Pre-Battle Alliance

Chapter 83 Pre-Battle Alliance

The sloping hillside was like a series of solid, smooth stone slabs, and Raffi and his group rushed down without any effort, quickly reaching the bottom of the "crater".

This small basin called Sacred Relic Valley is currently the main base for wizard apprentices from the six academies of District Twelve. As the "Final Battle" approaches, the number of wizard apprentices gathering in this base is increasing, now conservatively estimated to be over thirty thousand.

"Stop!" Raffi, who had already reached the bottom of the valley, waved his hand, and everyone stopped, following Raffi's gaze to the sky.

Raffi flapped his leafy wings rapidly, lifting his body off the ground, and said slowly, "The wizard apprentices here have already discovered us. Let's wait a bit; soon, there should be wizard apprentices who can confirm our faction."

"Hmm, that's strange!" Yorkliana, who was most sensitive to the elements, whispered, "Here... it seems that fire and lightning elements are very abundant, and the elemental energy is relatively much less."

Hearing Yorkliana's words, everyone closed their eyes and began to carefully sense the proportion of elemental energy in the air. After a moment, they all showed expressions of surprise. Bingham exclaimed, "Do you think this could also be one of the indelible effects left behind by that ancient, fallen holy-scarred great wizard? Even after so many years, it's still affecting the geological environment here?"

hiss……

Everyone gasped in shock. Robin said in disbelief, "It can't... be true, can it?"

A wizarding apprentice from Ivory Castle questioned, "Perhaps! Who can say for sure what level of power those great beings possess?"

…………

A moment later, more than twenty wizard apprentices flew over at great speed from the distant sky. After circling in the sky for a while and confirming that there was no ambush at Raffi's place, a figure rushed down.

A few dozen meters away from Raffi and his group, a man riding a broomstick shouted, "Which academy are you from? Who sent you here?"

"We have wizard apprentices from four academies here: Black Tower, Dark Realm, Hourglass of Time, and Ivory Castle. They were transferred here by Sman from Dark Realm," Raffi shouted in response.

Everyone understood the other party's cautiousness.

After all, according to intelligence, a wizarding apprentice had infiltrated District 19 from District 12, and no one was sure if the other side would do the same.

"Okay, wait a moment." After saying that, the man rode his broom and flew towards the distant group.

A moment later, the group of over twenty people flew in from the sky, among them were familiar figures to Raffi and his companions: Amlongde and Soram! Soram's pair of raven-like black wings slowly flapped, swirling with wisps of ominous black aura, instantly confirming that Raffi and his group had come from the right place. As for Amlongde, needless to say, a flash of lightning from his body and he flew to Raffi and his companions' side.

"Elder Raffi, the atmosphere in the Bloodsail Alliance has become quite somber without you. I was wondering where you'd been, haha..." Amrond teased Raffi, but was secretly astonished.

Has the injury healed?

Seeing the Bloodsail Alliance members, Raffi's mood improved considerably. He said, "I've been guarding resource points in the rear for so many years, nothing much has happened. How's the battle going? I heard those twenty drops of blood over there are already quite formidable?"

Soram flew over at this moment. His eyes, which were usually as cold as an abyss, softened only when he looked at the people within the Bloodsail Alliance. He said in a deep voice, "That alliance, just like when you first established the Bloodsail Alliance on the sea, is very troublesome here. Fortunately, the guardians of District 19 are no longer able to deploy their forces as frequently as before."

Amrond smiled and said, "Yes, they only have eleven chances to send out their guardians over there, while we have a full sixteen! Over the years, we've only sent out our guardians twice."

Green, who was following behind Raffi, had a sudden thought: So that's how it is.

…………

three days later.

This is a resource site rich in "Thunderstone". The wizard apprentices guarding this precious resource are naturally not polite. Many of them have secretly mined some, which will be of great use whether for research or for trading in the future.

Green also carefully collected several pieces of Thunderstone, then ground them into powder and stored them in a test tube, hoping they might be useful for some future research on lightning elements or alchemy experiments. Of course, Green wouldn't spend a lot of time collecting Thunderstone; everything at this moment was ultimately for the Holy Tower Qualifying Battle four years later.

Time is running out.

Green was completely unsure whether he could research the Explosive Flame Spell before the qualifying match, even though he had given it his all and used up all his time.

Of course, even in his current state, Green was already confident of qualifying as a Witcher Wizard, not to mention that Peranos had guaranteed Green would become a Witcher Wizard and would certainly have prepared some trump cards for him. However, all of this could not guarantee that Green would reach the very top and obtain the highest reward.

dong dong dong...

The heavy footsteps seemed deliberate, and a massive figure appeared before Green. This man was as fat as a ball, yet he exuded a sense of imposing stature rather than obesity. He walked like a towering fortress, a metal chain of a meteor hammer fastened to his leather armor at his waist. He was as steady as a mountain, yet carried a wild and ruthless aura as he approached!

This person is none other than Winter Ice Soul Sorni, who was once ranked tenth among the top ten masters of Blacksota, and is now ranked sixth among the top ten masters of Blacksota!

The reason for such a big change in Gensene's ranking is said to be because she displayed amazing strength in a previous battle, successfully attracting an attack from the 19th District Guardians, but ultimately escaped.

"Green, I heard you were assigned to this resource point, so I came to check it out. How about it? If a decisive battle really breaks out with District 19 in a few days, are you interested in joining my allied team? I personally value a wizard apprentice like you very much." Although Gwenthny was a woman, she showed no weakness whatsoever, casually sitting down on the ground with a "thump," and speaking to Green with "earnest meaning."

Green carefully put away the test tube filled with Thunderstone powder, glanced at Seni, and pondered, "No, I've been guarding remote resource points all these years and haven't had a chance to collect badges at all. This time, I plan to collect them properly later in the war."

"How much more do you need?" Kwansene asked.

Green glanced at Kwansini in surprise and said calmly, "72 more are needed."

"So many?" Gensene asked with difficulty. "Right now, the secret of the badges has already been openly revealed at the central resource point, making it almost impossible to collect them secretly. Although I have some spare badges, I may have promised to give away quite a few to others. I can't provide you with this many."

Green nodded, not paying any attention.

According to the second senior apprentice, Varo, a single badge would often cost a thousand magic stones to trade, and dozens of badges would amount to tens of thousands of magic stones, which was an astronomical price for the vast majority of wizarding apprentices...

Ginsoni didn't press Green any further. She wasn't one to mince words, so she simply got up and strode away.

It seems that she doesn't have many followers she can truly respect.

Throughout the fifteen resource points in the central mining area, everyone was busy preparing for the upcoming "final battle." Powerful wizard apprentices gathered allies and followers, while weaker wizard apprentices formed small groups based on their academy affiliations. A tense atmosphere permeated the Valley of Sacred Relics.

Overall, the six academies of District 12 have a significant advantage over the twenty-drop-of-blood-remaining alliance of District 19, except for having only half the number of members.

Unless they make a catastrophic mistake, District 19 has no chance of winning. But the reason District 19 is launching a final battle is to seize that one percent chance. After all, for the wizarding academy of District 19, if they fail to win, it will be like another round of mass elimination and layoffs.

If we do another round of screening, the remaining wizard apprentices will likely be the elite of the elite, thus achieving the goal of streamlining the wizard apprentice team.

…………

At the Bloodsail Alliance gathering, Amrond frowned and said, "Grin, are you really going to go it alone? You know, you alone won't be able to play much of a role in the final battle, and it will be difficult to gather such a large number of badges. Why don't we, the Bloodsail Alliance, come together? Although I can't say how many resources we can allocate to you, we can still make decisions about the resources for twenty badges."

At this Bloodsail Alliance gathering, this resource point only had four elders: Amrond, Rafi, Solem, and Berg, along with seventy or eighty ordinary members. (Berg wasn't mentioned earlier, so consider him a minor character.)

Berg added, "Yes, Green. Our Bloodsail Alliance is relatively new and lacks any real foundation. Aside from Solem and Amlongd, whose strength is close to the top ten, we don't have any truly powerful individuals. That's why we should unite even more to leverage our strengths and allow the alliance to grow and thrive. How about this... Green, since I'm already short of those reward badges, for the sake of the alliance, I'm willing to personally give you five more badges. What do you say?"

Berg's righteous indignation moved most of the members attending the alliance meeting. This was the chairman that everyone was vying for! And he just gave up five medals like that?

It is said that some people are already selling badges for eight or nine hundred magic stones each in private.

Berg's righteous indignation inspired a sense of respect in all the Bloodsail Alliance members present, who all turned to look at Green. If Green were still so selfish and self-serving, he would be truly ungrateful. After all, the Alliance had bestowed upon him so many benefits, no less than those of an ordinary elder-level wizard apprentice, and Berg had even personally given him these favors!

Only Solangm and Amlangd frowned.

This Berg seems not to understand Green's strength, and seems to think that Green's strength is just at the level of an average elder in the league, which is why he said such a thing.

but……

Amrond didn't say anything. Of course, he was unwilling to admit in front of everyone that Green was better than him, because he was a pillar of the Bloodsail League among many of its older generation, which made him unwilling to lose face and say anything more.

Soram, the strongest wizard apprentice in Blacksota during the newcomer trials, this wizard apprentice known as immortal, also didn't say much, because he couldn't possibly defend Grimm. Although he had already heard about this unassuming wizard apprentice with the pale mask defeating Meteorite, he already regarded Grimm as a strongman of the same level as himself.

Green sat behind Raffi, his eyes calmly watching the crowd beneath his pale mask, as if his refusal to join them was a betrayal, given how many people were "expecting" him to be there.

Is Green hesitating, wavering, unsure of what to do, or is he being selfish?

At this moment, Raffi suddenly sneered, which drew everyone's attention to this sharp-tongued queen, a hateful, terrifying, yet beautiful and arrogant woman who had not appeared for many years.

"For the alliance? Heh... Gentlemen, do you still remember the original purpose of establishing the Bloodsail Alliance?" Raffi looked around at everyone and said in a mocking tone.

Berg glared at the sharp-tongued queen, his anger rising. This selfish woman hadn't helped the league get Green in; instead, she seemed to be trying to justify herself. His pent-up disgust finally erupted: "Sharp-tongued queen, others may fear you, but I, Berg, don't! Just say what you want to say!"

Raffi narrowed his eyes, gave a disdainful sneer, and said arrogantly, "Now I'm asking you, who among you remembers the original purpose of the alliance's formation!"

"To unite the bewildered and helpless 'wizard apprentices' on the ship at that time, so that they could survive better in the unknown and cruel Black Tower Wizarding Academy!" The speaker was Amrond, his tone filled with determination.

Raffi glanced at Amlongd, his bright eyes meeting everyone's gaze without fear of their anger and confusion, and coldly said, "So... that means the Alliance was established to help everyone develop better back then! The Alliance did secure some benefits for Green (initially cleaning the library, certain internally priced experimental materials...), but his membership fees have never been less over the years, and no one owes anyone anything! But now that Green believes the Alliance can no longer provide for his development, can't he develop independently? After all, Green isn't an elder of the Alliance; he hasn't enjoyed the benefits expected of an elder, and naturally, he has no corresponding responsibilities or obligations!"

Berg angrily retorted, "You..."

Although Berg was furious, he could not utter another word.

(End of this chapter)