Age of Wizards: I Can Analyze All Things-Chapter 41: Cruel Trial

Looking down, the floor beneath his feet was a seamless deck of adamantine plating.

The deck seemed to have a matte finish; it gleamed under the sun but wasn’t blinding.

The entire deck of the battleship was incredibly spacious. Even with over six thousand people standing on it, it didn’t feel crowded.

"They actually sent a Floating Battleship! The Academy is really pulling out all the stops!"

Yuan Wanjun looked around, his face full of amazement and a yearning expression in his eyes.

"When I become an Official Wizard, I’m definitely going to buy a Floating Battleship!"

"Get real." Guan Ling rolled her eyes at him. "Only a Level 4 Wizard is qualified to purchase a Floating Battleship. You’ll be lucky to even become an Official Wizard in this lifetime, and you’re already thinking about becoming a Level 4 Wizard? Stop daydreaming."

Yuan Wanjun gave a sheepish smile and said nothing.

The dean of High Tower Academy, one of Chenxi City’s most formidable powerhouses, was only a Level 4 Wizard.

No matter how confident he was, he wouldn’t dare claim he could reach the dean’s level.

"Silence!"

A majestic, authoritative voice suddenly rang out, instantly silencing the buzzing chatter on the deck.

The apprentices all turned their heads in unison, only to realize that three white-robed figures had appeared on the ship’s bow at some unknown time.

The one in the lead was exceptionally tall, standing well over seven feet, with an abnormally broad frame. He looked like a small giant and was incredibly intimidating.

The Wizard standing to his right was much frailer in comparison, his hood pulled down low, hiding his face in shadow.

Despite wearing a white robe, he exuded a gloomy, deathly aura.

In his hand, he held a Magic Staff adorned with a skull.

If there were no surprises, he was most likely a Wizard who specialized in Undead Magic.

The last Wizard, to Pei Ze’s surprise, was actually an acquaintance.

It was Gu Yi, whom he had briefly met on the day he encountered the Demonized.

Pei Ze had a particularly vivid memory of his right arm, which was covered in black scales and resembled the limb of some kind of lizard.

"My name is Ai Yuan. I am a proctor for this year’s freshman trial."

The tall Wizard in the center spoke slowly, his resounding voice filled with authority.

As soon as he finished, the Wizard to his right spoke coldly, "Yu Sen. Proctor."

"Gu Yi. Also one of the proctors," Gu Yi said with a small smile.

Compared to the other two, his attitude was much gentler.

After Yu Sen and Gu Yi had introduced themselves, Ai Yuan waved his hand with a deadpan expression. With a flash of light, a massive, square metal panel materialized behind him, and dense text slowly appeared upon it.

"The specific rules for the trial are on here. Read them yourselves. Remember, you only have half an hour. After that, the Floating Airship will arrive at the trial location, and the trial will begin immediately."

"During this time, any noise, disturbances, conflicts, or private duels are forbidden. Violators will have their trial qualifications revoked and will be expelled from the Academy."

After saying this, Ai Yuan waved his hand and vanished into thin air.

"Still so impatient."

Yu Sen slowly raised his head, revealing a pale, gaunt face. He glanced gloomily at the spot where Ai Yuan had disappeared before turning his gaze to the crowd of apprentices with a cold smirk.

"Little ones, work hard and show your worth. High Tower Academy doesn’t raise useless trash."

As his voice faded, Yu Sen also vanished on the spot.

"Don’t mind him. Yu Sen just likes to scare people," Gu Yi said with a gentle smile. "But he was right about one thing. You must perform well. This year’s trial holds a different significance than previous years. The better you perform, the greater the benefits for you."

Leaving this kind reminder, Gu Yi then departed as well.

With the three Wizards gone, the tense and solemn atmosphere on the deck finally eased.

Many Wizard Apprentices couldn’t help but let out a long sigh of relief.

The pressure from the three Official Wizards had been too immense.

The three of them had just been standing there motionlessly, doing nothing, yet they felt like three towering mountains pressing down, making it almost impossible to breathe.

Yuan Wanjun wiped the fine sweat from his forehead and asked in confusion, "Master Gu Yi, what did he mean by his last words?"

Everyone frowned and shook their heads. How were they supposed to know?

Just then, the Floating Airship gave a slight shudder and began to slowly accelerate forward.

As if waking from a dream, the Wizard Apprentices all turned to the metal panel, hurrying to read the rules.

The font on the metal panel was large, and since every Wizard Apprentice had excellent eyesight, there was no fear of not being able to see clearly even from a distance.

Just as the Academy had previously announced, the trial location was an isolated island.

What surprised Pei Ze, however, was that the island wasn’t located in the Wizard World but on the Diluo Plane—one of Chenxi City’s three great Colonization Planes.

Over a hundred thousand exiled Diluo Barbarians lived on the island.

They were originally natives of the Diluo Plane who had launched a rebellion because they refused to submit to Wizard rule, only to be ruthlessly suppressed and taken captive.

Following the principle of letting nothing go to waste, the adult male warriors among the captives were selected and exiled to this island to serve as trial subjects for the Wizard Apprentices.

The Wizard Apprentices’ trial objective, then, was to kill the barbarians on the island.

For every barbarian killed, they would earn a minimum of 1 point.

The stronger the barbarian, the more points earned for killing them.

After ten days, the apprentices would be ranked according to their points. The bottom one thousand would be eliminated and expelled from the Academy.

Upon arrival, each apprentice would receive a Magic Item to record their points.

It was worth noting that to motivate the barbarians to fight back, High Tower Academy had made a promise: any barbarian who killed a Wizard Apprentice would earn five slots for freedom.

Barbarians who obtained these freedom slots would be pardoned after the trial, allowed to leave the island, and return to their homeland to start a new life.

In contrast, any barbarians still on the island after the trial would all be executed!

"It’s actually the Diluo Barbarians..."

Guan Ling’s face fell instantly.

The others also frowned deeply.

The Diluo Barbarians were naturally strong; an adult male possessed the strength of an Apprentice Knight.

Their trained warriors even had combat power comparable to a Knight.

They would rather face the same number of ferocious beasts of an equivalent level than confront intelligent barbarians who could coordinate and fight as a team.

Not to mention, with the temptation of freedom and the threat of death hanging over them, the barbarians would surely hunt them down like madmen!

At the mere thought of such a scene, even Shao Hong couldn’t help but cringe.

Only Pei Ze remained calm, continuing to browse the contents of the panel.

There were quite a few restrictions for the trial.

The first he already knew: it was forbidden to bring Glimmer-grade or higher Magic Items to the island. They were only allowed to carry a maximum of three Alchemy-grade Magic Items.

At the same time, the use of any Magic Scrolls and Tier 1 or higher potions was prohibited. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

The second was the prohibition against killing other apprentices and robbing them of their possessions. Violators would have their trial qualifications revoked immediately.

The first two rules were standard, but the third one surprised Pei Ze a little.

The Academy had released a Ten Thousand Flowers Fairy onto the island. Anyone who caught it would directly receive 5,000 points at the end of the trial.

Considering that a single barbarian was worth a minimum of 1 point, 5,000 points was undoubtedly an astonishing number.

An apprentice who got that score could probably secure a spot in the top thirty of the trial!

"Have previous years’ trials had a rule like this with the Ten Thousand Flowers Fairy?" Pei Ze asked Shao Hong.

"Of course, they have it every year."

Shao Hong nodded. Seeing that others were also confused, he explained:

"For a Wizard, both strength and the accumulation of knowledge are very important."

"If hunting barbarians is a test of our strength, then the Ten Thousand Flowers Fairy is a test of our accumulated knowledge."

"You all should know about the abilities of a Ten Thousand Flowers Fairy, right?"

Everyone nodded.

One of Chenxi City’s Colonization Planes, the Ring Forest Plane, was home to a large number of elves and fairies.

This included rare creatures like the Ten Thousand Flowers Fairy.

Although none of them had seen one, the name was familiar to all.

"The Ten Thousand Flowers Fairy loves to transform into various rare plants and animals to trick people. Its transformed state is nearly indistinguishable from the real thing. People who aren’t very knowledgeable about rare flora and fauna often fall for its tricks and suffer for it."

"Conversely, someone who can catch a Ten Thousand Flowers Fairy must have a certain depth and breadth of knowledge regarding rare plants and animals. Those 5,000 points are the Academy’s reward for a knowledgeable apprentice."

It dawned on Pei Ze. He hadn’t expected that element to be part of it.

But then, he immediately grew excited.

’Not long ago, I was just wondering where I could find Ten Thousand Flowers Honey, and now the opportunity has presented itself on a silver platter.’

’As long as I catch the Ten Thousand Flowers Fairy, the Ten Thousand Flowers Honey will be as good as mine.’