Chapter 212: 026: Maintained?

“The final decision is…”

After a brief wait, Erodion announced the result:

“Order!”

In that instant, the entire plaza displayed two entirely different scenes.

The apprentices from the Order Camp erupted in cheers, overcome with joy.

“Ahaha! We won, we won!”

“Friends, witness this moment. We saved the world! The world was saved by us, and no matter how many years pass, the world will remember our names!”

“Finally, we’ve preserved it!”

Meanwhile, the apprentices from the Chaos Camp were despondent, their spirits crushed.

“Why… why is this happening!”

“There’s no hope left, none at all…”

Some apprentices cried, while others shouted in despair. The grand plaza became a place of two entirely disparate worlds.

The one constant was in the sky.

In the sky above, several Masters and numerous Wizards watched the jubilant plaza quietly. Their faces showed no emotion, as though the grand war that had shaken the heavens and earth had nothing to do with them all along.

Margaret said, “Tch, how boring. So you’re saying the next thousand years we’ll still be stuck following the same rigid rules?”

The Master of Star Dust, Antonio: “Rules are rules.”

“Fine.” Margaret yawned. “In that case, I’m heading back. No need to invite me to your celebration banquet. Just have my share delivered by the family.”

Without waiting for a reply, Margaret departed.

The Blood-colored Battlefield,

Thus drew to a close.

The world was about to enter its next thousand-year cycle of order. It seemed that nothing had changed…

Or was that the case?

…

Shadow Tower, Lynch Mansion.

Inside the mansion, Lynch was organizing the harvest from this journey.

Besides the Blood Crystal Pocket, the Knowledge Ruins sometimes refreshed ordinary Space Pockets as well, and Lynch had picked them all up along the way.

After meticulous organization, he realized the collected Magic Stones were quite limited—most were single digits. When totaled together, there were fewer than several hundred Magic Stones, which was embarrassingly meager.

Probably all spent on Magic Equipment and Witchcraft.

Each Magic Stone Pocket contained large quantities of Magic Potions, scrolls, Alchemy Tools, and such. After a rough count, the numbers reached several thousand, showing that these apprentices had gone all-out preparing for this war.

There were various other materials, though not in significant quantities.

Among everything Lynch sorted through, only three items were truly valuable: a Longbow, a pouch of Alchemy Bombs, and a Magic Scroll.

The craftsmanship of the Longbow was exquisite, made entirely of ice-blue crystal silver, intricately carved with detailed patterns. Standing over 1.5 meters tall, it radiated an elegant and authoritarian grace, capturing Lynch’s admiration at first glance.

But what Lynch appreciated more were the solidified spells embedded within. The Longbow featured several solidified Magic Techniques, all of the Ice Element Attribute.

To this day, Lynch hadn’t mastered the Water Element Attribute. He found its progression too slow with a poor return on investment, and thus had avoided learning related content altogether. As a result, he couldn’t use spells of that attribute, but now, with this Magic Equipment, his weak spot was conveniently covered.

The Alchemy Bombs were palm-sized and spider-shaped, with a maximum control range of about 1,000 meters. They came with a Crystal Ball and functioned for both explosions and reconnaissance—highly practical.

Lastly was the Magic Scroll. While unremarkable at first glance, what made it special was the embedded Magic Technique: a rare “Asmore” technique.

This technique’s knowledge structure didn’t originate from Shadow Law or any Wizard Organization in the Ancient Ruins area but came from the wasteland region to the north. The connection between these two Witch Domains wasn’t frequent, and artifacts carrying each other’s knowledge content were rare finds.

To Lynch, unfamiliar knowledge always held an extraordinary allure. Now granted the opportunity to explore knowledge from another Witch Domain, he naturally intended to study it carefully.

“If only the war rules hadn’t imposed the restriction on carrying knowledge into the battlefield…”

Reflecting on this, Lynch felt a tinge of regret. The greatest downside of this Blood-colored Battlefield was his inability to acquire new spells or knowledge categories despite collecting so many Space Pockets.

The primary reason was the pre-battle regulation set by Wizards: any item capable of carrying knowledge was prohibited from entering the battlefield. Otherwise, Lynch would have gained substantial knowledge to study by now.

Examples include the Star Law from Starshine Castle, the Dawn Chorus from Dawn Wizard Academy, and the Dark Iron Law from the Black Tower.

The derivative magic of the four supreme laws governing the Ancient Ruins, along with the legacy laws passed down by various Wizard Organizations scattered across this land.

“If only I could gather them all under my control, how wonderful that would be…”

Of course,

Such thoughts remained a mere fantasy in Lynch’s mind. Even amidst the chaos of the world, the heritage of Wizard Organizations was protected by Wizard Families, let alone in today’s orderly world.

“Speaking of which…”

This train of thought led Lynch to recall a scene from the Knowledge Ruins—the moment he encountered that self-proclaimed trapped soul, who spoke of true order and true chaos…

What could it all mean?

…

In the Blood-colored Battlefield, Lynch had collected approximately 120,000 Blood Crystals, of which 100,000 were spent in exchange for the highest-level Golden Key of the Shadow Tower. The remaining 20,000 Blood Crystals were partly used for miscellaneous materials and partly distributed among his friends.

Friends like Subaru and Carl, who followed Lynch’s advice and stayed within the safe zone during the battle, had ended up with nothing in the end.

These friends were deeply significant to Lynch, functioning as anchors in his life. With them around, no matter how far he progressed on the Wizard’s Road, he would always be reminded to retain some of his humanity.

Lynch exchanged family Wizard positions within Wizard Families for Subaru and Carl respectively.

These positions would grant them access to Wizard Families and ensure cultivation resources without having to endure the hardships of plantation work for meager cultivation resources. Should they achieve breakthroughs in the future, they could even marry into Wizard Families, fully integrating into them.

For apprentices with ordinary talent like them, this was close to the best arrangement they could hope for. Know this: neither of them had advanced to Mid-level Apprentice yet.

Much as Lynch wanted to bring them straight into Netta, the cost of a Netta position was exorbitant. Though slightly cheaper than the Golden Key, the difference wasn’t much…

Besides these two, Lynch gave away varying amounts of Blood Crystals to other apprentices he knew or had interacted with—some just a few, others dozens or even over a hundred.

Since Blood Crystals, unlike Magic Stones, weren’t a universal currency and held little value in his hands, apart from a portion reserved for research, the rest were distributed for goodwill.

Generosity, after all, rarely harms anyone. Once those Blood Crystals were handed out, many apprentices were profoundly grateful, almost obsessively so.

“Lynch, Great Lynch! From this day forward, you’re like a father to me!”

“Sir, do you need followers?”

“Tonight… Do you need company? Any time works for me.”

Well,

Lynch suddenly understood why his wealthy classmates back in school had always enjoyed being generous. It turned out this sensation was genuinely quite pleasurable.

…

A week after the Blood-colored Battlefield concluded, the Tower hosted a banquet, inviting almost all the apprentices who had participated in the battle. Naturally, Lynch was among the invitees, and unsurprisingly, he was the center of attention…

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