Yvette had already resigned herself to her fate of dying and reviving.
She just hoped this time she wouldn’t end up in some absurd place, preferably the Aphuemi Forest.
But after a moment’s wait, she noticed that I showed no signs of wanting to k*ll her, so she instinctively opened her eyes to check the situation. She saw that I was just extending my hand, and there were no weapons or signs of spellcasting.
“Eh?”
“What are you looking at me for? You don’t think I’m going to k*ll you, do you? Come on, killing you is just three points, but this… you only pay one for a life.”
I smiled while reaching for her chest, where a beautiful scale was located, right at the heart of her new life.
With Yvette’s horrified scream, I acquired another scale. Taking out the previous piece, under the light, the two scales sparkled with colorful hues, their patterns identical—truly beautiful!
“Ah! What did you do?!”
At this moment, Yvette could no longer contain her grievances. Even if she were killed, she wouldn’t cry so heartbreakingly, but when her heart scale was pulled off once more, she couldn’t help but weep.
Sometimes grievances are unspeakable. If grievances could be spoken, there would be no grievances in the world. Was she merely feeling wronged because her heart scale was taken?
Yes, but not entirely; the cumulative factors were far too many. At that moment, all the sadness, pain, and grievances exploded forth.
“Xiao Han, what’s going on?” After hearing the commotion and sobbing, Tan Han couldn’t help but come over to check. As she arrived, she saw this scene.
Tan Han’s arrival immediately frightened Yvette into silence; she recognized Tan Han and had heard from her teacher that she was very dangerous and powerful.
But now facing a witch was already tough enough; now, with another one she recognized, Tan Han…
She felt her good days were over, and perhaps it was better to just end it…
Tan Han looked at Yvette, then at me, ultimately resting her gaze on my hand.
“You have a Sea Tribe mermaid… Xiao Han, did you take her heart scale?”
“Is there a problem?”
