Why Are You Here Too?

"I am Blood Bone. Within ten days, present yourselves before my Wizard Tower."

The voice vanished as abruptly as it had appeared.

Ethan snapped his eyes open, a flash of emerald light flickering deep within his pupils.

"The time has come."

As he crossed the edge of the Teaching Area, the path became increasingly crowded.

Apprentices in various robes walked in small groups toward the same destination. Some hurried along while others took their time, their faces a mosaic of different emotions.

Some looked solemn, some were visibly excited, and others remained expressionless, their thoughts unreadable.

No one spoke.

The only sounds on the stone path were the rhythmic thud of footsteps and the soft rustle of robes. Everyone was silent, as if shrouded by an invisible weight.

Ethan blended into the crowd, his gaze sweeping over the passing faces.

Most were strangers.

Blood Bone Tower was simply too large. With over a hundred thousand apprentices scattered across various districts, one only ever encountered a small fraction of the population during classes, at the Logistics Area, or in the library.

Many of the senior students who had been at the academy for decades were people he had never even laid eyes on.

The buildings lining the stone path began to thin out, and the view ahead suddenly opened up.

The Blood Bone Wizard Tower.

It stood there like a pale bone spike thrusting out from the depths of the earth.

Countless bones of varying thicknesses were interwoven, stacked, and fused together to form a massive tower over a hundred meters tall.

Some of the bones were as white as jade, some were etched with dark gold patterns, and others were covered in dense clusters of runes that shimmered with a cold, ghostly light under the sun.

Surrounding the base of the tower was a vast, bone-white plaza.

The plaza floor was also paved with bone. Every bone plate was polished to a mirror-like sheen, and the gaps between them were filled with a dark red substance that looked like dried blood.

Ethan scanned the plaza, estimating there were at least five hundred people already present.

Five hundred Third-Tier Wizard Apprentices.

And these were just the early arrivals.

When the final echoes of footsteps faded at the edge of the plaza, Ethan did a rough count.

Seven thousand four hundred and two.

This didn't even include the slaves, contracted beasts, and other cannon fodder legions following behind them.

"Hiss, that's a bit terrifying. A Three Rings Wizard Academy can mobilize over seven thousand Third-Tier Apprentices, and this isn't even their entire population. The power Blood Bone Tower represents..."

As Ethan mused, his gaze continued to roam through the crowd until it suddenly stopped in a particular direction.

It was a scrawny figure in a gray robe. With thinning white hair and a face full of wrinkles, the man stood at the edge of the plaza with his arms crossed, looking thoroughly bored.

Ethan's brow twitched as he began to walk toward him.

"Wait, why are you here too?"

Wright lifted his eyelids, his clouded eyes circling Ethan's face before his lips curled into a sneer. "What, do you own Blood Bone Tower? Why can't an old man like me be here? You should leave quickly. A World War isn't something a Second-Tier like you can participate in. The Headmaster doesn't like those who overestimate themselves. Wait, don't tell me you've reached the Third-Tier?"

A slight curve appeared at the corner of Ethan's mouth. "Heh, how do you know I haven't?"

"Huh? What?"

Wright's voice suddenly spiked in volume, ringing out clearly across the quiet plaza.

Several Third-Tier Apprentices nearby turned their heads simultaneously, their gazes landing squarely on the scrawny old man in the gray robe.

Some frowned, some winced, and others' eyelids jumped, their expressions as varied as if they were looking at something impossible.

A burly, bald man who had been resting with his eyes closed snapped them open. He stared at Wright for two seconds, his mouth twitching, before he silently turned around and pretended he hadn't seen anything.

A tall, thin youth standing next to the burly man looked away the moment he saw Wright's face. He fixed his gaze on the distant Wizard Tower with such intense focus it was as if a flower had suddenly bloomed on the bone structure.

At the edge of the crowd, a short apprentice in a deep green cloak lowered his voice and whispered to his companion, "Why is he here too?"

His companion, a round-faced youth, froze for a moment before nudging the short one with his elbow. He gave a pointed look that clearly meant: 'Don't talk, pretend you didn't see him.'

The short apprentice took the hint and shut his mouth. The two of them shuffled half a step to the side, putting some distance between themselves and Wright.

They weren't the only ones.

With Wright as the center, the surrounding apprentices were all quietly adjusting their positions.

Low whispers began to ripple through various corners of the plaza.

"Isn't that... him?"

"Shh, keep your voice down. That person is..."

"I know, I know. Say no more."

"Why did he come? Doesn't he never leave that counter?"

"How should I know? Either way, staying away is the right move."

"Fair point."

Ethan stood beside Wright, watching the reactions of the surrounding Third-Tier Apprentices.

He saw the subtle shifts in expression, the deliberate avoidance of eye contact, and the quiet withdrawals.

Something was wrong.

The way these people were reacting was not normal.

If Wright was just an old apprentice working in the Logistics Area, his seniority wouldn't warrant such a reaction from so many Third-Tier Apprentices.

Ethan had been at Blood Bone Tower for nearly six years. Seeing a crowd of people choose to look away and pretend Wright wasn't there was absolutely abnormal.

He knew exactly how these people usually behaved.

Apprentices in the black wizard faction had long ago had their compassion ground into nothing. There were only two things that could make them actively back away: absolute strength or absolute status.

Which one did this old fellow, Wright, possess?

Who exactly are you?

At that moment, a wave of pressure suddenly radiated from the direction of the Wizard Tower.

The entire plaza fell silent instantly.

Ethan looked up, his gaze passing over the sea of heads toward the tower.

A figure was slowly descending from the top of the tower.

It was a woman.

She looked to be in her thirties, with dark red hair cascading over her shoulders, shimmering like congealed blood in the sunlight.

Her skin was a healthy wheat color, and while her features weren't exactly delicate, they possessed a wild beauty. She looked like an untamed beast, exuding a palpable sense of danger.

She wore a dark red short robe that ended mid-thigh, revealing long, toned legs.

Her feet were clad in black boots that made a crisp clicking sound against the bone-white ground.

Every click seemed to step directly on the hearts of those listening.

The pressure was emanating from her.

Wizard Jade Blood.

Director of the Conquest Department of Blood Bone Tower, a Second-Tier Wizard.