"Black Wizard?"
A few Fire Lizards looked astonished.
One Fire Lizard awkwardly laughed, "Hahaha, my lord, that's quite a joke you made."
"I'm not joking," Richard said seriously. "You are indeed going to kill the Black Wizard next."
The only ones who invaded the Crimson Sun World were two academies from the Wizard World, and there are over a thousand such academies in the Wizard World.
Currently, my academy is in conflict with another academy, and an Academy War will commence soon.
At that time, you will join me in fighting against the Black Wizard from the other academy."
Richard's words left the three Fire Lizards in a daze; they found it hard to imagine that the Wizards who conquered the Crimson Sun World were merely a small part of the vast Wizard World.
Over a thousand academies—this number sent shivers down their spines.
Although they knew the Wizard World was powerful, they had never thought it would be this powerful.
The conquest of the Crimson Sun World was just a tentacle of this colossal entity known as the Wizard World.
However, they quickly accepted this fact.
After becoming Richard's subordinates, their capacity for acceptance had improved significantly.
One Fire Lizard confidently said, "Rest assured, my lord, we may not be good at much else, but when it comes to killing Black Wizards, we are definitely experienced."
A glimmer of excitement flashed across the faces of the three Fire Lizards. In the past, they had either been elite executives of Morik's Shield or seasoned commanders on the front lines.
They loved killing Wizards.
Richard nodded; this was the effect he wanted.
"Very well, then you will work with Makar to adjust your armor and familiarize yourselves with combat in the Secret Realm.
I will notify you when I need you."
"Yes!" (×4)
...
After leaving the Secret Realm, Richard took out the Communication Crystal Ball and sent a message before departing from the Wizard Tower.
Soon, Richard's figure appeared in front of a black Wizard Tower radiating a scorching aura.
Richard knocked on the door, and soon, a flame-wreathed demi-human maid opened the door to the Wizard Tower.
"Lord Richard, Mistress Ellie is waiting for you in the reception room."
This black tower, exuding a fiery aura, was Ellie's Wizard Tower.
Due to Ellie merging with the bloodline of a fire dragon, she preferred to stay in environments rich in fire elements. To accommodate this, she specially modified her Wizard Tower, replacing the building materials with volcanic stone bricks sourced from a fire-elemental world.
These stones release trace amounts of fire elements and are the preferred building material for many Wizards who have merged with fire Elemental Creature bloodlines.
Entering the Wizard Tower.
In the reception room, Ellie lay casually on the sofa, wearing nothing but a pair of golden-rimmed glasses, flipping through a thick Magic Book.
Upon seeing Richard enter, Ellie set the book down, adjusted her glasses on her nose, and a hint of a charming blush appeared on her fair face.
"You actually came to find me; how rare. What, are you missing me?"
Richard naturally sat down opposite Ellie, and the demi-human maid timely poured freshly brewed magical tea for him.
"Let's be serious. How much do you know about this Academy War?"
Ellie shot Richard a glance and then sat up straight.
"My teacher said that the reason for this Academy War is that the dean and another Great Wizard from the Astral World encountered a valuable item during their travels.
Both Great Wizards wanted it, so they ended up fighting over it.
In the end, our dean outperformed the other and took the item. The other Great Wizard, feeling humiliated, initiated the Academy War.
The two Great Wizards don't have deep-seated grudges, so the intensity of the war shouldn't be too high."
Hearing this, Richard felt a sense of relief.
There's a saying that war is the continuation of politics. The parties in the Academy War are merely extensions of the wills of the two Great Wizards.
As long as the two Great Wizards don't harbor deep-seated hatred, the intensity of the war won't escalate.
But if the two Great Wizards wished to see each other dead, then the Academy War would turn into a bloody meat grinder.
"The opposing academy is also a new academy, right?"
"They were established five hundred years before us, so they are basically from the same era."
Richard nodded, "That's good; the combat power on both sides shouldn't differ too much. The opposing side is definitely the aggressor, and our defensive numbers being slightly inferior isn't a big deal."
But Ellie shook her head.
"You guessed wrong. The Meteorite Great Wizard has had bad luck recently and hasn't drawn a world coordinate in years, which has resulted in their academy having many more surviving Wizards than ours.
According to current intelligence, the number of people in the Meteorite Academy should be about twice ours."
"Twice!"
Richard exclaimed.
If they were Black Wizards, such a numerical disparity would essentially declare a defense war for the Core Wizard Tower if it were against a White Wizard academy.
But even as Black Wizards, this difference in numbers was enough to give them a hard time.
"Sigh, my teacher is really troubled by this," Ellie sighed. "Although many Wizards on the opposing side have never been on the battlefield, their numerical advantage compensates for that.
The academy is currently hastily arranging various defensive measures, hoping the opposing side won't take it too seriously.
Otherwise, this battle will be tough for us."
Richard frowned, "How long until the war starts?"
"More than a year. The World Guardian is activating the World Mirror, and once the World Mirror is fully revived, the war will begin."
"…Alright, I understand."
Richard stood up and asked:
"Does your staff need upgrading? I've had some insights recently, and my alchemical skills have improved quite a bit."
Ellie's eyes lit up, "Of course."
As she spoke, Ellie casually summoned a fire elemental sprite, which brought a metallic staff to Richard.
Richard took the staff and turned to leave the Wizard Tower.
...
[Material: Mithril Staff]
[Refinable Information: Four Elemental Joint Amplification Rune Array]
[Refinement Cost: 120 Mental Power]
[Refinable Skill: Staff Making (Incomplete)]
[Refinement Cost: 50 Mental Power]
Looking at the information provided by the Miracle Furnace, Richard couldn't help but exclaim that the twelve thousand Magic Essence he spent was truly worth it.
This staff, named Mithril Staff, was the exquisite staff he had purchased at the auction, capable of amplifying four elemental spells by a thousand energy levels.
This staff genuinely surprised Richard.
Not to mention how precious the Four Elemental Joint Amplification Rune Array was, even the skill of staff making was worth him spending twelve thousand Magic Essence.
He couldn't even imagine how proficient this master was in making staffs, given the fifty mental power required for refinement.
Richard first chose to refine the skill, and after consuming fifty mental power, he began to experience intermittent visions.
In the visions, he was an Alchemist Wizard, a very talented one at that.
He learned everything his mentor taught him with ease, and many profound and obscure concepts seemed as simple as arithmetic to him.
Soon, he crafted his first staff.
Looking at that staff, Richard could even feel the joy from the vision.
At that moment, he set a goal for himself—he wanted to create a perfect staff.
He then began to learn new knowledge, continuously improving the staff.
To achieve a perfect staff, he started experimenting tirelessly, from selecting materials to the methods of making the staff.
One after another, he created staffs of various styles, and during this time, he was honored with the title of master.
Then, the vision abruptly ended.
This Mithril Staff was merely a byproduct of the master's quest for the perfect staff.
Richard awoke from the vision and slowly said, "An explorer on the path of truth, a master worthy of respect."
Even though what he experienced was just a vision, he could feel the Wizard's pursuit of the perfect staff.
Setting the staff aside, Richard entered a deep meditation for eight hours to replenish the mental power he had lost.
Afterward, he refined the Four Elemental Joint Amplification Rune Array.
After the refinement, Richard felt as if his head had been smashed by a heavy hammer; everything went dark before his eyes, and his limbs felt somewhat unresponsive.
One hundred and twenty points of mental power had nearly drained his soul.
Richard instinctively lay down, feeling that it was time to sleep, and he did not resist this instinct.
His eyes slowly closed, and soon he fell into a deep slumber.
Three days later, Richard got up from the floor of the laboratory and began to absorb the knowledge gained from the refinement.
The Rune Array of the Mithril Staff could be said to be the most excellent Rune Array among all the staffs Richard had ever seen.
The clever rune combinations and the geometrically pleasing arrangement of the runes made Richard, as an Alchemist Wizard, feel as if he had returned to his apprentice days.
His own works paled in comparison to this staff.
Moreover, the core rune of this Rune Array was a rare rune, and the staff's ability to amplify four elemental spells by a thousand energy levels relied entirely on this core rune.
It took Richard a full three months to digest this Rune Array.
After three months, Richard closed several notebooks filled with notes, thick as a dictionary, and paused his digestion of the Rune Array.
The reason was simple: the knowledge involved in this Rune Array was vast, and even with all his learning, Richard could only grasp a portion of its mysteries.
To digest the remaining content, Richard needed to supplement his knowledge.
Aside from that, if he continued to digest further, he wouldn't be able to complete the staff upgrade he promised.
...
After absorbing the skill of staff making and digesting part of the knowledge from the Four Elemental Joint Amplification Rune Array, Richard made significant progress in crafting staffs.
Under his upgrade, Ellie's staff increased its amplification for fire elemental spells to five hundred energy levels.
This figure was several times higher than before.
Upon receiving this information, Ellie immediately wanted to offer her body in gratitude.
But Richard stopped her.
To be honest, it was he who would be at a disadvantage in such a deal.
Not long after the staff upgrade, a notification from the academy reached Richard.
[Due to the Meteorite Great Wizard's humiliation, the Me
teorite Wizard Academy shamelessly declared Academy War against our Black Tower Wizard Academy. This war will commence in one month.
Wizards of the Black Tower Wizard Academy, prepare your Magic Equipment and defend our academy.
After the war, my treasury will be open to you!
— Great Wizard of the Black Tower]
(End of Chapter)