A magician also named Roger was skilled in using invisibility magic, but compared to Edgar, his invisibility seemed much more superficial and careless.

"According to the intel, the monsters here excel in invisibility and flash magic, so I’ll use the same approach to counter them."

In battles between magicians, Edgar didn’t think he would lose to anyone, especially since the intel mentioned the magicians here were as slow as animated corpses, despite their powerful and swift attack magic and flash.

However, he didn’t want a complicated battle; it wasn’t elegant nor did it fit his self-identified status as a scholar, so he used invisibility to sneak into the magic town of Celia.

He thought of just chiseling a few luminous stones and leaving.

But as everyone knows, human desires change in real-time based on what they see. Upon truly entering the magic town of Celia, seeing the dazzling array of luminous stones almost filling the place, Edgar immediately changed his mind.

The thick atmosphere of magic power from the luminous stones was truly a rare find, and just taking a few stones for outside research would be too wasteful.

He wanted to stay here for research!

With this idea in mind, Edgar quickly roamed through the town, looking for the most suitable temporary research site. The density of magic power here was so much that it made his body react with excitement to the point of exhilaration.

"Invisible monsters? It seems my invisibility magic is superior."

Walking in the magic town, he saw monsters dressed like magicians everywhere. Though their exposed skin was as shriveled as animated corpses, they exuded a murderous aura, no wonder they could wipe out the adventurers like Tepi so decisively.

But because Edgar used invisibility magic, these magicians didn’t notice him, so they didn’t trigger combat mode and were aimlessly wandering the town.

Edgar enjoyed the feeling of being unseen as if he could do anything he wanted, free and indulgent—it was incredibly exhilarating.

"Let’s choose here."

He backstabbed two magicians blocking his way, dragging their bodies into a nearby alley, and selected a convenient spot as today’s temporary research site.

While preparing for research, he muttered to himself: "Ultimately, magic is more convenient and versatile. If a warrior came here, an assassin would have long been killed—how could they achieve the same results as me?"

He used magic to crush a large chunk of luminous stone, leaving behind glimmering powder.

"There’s no need to worry about the War Festival; the teacher was overly anxious and ended up like this. This year’s ’Crowned Warrior’ will definitely be on our side."

Just as Edgar said, his mentor Younka was preparing for the upcoming War Festival.

What he was preparing was actually improved magic, powerful enough to help their faction win the festival!

The so-called War Festival is a ritual passed down through the ages by the Warrior Country. Besides the routine honoring of ancestral spirits, reenactments of shocking historical wars, and other activities, the most important part is the selection of the "Crowned Warrior."

Simply put, it’s a tournament. Anyone from the Warrior Country can participate, and whoever wins the championship through continuous battles over several days earns the title of Crowned Warrior, marking them as the strongest warrior in the nation.

Previous war festivals were very straightforward.

It was a gathering of brawny warriors who liked fighting, engaging in battles until selecting the last one standing as the Crowned Warrior—everyone happily celebrated the event.

But considering the current situation of the Warrior Country, this war festival might be the least straightforward yet.

Because two factions would stir up the event.

The Reform Faction led by King Banto and Magic Sage Younka, and the Traditionalist Faction represented by the old King Fred and a group of elders would face off here, with the birthplace of the Crowned Warrior representing the future direction of the Warrior Country!

Due to this, the war festival, originally concluding in two or three days, now expanded unprecedentedly in scale, not only delaying the start but also expected to last a very long time.

Both reformists and traditionalists have prepared extensively.

The Reform Faction, with Younka painstakingly researching magic and Banto nurturing talents, garnered higher domestic support.

The Traditionalists’ Fred sent his most valued prospects and promising warriors to the Yanor Kingdom, hoping they could learn something from that recently reborn country after turmoil.

"All of this effort is futile."

As Edgar felt the magical properties within the luminous stone powder, he thought.

"No matter how good combat skills are, they can’t match the miraculous nature of magic."

Though this statement seemed excessively flattering to magic.

From his standpoint, is he supposed to praise combat skills over magic? Mistakes can be made, but no deviation is allowed in stance!

"Hiss..."

When he tried to infuse magic power into the luminous stone powder, it suddenly emitted a hissing sound, indicating that he must have gone wrong somewhere, resulting in the material being wasted.