Wizards begin with Occlumency.

Chapter 211 Such Ruins, Such a Reunion

"Have you heard?"

The designated assembly point as specified by the college.

Six new recruits from the South District, eight purebred apprentices from the North District, and six half-blood apprentices from the North District.

A total of twenty junior college students, who were at the peak of the third-level wizard apprenticeship and were on the verge of becoming formal wizards, gathered here.

They stood scattered in their respective small groups, waiting for the arrival of the two team leaders.

The six new recruits from the South District were divided into one group of brothers and one group of Lanny Taylor.

Lanny Taylor could have advanced to become a full-fledged wizard before Jasmine.

For some reason, it has been delayed until now.

Six local half-blood apprentices from the North District banded together for mutual support.

The eight local purebred apprentices from the North District were divided into three groups.

Trish Lucia formed a solo team, while Luna Colonna, Nash Jensen, and Palle Percyville formed a trio.

Both originating from the former "Pureblood Will" and now "Pureblood Glory," the two sides are clearly distinct, showing no signs of merging.

In fact, the latter three were particularly hostile to the former.

An effeminate man, a fair-skinned fat man, a cold woman, and a burly, rugged man each ruled their own territory. (First appearance in Chapter 33 of this volume: A Mushroom Cloud in the Sky)

After asking a question, the fair-skinned, chubby man, seeing that the effeminate man didn't respond, nudged him with his elbow again, raising his voice to almost shouting, "Have you heard? The official leader of our exchange program is supposedly the wizard Link Grand. It's said that the academy directly appointed him as the leader."

The effeminate man glanced at Luna Colonna out of the corner of his eye and replied seriously, "How could I not inquire about something like this? It's said that a wizard was so defiant that he challenged Wizard Grand, but he didn't even last two seconds before being beaten so badly that he can't take care of himself and is now lying in the 'clinic' at the advanced academy."

"Hmph, it's not that they can't take care of themselves."

The fair-skinned, chubby man burst into laughter, "I heard that all the bones below the neck were shattered, and the internal organs were rotten beyond recognition. It was only because the wizard Grand showed mercy and performed healing magic in time that he was able to be taken to the hospital in time."

Although no names were mentioned, most of the people present knew that the two were referring to Scotty Colonna.

They also knew that the two of them wanted to use this incident to embarrass Luna Colonna.

Luna Colonna, however, remained expressionless, her heart equally unmoved.

What does Luna have to do with the embarrassment Scotty Colonna has caused?

They are not from the same branch or the same department.

We're not exactly strangers, but we definitely have no connection whatsoever.

Mocking away is fine; mock as much as you want.

Luna thought to herself, "Any reaction I give is a loss."

Seeing this, the effeminate man and the fair-skinned fat man simply gave up their idea of ​​using this incident to mock him.

As they were both from pure-blood families, they actually knew what was going on with the other's reaction.

I feel like I'm missing out if I don't try when I get the chance.

If you try it and find that it doesn't achieve the desired effect, then stop.

Anyway, there are no sunk costs.

Moreover, it also sends a signal that the four of them hope to gain Link's understanding.

The incident involved a siege during the first-grade competition between the two districts.

Casual conversation is always a case of one problem leading to another.

Things have calmed down in the North District, but the five members of the Brotherhood won't let this opportunity slip by.

They keenly grasped the subtle thoughts of Yin, Pang, Leng, and Mang, and exchanged glances.

Buck immediately shouted, "Boss, you're awesome!"

Lynn glared at Buck, who was using vulgar language, and corrected him seriously, "Big boss, you're awesome!"

Ezio, Deejaculate, and Dalton shouted in unison, "Boss is awesome!"

Lanny Taylor, standing not far away, stared at the five people as if they were idiots.

I really don't understand how these five people's brain circuits work.

They are all clearly talented geniuses, yet they insist on acting so foolish.

After three years of being classmates, even if we are separated by the North and South districts, how could we not know each other at all?

Who are you putting on this for?

Who will believe?

What a bunch of childish idiots.

The six half-blood apprentices stood silently to one side, without uttering a sound.

The excitement comes from purebloods and new blood; half-bloods have nothing.

Link then walked over with the deputy leader, who had been chosen after many battles.

They had just formally met through Karim Usman's introduction.

It's quite a coincidence, really! The deputy team leader, Pex Murphy, is actually the grandson of old man Murphy—his own grandson!

Link only learned about this from Karim's explanation.

The entire fall semester passed without Link and Pex Murphy having any real interaction.

Not to mention building a relationship through old man Murphy.

Pex Murphy is introverted, doesn't talk much, and is quite reserved.

Throughout the journey, the two did not exchange more than five sentences.

"Hello, boss!"

As soon as Link approached, the group of guys started making a ruckus.

The five people bowed in unison and greeted each other respectfully.

This kind of behavior and this kind of ostentation would have led to Link being beaten up and eliminated sooner or later in his previous life.

Link gave him a sidelong glance.

The group of men immediately stood up straight, eyes downcast, looking like serious people.

It was as if they weren't the ones who had been acting silly and goofy before.

"Line up."

Link glanced at the twenty top-tier third-class wizard apprentices from the North and South districts who had entered the junior academy in the same year as him, and gave the order in a deep voice.

Even though they are the same age, their different wizard ranks are a symbol of status.

Not to mention that Link was the head of this exchange program.

At a command, the apprentices, who had been standing in twos and threes, quickly lined up neatly in order of height, forming two rows.

"Without further ado, here's the gist of it. No matter how rushed this exchange program is, you should all be determined to give it your all and bring honor to the academy. Now, depart. Specific materials will be distributed to you upon arrival."

After a brief pep talk, Link waved his hand and walked ahead towards the "bus" hovercar that was already parked not far away.

After boarding the bus, Link sat down in the compartment at the front of the bus.

Pex Murphy volunteered to take on the task of counting the number of people and verifying their names.

The deputy team leader is basically there to assist the team leader.

After the inventory and verification were completed, Pex also entered the private room.

Shortly after, the bus started moving, its destination the interdimensional portal.

Even now, Link doesn't really know much about the whole story of this exchange program.

The one I know the least about is that special ruined world, whose description is vague.

However, for some reason, when Jasmine mentioned the exchange program that morning, Link felt an urge to participate.

This idea came about quite strangely.

It's like intuition, or rather, the kind of premonition that comes from "sincereness leads to foresight."

It's as if it was inspired by some unseen force.

Whether it's intuition, premonition, or inspiration, all have extremely high reference value in this extraordinary world where mind and matter are equally important.

Link chooses to follow his intuition, premonition, or inspiration.

I'm secretly looking forward to what I'll gain from this exchange and learning experience.

With a wistful look in his eyes, Link gazed at the scenery rushing past the car window, his mind racing.

The bus was traveling at a considerable speed.

They soon arrived at the interdimensional portal.

After leading his twenty apprentices off the vehicle, Pex went to communicate with the tower spirit who managed the daily operation of the interdimensional portal and the surrounding defenses, and determined the destination for this teleportation.

"That's fine, team leader."

After negotiating, Pex walked over to Link and gave a serious report.

"Thanks for your hard work."

Link nodded to Pex, then turned to the twenty apprentices and said, "One captain and two vice-captains, namely Lanny Taylor, Luna Colonna, and Gillian Clark. Any objections?"

The allocation of captain positions among the three types of players—new blood, pure blood, and half blood—was fair and impartial.

Link believed there was no problem with the appointment.

In particular, as the wizard with the highest aptitude and the best overall performance, Lanny Taylor is absolutely qualified to be the captain.

Link had his own reasons for not appointing Lynn as captain or vice-captain.

Not holding public office allows one to be selfish.

Once you take up a public office, you must act impartially.

It is not conducive to Lynn's cunning and scheming personality and style.

"Any objections?"

Link asked again, "If there's nothing else, then we'll set off. After we leave, the captain and vice-captain will have to take responsibility and not let me down or bring any punishment."

None of the twenty apprentices uttered a sound.

In this situation, the group of friends certainly wouldn't sabotage things.

Others who were slightly unconvinced, such as the effeminate man, the fair-skinned fat man, the cold woman, and the burly man, felt that the four of them were no worse than Luna Colonna, but dared not voice their opposition.

They were quite afraid that Link would bring up old grievances, so they wouldn't dare to cause trouble on their own initiative.

"Set off."

After waiting for a while, there were still no objections, which fully demonstrated democracy. Link waved his hand and stepped into the interdimensional portal first.

After a familiar sense of temporal and spatial alienation, Link found himself in the transportation hub of an interstellar fortress.

The intelligent puppet arranged by the academy was already waiting on the side. Upon seeing Link, it immediately handed him an encrypted AI.

Link gestured for Pex and the twenty apprentices who were filing out behind him to wait, then used the decryption method that Karim had privately told him to unlock the AI ​​and view its contents.

The more he looked, the more alarmed he became, and the more his brows furrowed.

He handed the AI ​​to Pex and said, "Tell them this information."

Link walked to the porthole on the right side of the transportation hub and silently watched the special ruins world that the wizarding world had been monitoring for six thousand years.

Pex's voice rang out:

"As we all know, the universe is multiverse and there are multiple similar parallel universes."

The universe in which our wizarding world exists is no exception.

In one or more parallel universes, there exist parallel worlds that are similar to our wizarding world yet vastly different.

The special ruined world we are about to visit is a parallel world that has been completely destroyed by endless destructive wars.

Due to a mechanism that remains unsolved, this parallel world has separated from its original universe and become an extremely special celestial body.

When observed, it truly exists in the universe in which our wizarding world resides;

When it is not observed, it does not exist in our universe.

The origin of the Omnic Wizards lies in their continuous exploration of this unique ruined world.

The content of your exchange and learning this time is to explore and develop a newly discovered area in this special ruined world, and to search for valuable knowledge, items and so on.

Some dangers may occur during exploration and pioneering.

You can choose to cooperate with the Shadow City team or attack the Shadow City team.

All actions are up to you.

The college only looks at the results.

As the team leader and deputy leader, Wizard Grand and I will not act rashly.

Therefore, once the exchange and learning officially begins, the three team leaders and deputy team leaders must assume their responsibilities, unite the team members, and direct the exploration...

Listening to Pex's words and looking out the porthole at the planet with its faint blue hue, a familiar outline, and some of its terrain and topography that looked somewhat similar from above, Link's emotions were incredibly complex.

A thought that he was reluctant to believe arose in his mind.

Could this be the planet he lived on in his previous life?

It has completely lost its vitality due to the endless war and has become a ruin.

"Team leader, the people from Shadow City have arrived."

After the message was read aloud, Pex noticed something new and promptly reported it to Link, interrupting Link's worries.

"Let's go, let's meet them."

Link activated "Occupy Central" to suppress all his emotions, adjust his state, and turned to walk towards the Shadow City's group.

Like the Rivoss Academy, the Shadow City team also consisted of two leaders and twenty top-tier third-class wizard apprentices who had reached the level of formal wizards.

This is the format agreed upon by both parties.

The closer Link got, the more familiar he felt with the Shadow City leader.

After a quick mental search, Link recognized the other person.

"Christina, it's been a long time."

Link smiled sincerely and reached out his hand from afar.

Having just seen what seemed to be my hometown from a past life, I am now seeing people from my hometown in this life. The contrast between the two is stark, a mixture of sorrow and joy.

"Um."

Christina didn't reach out, but responded with an extremely hoarse and shrill voice, like two pieces of rust grinding against each other.

Link frowned slightly.

It wasn't because I felt ashamed or annoyed that I was being ignored.

Instead, Link noticed something was wrong with Christina.

The voice is wrong, the expression is wrong, the soul is wrong, the body is wrong, everything is wrong.

After careful consideration, Link realized the reason why something was wrong.

Christina underwent biochemical modifications!

This explains why Christina, with her third-class wizarding aptitude, was able to advance to a full wizard so early and become the leader of the Shadow City's exchange and learning team.

Every gain comes at a price.

However, the costs varied, and Christina paid a particularly high price.

The biochemical modifications she underwent were far more dangerous and had far greater side effects than Celine's "Bone-Spitting Worm" program and Link's "Fairy" potion.

Christina didn't feel like a living, breathing person to Link; she felt more like a cold, venomous snake.

The initial joy of reuniting with fellow villagers vanished instantly.

Taking a deep breath, Link gave Pex a look, signaling him to connect with the Shadow City's deputy leader.

Link asked, "Shall we go over there and talk?"

No... anymore.

Christina spoke with some difficulty, her tongue, which resembled a snake's forked tongue, faintly visible.

This "matches" her snake-like eyes and the chilling aura she exudes.

"I am currently specializing in biochemical research and pharmaceutics, and my level is quite high. If you need help, please let me know."

Link tried again.

He didn't suddenly have a blissful heart.

There was a small sense of kinship out of being from the same hometown, and a genuine desire to help Christina;

There are also ideas to study and learn from the biochemical modifications of Shadow City, as well as the techniques and approaches to improve wizard qualifications.

No... anymore.

Christina spoke again with difficulty, refusing once more, "Thank...you...for...concern."

Perhaps finding her voice too harsh, Christina resorted to witchcraft techniques to speak instead of speaking halfway through her sentence.

A wisp of black smoke appeared out of nowhere in the air, outlining a few simple lines of text.

"I'm fine, and I don't need any help."

"My brother's revenge has already been taken."

"I devoured the people who killed my brother and the people who reformed me."

"in addition……"

"Jimny is dead."

A minor setting in Chapter 99 has been modified.

The team that participated in this exchange and learning trip with Shadow City consisted entirely of third-year apprentices; there were no fourth-year students involved.

This chapter fills in a few small gaps regarding Christina.

This also resolves the foreshadowing of Jimny's unfortunate situation and the tragic ending that was planted when they reunited a long time ago.

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(End of this chapter)