Warlock of the Magus World 1-596

by Wen Chao Gong

  Celine, who was beside Leylin, gasped in admiration.

  Many Magi went to their respective places and formed a circle, surrounding the altar in the middle.

  Leylin looked, the ones in the front were the middle-level Guilds, followed behind them by the low-level guilds, like him and Celine, that sat in the middle section closer to the back seats. As for the rest, the unranked guilds, they sat in the outermost section.

  Each seat took up a lot of space as a suitable distance was maintained between each one, which allowed the Magi to be able to see each other without feeling restricted.

  This site was enough to accommodate ten thousand people, but now there’s barely a few hundred Magi. Naturally, the there was ample space between each Magus.

  “How were these nine council members selected?”

  Leylin pulled Celine closer into his embrace, and whispered into her ear

  “Each large-scaled guild would send a representative, before us Magi present voted for them!” Celine was slightly embarrassed, but she still explained it to Leylin.

  “Oh! Basically, the Eastern Twilight Zone only has about nine high-leveled guilds?”

  Leylin stroked his chin, this kind of strength was similar to the south coast. Only that he was unsure of the numbers of rank 3 Magi present.

  But deep down he had some reservations. Although high-grade meditation techniques were widely taught and of a higher grade than in the south coast, most of them were incomplete, and needed a few special otherworldly materials for their practitioners to advance. This meant that there would be fewer higher rank magi in the Twilight Zone and they possibly would be weaker than their south coast counterparts due to the Twilight Zone being isolated from the external world.

  “The first point of the conference’s agenda is to observe a minute of silence in tribute of our Magi ancestors! They were true pursuers of knowledge, the founders of the the Twilight Zone!”

  The nine council members in the front immediately stood up, as they solemnly and respectfully bowed their heads.

  And in their hands, a pure, white flower bud slowly bloomed.

  The petals of the flower bud looked like countless rays of light that created a dreamy illusion.

  Immediately after, the Magi disorderly stood up to observe the minute of silence, the rays of light in their hands transformed into the shape of the white flower bud.

  “This is the light daisy, a specialty of the Twilight Zone that is used to represent the recollection of the dead and our grief!”

  Leylin’s eye flashed and concentrated some of his spiritual force to observe Celine’s actions.

  The magic of transforming the flower was only a magic trick, one that even acolytes could easily learn. Celine’s abilities were immediately recorded by the A.I. Chip, which then provided the composition of the spell model and the spiritual force.

  *Zoom!* Leylin followed swiftly with a layer of white light twinkling in his hands.

  In a flash, numerous light daisies in the open space bloomed as formless ripples continuously circulated, and pure light rays of flower petals dispersed and spread to the sky.

  A rain of petals floated down, some of them dispersed atop the sculptures of the nine ancient Magi.

  “Hm?” It was at this moment that Leylin suddenly raised his head.

  To his eyes, numerous petals seemed to use some form of mechanism or magic, and the nine stone statues at the heart of the center were subtly trembling.

  A desolate, ancient aura filled with abundant energy surfaced in the center.

  And looking at the surrounding Magi who were calm earlier on and had seized the moment to close their eyes, Leylin realized that they were actually in concentration.

  Leylin also released his energy, letting his spirit and that aura connect.

  *Boom!* Like the eruption of lava, like the coming of a tsunami wave, an intense vibration incessantly shook Leylin’s heart and at the same time, many confused thoughts crossed his mind.

  “This is… a high-level meditation aura!”

  Leylin gave Celine a somewhat intoxicated look, and immediately came to his senses.

  “Regarding what these Twilight Zone Magi said, they’re lacking materials only obtainable from other worlds and their meditation techniques cannot be improved, and now this aura that comes from an ancient meditation technique is to guide them on which path to follow!”

  Although this acted only as a guide, there were still many benefits for a rank 1 Magus. Moreover, who knows, there might be geniuses that could use this ancient aura and be able to make modifications on their meditation techniques and skip the steps of using rare and ancient resources.

  “It’s a pity! In fact, there is no ancient technique that inspires me. Furthermore, rank two Magi have already decided their path and are continuously intensifying further. So those Magi who have been promoted to the second rank also don’t look up to these…”

  After waiting for the rain of petals to pass, the nine huge stone sculptures regained their tranquility and many of the Magi were then obsessed with keeping their eyes closed.

  “Alright! Now to the second point of the agenda, let’s come to an agreement!”

  The Magus that stood in the middle and who held the weighing scale said softly, with his voice being channeled through an unknown device, was heard by every other Magus present.

  Soon after, two Magi walked up to the front and debated loudly with him, and occasionally displayed the recordings of light.

  And the Magus holding the weighing scale would make his judgement after having listened to both parties.

  Magi from both sides would generally accept the result, and occasionally those who did not would start to challenge each other at the center of the site.

  “Can we believe this council member’s verdict?” Leylin asked Celine, who was beside him.

  “Gandor the council member is a fair and wise senior, and we usually trust his judgements. Moreover, the golden weighing scale that he holds symbolizes fairness. His personal beliefs forbid from violating fairness and justice.

  Celine explained softly to Leylin, “Do not ask such questions out loud, otherwise the other Magi will despise us!”

  “Oh!” Leylin nodded his head indifferently.

  However, he was somewhat bored looking at the issues that were discussed one by one here.

  Although there are contradictions in this joint conference, he understood clearly that it was for the protection of the entire strength of the Twilight Zone’s Magi and instead of internal conflicts, we should be focusing on foreign enemies.

  Humans were not the only rulers in the Twilight Zone, there were also many darkness creatures out there, just like the neighbouring elven empire beside the humans that left many intelligent beings wary of them.

  But Leylin was not convinced by this concept. To him, if the Dark Magi were to come in power, they would have already started a war and would be constantly fighting. And through such bloody wars, a selection of the acolytes would be conducted. They would start off from a low-intensity battle which would then gradually increase in difficulty. In this manner, an elite force of magicians could be created!

  It was not worth having such an indecisive situation.

  This situation was similar to current state between the light and dark Magi.

  “Leylin! It is the guild evaluation right after, you need to be careful!” Celine cautiously reminded Leylin.

  “Dont worry!” Leylin replied calmly, and at this moment, two unfriendly gazes were laid on him.

  Leylin’s brows furrowed as he looked at the source of discontentment.

  At the seat of the Eight-clawed spider, Skrill lowered his head without delay, but his eyes had a sinister tint.

  “You will never survive today’s ordeal! From today onwards, Celine is mine!”

  “What trump card do you have? Or is the Dense Fog Forest going to interfere?”

  Leylin remained calm, knowing that Skrill had slipped away like a beat
en-up dog at the sight of him. He strongly believed that Skrill had some sort of backup to rely on.

  But to Leylin, the strength of a middle-scaled guild was not enough to threaten him!

  “Alright, continuing to the fifth agenda of the conference! The guilds’ evaluation” A council member declared.

  In a split second, the Magi on site all looked on with eagerness and attention.

  Challenge

  For these Magi, mediating the conflicting views from before was merely a small matter. However, the evaluation of guilds could directly affect their interests!

  Hence, the atmosphere turned solemn very quickly.

  *Cough cough!* The council member in the middle coughed lightly, and only after it quietened down did he begin to speak, “The evaluation process will go the same way as before. We will first announce the results before the evaluations are open to challenges. Each guild has, at most, three chances. Lower rated guilds can challenge higher rated guilds, but higher rated guilds are not to interfere with the lower rated guilds. Guilds of the same evaluation can challenge each other to settle any conflicts, and those who are defeated have to wait until the next time…”

  Leylin found Celine stiffen from worry after hearing the council member’s words.

  “Even if you don’t have enough strength, those resources are all given out to you by the joint conference. They’re not yours in the first place, so why are you so worried?”

  Leylin was a little speechless.

  From his perspective, one would be able to obtain territory that was proportional to one’s own strength. While Celine’s mentor had still been around, there had been nothing to fear, but once Celine took over Nature’s Alliance, she should have reduced the scale of the guild and given out the resources she had. That was the most sensible course of action.

  This time, if not for Leylin sticking his head into the matter, things would not end well for Celine.

  Of course, the situation would be vastly different with Leylin around. Furthermore, the icy caves were something Leylin needed to have, by hook or by crook.

  Next, after the declaration from the council members of the start of the event, the site began to get livelier.

  Many Magi exchanged glances. Though they had many thoughts, none of them made their move right away, as if they were waiting for something.

  After a long silence, a Magus in ashen robes stood out from a corner.

  “We from Gulde wishes to challenge the Seaflower Society!”

  “En! Gulde is an unrated guild, while the Seaflower Society is a small-scale guild. The challenge is permitted; may the Magi of both guilds enter the stage!”

  A Magus wearing presbyopic glasses flipped through a thick book and nodded.

  The Seaflower Society sent out an old geezer with blue hair and some strange runes on his face. His guild had been pointed out and challenged, so naturally, he was not in a good mood.

  Didn’t this imply that their Seaflower Society had already fallen this low?

  At this thought, killing intent flashed in his eyes as he made up his mind to make this an unforgettable lesson for his opponent.

  Meanwhile, the Magus in ashen robes was stupefied.

  Upon waiting for the confirmation from the council member once more, two fluctuations from spells exploded at the site.

  At the same time, a light-yellow dome of energy shot out from all corners, protecting the audience and council members from any stray attacks from the battle.

  Leylin watched on with interest.

  He wasn’t very clear about the strength of the official Magi in Twilight Zone, and this was a good opportunity for him to find out.

  Through the few mediations from before as well as what was currently happening, he was able to understand many things.

  As subterranean Magi were faced with powerful enemy forces, there were no scholars who solely focused on just research.

  These Magi were quite formidable, and they were fast in setting up their spell models. They had also grasped the technique of the instantaneous and silent release of spells, and on average, their battle power was one level higher than that of Magi from the south coast.

  In addition, most of them had grasped one or two spells with immense killing power, and they had no apprehensions about using them.

  This was another characteristic of theirs that allowed them to surpass the Magi of the south coast by a large margin.

  *Bang!*

  All of a sudden, the scene of the battlefield changed.

  The ashen-robed Magus waved his arm, and two large black crosses appeared, which criss crossed and pierced towards the Magus from the Seaflower Society.

  “The Cross of Anginus!” The Magus from the Seaflower Society yelled out the name of this spell in fear, continuously adding a few more protective layers in front of him and evaded at a flying speed.

  “Serator! You can’t escape!”

  The ashen-robed Magus hissed for a long while, and his clothes split open at the back, revealing a pair of giant wings.

  *Whoosh! Whoosh!* The black feathers on the wings were like steel, the tip revealing a luster seen on sharp objects. With the impetus from the wings, he soared into the sky.

  Two grey crosses of light flew to his feet, forming something like two sets of eagle claws.

  *Sou! Sou! Sou!*

  The grey figure constantly flashed, and after producing his wings, his speed increased until he almost became a shadow.

  The grey figure constantly collided with the defensive layers.

  *Ka-cha!*

  The defensive layers of the Magus from the Seaflower Society seemed to produce a tearing sound before it was being completely ripped apart.

  *Pu!* Large claws mercilessly tore at the chest of the Magus from the Seaflower Society, and the man let out a miserable cry.

  Meanwhile, one could see with their naked eyes, the withering of flesh spanning out from the Magus of the Seaflower Society’s wounds.

  “I admit defeat!”

  Before the other claw reached his body, this Magus immediately yelled.

  However, a cold glint appeared in the gaze of this ashen-robed Magus, and the grey claw increased its speed by thirty percent

  “That’s enough!” A council member holding a scale shouted coldly, and the powerful spiritual force of a peak rank 1 Magus swept across. A brownish-yellow hand rose from the earth and protected the injured Magus from the Seaflower Society, protecting him from the attack of the ashen-robed Magus.

  “My apologies, my lord! I was unable to hold back in time!”

  The ashen-robed Magus descended onto the ground and removed the effects from his spells regaining his appearance as a regular human. He bowed, looking respectful.

  “Hmph! Gulde’s challenge was successful, so it is now promoted to be a small-scaled guild. The Seaflower Society will now be demoted a ranking and is now in the unrated category. All the resources that have been allocated to the Seaflower Group guild by the joint conference will be transferred over right away, and our council members will supervise this process.”

  This council member furrowed his brow and snorted, but still announced loudly.

  “Many thanks, my lord!” The ashen-robed Magus bowed once more.

  Meanwhile, the Magus from the Seaflower Society became deathly pale and fainted.

  Leylin, who watched on, was not too surprised. After all, since the ashen-robed Magus had taken the initiative to challenge the Seaflower Society, it was natural that he must have been confident.

  After that, a few unrated guilds chose to challenge some other guilds.

  Most of the challenged guilds were small-scale guilds that were declining, and almost all of the challenges were successful. Only one small-scale guild won, protecting what belonged to them.

  This contest mostly happened between small-scale and unrated guilds. The medium-scale guilds rarely went onstage, and as for large-scale guilds, they were remote existences that only served as witnesses and judges.
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  “Dear council members, we of the Eight-Clawed Spider wish to challenge the Nature’s Alliance guild!”

  Suddenly, Skrill’s voice sounded out.

  “Hm?” The Magi present shifted their gazes towards him.

  Usually, challenges between similarly ranked guilds rarely happened unless there was enmity between them.