In the seven days leading up to the war, the entire mirrored world was eerily calm.
Neither side showed any intention of making a move.
But any Wizard participating in the Academy War knew that this was merely the calm before the storm.
The longer the calm lasted, the more thunderous the strike would be when it finally came.
...
A team of Wizards from the Black Tower Wizard Academy was patrolling the city walls.
After receiving news of the war, the Black Tower Wizard Academy made significant adjustments to the entire academy. Surrounding the academy were towering black spires.
At the top of each spire was a massive crystal tower tip, serving both as a defensive measure and an offensive weapon.
High walls were built between the spires, connecting them, inscribed with runes and Magic Arrays, forming an impenetrable fortress.
Behind these walls, whether in the experimental area, the commercial district, or the residential zone, stood similar defensive towers.
These towers were as sturdy as the walls, with crystal tips atop them as well.
Moreover, they had an additional feature.
Terrifying gargoyles were scattered across the towers, their eyes glowing red as if filled with blood, as if they were about to break free from their stone forms and descend upon the world.
After the renovations, the entire Black Tower Wizard Academy had transformed into a military fortress with impenetrable defenses.
The patrolling Wizards moved from one spire to another.
The mirrored world was now in the deep autumn season, with cold winds from the north carrying a peculiar energy that felt like a knife against the skin, making even the Wizards feel a chill.
"Whew, the Wizard World used to be truly terrifying," one patrolling Wizard said, tightening his Wizard Robe as he spoke, exhaling white mist.
"Yeah, I almost forgot what cold feels like," another patrolling Wizard replied.
"It's only deep autumn; if winter comes, this wind will be as fierce as a spell."
The thinning energy in the Wizard World was not necessarily a bad thing for humanity.
The power of a natural phenomenon in a world is directly related to the energy concentration of its environment. During the Enlightenment period, whenever the winter winds blew, even Wizards dared not venture out of their Wizard Towers.
The terrifying blizzards treated all beings below the Great Wizard level equally; even undead creatures would have their soul flames extinguished by the snowstorms.
But after the tide of energy receded, ordinary humans, though weakened by the loss of energy, found the natural environment no longer terrifying for Wizards.
Under the protection of Wizards, ordinary humans began to rapidly reproduce, and even in the wilderness without Wizard protection, there existed human nations like stars in the sky.
The initially complaining Wizards sighed, "We live in a good era."
Suddenly, the lamenting Wizard sensed something was off.
Without a second thought, a Magic Barrier instantly sprang from his body.
Zzzzz…
A harsh, corrosive sound reached the Wizard's ears.
A dark green energy arrow had lodged itself in his energy barrier.
Behind him, a group of black-robed Wizards had stealthily approached the city walls and had already taken out all his teammates.
"Enemy attack!"
The patrolling Wizard immediately prepared to sound the alarm, but before he could act, a black-robed Wizard appeared beside him like a ghost, a powerful arm breaking through his Magic Barrier and smashing his head to pieces.
But just as the black-robed Wizard withdrew his hand to wipe the brain matter off, the Wizard whose head had been crushed suddenly emitted a violent wave of Magic Power, a beam of light bursting forth from within him, quickly merging into the crystal tip of the city wall spire.
In the next moment, the Magic Power alarm erupted, and a special energy wave instantly spread throughout the entire academy.
The city walls lit up in an instant, and teams of Wizards emerged from the towers, swiftly converging on the spire from which the alarm had sounded.
The black-robed Wizard sighed and signaled to his teammates behind him.
"Mission failed, prepare for a strong assault."
"Yes!"
The teammates pulled out metal stakes about a meter long from their pockets and forcefully drove them into the ground.
The runes on the stakes began to flicker, but at that moment, the rescue Wizards had already found them.
Boom! A fireball, like a sun, exploded around the squad, the immense shockwave causing several Wizards to spit blood.
Even some of the stakes on the ground were knocked over.
Seeing this, the black-robed Wizard wanted to help them up, but was unable to move due to the spells from the supporting Wizards.
The runes on the metal stakes quickly finished charging; over fifty stakes had been driven into the city wall, but due to the residual effects of the spells, only about twenty stakes remained standing.
Once these remaining stakes finished charging, they created a subtle connection, beginning to vibrate in unison.
In the next moment, a massive cracking sound reached the ears of every Wizard present.
The towering walls constructed by the Black Tower Wizard Academy were actually shattered, a huge crack spreading and ultimately splitting the wall apart.
The twenty or so stakes also turned to a pile of metal powder in the resonance.
The supporting Wizards sensed the situation was dire and fired another beam of light.
The crystal tip receiving the beam suddenly turned blood red, and a piercing voice echoed throughout the entire academy.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
Outside the city walls, the prepared Wizards from the Falling Star Academy began to surge into the Black Tower Wizard Academy through the crack in the walls.
The war had begun!
...
The Black Tower Wizard Academy had armed itself like a spiked turtle, while the Falling Star Academy had not done the same.
As the initiators of the war, the Falling Star Academy had also made modifications to their academy, but they were far from the level of the Black Tower Wizard Academy.
A large number of patrolling Wizard teams replaced the towering walls, alongside keenly sensing synthetic beasts, guarding the safety of the academy.
...
On the hills outside the Falling Star Academy, a team of Wizards carrying lanterns was patrolling along a predetermined route.
"Honestly, those Wizards from the Black Tower Academy have decided to use a turtle shell tactic, so why are we still patrolling?" one patrolling Wizard complained.
This Wizard wore a brand-new Wizard Robe, lacking any aura of malice, and his youthful features clearly indicated he had never been on the battlefield.
"Exactly, with such tight patrols, do those cowardly Black Tower Wizards really think they can sneak attack us?" another patrolling Wizard chimed in.
He was similarly inexperienced, though slightly older than the first.
Seeing his teammate complain, another Wizard spoke up, "This cursed place is freezing cold; patrolling out here yields no benefits, it's just suffering."
"Right, right." Other Wizards echoed.
Noticing signs of discontent in the team, the leader of the patrol suddenly turned around, his cold voice cutting through the complaints of the disgruntled team member.
"Enough with the complaints; you've already complained enough on this journey.
If I hear any more complaints, you'll all receive lashes when we return."
The captain was the only Wizard in the team who had been on the battlefield, and compared to his teammates, he was as silent as a stone.
Upon hearing the captain's reprimand, the team members fell silent.
They knew that the captain meant what he said; if they complained again, he would definitely make them face the punishment.
The punishment for Wizards was not like ordinary lashes; it targeted the soul, and each lash was equivalent to adjusting a Spell Model.
That terrifying sensation was something they did not wish to experience.
The patrol team passed through a grove of dead trees, where a thick layer of fallen leaves covered the ground, making it feel like walking on a mat.
Suddenly, the captain stopped in his tracks.
He extended the lantern forward, its soft light instantly dispelling a large area of darkness.
The lanterns carried by the patrol were Magic Equipment lanterns, serving not only to illuminate but also as a rudimentary method to prevent shadow spells from ambushing them.
The reason shadow spells are concealed is that shadows are common, but if the shadows are dispelled, then shadow spells become as visible as black dots on a white sheet of paper.
The team members looked towards the area illuminated by the captain's lantern, where the layer of fallen leaves revealed two deep depressions.
These depressions resembled footprints, but the patrolling Wizards could confirm that all large creatures around the academy had been cleared out to prevent anyone from using transformation spells to infiltrate the academy.
So where did these depressions come from?
The patrol captain's expression grew serious as his mental energy spread to its limit, searching for similar depressions.
But he found nothing.
"Could it be that I'm overthinking this?" the patrol captain thought to himself.
He retracted the lantern and was about to move on.
But the synthetic beast he was leading suddenly crouched down.
"What's going on?"
A Magic Barrier suddenly sprang up around the captain, and the staff in his hand was poised for action.
A strong sense of danger surged in his heart.
As a Wizard who had experienced war, his instincts were usually very accurate.
But this time, no matter how accurate his instincts were, it was of no use.
A faint smell of blood entered the captain's nostrils, and a terrifying thought flashed through his mind as he trembled and turned around.
Behind him stood a massive iron giant, holding the very Wizard who had just been complaining about the patrol. All his teammates lay on the ground, their heads caved in.
Some had their necks twisted, blood flowing from the broken necks, the very blood smell he had just detected.
"Enemy attack!"
The patrol captain immediately prepared to sound the alarm.
But before he could act, he saw the iron giant silently approach him.
Then a steel fist filled his entire field of vision.
Bang!...
After dealing with the patrol team, the iron giant began to clean up the battlefield.
Due to his carefulness, there were hardly any traces left from the battle.
Simply clearing away the leaves stained with blood and brain matter, the iron giant piled the bodies together and respectfully addressed the forest, "My lord, the cleanup is complete."
From within the woods, a black-robed Wizard emerged from the leaves, a hint of excitement on his face.
This person was Richard, who had infiltrated the Falling Star Academy.
At this moment, it was already the thirtieth day since the war began. Under the offensive of the Falling Star Academy, the Black Tower Wizard Academy had already lost several defensive spires.
A breach had been made in the academy's once impenetrable defenses. Moreover, the Falling Star Academy was continuously reinforcing its forces, aiming to widen the breach.
To this end, the command center ordered the Wizards who had infiltrated the rear of the Falling Star Academy to take action.
They were to draw a portion of the Falling Star Academy's forces to the rear, thereby alleviating some pressure on the front lines.
Richard patted the iron giant, praising, "Good technique, clean and efficient."
Then he approached the pile of bodies, collecting the Magic Equipment and Magic Pockets from the fallen Wizards.
Their bodies were then burned on the spot by Richard.
Richard pointed at the bodies, and a white-hot flame flowed from his fingertip, incinerating the corpses to ashes. Throughout this process, the leaves beneath the bodies remained unignited, leaving only a few charred traces.
With a wave of his hand, a gentle breeze blew the charred leaves deep into the forest.
Looking at the brightly lit towers several kilometers away, Richard raised his hand and softly said, "Let's go, we continue forward."
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