Chapter 232: First blood

Then, President Charny turned around.

His eyes slowly swept across the group before finally settling on us.

His presence immediately made the atmosphere heavier.

— You are all the most outstanding students of my Arcangrove Tower, who have endured bloody and fiery deaths.

No one responded.

Charny continued:

— You are not merely flowers nurtured in a greenhouse, but ferocious lions.

His voice became increasingly intense.

— I want you to seek out your prey, pursue them, and ambush them.

— Finally… tear them to pieces!

The instant he finished that sentence, something changed.

President Charny’s eyes turned red.

A blood-red light radiated from his body, enveloping his face and making his features appear slightly distorted.

What an… aggressive speech.

I had already heard rumors about Charny.

They said he was extremely radical, and that his personality perfectly matched the philosophy of Arcangrove Tower: the strongest should prevail.

On the other side, the presidents of Black Bull Tower and Black Blood Tower were also giving their speeches.

The acolytes of the two Towers applauded vigorously.

Some even nodded enthusiastically.

I, however, watched everything in silence.

The Towers of the Southern Coast had been deeply influenced by the styles of their respective directors.

Arcangrove Tower advocated a bloodthirsty philosophy based on the theory of the law of the jungle.

Consequently, most of its acolytes leaned toward combat magic and violence.

The two opposing Towers, on the other hand, had different tendencies.

Their acolytes were clearly more inclined toward large-scale area magic.

That could be quite troublesome in a large-scale battle.

But there was something that caught my attention. The enemy acolytes didn’t seem particularly cunning, and some even appeared rather innocent. They reminded me of the acolytes I had encountered in Distant Wind City.

My objective here was simple.

I needed to gather enough contribution points to obtain the Black Rainbow Crystallized Aura.

The price was fifty points.

That meant I would need to kill five Level 3 acolytes from the enemy side, or an even greater number of lower-level acolytes. Fortunately, acolytes did not possess the defensive force field characteristic of an Official Mage. That made an enormous difference.

If I had enough time, I could undoubtedly obtain the points I needed.

Then Charny raised one of his hands.

— Very well!

— This secret world will last for three days.

— During these three days, everyone will be transported to different locations within the secret world.

— Protect your chest emblems well.

— They are proof of your contributions and also contain information about the return route.

He waved his hand, and the acolytes of Arcangrove Tower began to move. Soon, one after another, they started entering the portal.

Thanks to the mediation of SUS Tower, we had secured a few benefits.

One of them was being allowed to enter the secret world first.

In other words, we had a slight territorial advantage. However, that didn’t mean much. In the face of the enormous difference in strength between the two sides, that small advantage was practically a joke.

The three Towers had brought approximately two hundred acolytes each. The problem lay in the number of Level 3 acolytes. The number of Level 3 acolytes from the two opposing Towers was several times greater than that of Arcangrove Tower.

And our situation was even worse because many of our strongest acolytes had died during the war. Others had not even managed to return in time. Some had betrayed the Tower and attempted to flee, only to end up dead as well.

As I was finally lost in thought, my turn came, and as soon as I passed through the portal—

Weng!

A strange sensation swept through my body.

For a moment, I completely lost my sense of direction.

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My vision returned.

I was standing.

But I didn’t feel well. My head began to spin. It was as if millions of bees were flying inside my skull, endlessly beating their wings.

My expression twisted, and a wave of nausea rose from my stomach.

I almost vomited.

At that moment, the Biochip’s cold voice echoed inside my mind.

[Negative effect detected in host.]

[Symptoms include dizziness and nausea.]

[Primary diagnosis: side effects caused by passing through a spatial area.]

I quickly opened my water bottle and splashed some of the cold water onto my face. The refreshing sensation cleared my mind.

After approximately a minute, I finally managed to recover.

I raised my head and then fell silent.

There was a forest all around me. Green trees covered every direction.

Above me was a completely clear blue sky, without a single cloud.

The sun shone brightly, bathing the forest in golden light.

It was almost hard to believe that this place was part of a war.

— Biochip, examine the surroundings.

Immediately, a light-blue three-dimensional projection appeared before my eyes.

Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any immediate danger.

— Transmorph~~

I began chanting an incantation. My mana flowed through my body, and then I felt my flesh begin to change as my face underwent a transformation.

My eyes became larger, my lips took on a paler shade, my hair completely changed color, and even my body structure began to alter.

In just a few moments, I looked like a completely different person.

More importantly… My energy waves began to weaken. From a consolidated Level 3 acolyte, I slowly began to appear like a Level 2 acolyte, and then a Level 1 acolyte.

[Transfiguration Spell — Modified Version.]

[Ability: Alters the host’s height, appearance, and superficial characteristics of their energy waves.]

[Consumption: 1 point of magical power.]

I looked at my new face through the Biochip’s projection.

A young blond acolyte stared back at me. His appearance was completely different from my original one.

I had carefully chosen this spell when I first left the Tower, and after advancing to Level 3, I had finally met the necessary requirements for the Biochip to modify the spell.

Even so, there were limits.

The spell was still a Rank 0 spell, and even with the Biochip’s modifications, it could only conceal my true strength from other acolytes. An Official Mage would be able to see through the transformation.

Furthermore, I couldn’t simply transform my energy waves into whatever level I wanted. The most I could do was reduce their intensity enough to make myself appear like a lower-level acolyte.

Even Lina or Chory probably wouldn’t be able to recognize me.

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As I moved through the forest, other parts of the secret world had already turned into battlefields.

In a small pool surrounded by trees, a black-haired acolyte wearing a black cloak raised his hand.

A poisonous liquid was launched forward.

The Arcangrove Tower acolyte struck by the poison tried to react.

But it was already too late.

His body was quickly consumed by the corrosive flames of the poison until nothing but ashes remained.

Elsewhere in the secret world, Toral was fighting an acolyte from Black Blood Tower.

Toral’s expression was grim.

Suddenly, countless vines emerged from his body.

They surged forward like snakes, completely wrapping around his enemy.

The opposing acolyte tried to escape, but he couldn’t.

The vines contracted, and fresh blood began to seep through the small gaps between the branches, dripping onto the ground.

Similar battles were taking place throughout different regions of the secret world.

Explosions began erupting, and waves of energy swept through the forest.

The smell of magic permeated the air.

And occasionally, cries of agony echoed between the mountains and forests.

The difference between the levels also began to become apparent.

The Level 3 acolytes of Arcangrove Tower possessed a considerable advantage in individual confrontations.

But the Level 1 and Level 2 acolytes were in a completely different situation.

If they directly encountered a Level 3 acolyte prepared for battle…

They would probably die instantly.

Somewhere in the forest, a green-haired acolyte was walking hurriedly.

He wore the uniform of Black Bull Tower.

His eyes constantly scanned his surroundings.

There was anxiety on his face.

— Damn it… I was sent all the way here.

He quickened his pace.

— The distance to the Tower’s meeting point is too great…

He continued forward.

Then…

Peng!

The ground exploded.

Several holes suddenly appeared beneath his feet.

Before he could react, yellow spikes made of hardened mud violently emerged from the ground.

Pssshk!

One of them pierced through his robes.

It broke through his inner armor and pierced his abdomen, passing all the way through the other side of his body.

The acolyte froze completely.

His eyes widened as blood and entrails began to spill out.

— What…?

His voice died before he could finish, and the light gradually disappeared from his eyes.

Silence returned to the forest.

Several minutes passed, and the grass around the area began to move.

I slowly emerged from the ground.

I was riding my Earth Shark Golem.

I looked at the corpse and dismounted.

First, I removed the acolyte’s uniform.

Then I walked over to his body.

I crouched down, reached my hand toward his chest, and removed the red emblem.

I examined it.

— Just a Level 2 acolyte…

— Three contribution points.

The different Towers used different emblems.

The emblems of Arcangrove Tower were white.

Those of Black Bull Tower and Black Blood Tower were red and deep black, respectively.

Furthermore, their shapes changed according to the acolyte’s level.

I had gained three points. It wasn’t much, but it was a start.

The opposing Towers had chosen several meeting points.

Their acolytes were supposed to head toward these locations and then attack together.

That meant the initial moments would be extremely important.

While they were scattered, the Level 3 acolytes of Arcangrove Tower could take advantage of their individual superiority.

They could hunt isolated enemies and earn points.

But once the opposing acolytes gathered together…

The situation would change completely.

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