Chapter 183: The Dark Horse
In the calm, sparkling turquoise water, a violent explosion suddenly erupted.
It sent splashes dozens of meters high, accompanied by a blinding beam of golden light slicing through the water.
The shrill hisses of extraplanar water serpents echoed along the river’s winding banks.
However, as elemental explosions continued over time, these shrill hisses gradually faded, replaced by the excited laughter of several initiates.
Sein was not as cruel and heartless as Jake had thought.
Though indifferent to the fates of the weak, Sein was amiable toward those who could aid him, especially if they proved their worth.
The intermediate and junior initiates from the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring played a minor role, but they did assist Sein somewhat.
One of the five extraplanar water serpents, gravely injured by Sein, met its swift end at the hands of Veyle, an intermediate initiate. By a stroke of luck, she struck its head with a Fireball spell, felling the creature instantly.
Veyle cheered ecstatically upon being awarded 100 points for her victory over the water serpent.
She stole a cautious glance at Sein, her tension easing only after noticing his apparent indifference.
As the first to claim the secret water mine, Sein earned a 500-point reward.
His elimination of four other water serpents brought an additional 400 points.
The total of 900 points brought his overall score to 2300 points.
In the first month of the Regional Inter-Divine Tower Academy War, this was a remarkable achievement.
Though uncertain about the progress of others, Sein suspected he was among the fastest in racking up points during this war.
The nearly one hundred Mystic Water Ores exposed at this medium-sized resource point could have been another prize for him.
Regrettably, he had to forgo gathering these ores in his haste to move on to the next area, thus missing out on significant profits.
The second and third markers of the secret water mine were secured by the freckled male initiate and the female initiate, Veyle, respectively.
The points they amassed justified their time spent navigating this expansive river.
After Sein had harvested the more valuable parts from the remains of the four extraplanar water serpents, he advised the initiates, “Occupying a medium-sized resource point yields five times more points than a small one every ten days, but I recommend not lingering here too long.”
“Yes, senior,” Veyle responded respectfully.
Although the male freckled initiate also expressed his gratitude, Sein noticed his gaze lingered on the underwater secret water mine.
The Mystic Water Ores were enticing to Sein, let alone to intermediate and junior initiates.
Yet, Sein chose not to comment further.
With his Levitate spell, he crossed the river and headed toward the Divine Tower of Shadow’s territory.
His departure left Veyle and the other initiates in a state of bewilderment, unsure of his intentions.
However, their astonishment was quickly broken by the male freckled initiate’s voice.
“Come help me underwater! There’s a wealth of Mystic Water Ores here! And Veyle, don’t waste the trophy from that extraplanar water serpent.”
Veyle snapped back to reality and promptly answered, “Coming!”
***
Outside the trial space...
The divine tower masters and the honorable Summer Guardian were not the only observers of the war between the initiates.
The full-fledged mages, cohort leaders, and academy deans from major divine towers were also keenly observing the progress of the Regional Inter-Divine Tower Academy War.
Unlike the tower masters, ordinary full-fledged mages did not have direct oversight of the trial space, so the finer details of the war within remained obscured to them.
Their primary focus was the scoreboards.
The scoreboards were a joint initiative by several major divine towers. It enabled their mages to view not just their own tower’s scores but also those of other towers, thereby facilitating the compilation of overall rankings.
At this moment, a group of full-fledged mages was gathered in front of the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s scoreboard, murmuring amongst themselves.
“Who is this Sein?”
“Is he your new apprentice, Master Morris?”
“No, he isn’t. The only apprentice of mine in this war is Daniel.”
“Then who could he be? Surely, he’s not your apprentice, is he, Lady Seraphine?"
“No, Anna is my apprentice, and I only take female initiates.”
Near the lively scoreboard, Jovian’s expression was notably odd as he stood in silence.
Eileen looked equally perplexed.
“Huh? Sein? I recall him from my Introductory Extraplanar Creature course. He’s definitely a promising young man,” exclaimed Lance, a full-fledged mage who had just arrived on the scene.
Lance’s remark appeared to have jogged the memory of several full-fledged mages. Sein’s name, previously vague in their memories, now resonated with familiarity, as they recalled his participation in their courses.
Sein had really kept a low-profile within the academy. He was not one to attract attention to himself during public lessons.
Apart from his tendency to choose the central seat in the classroom, Sein mostly took his notes with diligence during class and seldom engaged with others.
His consistent choice to sit near the instructors in their classes had left a mild but lasting impression on the full-fledged mages.
Their conversation elicited an even stranger expression on Jovian’s face, while the faces of several full-fledged mages turned sour in response.
The Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, though a newly established institution with relatively average initiates, was still a formidable divine tower that had its share of top-tier initiates.
Quasi Mages Daniel and Anna, who held the first and second positions in the academy's power rankings respectively, carried high expectations on their shoulders.
Both of them were anticipated to clinch spots within the top twenty of the overall standings.
Morris, Daniel’s mentor, was a distinguished Rank Two mage at the academy and a cohort leader like Jovian.
Lady Seraphine, Anna’s mentor, was an equally respected Rank Two mage. Although she was not a cohort leader, her husband was one of the deans of the academy.
Most divine tower mages, including Jovian, were initially focused on the progress of those two initiates.
Indeed, Daniel and Anna lived up to their expectations.
In the first month alone, Daniel had amassed 2,230 points—a commendable start by the standards of previous years and a strong showing in the current Regional Inter-Divine Tower Academy War.
Anna was slightly behind with 2,050 points, yet she still impressively surpassed the 2,000 points mark and secured the nineteenth position in the overall ranking.
However, the sudden emergence of Sein, with 2,350 points, was baffling.
As Jovian contemplated revealing Sein as an initiate from his cohort, a collective gasp arose from the full-fledged mages.
The screen displaying real-time scores showed Sein’s total jumping to an astonishing 2,860 points!
He had not only surpassed Daniel by nearly 600 points, but had also earned a place in the ninth position in the overall standings!
This achievement, albeit temporary as the war was still ongoing, marked an unprecedented achievement in the history of the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring Academy.