Approximately an hour later, Colin and his party arrived at the dock.
The familiar scene once again unfolded before Colin's eyes.
A flock of seabirds with white feathers and black beaks circled overhead, emitting sharp cries.
Below, the blue sea rhythmically lapped against the rocks, and the moist sea breeze blowing in one's face was utterly refreshing.
"Board the ship and assemble on deck first."
Not far away, Lin Ke gave a faint instruction and then took the lead, flying towards the steamship moored not far from the dock.
Colin withdrew his gaze and followed suit, taking off from the ground.
At this time on the Siya Continent, it was already the autumn-winter season, but the wind coming head-on at Gubier Island still remained warm and intoxicating.
As all wizards participating in the Alus Association were Advanced Wizard Apprentices, this actually saved some time for boarding.
The wizards landed on the deck like rainfall.
Though the steamship's deck was large, it was nearly half-occupied once all the apprentices had gathered.
Wizard Lin Ke naturally stood at the front, as he was the lead wizard for the Alus Association of Neustadt City for this occasion.
Normally, the lead wizards for the team usually came from one of the Nine Major Schools within the city… it was uncertain why this time it was he who came from the Supreme Council.
Beside Lin Ke stood nine Second Rank Wizards, with the one in the front being the head wizard responsible for this Alus Association.
The head wizard responsible was a Witch, a rare middle-aged woman in appearance, with a kindly face and a slightly plump figure, resembling an ordinary auntie.
However, by convention, this "auntie," though plain in appearance and clad in only an ordinary gray wizard robe, should, unsurprisingly, also be from the Supreme Council, just like Lin Ke.
'Ten Second Rank Wizards, nearly a hundred First Rank Wizards… the Supreme Council of the Siya Continent's importance attached to the Alus Association is indeed extraordinary,' Colin thought to himself.
He looked around.
The Advanced Wizard Apprentices stood neatly, and at a rough count, there were at least several thousand.
It seemed not many, but those who could stand here were undoubtedly the highest-ranking group of Wizard Apprentices in the entire Siya Continent.
Even the least among them came from schools akin to Neustadt's Nine Major Schools and their subsidiary branches.
The Siya Continent was vast, yet there were only nine cities of wizards.
Within these nine cities of wizards, there were countless schools.
Yet, from among these numerous schools, only suitable Advanced Wizard Apprentices from a dozen or so schools were qualified to participate in this Alus Association.
In comparison, Colin even felt that the configuration of ten Second Rank Wizards and nearly a hundred First Rank Wizards who accompanied them seemed somewhat insufficient.
After all, put differently, the Advanced Wizards here represented the future of the top tier of power on the Siya Continent.
Nevertheless… Colin shook his head, no matter what the examination, the difficulty was always set based on the Advanced Wizard Apprentices.
With ten Second Rank Wizards present, it was already sufficient; any more would merely be a waste of combat power.
One must keep in mind that it was wartime, and the combat power of each High Rank Wizard was extremely precious.
"I am Ciritha, the head person responsible for this Alus Association."
After scanning the apprentices before her, the aunt-like witch slowly began to speak.
Her tone was gentle, and her expression was kind, exuding the temperament of one who was well-read.
'She must be about to announce the specific content and rules of the Alus Association examination,' Colin thought to himself.
Yet, contrary to his expectations, Ciritha simply said a few words—
This Alus Association was different from the past, emphasizing the practical fighting ability of wizards, etc., and after encouraging the apprentices for a bit, she waved her hand and asked everyone to return to their assigned cabins.
"I always feel there is something not quite right,"
Walking towards the assigned rooms, Sovoc suddenly spoke up.
The three of them, who belonged to a subsidiary school of Yista, were naturally assigned to the same room again.
"What could be wrong, at most, some matters are being kept from us wizards of the subsidiary schools," Mayer sighed, "I'm already used to it; the Nine Major Schools have always been in a different league from us."
He glanced at Sovoc and Colin and then sighed again, "I'm sure there's no chance for me, but you two are still young. If you have the capability, try to see if you can advance to the Yista School."
"If one joins the Yista School, then it's an entirely different situation…"
Colin remained silent, continuing to walk.
"Woo—"
Whoosh~
The azure waves rippled,
And with the sound of a steam whistle, the steamship slowly started to move.
As he walked down from the deck, Colin looked to the side.
Off in the distance where the sea met the sky, surrounded by the magnificent remnants left after the clouds had burned away, the orange-red sunset was slowly descending, about to touch the deep blue sea and sink beneath it.
A rare spectacle...
Alas, he couldn't watch the sunset until its end.
As he descended the narrow staircase, his view was gradually replaced by grey-blue steel, and the rich orange-yellow glow of the sunset was exchanged for the soft white light emanating from a Bright Crystal...
A while later, as Colin had just sat down in the room.
Buzz—
The fluctuation of Magic Power came.
'It must be the steamship activating some kind of Witch Array for defense,' he silently speculated.
If one were looking down from the sky at that moment.
They would see a grey-blue steamship cutting through the waves, racing along the surface of the sea dyed red by the sunset.
Then, at that instant, it suddenly vanished!
Even the waves that had been rolling disappeared without a trace, and the sea's surface once again became calm.
Inside the captain's quarters.
Lin Ke and other Second Rank Wizards gathered, listening respectfully to Ciritha's speech.
The speech wasn't long, and soon approached its conclusion.
Ciritha glanced at her watch, then gave her instructions.
"This operation must not fail... It's almost time, go gather all the Official Wizards and inform them of the situation."
Lin Ke and the other Second Rank Wizards nodded.
Five minutes later.
In the second-floor hall, all the First Rank Wizards had assembled.
The leading Wizards of each city, along with the accompanying Wizards from their respective top Schools, flanked Ciritha, who stood at the forefront.
Ciritha swept her gaze over the gathered Wizards and slowly began:
"Relax, this is just a small test."
Following that, she and the other Second Rank Wizards gently waved their hands.
Instantly, invisible ripples appeared in the air, spreading outwards in concentric circles toward them.
'Deep Red Marking Technique?' Colin recognized the witchcraft and was puzzled.
After a moment, seeing that no red light had appeared, Ciritha waved her hand again,
Buzz—
Suddenly, the soft white light of the Bright Crystals in the hall disappeared, plunging everything into darkness.
Then, in the middle of the hall, light suddenly began to emerge.
A three-dimensional projection appeared.
On the deep blue sea, a grey-blue steel steamship was quietly sailing along.
"It seems to be the steamship we are currently on," Colin silently speculated.
Even though he was not sure why the steamship was marked with blue light, he still recognized the ship from its details.
"Hm?!"
In the next moment, Colin's pupils narrowed slightly.
The central projection abruptly changed perspective, elevating the viewpoint to a much higher point in the sky, similar to the aerial shots of his former world.
And it was precisely because of this bird's-eye view that Colin was surprised to discover—
Not far ahead of their ship, a grand fleet was assembled!
The fleet was so vast it occupied nearly a corner of the projection, all marked out in blue light.
This time, Ciritha spoke.
"You're not seeing things wrong, a large number of ships are gathered ahead of us... Don't be afraid, they are all part of our Wizards' side."
"The reason they are waiting here is for an ambush."
"An ambush concerning Gubier Island."