Ethan's gaze lingered on her for a moment before shifting to those behind her.
One hundred and fifty Official Wizards of various descriptions filed out of the Wizard Tower behind her in a continuous stream.
Wizard Jade Blood came to a halt at the edge of the plaza, her dark red eyes scanning the dense crowd below.
Then she smiled. "My, quite a crowd. I am Jade Blood. No need for further introductions; I'm in charge of this World War."
She paused, then raised a hand and pointed toward the center of the plaza.
"Into the teleportation array."
As her voice fell, the bone-white ground in the center of the plaza suddenly lit up.
On the bone plates that paved the ground, the previously dim runic patterns lit up one by one, spreading from the center in all directions at an incredible speed.
Ghostly green light emanated from the patterns, illuminating the entire plaza like a spectral realm.
The light grew brighter and more piercing, eventually converging into a giant teleportation array over fifty meters in diameter in the center of the plaza.
The scale of the array far exceeded any Ethan had used before.
Just the complexity of the shifting runes on the edges was enough to make any array apprentice's head spin.
Light rose from the center of the array, forming a massive pillar of light about a dozen meters above the ground. Within the pillar, one could faintly see countless intricate runes slowly rotating.
Everyone began to move.
Over seven thousand Third-Tier Apprentices, followed by the cannon fodder legions of slaves and contracted beasts, marched toward the teleportation array in a grand procession.
The sound of footsteps echoed across the plaza, mingling with the low growls of contracted beasts and the suppressed breathing of slaves, creating a dull roar.
Ethan blended into the crowd and stepped toward the teleportation array.
Once the apprentices finished teleporting, the wizards stepped forward simultaneously, following Wizard Jade Blood into the array.
When the light dissipated, his feet met solid ground.
Ethan steadied himself and looked up, his pupils narrowing slightly.
It was a massive plaza.
No, "massive" was an understatement.
Ethan's eyesight was quite good for his age, but even as he strained his eyes to look into the distance, the horizon was still shrouded in a gray mist. He couldn't see the boundary of the plaza at all.
The ground beneath him was made of some deep gray stone, its surface smooth as a mirror, faintly reflecting his own image.
There were no gaps between the stones, as if the entire plaza had been carved from a single piece of rock.
At regular intervals, complex runic arrays were carved into the ground, with ghostly green light slowly flowing through the patterns.
The plaza was filled with people.
Wizards, apprentices, slaves, and contracted beasts—it was so crowded they were impossible to count.
Wizards in various robes gathered in small groups. Some spoke in low voices, some rested with their eyes closed, and others stared at crystals or scrolls in their hands, their brows furrowed.
The colors and styles of their robes varied, and the academy badges pinned to their chests were equally diverse.
Skulls, bone claws, blood drops, thorns, eyes, sharp teeth—each badge represented a different wizard academy.
The apprentices were divided into formations of various sizes based on their respective academies. Some were in neat rows, while others stood in scattered groups.
The larger formations had eight or nine thousand people, while the smaller ones had only three to five hundred.
Standing at the front of each formation were dozens to hundreds of Official Wizards, clearly the group leaders.
Further out were the slaves and contracted beasts.
The slaves wore simple, coarse clothes. Some were even bare-chested, revealing either lean, muscular or gaunt bodies.
There were far more slaves than apprentices. A quick glance suggested at least several million within sight, spreading out like a silent, dark sea.
The varieties of contracted beasts were even more diverse.
There were massive four-legged beasts, over five meters tall at the shoulder, covered in rock-like scales.
There were winged flying creatures crouched on the ground, with wingspans reaching a dozen meters. There were translucent spiritual entities floating half a meter off the ground, with pale blue light constantly drifting from their edges.
And then there were those twisted creatures whose original forms were unrecognizable, covered in tentacles, eyes, or sharp teeth. Just looking at them made one's skin crawl.
The noise was deafening.
The conversations of wizards, the whispers of apprentices, the suppressed breathing of slaves, the roars of contracted beasts, the clashing of metal, and the thud of boots on the ground merged into a colossal wave of sound that echoed over the plaza.
Ethan retracted his gaze and turned to look at the old man, Wright, beside him.
The old fellow had his arms crossed and was craning his neck, looking around with a relaxed expression, like a country bumpkin wandering through a market.
His clouded eyes darted about, scanning the massive contracted beasts, a faint smile playing on his lips as if he were looking at some rare curiosities.
"Hey, old man, where are your slaves and contracted beasts?"
Just as Ethan finished speaking, he saw Wright swipe his hand over his storage ring.
Then, the mechanical hounds appeared.
Ethan's eyebrows twitched when the first one leapt out of the ring.
It was a pitch-black mechanical construct, nearly three meters tall at the shoulder and over five meters long. Its limbs were long and powerful, with joints made of precision gears and linkages, and its surface was covered in a layer of dark silver metal armor.
The hound's head was streamlined, with two eyes made of fist-sized dark red crystals. Intricate light slowly pulsed within the crystals.
When it opened its mouth, one could see rows of dense metal teeth and the faint glow of energy circuits deep in its throat.
As soon as the first one landed, a second one leapt out.
Then a third, a fourth, a fifth.
One after another, they poured out of Wright's dusty-looking storage ring like a flood breaking through a dam.
Each one was identical: three meters tall at the shoulder, dark silver armor, dark red crystal eyes, and metal teeth.
Their landing movements were perfectly synchronized. They bent their limbs slightly to absorb the impact and then quickly moved to the sides to make room for their companions.
Ten.
Twenty.
Fifty.
One hundred.
Three hundred.
Each one crouched slightly after landing, heads lowered and dark red eyes half-closed, as if awaiting orders.
The surrounding apprentices were drawn to the commotion and turned their heads.
Some people's eyelids jumped, some winced, and others looked back and forth between the mechanical hounds and Wright, their expressions shifting wildly.
Ethan stood beside Wright, shifting his gaze from the continuous stream of mechanical hounds to the old man's ring.
Ethan's mouth twitched.
...
Wait, isn't your storage ring a bit too big?
Is logistics really this profitable?
As if sensing Ethan's gaze, Wright turned his head, his wrinkled face splitting into a mischievous grin.
His clouded eyes held a spark of pride, his smile stretching almost from ear to ear.
"Heh heh, kid, these three hundred mechanical beasts are all thanks to your potions."
He patted the dusty ring on his finger and tilted his chin up, looking every bit like a nouveau riche showing off his wealth.
"I've made quite a bit over the last few years. Spirit-Refreshing Potions, Ignis Paste—I bought every batch you refined and turned them around for a tidy profit. Tsk tsk."
He pointed a withered finger at the growing formation of mechanical hounds behind him.
"These little guys were all exchanged for your potions."
...
You profiteering old scoundrel!
Ethan looked at Wright's face, which was wrinkled like a blooming chrysanthemum, with only those words echoing in his mind.
Of course, he only thought it.
Besides, the old man was saying that specifically for his benefit.
"All thanks to my potions?"
What a load of crap.
Did he really think Ethan was that naive?
No matter how much profit he made, there was no way these mechanical beasts were funded solely by potions.
Maybe a few dozen of them were.
But all of them?
Hah! Yeah, right!
Rate on N.U.
