Chapter 879: A Bigger Stage?
“A bigger stage?”
I have to say, at this moment, I was drawn in by Sheryl’s words.
It’s just that… my expectation for a bigger stage is not for better opportunities to showcase myself, but rather to filter out those around me.
It’s like how people of various levels like to mingle in corresponding circles.
“I see a hint of expectation in your eyes; I guess deep down you hope for this, right?”
“So when you mention a bigger stage, are you referring to the void outside the main world?”
“That isn’t wrong; you should get to know the world beyond the main realm. There are many geniuses out there like you, and many opportunities beyond your imagination. The main world is, after all, just a world that has been occupied, developed, and exploited. A lot of things here have already been digested, leaving the only remaining resource here as… people.”
“So, the model of the Extraordinary Academy is a place to extract the final value from the main world? I casually replied.
“At least from the current progression, it does seem like that. After all, Spirit Vision… is a very precious talent. Even after becoming extraordinary, the level of Spirit Vision is directly inherited to real vision.”
“But it sounds pretty average…” I commented.
“Perhaps you’ve never lived without Spirit Vision, right? Spirit Vision in the main world is the ticket given to you by the world’s consciousness to traverse the extraordinary. Ordinary people in other worlds spend their lives without ever seeing or hearing the flow of extraordinary energy. This gap is akin to someone born sighted not being able to understand the struggles of someone born blind.”
“Alright… I think I understand.”
In reality, if the ordinary life without Spirit Vision were to happen to me, I would have lived it in my past life, where there wasn’t even a shadow of the extraordinary in the entire world. The technology developed was about boiling water and quarrying stones.
Society’s development was merely changing to a more advanced method of boiling water faster and throwing stones further…
“Well, I guess I understand~ However, I’m also surprised you seem to have such a low sense of belonging to this world that it astonishes me. Even when I said the last value is the population of the main world, your perspective springs from that of a witch.”
“After all… I am currently a little witch myself,” I replied softly, not elaborating on what the deeper issues were.
Instead of analyzing this complex question, it is better to categorize the answer as a simpler statement.
“So you think this way? That’s really interesting~” Sheryl said lightheartedly, as if she felt that the communication with Little Liu had gotten on track, “We seem to have deviated a bit; let’s return to the previous topic, Little Liu. What do you think is the resistance preventing you from moving to a bigger stage?”
“It’s… the level of life, I guess.” I answered casually.
In reality, not long after mastering the skill of Soul Drawing, I would be able to resolve the issue of elevating the life level of Soul Essence. However, right now, I don’t have much time to try this.
“Do you like finding problems within yourself? I thought you would say that it was that Principal Mei Linde.”
“Why do you think it’s her?” I frowned and asked, as I didn’t believe the Headmaster would stop me from reaching a bigger stage.
Would she want to keep me around and leave the position of Headmaster to me?
It seemed unlikely, especially since I wouldn’t become the Headmaster. If it came to that, I would probably just end up being Principal Beif Alanna 2.0.
I don’t manage people; to discuss the early trials would take us back to the phase of being Class Leader of Class 14. Even in that brief role, managing the class was the deputy Class Leader’s job.
I was about to forget her name.
Was it… Yu Xingyue?
But these things were no longer important.
While I was contemplating, Sheryl spoke again.
“Principal Mei Linde has been known to pay attention to you for quite a while now. After you showcased your talents, she provided you with much assistance while also becoming your shackle. Reflect, in what you do now, don’t you subconsciously take her thoughts into consideration?”
“Isn’t that normal? I don’t like to actively cause trouble for others; I just mentioned that, right?”
“That’s why I told you not to worry about others’ opinions~ What’s the point? Do you remember the promise that Principal Mei Linde made to you? She told you to harvest that game world… yet she went back on her word. Honestly, that world is very suitable as a training ground for you at that time.”
“In there, you would learn many things that cannot be found in the main world. You wouldn’t view this world from a personal perspective nor wait to be arranged from an apprentice’s viewpoint; you would learn how to become a rule maker, how to master your own fate, how to dictate others’ fates, and even understand the endless outcomes of an overreaching person… The main world you live in has so many restrictions that bind your thoughts, making you unaware of the true darkness and ruthlessness of the void. When you disdain a weaker person, then that person should die; this is the most brutal environment of the void…”
“… Isn’t that unnecessary?” I unconsciously spoke.
“When you say it’s unnecessary, you have already immersed yourself in the comfortable rules set out for you by others, effectively handing your fate over to the witch who established the rules, which is… Mei Linde.”
“If she thinks you shouldn’t do something, then you won’t do it; don’t…”
Thinking that the trouble you’ve caused her is breaking her rules; in reality, those are things she was passively accepting. Mei Linde, using her own means and leveraging the extraordinary powers of the Extraordinary Academy, skillfully outlines a red line for you.”
“She believes you shouldn’t go, should not take risks, so you feel secure, content to… only stay in the Witch Academy, at best in the Expanding Realm, but even the Expanding Realm is the territory of the Witch Academy, she describes the Expanding Realm as very dangerous… Really? Without the Great Severing Technique, any extraordinary being causing trouble there wouldn’t even need her to intervene; many witches would take out those bothersome characters.”
“What she fears you going to… is the game world.”
As Sheryl finished speaking, she paused, seemingly allowing me time to digest and comprehend her words.
And Sheryl’s words indeed sparked quite a few insights in me, providing a description of the world from an alternative perspective.
Do… I really not dare to take risks?
But looking back at everything in the past, it seems I have always tried things out of a desire for self-preservation, even that initial attempt to resurrect after death was built upon the confidence that I wouldn’t die.
Everyone thought I did something insane; in my view, it was simply an attempt that wouldn’t have unexpected outcomes.
“That game world, did Mei Linde tell you that the coordinates were obscured by those guys, right? What do you think… after such a long time, how is that world?”
First Segment
“It should still be undiscovered.”
Second Segment
“No, actually it has been found, but that world has just become more complex.”
Third Segment
“More complex? It… Wait, how do you know this?” I asked, somewhat puzzled.
Fourth Segment
“It’s just a world. Even if the objective void markers in the void are concealed, how long can they hide it? Those extraordinary academies can connect with such worlds; why can’t I?”
Fifth Segment
“But… since it’s been found, why doesn’t the Witch Academy…”
Sixth Segment
“Did you forget the witch contract that forbids interference by the extraordinary? If a witch violates the witch contract, they become the Betrayer Witch.”
Seventh Segment
“Contract… Alright. I quickly thought of this but also developed other questions, ‘Do you actually know the specific contents of this contract?’”
Eighth Segment
“I know~ After all, it’s a witch contract; there are always some means to learn the contents of this open contract. Do you want to know the specifics?”
Ninth Segment
“Um, can you tell me about the scope of non-interference by the extraordinary? If it’s all extraordinary beings in the void that cannot interfere… This kind of thing shouldn’t be possible under the witch contract, right?” I casually asked, taking a sip of the Fool Dream Drink.
Tenth Segment
“I can tell you~ But before I do, I need to correct a misconception: the witch contract can indeed limit all extraordinary beings in the void from interfering.”
“What? This… how is that possible?” I instantly widened my eyes, somewhat incredulous.
“Naturally… it’s possible. Generally, witch contracts execute based on the strength of the contract. If the witch race forcibly signed this kind of restrictive contract with all extraordinary beings, then the contract would be executed by the entire extraordinary witch race and all extraordinary witches, and this contract would ultimately have only two outcomes.”
As Sheryl said this, she held out two fingers.
“One is that the witch race fulfills the contract’s order, and the second… the witch race completely perishes in the void. After all, if the witch race perishes, then the witch contract naturally becomes meaningless. But you also understand, the witch race usually wouldn’t be foolish enough to sign contracts without benefits.”
“So, is that the execution? Alright…” I nodded without contesting anything.
This kind of execution isn’t without meaning; a witch contract betting the entire witch race represents the resolution of the witch race to fight with all extraordinary efforts until the last witch!
“Okay~ Returning to the previous topic, you wanted to know the encompassing range of that contract; I’ll be straightforward—the restricted range naturally includes all the extraordinary beings of the main world.”
“What about extraordinary beings outside the main world?” After receiving this expected answer, I smoothly followed up with a question.
“Little Xiao, you must understand, extraordinary beings are just forbidden to interfere with that world, but it doesn’t mean that extraordinary beings outside the contract won’t do the same.”
“Oh~”
I understood, so power still determines discourse power. Even if the witch contract signed by Principal Mei and the others had loopholes, it still doesn’t hinder them from leveraging their own strength to achieve what they want to do.
“How about it? Is there anything else you want to know?” Sheryl propped her chin on her hand, looking as if she eagerly anticipated what I would ask.
“Well… what trouble does that game world have? I continued to ask, and I have to say, at this moment, the Betrayer Witch across from me had touched upon a topic I was quite concerned about.
Maybe… it was a setup from her previous analyses.
“Of course, it’s the people below the extraordinary. Now, that world has gathered too many outsiders; the situation is quite chaotic~”
“Below the extraordinary? Outsiders? Many?” I recalled what the Headmaster had previously revealed to me, that there were many people causing chaos in the game world, mostly wizard apprentices from the Wizard Academy.
“Right, there should be quite a few. If you want me to give you detailed information, I can’t provide an exact number at this moment.”
“Are… there really that many outsiders below the extraordinary? Don’t they have Earth Vein Shackles unlike us?” I posed a question that puzzled me.
Knowing that currently, in the main world, I was the only one aware of the people below the extraordinary, and I was the only one who severed the Earth Vein Shackles; perhaps there were others, but certainly not many.
After all… when I severed the Earth Vein Shackles, the price paid was a demon lord’s heart!
To let a non-extraordinary person sever the Earth Vein Shackles and leave their original world, “sacrificing” an extraordinary being seems hardly worth it, right?
Could there really be so many geniuses in the void worth such a cost?
“Hehe~ You really guessed right! The concept of Earth Vein Shackles does indeed vary across different worlds. For example, the main world has an extremely protective type, as the world consciousness knows we are binding her children, making it difficult to sever. Even if such thoughts exist, it can lead to a lot of troublesome matters.”
“Then there are worlds like the Wizard World that primarily focus on world invasion. Such wizard apprentices can conditionally ignore the Earth Vein Shackles when arriving in another world, and this method is akin to a ‘declaration of war’ at a world level. Extraordinary wizards are also referred to as the pirates of the void; they sail their world like a ship, setting up planks to step onto the other world, engaging in primitive and violent contact battles.”
“Of course~ Not severing the Earth Vein Shackles, regardless of how cooperative the world consciousness is, it still has many limitations. So, many non-extraordinary beings wandering in the void are actually those being hunted from their original worlds. Their home worlds have been destroyed, hence there are no Earth Vein Shackles left.”
“I see now?”
Regarding the differences in Earth Vein Shackles, this was truly my first time hearing about it. However, I also understood another method to sever Earth Vein Shackles, which is… the Child of Fortune.
But this method seems impossible to be widespread.
As for the method involving the destruction of one’s own world, I had learned of that before; it was during the Expanding Realm when Feng Sunset and the others told me about it. They also traded for a favor from me using that information.
“Survivors after the world’s destruction might inherit the will of that world, which is the essence of that world. Hence, among those whose worlds have been destroyed, geniuses emerge who leave their marks in the void.”
“And such individuals are talents that various forces in the void strive to recruit. Currently, this game world is probably a gathering of such people.”
“But… why did they come to this game world? It seems meaningless. They can’t be… those extraordinary races sent specifically to cause trouble for the Witch Academy, right?” I still remained puzzled.
“Well, that’s of course because… there are things here that attract them~”
