In the secret realm, Ivan watched with smoldering anger the audacious people not far from him.
If it hadn’t been unwise to make a move right now, he would have liked to go up to these people and stab a few bloody holes in them. They had chosen their timing all too well—it was almost when the water scalding bubble fruits were about to appear, right at the harvest time.
“Wait a bit longer, Sorcerer Bernardson will soon give instructions,”
Next to him stood Wolban, his face clouded with anger.
Just as they had discussed before departing, it was good for the two of them to act together to watch each other’s backs.
No sooner had the words left their mouths than both sensed the unusual and simultaneously reached for the small triangular piece.
After activating their respective triangles, Sorcerer Bernardson’s somewhat stern voice rang out at the same time.
“The dignity of the academy cannot be challenged. No matter who the invaders are, kill them all, leave none behind, and protect the vortex spire within the secret realm.”
“We are watching you. The top three contributors will receive a portion of Aqua Alva. That is all.”
“This sorcerer awaits your good news.”
Even from thousands of miles away, one could hear the murderous intent in Sorcerer Bernardson’s voice through the sound.
Indeed, these were new instructions. Ivan and Wolban exchanged glances, each seeing the eagerness in the other’s eyes.
For the apprentices within the secret realm, compared to capturing each individual water scalding bubble fruit, eliminating external enemies was obviously more straightforward and clear. This indeed was an unexpected pleasure. The fact that the sorcerer could offer three portions of Aqua Alva as a reward indicated the academy’s immense fury.
The surrounding apprentices now looked at the invaders with different expressions.
…
Elsewhere.
After a perilous journey, Percy and his group arrived in the secret realm in a rough manner.
The first thing they did was check their own losses—five had died consecutively. Now, including six half-orcs, only twenty people were left; Hank brought more, losing four of his own men.
This stark contrast darkened Hank’s expression.
“There was no better way to handle that situation just now, some sacrifices were inevitable.”
“Ah, we underestimated the difficulty of the millennium-old secret realm. After all, this is where the water scalding bubble fruits are produced, a superb potion for assisting in becoming an official sorcerer, a forbidden item absolutely prohibited from being sold by the major academies. Harvesting them could hardly be without costs.”
Percy knew that now was not the time to clash with Hank, so he tried to speak consolingly.
While speaking, his men continuously threw out energy storage crystals, which after shattering, emitted vast amounts of high-temperature smoke, causing more areas around them to be enveloped in fog and the temperature to keep rising.
“Fine, we will do as agreed.” Hank interrupted him, not particularly caring for the lives of others, but given the losses, he had to assume a certain attitude.
“Let’s get moving then, we don’t have much time left.”
“What are you all standing around for? Get to work!”
Straightaway, Hank’s people began feeding specific potions to the half-orcs, one after another. As various potions were swallowed, changes began occurring to the half-orcs’ bodies, making their beast-like characteristics more prominent.
A wild and brutal aura surged, accompanied by a nauseatingly strong stench.
In a moment, the feeding of the potion stopped.
“Bandara ala dasi—”
Hank took out a sharp-topped golden scepter, swiftly passing by the half-orcs. He jabbed the golden scepter into the heart of each one, reciting a certain incantation, opening the confined passage.
After completing these actions, Hank quickly retreated, distancing himself from the area where the half-orcs were, and so did the others.
The next second, all the half-orcs’ bodies started to expand, gradually losing human characteristics.
Enormous Blood Striped Tigers formed, their bodies reaching seventeen to eighteen meters long, with blood-colored patterns that looked like blood vessels exposed on the exterior, ugly and ferocious.
“Not bad at all, these ignorant people have indeed raised the ‘Blood Hunters’ that troubled people centuries ago,” Percy observed the transformation of the half-orcs from start to finish, paying more attention to the details than anyone else.
Seeing the Blood Striped Giant Tigers, a knowing smile appeared on his face.
The method of creating living creature puppets was provided by him to Hank, and he was most aware of the details of these puppets and knew their unique aspects.
At the moment, they were only semifinished; they still lacked a critical step from becoming true Blood Hunters, but there was no need to rush, let them first cause destruction and stir things up.
After the full transformation of the Blood Striped Giant Tigers, they continuously roared furiously, as though declaring their arrival.
“Advance!”
Hank ordered.
Driving such massive creatures was not an easy task; Hank only controlled one of them, while the others were handled by his companions, six people controlling six Blood Striped Giant Tigers.
Under their command, the Blood Striped Giant Tigers charged forward, their footfalls thudding dully on the ground, heading straight for the secret realm’s central location.
In contrast, the academy apprentices who received the sorcerer’s instructions started to approach, feeling an unusually intense heat from the smoke from afar, leading them to an unpleasant guess that the other party might be intending to use this method to further ripen the water scalding bubble fruits.
Before they could advance, six Blood Striped Giant Tigers burst from the smoky area, their vast bodies clearly visible to the apprentices,
After the Blood Striped Giant Tigers charged, one slammed into the steeple, causing it to tremble continuously, and the ocean current columns connected to the steeple to sway violently.
The material and stability of the swirling steeple were extraordinary; it showed no sign of displacement even after a collision.
To the surrounding apprentices, this was clearly a provocation.
From the perspective of the academy, protecting the facilities in the secret realm was crucial. Therefore, eliminating these Blood Striped Giant Tigers would be a significant contribution. Instead of charging into the unknown dense fog, it was better to exterminate these minions first.
This was the thought process of most academy apprentices.
“Kill!”
The apprentices had instinctively spread out, forming small teams to take on each of the six Blood Striped Giant Tigers.
They launched exploratory attacks, diverse in their methods. For a moment, icy coldness, thunderous brilliance, and fiery red cracks filled the air, the energy particles intensely fierce.
After a trial run, they concluded that these giant tigers, while visually imposing, were actually intelligence-deficient living creature puppets, products of laboratory modifications, no different in essence from the sea beasts used for pulling ships.
Naturally, there were ways to deal with them.
“Mage’s Hand!”
“Immobilization Spell!”
“Intimidation Technique!”
“——“
The apprentices switched tactics, using more spells related to manipulating mental power.
One significant flaw of these creature puppets was their weak spiritual power. Once subjected to a high-intensity mental shock, their wills would become confused, leading to a loss of control on a spiritual level.
Mental power is the core; without it, the massive body also fell into disorder, reducing its defensive power dramatically, even causing the flesh to collapse directly.
“Roar!”
Despite the multitude of mental magic attacks, the Blood Striped Giant Tiger hardly suffered any damage. Instead, it seemed even more ferocious and leapt forward in a large stride.
The lead apprentices quickly dodged to avoid the fierce onslaught of the giant beast.
One should not be careless with these creature puppets. These giants were particularly brutish in terms of strength; being hit by them could potentially cause severe injuries or even death to the apprentices.
In previous tasks, many apprentices had witnessed their peers die from such encounters, so their reactions were quicker than ever.
“It’s not enough! The mental shock is too weak.”
“Try attacking from the same spot, combine forces to destroy its will.”
Compared to elements magic, mental magic was more elusive, with unclear applications and effects, such as when used against fellow sorcerer apprentices, these spells often had no effect.
The difficulty of exploring beyond elements magic had caused most 3rd Class apprentices to lose interest in optimizing and researching.
Ivan was not among the uninterested ones.
“Black Magic Hand!”
On the side, Ivan produced a large Magic Stone Water from his supplies to use as magic-casting material, then slapped his palm down.
Before him appeared an unusually large hand enveloped in black radiance, more than a meter wide, with clearly visible palm lines and faint runes flickering at its center. The hand struck directly at a Blood Striped Giant Tiger.
The Black Magic Hand was fast, hitting the tiger’s head before it could react.
The blow dazed the Blood Striped Giant Tiger, suppressed its spirit, dulled its will, and caused its huge body to stiffen momentarily. The internal energy was thrown into chaos, revealing fatal flaws.
Ivan had anticipated this outcome and swiftly swung his Iron Shell Sword, sending out an arc-like Combat Energy Slash that beheaded the Blood Striped Giant Tiger.
The tiger’s head fell to the ground, and its massive body collapsed with a thunderous crash.
“Well done.”
Seeing the creature puppet dispatched so quickly by Ivan, an apprentice who had only joined the school half a year ago, took everyone by surprise, including Wolban.
Ivan was pleased. His strike must have reached beyond 13 graduated degrees, achieving the expected effect.
However, this was only the first enemy.
He then ran towards another Blood Striped Giant Tiger, with many apprentices following him.
Upon approaching, Ivan was already clutching a specially prepared Magic Stone Water and slapped out another palm, displaying Black Magic Hand once more.
Many noticed his use of Magic Stone Water as magic-casting material, somewhat speechless at this extravagance. While it was useless as a mental power potion to them, it was still considered a luxurious act.
Ivan was unaware of others’ thoughts; his actions were not for show but had a significant reason.
Because when using magic stones as casting materials, the number should not be too many; four low-grade magic stones were the limit. Any more could pollute his spiritual power, and he found using Magic Stone Water more convenient.
“Boom.”
After one palm, the second Blood Striped Giant Tiger fell.
In dealing with this Blood Striped Giant Tiger, Ivan only needed one palm. As its body stiffened, someone else managed to kill it first, but regardless, his contribution could not be ignored.
The fallen giant tiger’s body underwent a change, its flesh turning loose and almost melting into a gel-like substance.
The apprentices were busy dealing with other Blood Striped Giant Tigers, so no one noticed this peculiar transformation.