The massive wall of lightning bought Hippok just enough time to escape. By the time the fire, light, and lightning elemental energies dissipated into the air, Hippok and the female apprentice had vanished without a trace.
"What a pity," Kai sighed, hovering above on his metal disc. With two Quasi-Magicians forced out of the trial space, nearly ten thousand points were added to his total—sending his score soaring to new heights.
Not far away, the Thunder Shine apprentices finally recovered from the relentless barrage of Kai's Eye of the Sun beams. When they realized that even Hippok the Scorched Staff had been driven from the trial space by Kai in the blink of an eye, fury and shock surged through them. Some weaker apprentices, seeing Kai still floating in the sky with magical ripples gathering around him, immediately activated their Holy Tower badges and fled. After all, if Hippok couldn't stand against Kai, low-ranked apprentices below Intermediate level had no hope of surviving.
Yet a group of calmer, more seasoned Senior and higher-ranked apprentices refused to flee. No apprentice could cast magic indefinitely—especially not a destructive, wide-ranging spell like the Eye of the Sun. The laws of energy and elemental conservation were among the first lessons Official Magicians taught in basic public classes. And since Kai gave off no aura of an Official Magician, he was still just an apprentice—invincibility was impossible for him.
In truth, their reasoning was sound. As elemental auras swirled around Kai again, the spells he unleashed were not the Eye of the Sun, but the more ordinary High-Rank spellsFlame BladeandBerserk Fireball. The Eye of the Sun drained too much power, and given the current situation, the Thunder Shine apprentices would never give him enough time to chant its incantation.
The apprentices who fled in panic had unwittingly padded Kai's points. Now, with seventy-two Eye of the Sun beams fired, it was time for him to retreat. The Eye of the Sun was Kai's deadliest trump card in this Regional Academy War—simple, but devastatingly effective and unpredictable. By nature, Kai never put himself in dangerous or uncertain situations. Even now, with nearly half the Thunder Shine apprentices fled and the rest demoralized, he refused to press his advantage. The Flame Blades and Berserk Fireballs were merely for covering his escape.
After one last glance toward the Thunder Shine apprentices—seeing no sign of pursuit—Kai flew off on his metal disc. It was only long after he left that the Thunder Shine apprentices realized he was gone. The battered ground and wounded comrades left them in an uproar. Without Hippok to lead them, this group of Thunder Shine apprentices had lost their backbone. They had originally planned to gather more Intermediate and Low-Rank apprentices for an assault on Dark Shadow territory. But with Hippok—ranked in the top ten of the war's points list—driven away, how could they possibly launch their attack now?
"We need to find Larram! She'll take command of our next moves—whether we hunt that ambusher or stick to the original plan of attacking Dark Shadow!" a Senior Apprentice urged. His suggestion was quickly agreed upon.
The group Kai had ambushed was no random bunch—they were elites. Kai's decision to retreat was undoubtedly wise. The Thunder Shine apprentices, still reeling from the attack, immediately used their crystal balls to contact nearby comrades and their top female apprentice, Larram. Larram's strength was nearly on par with Hippok's; she only lagged behind in points. As they reached out to other Thunder Shine apprentices, tales of Kai's exploits began to spread across Thunder Shine's territory.
It turned out Kai was no stranger to Thunder Shine—long before ambushing Hippok, he had already picked off many isolated Intermediate and higher-ranked apprentices in the southern region. He was a "repeat offender": stealthy, fast, and ruthless. Worse, he never lingered after a successful attack, and his flying magical device let him escape quickly. Once they pieced together Kai's pattern, the Thunder Shine apprentices were left feeling powerless.
"Larram, what do we do?" In a Thunder Shine camp, a Quasi-Magician asked anxiously, his face grim. "We just got word—three more Senior Apprentices were ambushed yesterday. Two dead, one fled."
Larram was a female apprentice in a rare pink magic dress, with orange hair styled into two cute buns. But those who knew her well understood her personality was nothing like her innocent appearance. Looks could be deceiving; when Larram first rose to fame in Thunder Shine over a decade ago, she had tricked many apprentices using her looks.
"What else can we do?" she snapped, rolling her eyes. "The trial space is massive. Even with thousands of us, catching a top-tier apprentice with stealth and flying abilities is next to impossible. We tried setting traps, but he didn't take the bait. What more do you want?"
"Are we just gonna let him run amok in our territory? We're Thunder Shine apprentices!" the Quasi-Magician fumed.
"Order all apprentices to stay within resource point boundaries. No one leaves unless in groups of twenty or more," Larram commanded, waving a hand. "We have plenty of apprentices skilled in magic seals—tell them to cover every resource point with traps. I don't believe that ambusher dares to storm our resource points head-on."
"But this will completely restrict our movements! What about the plan to attack Dark Shadow with Keane and the others?" the Quasi-Magician hesitated.
"You're still thinking about attacking Dark Shadow?" Larram stared at him in disbelief. She shook her head. "Even without this unknown ambusher, our original plan to attack Dark Shadow was already doomed. The Earth Academy Holy Tower has produced someone extraordinary this year—Gade the Heart of the Earth. He's a peak apprentice on par with Martinez from last war. Keane and the others are barely holding on in the western front. It won't be long before they call for reinforcements."
In the sky, Kai watched a bustling medium-sized resource point in the distance and muttered to himself: "They've already adapted to counter me? It seems Thunder Shine's apprentices are far more coordinated and responsive than Dark Shadow's. And there are more of them…"
He hadn't scored a single point in Thunder Shine's southern region for five straight days. His only options now were to head further north or west.
Kai had single-handedly thrown Thunder Shine's southern region and all of Dark Shadow's territory into chaos—a feat unmatched in recent Regional Academy Wars. Like Martinez before him, he was a "phenomenal apprentice": one man capable of altering the course of the entire war.
Refusing to waste time lingering, Kai checked his direction and flew west. According to his crystal ball, the western part of Thunder Shine's territory had a higher concentration of apprentices. More apprentices meant greater danger—but also more opportunities for Kai.
The border between Thunder Shine's western territory and the Earth Academy's was a rolling hilly area—perfect terrain for a lone operator like Kai to hunt for points. True to his expectations, once he entered the western region, his long-stagnant score began to climb rapidly.
Nearly six months had passed since the war began, and Kai's personal points were inching toward the 100,000 mark—currently at 93,462. He wondered how the other top apprentices fared, and how many points the second-place scorer had. By past standards, even if Kai did nothing for the remaining two years of the war, his current score would still secure him a top-ten spot. Initially, he had only aimed for the top twenty.
"The more points I earn, the higher my rank—and the richer the rewards," Kai mused. "Even if I'm eliminated and my points are halved, I'll still make the top twenty. So there's no reason to stop now. The benefits of continuing to hunt far outweigh the risks."
Kai had long prepared for the worst-case scenario of being forced out of the trial space. He knew no one could avoid danger forever—no matter how cautious he was or how quickly he retreated, accidents could always happen. Besides, he wasn't the only top apprentice in the war. Willis, and later Hippok (who escaped his grasp), were no weaklings. Even if Kai was stronger, defeating them in a fair one-on-one fight would be far from easy.
Moving westward, Kai hunted for points until he reached the frontline where Thunder Shine and the Earth Academy clashed. His two months of wreaking havoc in Thunder Shine's rear had left the already outmatched Thunder Shine struggling to fend off the Earth Academy's advances. The frontline had now pushed deep into Thunder Shine's western heartland.
The Earth Academy was clearly determined to avenge their humiliation from last war. Thunder Shine had already lost over a thousand apprentices, and one large resource point plus over a dozen medium and small ones had been seized. This was the true face of large-scale academy warfare: battles involving hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of apprentices—deadly meat grinders that devoured lives and churned out points.
Kai had terrorized Dark Shadow and half of Thunder Shine, but the number of apprentices he'd killed barely reached the hundreds—far fewer than the casualties from just two months of fighting between Thunder Shine and the Earth Academy.
Yet the comparison wasn't fair. Kai claimed half the points from every apprentice he killed, and he targeted mostly Intermediate and higher-ranked apprentices. In large-scale battles, thousands fought, and the bulk of the forces were Low and Intermediate apprentices. Even the points from fallen or fleeing enemies were split among all surviving apprentices. Unlike Kai, who hoarded points for himself.
This was why Kai's score had skyrocketed and left the second-place scorer far behind.
When Kai arrived at the frontline, the scale of the battle left even him—hardened by death and years of solitude—stunned. A melee involving thousands of apprentices was nothing like fighting alone. Even low-tier spells likeMinor Fireballbecame awe-inspiring when cast by thousands: a sky-darkening wave of flame raining down. It was a stark reminder of how small one person was compared to the power of a collective.
Kai had never witnessed a mortal kingdom's war, so he couldn't compare it to the border battles Earl Grant had fought against the Western French Kingdom and the Orc Empire—conflicts involving hundreds of thousands. But with so few spellcasters and most soldiers lacking significant battle qi, those mortal wars could never match the chaos of the Regional Academy War: elemental magic tearing across the sky, spell residues and craters scarring the earth.
For an apprentice who spent most of his time in labs and worked alone, the spectacle was overwhelming. But after a moment of shock, Kai set to work. Chaos was his best cover. Using his invisibility cloak, he slipped through the battlefield's shadows, silently claiming points. Most apprentices were focused on casting long-range spells, never noticing the reaper approaching.
Kai avoided using the Eye of the Sun—it was too conspicuous. In the chaos of battle,Flame BladeandScorching Raywere far more effective for sneak attacks. For both sides, an apprentice with stealth and close-quarters ambush skills was a living nightmare.
He began by striking from behind the Thunder Shine lines, so Thunder Shine apprentices were the first to fall. But as Thunder Shine's lines collapsed under the Earth Academy's pressure and Kai's relentless backstabbing, he turned his staff on the Earth Academy.
At the center of the battlefield, the most striking figure was Gade the Heart of the Earth—core of the Earth Academy's forces, surrounded by blinding golden light. Earth-element armor floated around him, making him glow even brighter under his Holy Tower badge's radiance. He was the most threatening opponent Kai had encountered in the trial space—and currently the second-highest scorer.
In Gade's hand was a massive grayish-white staff shaped like a boulder. With each swing, a giant meteor crashed down from the sky. Earth-element energy swarmed toward him from all corners of the battlefield.Meteor Shower—a relatively unremarkable High-Rank earth-element attack spell—became a relentless killing machine in Gade's hands, mowing down Thunder Shine apprentices by the dozen.
In terms of casting speed and frequency, Gade alone matched three Quasi-Magicians. Even more baffling: did he have an endless supply of magic and mental power? Kai himself couldn't cast High-Rank spells so frequently. And a closer look revealed Gade never drank potions—he was like a bottomless elemental vortex, unleashing magic without pause.
Kai had briefly considered targeting the golden-cloaked figure, but ultimately gave up. First, Gade was surrounded by at least two to three hundred high-ranked Earth Academy apprentices—Kai would have to fight through them all just to reach him. Second, Gade showed no sign of slowing down his spellcasting—who knew what other tricks he had up his sleeve? Time and again, Thunder Shine spells flew toward Gade, only to be intercepted by his comrades. The few that slipped through were blocked by a massive earthen wall that sprouted at his command.
Watching Gade's performance, Kai was suddenly reminded of the battle between his mentor Moses and Kaiserson the plantation owner—an Official Magician's fight—back at the Black Magic Academy. Gade the Heart of the Earth already fought with the skill of a fledgling Official Magician.
Kai had read in the Blue Source Holy Tower's library that the greatest difference between Official Magicians and ordinary apprentices was that magicians no longer relied solely on their internal magic reserves. Instead, they could draw directly on elemental energy from the environment—making their spells far more powerful and sustainable. Gade's spellcasting was eerily similar to this trait.
And Gade didn't just knowMeteor Shower—he used it because it was the most effective earth-element spell for large-scale apprentice battles. He was a pure earth-element apprentice, with no knowledge of other elements.
Kai had made up his mind to leave Gade alone. But fate had other plans. Even the most careful top-tier apprentice couldn't account for every variable—especially the unpredictable kind.
It happened when Kai was hiding in a dark valley on the eastern edge of the battlefield. He had just assassinated a Senior Apprentice from the Earth Academy, adding nearly 800 points to his total—when disaster struck.
The Blue Source badge, which Kai had suppressed with a chromium gold sheet (an inert material), could no longer contain the blinding golden light that burst forth from his body. His personal points had just surpassed 100,000.
Compared to Gade's golden aura, Kai's light was like the sun next to the moon—dazzling, overwhelming. The moment Kai was exposed, he instantly stole Gade's thunder as the battlefield's most prominent figure.
Ten thousand Holy Tower apprentices stared in stunned silence at the towering beam of light. Even the chaotic battle paused, magic fading from the sky.
Gade the Heart of the Earth turned his gaze to Kai, not far away. His eyes held shock, anger, and resentment—whether at losing his top spot on the points list, or at the Earth Academy apprentice's corpse at Kai's feet, no one knew.
"Shit," Kai cursed—a rare slip for the usually calm apprentice. He didn't even have time to collect the fallen apprentice's spoils. Leaping onto his metal disc, he flew toward the least crowded part of the battlefield.
"Kill him!" someone shouted—and the dam broke. Every apprentice on the battlefield—Thunder Shine and Earth Academy alike—turned their hostile, furious eyes to Kai. Ten thousand apprentices united against a single man: a first in the history of the five Holy Towers' Regional Academy War.
Gade the Heart of the Earth's eyes blazed with determination. The peak apprentice said nothing—he just ed (huffed coldly), grabbed his staff, and gave chase. Kai's 100,000+ points belonged to him and him alone.
Gade's own score was barely over 40,000—his shame burned. Where had this apprentice come from? He clearly wasn't from Thunder Shine. In fact, Gade's decision to lead the Earth Academy's early attack on Thunder Shine was 40% due to Kai. He had assumed only a prestigious, long-established tower like Thunder Shine could produce a peak apprentice capable of stealing his first place—just like Martinez, the anomaly from last war.
"Who the hell is this guy?" Gade growled.
Thanks to his strength, Gade was among the first to catch up to Kai. Unlike most apprentices, who preferred long-range combat, Gade feared no close-quarters fight—his thick earth-element armor was his greatest defense. But before he could get a clear look at Kai's identity or appearance, a flurry of Eye of the Sun beams shot straight toward his face.