Age of Wizards: I Can Analyze All Things-Chapter 43: The Only Rule Is the Law of the Jungle
BAM! BAM! BAM!
In a charge of just over ten meters, three barbarians were sent flying by Mage’s Hand.
With Pei Ze’s current Spiritual Power, the Mage’s Hand he cast had a power level approaching five degrees—comparable to a full-force blow from a Grand Knight.
How could these barbarians, who were at best the strength of Knights, possibly resist?
The instant the Mage’s Hand struck, clouds of blood mist erupted from the three men. They hit the ground and didn’t move again, killed instantly!
The sight made the other barbarians turn pale with horror.
"A Second-level Wizard Apprentice!"
The lead barbarian’s expression changed drastically. He never imagined that the first target they chose would be a Second-level Wizard Apprentice.
But it was too late for regrets. The barbarians could only brace themselves and continue their charge.
Most Wizard Apprentices weren’t skilled in close combat. Their only hope was to close the distance.
But in the next second, a flash of razor-sharp sword light shattered their final hope.
As the blade flashed, the barbarians fell one by one, eyes wide as they clutched at their throats.
In the blink of an eye, only the leader was left standing from the group of more than a dozen barbarians. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎
"A P-Peak Knight!"
The lead barbarian’s face was deathly pale.
’A Second-level Wizard Apprentice is one thing, but he’s also a Peak Knight in close combat? It’s impossible to win!’
’What rotten luck! To pick a monster like this for our first target!’
The barbarian leader gave a wretched smile, his eyes filled with despair.
The next second, with a dull THUD, his towering body was sent flying by the Mage’s Hand. He erupted in a cloud of blood mist, killed instantly.
From start to finish, the battle had lasted less than half a minute.
Over a dozen barbarians, wiped out in an instant.
Standing amidst the corpses, Pei Ze’s expression was perfectly calm.
Compared to the four Grand Knights he had killed before, this battle was undoubtedly far bloodier.
After all, he had personally cut down more than half of them with his own hands.
The feeling of a blade slicing through flesh, the sight of blood splattering at close range—it was all undoubtedly more visceral.
And yet, perhaps because his Spirit was so strong, he felt surprisingly calm—as if he had just crushed a few ants.
Pei Ze felt no guilt about killing the Diluo Barbarians.
The barbarians wanted to kill Wizard Apprentices to earn their freedom; the Wizard Apprentices wanted to kill barbarians to earn points. Each side was both hunter and prey.
The situation on the island was, in fact, a microcosm of a planar war.
In a planar war, concepts like civilization, morality, and justice were illusions. The only rule was that the strong devour the weak!
"Power is the only truth."
Pei Ze extended his palm. With a thought, his Crystal Bracelet shot out more than a dozen azure rays. Like tentacles, they darted toward the corpses on the ground and burrowed inside.
After a brief pause, a faint grayness traveled up the rays of light and flowed into the Crystal Bracelet.
The next second, the Crystal Bracelet transmitted a series of messages to him.
Translated into text, it was a series of messages like ’Killed one Diluo Barbarian (Apprentice Knight), +1 Point,’ ’Killed one Diluo Barbarian (Junior Knight), +5 Points,’ and so on.
By the time the Crystal Bracelet had finished absorbing the Soul Energy and retracted its rays of light, his score had become 37.
And his rank on the leaderboard shot up to 25th place.
’Thirty-seven points and I’m still not in the top twenty? The competition is pretty fierce,’ Pei Ze muttered to himself, though he wasn’t too concerned.
It was only the first day, and they still had to spend a full ten days on the island. The competition would only grow more intense.
"Wuyu," Pei Ze said in a low voice.
The black bracelet on his wrist trembled slightly, dissolving into a black mist that coalesced in mid-air to form a crow.
CAW!
Wuyu landed lightly on Pei Ze’s shoulder and gave his cheek an affectionate peck.
Pei Ze smiled faintly and instructed, "Scout the surrounding area."
Wuyu cawed in acknowledgment. Black mist swirled around its body, from which dozens of black crows emerged and took flight.
Before long, over a hundred crows filled the sky above the forest.
CAW!
Wuyu tilted its head back and let out a sharp cry.
CAW! CAW!
The hundred Fog Crows answered in unison, then scattered in all directions, vanishing into the trees.
...
「Floating Battleship」
On the empty deck, three Wizards stood with their hands clasped behind their backs.
Hundreds of Water Mirrors floated in the air before them.
Each smooth, basin-sized surface displayed scrolling scenes of the Wizard Apprentices in battle.
Gu Yi smiled faintly. "There are quite a few good prospects this year. One hundred twenty-five Second-level Wizard Apprentices—this is the largest number we’ve had in a single class in nearly fifty years."
Yu Sen scoffed. "Not a single Third-level Wizard Apprentice among them. How can you call that ’good prospects?’ The Dean actually wants this bunch to hunt down heretics. I suspect they’ll be the ones getting slaughtered and routed."
Gu Yi shook his head. "You’re being too harsh."
"Setting the others aside, the performances of Gu Lin, Yin Guang, and Pei Shaoqi have been excellent. To construct twelve Will Runes within three months of enrolling... with that kind of talent, they would be considered top students in any generation."
As he spoke, one of the Water Mirrors shifted to show Gu Lin in battle.
The charming young woman took an orange-red gemstone from her dimensional pouch and threw it at a barbarian more than ten meters away.
With a deafening BOOM, the gemstone transformed mid-flight into a massive Fireball that slammed into its target with unstoppable force.
The barbarian, who had the strength of a Grand Knight, was instantly turned to ash without even a chance to scream.
"The Gu Family’s Gem Magic." Gu Yi’s eyes lit up with appreciation. "To be able to use a Red Shimmer Stone to cast a One-Ring Spell while still a Second-level Wizard Apprentice... it seems Gu Lin’s aptitude is even more outstanding than I thought."
Yu Sen stared intently at Gu Lin in the mirror, pursing his lips but saying nothing more.
The last person to display such prowess as a Second-level Wizard Apprentice had been the current Patriarch of the Gu Family.
"The Gu Family has found a worthy successor," Ai Yuan remarked slowly.
Immediately after, however, he let out a soft sound of surprise. He looked up toward a Water Mirror in the top-right corner, a flicker of astonishment in his eyes.
Gu Yi and Yu Sen, rarely seeing Ai Yuan show such an expression, instinctively followed his gaze to the same Water Mirror.
In the mirror, an apprentice stood in a forest as countless crows flew out from above his head, scattering in all directions.
Upon seeing the apprentice’s face clearly, Gu Yi looked surprised.
"Pei Ze."
Ai Yuan turned to him. "You know him?"
"We’ve met," Gu Yi said, and went on to recount their previous encounter.
After hearing the story, Ai Yuan’s expression turned intrigued.
"An interesting little fellow. Not only has he modified a Magic, but he also has an exceptional magic pet."
The three Official Wizards present were all sharp-eyed experts; they could naturally tell that Pei Ze’s Crow Magic Pet possessed two spell-like abilities.
For a magic pet that had only recently been bonded, this undoubtedly signified outstanding aptitude and immense potential.
If nurtured properly, it might one day become a high-level magic pet with power comparable to that of an Official Wizard!
"This trial might just bring us a few surprises," Ai Yuan said, his gaze profound.
