Bloodbath Rewards

Under the massive thunderstorm, Dorotte stood up from his crouching position and left a wounded Merlin on the ground. Letting off his terrible fighting aura of green color, he prepared to face the enemy as many faint silver beast claws protruded from his back.

"Inside the secret plane, one must take responsibility for themselves. Such are the established rules in a Bloodbath. Do you wish to violate the previous agreement between our factions?" -The skeleton mage defied.

"Enough with the nonsense!" -The black-robed figure standing in front of the 3 chairmen spoke, and a gigantic dark green hand grabbed at the sky. The massive lightning was immediately scattered by the giant hand.

"I have said before to abide by the agreement! If you wish for your death, I can gladly dispense it to you!" -The black-robed figure growled at the professor from Whitewoods Castle.

At the same time, the blue-bearded geezer spurted a huge mouthful of blood. Anger was quickly replaced with fear as he knelt down, his face touching the cold dirt. "My Lord, with your magnanimity, please forgive an old man who has just lost his nephew!"

"Learn to rein in your emotions, professor. Next time, I will extract your soul and roast it in the abyss for ten thousand years." -The black-robed figure spoke again harshly.

The blue-bearded geezer then returned to his academy's camp, though not before giving Merlin and Dorotte a vicious stare. His hatred and determination for killing Merlin gave Dorotte a headache. Crackling and rattling noises could be heard from the skeletal figure.

'Although this time nothing has happened, Merlin will definitely be pursued by Blue-Beard unless he keeps hiding inside the academy. I guess Professor Bones is regretting Jayden's demise right about now.' -Leylin's eyes flashed with amusement.

Earlier, his A.I. assistant picked up several traces of energy waves from spells.

Obviously, it was the search for the enemy who had killed Whitewoods' precious acolyte. If Leylin were to still keep those items that carried their traces, his outcome would now be the same as Merlin's.

Those professors who had had their personal apprentices or successors killed by the other party — who was also their sworn enemy — proclaimed they would make the killer pay with their blood.

As for the casualties of the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, they were not considered because the other two academies were facing many more losses. Naturally, Leylin was mainly responsible for that, given how he had slaughtered dozens of level 2 acolytes just for the fun of it.

Although they were bound by the agreement and vigilance of the Lighthouse of the Night, as far as Magi were concerned, if they were to pay the price in magic crystals, they could eventually find an indirect way to exact their revenge.

For example, not taking action themselves, but instead suggesting to Magi outside of the agreement to act on their behalf. The black market was also an option worth considering.

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Days later, at night.

Leylin returned to Abyssal Bone Forest's dorms area and laid down on his bed. As the only surviving champion from the tournaments, and after being summoned for a one-on-one meeting with Chairman Siley, he was given all the privileges his faction could spare, drawing envious looks from his peers.

He was assigned a new and much bigger room, that was so luxurious it had its own private hot bath. It was located on the staff members' floor, where a few creatures made out of ebony which possessed Magus-level strength kept guard outside.

Unlike most of the acolytes whose living conditions were now diminished thanks to the war, Leylin was provided with amenities such as clearance to peruse the forbidden wing of the Library. He also enjoyed unrestricted access to every area of the academy which normally offered services for a price. He even had ten shadow slaves in his service at all times. It could be said that his new living style resembled that of a king.

Currently in Leylin's hands was a faint yellow test tube that he kept on toying with. The test tube was made of faint yellow crystals, and its density was extremely high. Holding it in his hands, he sensed a rather heavy feeling.

These crystals were made from a precious ingredient – Nitrogen Crystals. Any spell that was 20 degrees or lesser would not be able to damage it.

Using these Nitrogen Crystals to make a test tube was often meant to store potions that were quite valuable. According to the olden texts, test tubes made from Nitrogen Crystals were known to have preserved their contents even after a thousand years.

Within the faint yellow test tube, there was a ball of translucent liquid.

Leylin casually swirled the test tube. Under the refraction of the light, the liquid within gave off a rainbow-colored glow, as it continuously whirled, seemingly beautiful.

'So this is the mythic Grine Water which could aid acolytes to breakthrough into an official Magus…' -Leylin looked at the test tube and mused.

Earlier, under the suppression of the Magus from Lighthouse of the Night, the chairmen of Sage Gotham's Hut and Whitewoods Castle had had no choice but to bow their heads, then lead their acolytes away.

Even Torash's professor was not that stupid to offend the high-ranking Magus a second time.

As for Leylin and the rest, they were led back to Abyssal Bone Forest Academy by their professors.

Leylin intentionally glanced around at that moment and saw that the number of surviving acolytes in Abyssal Bone Forest Academy did not amount to over 50. As for any regular academy, they would have thousands of acolytes.

One can say that Sage Gotham's Hut and Whitewoods Castle had accomplished their mission by almost swallowing the entire batch of successors in Abyssal Bone Forest Academy. If it were not for the fact that many of their own genius acolytes had perished inside the secret plane.

Even so, they originally had 200 acolytes enter the secret plane. Yet, in the end, only about a hundred came out of it. Compared to Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, this was considered a great victory.

'However, all of these petty affairs have nothing to do with me. What truly matters is that I finally got my hands on both the Grine Water and the Advancement Grimoire.' -Leylin looked at the potion in his hands that seemed like an illusion.

The Grimoire was no longer in Leylin's possession. As soon as Aralis had finished recording every last word, symbol, and pattern, he immediately used fire magic to burn it to ashes. There was no point in keeping a physical copy since he couldn't just sell it away without permission from the academy.

[Moreover, the academy has an anonymous exchange policy, which is extremely thoughtful for its acolytes. Just as you had predicted, Doctor.] -Aralis chimed in.

On the way back to the academy, Leylin and the fortunate surviving acolytes were told about the contribution points they obtained and the details of it, where they can undergo the exchange privately.

Furthermore, the person that was in charge of the exchange was an alchemy beast created by the chairman with no human feelings whatsoever, so it wouldn't reveal the acolytes' exchanges.

Naturally, Leylin's case was handled differently, since the Great Magus from the Lighthouse of the Night had put in a good word about his slaying of Torash with Chairman Siley. Nevertheless, the old man had guaranteed that no one but him would know of this inside the academy walls.

One can say that although Abyssal Bone Forest Academy was extremely bloodthirsty, where there was a solid culture of 'the strong eats the weak', towards the protection of acolytes with true strength and abilities, they still did a rather good job.

Leylin had managed to score more than 650 contribution points, which would allow him to pick an additional reward on top of getting a refined batch of Grine Water and the complete volume of the Advancement Grimoire.

As for the catalog on the contribution points exchange list, there were various precious ingredients, Rank 1 spell models, and even Spiritual Force elixirs. Looking on at his options, Leylin felt overwhelmed by greed.

Ultimately, he ended up choosing a defensive Rank 1 spell of the Darkness element. He would need it when the time came to break through in his cultivation.

At that time, Leylin had some doubts about not taking the other genius acolytes' badges along with him. However, after seeing Merlin walking around with a gloomy expression, Leylin very soon buried this tinge of doubt.

Although Biol's and Saurun's badges were worth at least 100 contribution points, which could be exchanged by many valuable resources… Incurring the wrath of an official Magus for these resources, was it really worth it? And pushing his luck with the Lighthouse of the Night's leader so that he could avoid the consequences of taking the badges was not wise either.

Moreover, the other professors did not know of their apprentices' scores, yet Dorotte knew Merlin's amount of contribution points like the back of his hand. Before anything else, at the very least, half of Torash's contribution points would be taken by Merlin.

After all, Dorotte was prepared to face an opposing Rank 1 Magus for his new apprentice. Chairman Siley may have been biased toward Leylin, but he would not seek to antagonize his best professor by denying Merlin the points.

'Before becoming an official Magus, it is best to maintain a low profile as much as possible.' -Seeing the fortunate outcome of the Bloodbath, Leylin steeled his heart with this resolve not to try his luck again in such a reckless manner.

His old 'friend' Jayden was a great example of this.

Jayden's achievements and talent could be said to have been extraordinary. But so what? It was Jayden's reputation as a fifth-grade talent that had caused his enemies to concentrate their attacks on him, finally causing him to die during the secret plane's Bloodbath.

No matter how much of a genius an acolyte was, before they manage to grow strong, they weren't even comparable to a pebble on the road.

As for Leylin, he always created the false image of being inferior to Jayden, allowing Jayden to draw the public's attention away from him. He successfully managed to divert his enemy's attention, so there were very few that bothered about him inside the secret plane.

But not anymore. Now he was the academy star, so he would have to act with extreme caution moving forward.

Leylin toyed with the Grine Water in his hands, his face gradually turning solemn.

The surviving acolytes after the Bloodbath amounted to less than 50, which was even less than the number of professors. Moreover, all survivors would be deemed as elites. Under these circumstances, greater attention will be paid to any acolytes.

Leylin did not have any confidence whatsoever to try anything that would deviate from his mask, lest he ends up being discovered.

'Perhaps, I should make a trip outside... Earlier, when I had interrogated the spirit body I captured inside Alfonse's lair, he spoke of a high-grade meditation technique. If I found it, it would definitely be much better than the Grine Water…'

Advanced meditation techniques completely suited a magician's Spiritual Force meditation techniques. Not only was their rate of constructing and refining mind runes faster than any regular meditation techniques, but they will also naturally form an innate spell in the Magus sea of consciousness.

Previously, before the Fallen Star Pendant was completed, Leylin had managed to steal much information from that vengeful spirit regarding an advanced meditation technique left behind by the Great Magus Serholm, who was the original owner of Alfonse's lab.

According to that ghost, the inheritance of Great Magus Serholm was located inside the Dylan Gardens of the Zither Moon Mountain Plains.

Magi who used high-grade meditation techniques were definitely stronger than Magi who used the Grine Water to break through. Additionally, more potential would be unlocked inside the arcane core of the magician, revealing more possibilities for future development.

Leylin wanted to climb to the apex of the Magus World. If he wished to have the best potential for future advancements, using the Grine Water to break through would be his last resort.

Thinking of the Fallen Star Pendant, Leylin removed the silvery grey cross from his neck.

On the surface of the cross was embedded with various colors of gemstones, which looked to be an impeccable art piece. However, right now the gemstones on the Fallen Star Pendant seemed to glow dimly, as the item had undergone a huge strain during the recent fights.

//

<Fallen Star Pendant>

Low-grade magic artifact. Defensive in nature.

<Effect>

Instantly cast a defensive barrier of up to 15 degrees.

<Charge level>

0%

//

The A.I. showed the stats of the Fallen Star Pendant to Leylin.

Fallen Star Pendant — it was the item that attributed the most to Leylin's survival and killing the geniuses of the enemy factions during the Bloodbath.

The instantaneous layer of defense that the silvery cross radiated, no matter if it was physical or magical resistance, had reached a very high degree. Few below the ranks of an official Magus could penetrate its defenses.

However, in any world, the law of conservation of energy must be fulfilled. Every time the Fallen Star Pendant was activated, it required the consumption of energy. Once the energy was fully consumed, it wouldn't be anything more than a pretty necklace.

'The Fallen Star Pendant's properties are rather acceptable. Nonetheless, its energy storage capability is not nearly enough.' -Leylin felt somewhat bitter.

'Aralis, establish a new task. Apart from the ordinary routines you have running in the background, use all of your remaining computation abilities to find out ways to conserve the energy of the Fallen Star Pendant.'

[Roger that. Task established. Beginning to use idle processes to calculate. ETA, unknown.] -The A.I. assistant's voice intoned.

Leylin nodded his head and came to the experiment at the side. He placed the Fallen Star Pendant in the center of a mysterious spell formation. Around it, were many blue glittering stones.

"Activate process of recharging." With the command of Leylin, faint blue light beams shone from the formation. Starlight was extracted from these stones and placed into the Fallen Star Pendant.

[Fallen Star Pendant recharging in process. Current state: 1%.]

The recharge of the Fallen Star Pendant actually only required starlight to be shone on it. As long as it was bathed in starlight when the energy was fully consumed, the Fallen Star Pendant would automatically complete the recharging process.

However, in the underground Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, wanting to bathe it in starlight was an impossible undertaking. Thus, Leylin could only use alternate methods to conduct the recharging process.