Chapter 236: The Map Clearing Plan of the Witch Academy
“How could you do something like this?” Tan Han asked in confusion.
“Well… it looks pretty, so I kept it as a memento,” I casually replied, but that was my true thought.
“Pretty… memento?” Tan Han repeated my words, somewhat incredulous.
“The heart scale of a mermaid is the most special scale on their body. Even if they don’t transform into mermaid form, this scale will appear on their chest… Moreover… this scale is unlike others; it won’t grow back…”
“Then doesn’t that make it even more meaningful as a memento? But Tan Han, how do you know so much?” I asked, sensing her interest.
“Well… um… I deliberately found out about it. I observed the characteristics of various academies during this exchange competition… um, Xiao Han, if possible, please don’t do something like this next time. This scale is like a girl’s first time for a mermaid…”
Tan Han looked at the two identical scales in my hand, momentarily unsure of what expression to show.
“Ah? Can that be connected?”
“Of course, after all, it’s the only time they give it to someone they love. That’s the romance mermaids pursue; you…”
“Well, it’s fine. We’re in a dream world, so I can be more restrained in reality,” I shrugged, saying that it was merely the other person’s thought, and they had only just been human not long ago. That type of mermaid thinking shouldn’t be considered very firm for them.
Did I change after becoming a witch?
Was that even a change?
That was about releasing one’s nature, a long-standing essence, even combined with past-life accumulated traits being satisfied at that moment.
At this moment, Tan Han began to comfort Yvette. Although the Witch Academy had become an enemy of the world, it was clear that Tan Han did not treat the other as a mere scorekeeper.
I walked over to the three wizard apprentices we had tied up.
After getting some understanding, I roughly figured out the situation; these three guys were the ones controlling the Wizard Tower—specifically the operators of the wizarding artillery and that exotic lightning grand spell. Since they were “technicians,” they weren’t very skilled in actual combat.
They hadn’t anticipated that someday they’d need to face combat; when that time came, their spells would be useless because the Wizard Tower had already been breached.
They had only hidden away while Achir was conducting the prayer ritual, and now only these three were left.
After thoroughly searching the ruins of this Wizard Tower for a while, I couldn’t help but look at Tan Han.
“Tan Han, how should we divide this? It’s a bit hard to divide three.”
“I’ll k*ll one, and you two take the other two; after all, you did the most work.”
“By the way, don’t you have one beside you?” I pointed at Yvette next to her. “We have four in total, so we each get two.”
“You!”
At that moment, Yvette Lou looked at me wanting to retort, but then recalled her own situation; d*ath or something didn’t seem to matter much anymore.
“She was tied here by the wizards…”
“Tan Han, we’re in an exchange competition. Don’t lose sight of the priorities, okay? Do you know what this Yvette did before?” I emphasized.
“What did she do?”
Tan Han only symbolically suggested it; after all, the other party had no substantial hostility towards the witches. If Xiao Han disagreed, she could just k*ll her; she wouldn’t voice any objections.
Moreover, she was curious about the mermaid who had previously encountered Xiao Han and what she had actually done.
“She was the one who formed the alliance between the Sea Tribe and the Aphhemia Forest. If it weren’t for me, they would have already teamed up by now, which would have caused even more trouble.”
“If it weren’t for you, this witch meddling in the middle, we would have already reached an alliance with the Aphhemia Elves, and you wouldn’t have had the chance to confront me here…”
“However, the fact is that there’s no such thing as a regret potion in this world. Well, it’s not bad to carry around a mascot. We should head back now. Tan Han, did you arrange a place to meet them when you left?” I came over and patted her face again.
I just liked the way she wanted to k*ll me in anger but couldn’t; wasn’t that something everyone liked?
“I am not a mascot! Be clear about that!”
“Stop being so stubborn; it’s very important to recognize the current situation. Learn from it.” While I spoke, I looked at Tan Han.
“Well, they said they would wait for us to return at the original place, and I hope nothing unexpected happens,” Tan Han said.
“Don’t worry; what can happen to them? We’ve already sent away several of those academies capable of fighting in this exchange competition. Don’t underestimate their combat power,” I waved my hand. Though I was a bit worried, I wouldn’t underestimate their strength, as long as it didn’t compare to me and Tan Han.
The exchange competition had progressed to this point, and everything felt like a game.
But at the same time, I had also learned a lot, about combat, spellbooks, and even gender perceptions. It seemed long ago had passed, but looking at it now, the second day of the exchange competition hadn’t even finished yet.
After emerging from the space beneath the Wizard Tower along the corridor, Yvette was stunned by the sight before her.
A massive sword blade was deeply embedded in the foundation of the Wizard Tower, the tower having been split in half and collapsed with a loud crash. The surrounding environment resembled a scene after a great battle. This was her first time witnessing such terrifying combat, having completely lost her connection to the exchange competition from the very beginning.
She truly couldn’t imagine everything turning out like this, and now the first thing she saw was a witch—so everything must have been done by the witches.
What kind of disaster witch was this…
If it weren’t for the separation of the sea, would the Sea Tribe have also faced the same fate?
Thinking about this, Yvette instinctively swallowed.
When Tan Han and I both took out our brooms to prepare to return, our gazes fell on Yvette at the same time, and in the end, it was Tan Han who spoke up.
“I’ll take her.”
After all, leaving her behind was primarily her suggestion; we shouldn’t bother the other party with such things.
“Then thank you,” I nodded and said nothing more.
When we returned to the original Land of Eternal Darkness, the first thing I noticed was the most conspicuous War Fortress.
However, at this moment, the dwarfs were brazenly repairing the damaged areas up there.
“It seems Minian and the others have convinced that group of dwarfs,” Tan Han said as she came to my side.
“Convinced? Did we ally with the dwarfs?” I widened my eyes in disbelief.
If the dwarfs allied with our Witch Academy, what would that scene look like!
Even Yvette behind us widened her eyes in disbelief, looking at the massive War Fortress while making connections to the keywords like dwarfs and so on, hinting at many things.
Moreover, Tan Han also briefly explained the current situation of the exchange competition with Yvette on the way. If Yvette had any thoughts at this moment, it was definitely despair.
She was just caught by the Wizard Academy, and how had everything changed so dramatically after seeing the light of day again?
Was this exchange competition going to end… wouldn’t it just be quicker to declare the Witch Academy the winner?
“Hey? Is that Tan Han?”
“Of course, it’s riding a broom, and Xiao Han has returned too! Over here!”
“Who is the one behind Tan Han?”
A group of witches were excitedly waving their hands upon seeing the figures in the sky.
“Tan Han, welcome back! You really pulled off a big stunt this time.”
“That’s right! That was such a big commotion that we felt the ground shaking over here.”
“Xiao Han, are you thirsty? Let me get you a glass of water!”
Seeing their enthusiastic demeanor, I felt a bit embarrassed to refuse; after receiving the cup of water, I began to inquire about the Dwarf Academy’s situation.
At this moment, the Dwarf Academy had signed a contract with our Witch Academy, and it was signed in the name of the academy. If I violated it, the representative of the contract would have to pay a corresponding price.
So they quickly explained the general situation to me.
The Witch Academy and the Dwarf Academy had reached a contract to fight together and mutually protect each other.
The dwarfs were currently repairing their War Fortress, and I could already envision the dwarfs charging across the exchange competition map alongside us.
However, before that, we still needed to face an important issue: the problem of the Central Ancient Battlefield had been neglected for too long, and now looking back, this had become an unavoidable major dilemma, though it was also an opportunity.
The strength of the specters of the past in the ancient battlefield would grow stronger with each wave, but the interval for the specters to refresh did not adhere to any rules.
It was clear that this required us to explore the hidden rules ourselves, and since the exchange competition had reached this point, aside from me, an idiot who wasn’t paying much attention to this aspect, others had, more or less, made a lot of speculations.
There must be a built-in progress bar for the refresh of the past specters; even if everyone did nothing, it would still refresh periodically.
Furthermore, successfully holding a ceremony would trigger a refresh. Our Witch Academy had already gained three points, corresponding to three refreshes.
I hadn’t really paid attention to this matter.
As for other factors, such as the number of deaths and boss clearings on the large map, they could also push the so-called progress bar forward.
When Tan Han left, a batch of past specters of the ancient battlefield arrived in the Land of Eternal Darkness, but they had been resolved by them.
When Tan Han and I arrived, we also saw movements in the ancient battlefield in the distance, along with the slow advancement of the specters of the past.
Of course, the strength of the past specters had become troublesome; even basic spells consumed from the spellbook couldn’t k*ll them in one hit, and once their numbers formed, they would become a terrifying presence.
They would be more fearsome than the undead sea we encountered in the Land of the Fallen.
Moreover, the past specters wouldn’t return to the Earth Vein until they were killed, which meant that the past specters would continuously swarm one after another.
And with a War Fortress in hand, the dwarfs, a naturally mobile fortress, could greatly reduce the trouble in facing this situation.
This was one of the reasons and considerations for the alliance between witches and dwarfs.
At this moment, the Witch Academy gathered again; although a few were still absent, it didn’t matter much because the map was so big that it was easy to get lost, and our ceremonial location was quite random. Not waiting for everyone to gather would indeed be hard to manage, especially since not all witches rode brooms.
“The current situation of the exchange competition is already becoming clear. The Holy Angel Academy has lost all qualifications to continue and is out; after losing the support of the Wizard Tower, the combat power of the Wizard Academy will drop sharply. Their means heavily rely on spellcasting materials or other supplies, and damage to their witch weapons will also require a lot of corresponding supplies to repair, so the Wizard Academy has become the academy that needs to avoid battle the most.”
“It can be said that the Wizard Academy is no longer a threat. Next, the top three academies are still missing one, the Aphhemia Academy…”
Tan Han summarized this, and many people’s gazes had already shifted towards a specific direction. Even though it was far away, the thick smoke rising from the great fire could already be seen from here, more conspicuous than the volcanic ash spewing irregularly from the Dragon bl**d Cavern.
And this was also the battle mark of someone from the Witch Academy…
“Logically, we should seize the victory and eliminate the three top academies so the remaining battle can be settled.”
“How about I go set a fire? I haven’t tried what it feels like to set a fire yet. If I miss this chance, I won’t get another in reality,” Minian chimed in, trying to stir things up.
“This can wait; wildfires spread quickly. The elves, aside from cutting trees to create vacuum zones to prevent the fire from spreading, don’t have other quick and effective means. Our main priority now is to clear the map.”
“Clear the map?”
“Tan Han, are we really starting to clear the map this quickly?”
“Yes, many academies are participating in this exchange competition, and they are quite dispersed. Clearing the map is a necessary action and also a fast way to score; it can force other academy contestants to their deaths or be swept away by us.”
To put an end to the scoring, there must either be a large-scale encirclement or they must be forced to d*e unexpectedly; reducing the score gain limit would then correspondingly increase the score effectively while also preventing the opponents from gaining points.
“So how do we clear the map? This kind of thing must be very time-consuming; it would be better to hold a Witch Tea Party.”
“Guide the past specters of the ancient battlefield to encompass the entire map. The situation within the Central Ancient Battlefield is well known; the further one goes, the more ferocious the ancient battlefield environment will become, enough to cause their demise.”
“That… is quite a ruthless method…”
“Now that the exchange competition has progressed to this point, indeed… various academies, because of deaths and revivals, the so-called territories have lost much significance. The students of each region are mixed.”
“But even so, wouldn’t that ultimately benefit the Sea Tribe?” someone raised a question.
“Who said the ancient battlefield’s erosion wouldn’t affect the sea? We have to try to know; you should know about water erosion, right? You guys weren’t there at the time, but I witnessed it with my own eyes. Water erodes the land, the ground on land becomes the water surface, high mountains turn into islands with their peaks exposed above the water; this is a false dream world filled with hidden rules needing exploration.” At this moment, I also began to explain to them.
“That does seem reasonable; it’s a logical assumption, worth a try. Otherwise, the final exchange competition would just turn into a guerrilla war with the Sea Tribe, which isn’t the original intention of the exchange,” Tan Han echoed.
While I understood that Tan Han was supporting me, I was also very aware that the original intention of the exchange competition wasn’t about fairness but about allocating fortune.
However, what Tan Han said wasn’t too far off.
“Perfect, let’s start our research on the ancient battlefield from the Land of Eternal Darkness. Conveniently, next door is the water-flooded Land of the Fallen; we can test whether the ancient battlefield will erode the sea.”
“Regardless of whether it can be tested in the Land of the Fallen, we’ll start the map clearing plan from the other side, and the area reserved will be the forest that connects the elves and the Beast Academy. That’s a suitable place to set a fire, and right next to it is the sea.”
“The erosion of the ancient battlefield, the erosion of sea water, and the spread of forest fires will be our final gift for them.” Ultimately, I clarified the plan for our Witch Academy’s actions moving forward.
As for the details, they could be entrusted to Tan Han for unified coordination.
After all, this plan was gradually formed during the communication I had with Tan Han before the gathering.
I had mentioned before that I wasn’t too adept at planning and such; let the brain work be handled by Tan Han while I focused on combat effectiveness.
Currently, Yvette didn’t dare to move aside; what had she just heard?!
Clearing the map?
Guiding the ancient battlefield to erode the map… what about sea water erosion… burning the forest, right in front of her… they clearly didn’t regard her at all.
Was this what they talked about at the witches’ gathering? Just a few words could completely end this exchange competition.
She realized she had underestimated the witches of the Witch Academy far too much; these guys were absolutely crazy!
