Sovereign of the Ashes-Chapter 933: War Speeches

A massive magic barrier, spanning an area comparable to a small human kingdom, stood before the six tower masters and the divine tower mages.

This vast expanse served as the battleground for the Regional Inter-Divine Tower Academy War.

As the Divine Tower of Dark Flame’s dean, Sein had played a role in constructing the secret realm where the war would take place.

The barrier of this secret realm was designed to endure the full force of Rank Two mages.

This level of protection was more than sufficient to grant magic initiates the freedom to unleash their full potential in this space.

When Sein was an initiate, the most powerful spell he had mastered was only on par with the strength of a Rank One mage.

This special barrier, capable of withstanding a Rank Two mage’s all-out attack, pretty much already accounted for the upper limits of what these young spellcasters could achieve.

Still, the long history of the Magus Civilization had recorded at least five instances of initiates breaching such barriers during academy wars within the last hundred thousand years alone.

The Magus Civilization, after all, had no shortage of geniuses!

Sein’s emergence as a phenomenal initiate and a Despairer during his academy war had sent shockwaves through the divine towers across the Viridescent Land at the time.

Yet, in the grand scheme of things, he was but one among countless geniuses to emerge from the depths of the Magus World.

The notion of an initiate wielding power equivalent to a Rank Two creature might seem inconceivable in other worlds, but in the Magus World, such feats were entirely possible!

Of course, not all of these legendary initiates had relied on raw strength to breach the barrier.

Some had employed their intelligence or clever tricks to exploit weaknesses in the barrier, thus earning significant rewards without violating any rules.

The major divine towers of the Magus Civilization recognized and celebrated these achievements.

The skillful application of knowledge had always been the hallmark of a true mage; strength alone was not the ultimate measure of a mage’s worth.

During his academy war, Sein even secretly modified his divine tower badge. For a genius of his caliber, destroying one or two barriers was almost trivial.

Yet, initiates of such extraordinary talent were exceedingly rare. The Magus World might not produce even one in ten thousand years.

The idea of wielding power that transcended two life levels was not something an ordinary mage could even begin to imagine.

Sein and the other deans from the surrounding divine towers were not expecting the emergence of an exceptional genius.

Producing a Despairer akin to Sein during his academy war would have been enough to make the deans of the six divine tower academies rejoice in disbelief.

They could not possibly hope for more.

The reality, however, was that even Despairers were rare. In a given region, the emergence of a Despairer once every few thousand or even ten thousand years was already considered remarkable.

What they could reliably expect were phenomenal initiates—a category of talent that emerged in pretty much every academy war.

Based on trends of previous academy wars and the nurturing programs within the divine towers, nearly all phenomenal initiates successfully advanced to become full-fledged mages, provided they did not meet an untimely demise.

The probability of a phenomenal initiate advancing to become a full-fledged mage was 95.81%. Of those, 66.33% could expect to reach Rank Two, while 28.74% might ascend to Rank Three.

The precision of these figures, down to two decimal places, reflected the rigorous research and analysis carried out by Magus World mages over countless years.

With such promising success rates, it was no surprise that the Magus Civilization allocated special resources to nurture these elite initiates who distinguished themselves in the regional academy wars.

Sein, for his part, was intimately familiar with every detail of the secret realm where the war was to take place. He knew every blade of grass, every tree, and every resource point within it. After all, he had been part of the team responsible for constructing the realm.

Yet, due to the strict confidentiality regulations governing the academy war, Sein could not disclose any of this information to his academy’s initiates. Doing so would have been tantamount to cheating.

Numerous extraplanar creatures, carefully selected by the divine towers, had also been placed within the secret realm to challenge and test the initiates.

For this academy war, Guran Lizardmen and Goul Groundworms—captured during the Gumo Plane War—were deployed to the secret realm.

These trial creatures had undergone strict evaluation to ensure they were challenging yet within the abilities of the initiates to defeat.

Of course, if some initiates were unlucky or careless enough to perish at the hands of these extraplanar creatures, it could only be attributed to their bad luck.

Every regional academy war operated under a standard for acceptable losses.

This content is taken from fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm.

Death rates below 10% were considered normal, while rates exceeding 20% or even 30% were rare but not unheard of.

Initiates who perished during the trials were of little concern to the divine tower academies. The Magus Civilization had no interest in nurturing mediocrity.

Without consulting the other tower masters hovering in the sky, Dark Flame wasted no time descending into the initiates’ area below.

He arrived just in time for the deans’ speeches.

Sein was the first to address the crowd, his words reflecting the fiercely competitive principles he had upheld at the Divine Tower of Dark Flame Academy for decades.

“Don’t cling to our divine tower’s resource points! Leave only a few weaker initiates to defend them. For those of you confident in your strength, I strongly suggest you venture boldly into the other divine towers’s zones and claim their points for yourselves!

“I know our numbers are small. Due to limited faculty, we haven’t focused on building your group combat capabilities in recent years. But! I firmly believe your individual combat abilities and your skills in small skirmishes surpass those of the initiates from the other five divine tower academies!

“Push yourselves! If you can secure a spot in the top three of the overall standings, the tower master has agreed to grant you an additional reward on top of the original prizes after the trial!”

Sein’s amplified voice boomed through the entire initiate zone. Every ear caught his words, including Tower Master of Dark Flame himself.

Standing silently in his black magic robe, the corner of Dark Flame’s mouth twitched involuntarily upon hearing the last line.

“When did I agree to that reward?” Dark Flame wondered, tempted to confront Sein.

However, he quickly recalled the expense report for academy war incentives that Sein had submitted just half a month ago.

After Sein finished his speech, Dean Keith took the stage.

Keith’s tone was much calmer compared to Sein’s, knowing that Sein had already fueled the initiates’ hunger for victory.

At the conclusion of his speech, Keith emphasized a critical point—he hoped that all of the initiates would return from the trial alive.

He also reminded them that if they encountered an opponent beyond their abilities or found themselves in a dire situation, they must not hesitate to use their divine tower badge and leave the secret realm immediately.

Though Keith’s message slightly deflated the momentum Sein had built, it left the initiates with a sense of reassurance and filled their hearts with warmth.

Together, the two deans’ speeches created a perfect balance—instilling a fiery desire to excel while grounding it with an understanding of the dangers ahead.

Just as the initiates thought the speeches were over, something completely unexpected happened. The legendary Tower Master of Dark Flame appeared on the main stage, cloaked in a flowing black robe.

He let out a dark chuckle before speaking, “Initiates, in addition to the normal points you’ll earn from occupying resource points or defeating opponents, I, as the tower master, promise this: for every initiate you eliminate from another academy, you will receive an additional reward of one magicoin at the end of the war!”

His voice dropped lower as he added, “And if it’s a kill... hehehe, you’ll be rewarded with three magicoins!”

The tower master’s arrogant and menacing voice reverberated through the air, reaching every initiate in the area.

His bloodthirsty promise ignited a spark of ruthless determination within the initiates from the Divine Tower of Dark Flame!