Inside the trial arena, Mage apprentices were exhausting all their skills and knowledge in battle against one another. Outside the arena, in the grand hall on the 101st floor of the Central Black Tower, a group of Mages had gathered to observe the test.
This trial was both a screening process and a self-recommendation opportunity.
Mages often discovered overlooked talents during the trial and took them on as official apprentices.
But for most of the Mages, it was simply quality entertainment.
"Loreon, your student isn't bad. Only two days in, and he's already racked up fifteen points," said a skeletal, corpse-like Mage with a grin.
In the crystal orb before him, a Mage apprentice was blasting opponents into ash with elemental spells.
On another side, a Mage with half his body wrapped in flames chuckled, "Your apprentice is like a rock, no, tougher than diamond."
"Look at Freud's student over there. He's actually walking the path of faith and asceticism. Freud, are you using formal apprentices as test subjects now?" a ghostly, translucent Mage called out.
A white-robed Mage with a kindly face and a holy aura angrily puffed out his beard.
"That was his choice, nothing to do with me!"
…
The hall was filled with such banter.
For Mages with formal apprentices, the trial was a chance to showcase their students. For others locked in rivalries, it was a proxy war, if their apprentice outperformed the other's, it was seen as a personal victory.
"Joron, your student's kind of underwhelming," sneered a skeleton-faced Mage.
In his crystal orb, Edwyn's score showed only four points, meager by both official and general apprentice standards.
Joron adjusted his glasses and said coolly, "Aelyx, not everyone shares your obsession with killing."
In Joron's crystal, Aelyx's apprentice had nearly hit twenty points already, accompanied by a hulking corpse-giant radiating with death energy that wilted all vegetation around it.
"Is that so, Joron?" Aelyx taunted. "Word is, your student is quite the hothead inside the academy."
Joron shot back: "That's called retaliation. A killer like you wouldn't understand."
Nearby Mages glanced over, clearly entertained. The long-standing feud between Joron and Aelyx was well-known. For decades, Joron had consistently outshone Aelyx in apprentice performance, whether it was Agnes or Chayle, they'd always been ahead.
Now that Edwyn's performance seemed average, Aelyx finally had something to gloat about.
…
Inside the arena, Edwyn rubbed his nose. He'd just sneezed several times in a row, someone was clearly talking about him behind his back.
"Who'd be thinking about me at a time like this? Could Elia be in trouble?"
He shook his head and continued walking toward the center of the arena with his greatsword strapped to his back. But before he had taken more than a few steps, a faint tremor caught his attention.
"Something's coming." Edwyn touched the ground, then turned toward his left.
Switching his vision to Moony, his airborne raven, Edwyn quickly located the source of the vibrations, a towering bone giant, with a robed figure walking beside it.
"Looks like a tough one."
He rubbed his chin, hesitating whether to engage.
Edwyn hadn't scored many kills, not because he wasn't interested in the leaderboard, but because one-on-one ambushes were just too inefficient. Most of the apprentices he'd encountered were slippery like eels, one move and they'd flee. Each kill took tremendous effort for a single seal.
If he was going to kill, he'd rather kill the ones who survived to the end, they'd be stronger and the reward higher. And since he was confident in his own strength, he wasn't too worried.
After all, they were all apprentices. He had more Mana Stones, more gear, if he couldn't beat someone, at least he could outrun them.
As Edwyn debated, the black-robed necromancer, Sylas, noticed him through a detection spell.
"He saw me and didn't run? You must be asking for death," Sylas cackled.
Ever since entering the arena, Sylas felt like he'd found paradise. The other apprentices were like paper tigers, some weren't even mid-level apprentices and dared to roam around.
To Sylas, they were walking Mana Stones.
One apprentice was worth a hundred stones. Ten meant a thousand. With over 4,000 contestants, that was 400,000 stones in total. Even if he only killed one percent, he'd still pocket 4,000, a hefty sum by any standard.
Daydreaming about his inevitable fortune, Sylas waved his staff, commanding the corpse-giant to charge at Edwyn.
"Hmm?"
Edwyn sensed something was wrong.
Seeing the giant lurch toward him, he shook his head and smiled.
"Well, nothing to consider now."
With that, his breath sharpened, and his bloodline surged. His body swelled over two meters tall, his skin cloaked in black scales. Moony above also prepared to dive.
Sylas frowned at the sight. "A Bloodline Alchemist... Judging by the transformation, he's undergone at least two changes."
Then a gleeful grin crept across his face.
So what if it was bloodline alchemy? Necromancers specialized in dismantling physically strong enemies.
If he could merge this apprentice into his bone giant, its Physique would skyrocket, maybe even breach the elusive 39-point threshold.
Yes, this was fate smiling upon him.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Two towering figures charged and collided like titans, the ground shaking with every step, a thunderous crash erupting as they clashed, shrouded in a rising cloud of dust.
Before the dust could settle, a shockwave tore it apart, revealing the real scene.
Edwyn was swinging his Magic-Devourer greatsword with such force that afterimages followed each arc.
Now that Edwyn was an Intermediate Apprentice, his inherited Wind Crow Slash from the Black Forest Baron had evolved. Once it used to emit a piercing screech; now it struck in utter silence, like the reaper's blade.
The corpse giant didn't even bother to dodge. It raised two trunk-thick arms and brought them down like hammers on Edwyn's head.
Wham!
A gust of wind passed inches above his skull, Edwyn had ducked at the last second. His sword, in turn, cleaved into the undead's belly like a hot knife through butter.
In the next instant, yellow-green pus and black bile spewed forth, reeking like month-old rotting pork under summer heat.
"Ughh…"
Edwyn gagged but kept his momentum.
Inside the exposed guts of the bone giant, a twisted, shriveled heart, pulsating faintly, revealed itself.