Upon receiving the news, the Black Tower Wizard Academy community near the Tower of Truth erupted in excitement.
Streams of light shot up into the sky; some rode brooms, others sat on flying carpets, some spread their wings, and others galloped through the air. Numerous Wizards showcased their abilities, all heading straight for the teleportation portal.
Richard roughly counted and found that there were tens of thousands of streams of light rising from the community alone.
If one were to include the faculty of the academy and the Wizards who had been summoned back from their travels, it was estimated that the Black Tower Wizard Academy could mobilize around fifty thousand Wizards for this war.
Although this number might not compare to the number of participating Wizards during the planar wars, they were Black Wizards, who did not act in unison like the White Wizards.
Fifty thousand Wizards was already a tremendous force.
Richard joined the throng of light, flying alongside these Wizards toward the Black Tower Wizard Academy.
Having become a Second Circle Wizard, Richard's flying speed had greatly increased. In just half a month, he arrived at the Black Tower Wizard Academy.
In the academy, the Wizards and faculty who had been summoned back in recent years were all flying in the air.
Above them, an enormous mirror reflected a vast expanse of land.
As Richard searched among the Wizards, he surprisingly could not find his teacher, Jolod, but only saw a few of his senior brothers and sisters gathered together.
"Senior sister, where has the teacher gone?" Richard quietly asked Anna as he approached her.
Seeing her long-lost junior brother, Anna couldn't help but smile slightly.
"You finally made it. The teacher has now become a Third Circle Wizard and is part of the command center.
The members of the command center are currently inside the central black tower, discussing the matters of this war with the dean."
Richard looked at Anna; since he went to the Crimson Sun World, he hadn't seen her again. Nearly a hundred years had passed, and Anna had changed quite a bit.
Anna's mechanical arm had become more refined, with a layer of flexible metal now serving as skin over its originally rugged appearance.
Besides her arm, this silver-gray flexible metal skin covered most of Anna's body, with only her cheeks remaining as flesh and blood.
Curious, Richard touched Anna's metallic skin and couldn't help but ask, "Senior sister, this skin of yours is quite special."
Anna beamed with pride, "Hehe, not bad, right? This flexible metal skin is my recent research, and it has a strong defensive capability against elemental attacks."
Richard asked curiously, "How much can it defend against?"
Anna replied with a hint of pride, "One thousand energy levels!"
One thousand energy levels...
Richard stroked his chin, momentarily unable to process it.
His brain had grown accustomed to Dragon Alchemy, where armor plates could easily reach several thousand energy levels in elemental defense. Suddenly hearing one thousand energy levels, he felt a sense of underwhelmingness.
Just one thousand energy levels—what could that block? Anna noticed Richard's unusual reaction but thought it was because her junior brother was awed by her research.
To be fair, Anna was ten years older than Richard and was only over three hundred years old now.
At this age, to create such an astonishing piece of work, talent, effort, and luck were all indispensable.
Because of this work, she had caught the attention of the president of the Golden Gear Society and had become an inner circle member.
After becoming an inner circle member, the knowledge about Alchemy Machines within the Golden Gear Society would be fully opened to her.
This knowledge was a treasure for any Wizard.
Moreover, the president promised that if Anna could continue to produce such outstanding works, once she became a Second Circle Wizard, he would hire her as the vice dean with real power at his academy.
This was an enormous opportunity for a First Circle Wizard.
But unfortunately, the person standing opposite her was somewhat unreasonable.
"Impressive, impressive," Richard praised somewhat insincerely.
This flexible metal could also be made with Dragon Alchemy; achieving Anna's effect... didn't seem too difficult.
The Fire Lizards under his command had made tremendous progress in Alchemy after designing the Mechanist Type I Individual Armor.
Kallion and Sulina, the two leading figures, were already catching up to him.
"What are you two talking about? Can you include me and the little junior sister?"
A male voice came from behind Richard. Without turning his head, he opened his arms and embraced the Wizard behind him.
"Chuckes, you've gained some weight again during this time."
Chuckes looked the same as before, but he was rounder than before. However, Richard could sense that this "fat" was not simple; it was likely a product of some alchemical Spellcraft.
Chuckes released his arms, patted his belly, and said with a serious expression, "What do you know? This is energy storage; it can save lives in critical moments."
Beside Chuckes, their little junior sister, Yelina, was riding a dragon, grinning as she watched them.
"Yelina, your dragon is quite nice."
Richard patted Yelina's dragon, which had reached the peak of a First Level creature. It had a bulge on its neck, just a step away from becoming a Second Level creature.
But judging by its docile demeanor, it seemed to have been raised by Yelina since it was young.
"Senior brother, you flatter me; it's just luck."
The dragon dared not act up under Richard's hand. Although it was just a step away from becoming a Second Level creature, Richard was a genuine Second Circle Wizard.
"What do you usually feed it? I have some high-grade magical beast meat here; if you need it, I can sell it to you at cost price."
Yelina's eyes lit up at this: "Really? Senior brother, you must not go back on your word!"
Anna timely walked over to Yelina and patted the little girl's head.
"Little girl, this senior brother of yours is a big tycoon, earning tens of thousands of Magic Essence.
Do you think he would regret this little money?"
Chuckes chimed in with a laugh, "Exactly! We are all making a living under Richard now.
Aren't we, Richard the president?"
Hearing Chuckes' teasing, Richard laughed and punched him lightly.
"Get lost! What president? This is the academy; there are no presidents, only junior brothers."
After some playful banter, Richard greeted a few of Jolod's other students, introducing themselves.
These people had been taken as students by Jolod long before Richard's time. Naturally, he was not familiar with them. But since they were all brothers in arms, if he could help them on the battlefield, he would.
Days passed, and Wizards from all directions continued to converge on the Black Tower Wizard Academy.
In the sky above the academy, the figures of Wizards gathered like dark clouds, shrouding the sky.
"By the way, junior sister. Where have all the apprentices from our academy gone?"
Richard suddenly realized that apart from the Wizards, there seemed to be no other living beings in the entire Black Tower Wizard Academy.
Logically, there should still be tens of thousands of Wizard apprentices in the academy.
"Oh, they all went into the dean's Secret Realm," Yelina replied. "Wizard apprentices have little effect on the Academy War, so those mediocre apprentices were all sent into the Secret Realm by the dean.
They will grow into high-level Wizard apprentices in the Secret Realm and then be directly released.
As for those who have already become formal apprentices, they are all currently in the central black tower.
As long as the black tower is not destroyed, once the war is over, they can go to the Tower of Truth to advance to Wizards."
Richard raised an eyebrow: "That's a nice arrangement; they don't even have to take exams."
Yelina laughed, "They are indeed lucky. But they also participated in the Academy War, so this is their reward."
A few more days passed, and suddenly a ripple appeared in the enormous mirror in the sky.
A black-robed Guardian of the Wizarding World flew out from within. This Wizard still had a human appearance, but his skin resembled the bark of an old tree, and beneath his black robe, countless root-like things could be seen writhing.
At the same time, a Wizard flew out from the central black tower. Richard took a closer look and saw that it was the vice dean, Erix.
Erix flew to the side of the black-robed Wizard and respectfully performed a Wizard salute.
"Guardian Lord."
The black-robed Wizard looked at Erix, his tone gentle as he asked, "Erix, is your academy ready? If so, the war will commence in six hours."
Erix bowed his head and replied, "We are ready."
The black-robed Wizard nodded, and a wooden arm extended from beneath his robe, with countless roots spreading from his hand, gradually forming a staff.
The staff looked like the roots of an old tree, and at its tip, countless small roots twisted together to form a root ball.
The black-robed Wizard waved the staff, and Magic Power surged from his body like a torrent. In the sky, a massive five-pointed star magic array appeared in the mirror, and the mirror emitted a beam of light that enveloped the entire academy.
Within the mirror, the originally vast land began to reveal the Black Tower Wizard Academy gradually.
Richard gazed at the world mirror in the sky, a hint of shock flashing through his heart.
In the Wizard World, Magic Equipment is only classified by quality, not by level.
After all, many Magic Equipment have different effects, and the technologies used within them vary, making it difficult to establish a standard classification.
In practice, during transactions, everyone still prices based on performance.
However, among Alchemist Wizards, although Magic Equipment does not have a precise level classification, there is an established convention.
That is, Magic Equipment is divided into ordinary-level Magic Equipment, rule-level Magic Equipment, and Truth-Tier Magic Gear.
The distinction among these three lies in the creator's identity, and the so-called Truth-Tier Magic Gear refers to Magic Equipment crafted meticulously by Truth Wizards.
The world mirror before him is one of the few Truth-Tier Magic Gear in the Wizard World.
It is said that when the Truth Wizard forged it, he infused it with the core of a great world, and the mirror world within has nearly infinite space.
According to legend, the purpose of this mirror, besides providing a battlefield for the Academy War, is to seal some of the enemies of the Truth Wizards. These enemies are incredibly terrifying, and even Truth Wizards find it difficult to eliminate them, only able to seal them within the world mirror, eternally imprisoning them.
As time passed, the Black Tower Wizard Academy within the world mirror became clearer and clearer.
Meanwhile, the Black Tower Wizard Academy in the Wizard World grew fainter and fainter.
The Black Tower Wizard Academy in the Wizard World resembled a painting diluted by water, with colors fading and becoming increasingly transparent.
Through these gradually transparent buildings, Richard saw the location of the Black Tower Wizard Academy being replaced by a vast expanse of land.
"Has it been swapped with the world in the mirror?" Richard speculated in his heart.
In the blink of an eye, six hours had passed, and the original location of the Black Tower Wizard Academy had vanished. In the place of the central black tower, the command center's Third Circle Wizards were floating in the air with some Wizard apprentices.
The World of Mirror could swap the academy but could not swap the Wizards inside.
The world guardian waved the staff again, and the beam of light emitted by the world mirror suddenly produced a pulling force. This force made Richard feel as if he were in a great whirlpool in the sea; even if he exerted all his strength, he was merely an ant shaking a tree in the face of this great power.
Richard did not resist, allowing this force to pull him into the world mirror.
A minute later, the sky full of Wizards disappeared, and the world guardian waved the staff, causing the mirror in the sky to slowly fade away.
Inside the mirror, the Wizards who had been pulled in were falling toward the ground under the influence of gravity, like shooting stars.
(End of Chapter)