Chapter 1064: Magic-Draining Metal and the Anomaly of the Wizard Apprentices
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 1064: Magic-Draining Metal and the Anomaly of the Wizard Apprentices
Unlike my current state of leisure, the situation facing the United Club was far from ideal.
If I viewed equipment as optional tools, then to the United Club, equipment was a decisive factor that could determine the very outcome of the war.
"Everyone, we have received some very unfavorable news to share with you all."
Cleveland spoke as the representative of the No. 0 Special Operations Sequence, also acting as the voice of Teaching Assistant Xiao Han. The status of the No. 0 Special Operations Sequence on the Blood Slave Peninsula was unshakable.
As long as this special combat sequence remained on the peninsula, no academy would dare attempt to seize the territory from the Witch Academy under the guise of "expelling invaders."
Currently, the Witch Academy’s primary focus was on bridging the geographical gap between the Witch Territory and the Blood Slave Peninsula. This matter had been under discussion for a long time, but to their shame, they had yet to secure it.
On a map, it appeared to be a complex region dominated by the Vampire Affiliated Academies. However, in actual combat, the pressure was akin to facing three top academies at once.
The crux of the issue was that the United Club had no way to cut off the secret supply lines through which those top academies funneled aid into the region.
A steady stream of weapons, equipment, and other resources was being deployed here, effectively leveling the playing field between the Witch Academy and the smaller academies in terms of combat power and tactical options.
They had considered repeating the overwhelming blitzkrieg strategy used against Sun Rock Elf Academy, but to avoid a second large-scale Blood Sacrifice event, they had abandoned such a reckless plan. After all, no one could afford the consequences of such a potential command failure.
The Blood Sacrifice was merely one method; no one knew what other tricks the enemy might have waiting for them.
Currently, the United Club was not holding a large-scale assembly, but rather a temporary small-scale meeting convened by representatives of the core Guardian Clubs. There were only about a dozen members present.
The group watched as Cleveland produced a cut block of metal, waiting in silence for the bad news to be officially announced.
"This metal is referred to by the lower-tier Vampires as Magic-Draining Metal. It is a Beyonder alloy created through a specific ratio of materials, and it has many variant alloys. Its primary effect is to siphon and absorb mana. On the battlefield, it creates two effects specifically targeted at us Witches."
"First, any spell cast using mana as a foundation will have its effects drastically weakened by protective gear forged from this metal. Second... if we are struck by a weapon forged from this metal, our control over our Mana Source will plummet. Even if we manage to forcibly overcome this influence, casting through a spellbook carries a high risk of failure. Once a spell fails, the resulting Mana Backlash causes secondary damage."
As Cleveland finished her explanation, the expressions in the room darkened, but there were no other major emotional outbursts. Before the meeting, they had already caught wind of this "revolting" development.
In the past, they never knew a metal existed that was so specifically designed to counter them. And now, here it was, appearing before them plain as day.
If this wasn't a targeted countermeasure, no one would believe it.
However, it wasn't entirely unexpected. In the realm of Beyonder materials, there were many metals that countered specific types of Transcendent power, such as elemental forces. This Magic-Draining Metal was simply more focused on Witches. In academic terms, it could be classified as a Transcendent energy-resistant metal.
But as Cleveland continued, many people found it hard to maintain their composure. "According to battlefield feedback, weapons made of this metal have little impact on students with the Self-Generated Mana body talent. However, their spellcasting is still weakened by this equipment."
Hearing this, most felt a surge of envy for that specific talent. However, the acquisition of such a talent was already strictly regulated by the Witch Academy.
What they failed to realize was that since it didn't affect students with Self-Generated Mana, the metal's influence likely wasn't directly on the Mana Source itself, but rather on the Ley Line Shackles that allowed each individual to carry a Mana Source.
To them, however, the result was the same.
This news also carried a deeper implication: Transcendent Mentors from other academies had already begun to interfere in the Academy War. After all, something that could selectively influence mana absorption and resistance while specifically targeting Ley Line Shackles was not something a mere student could research.
One could argue that materials science involves a degree of luck, but no student's luck could be that good.
Facing such equipment, it was incredibly difficult for standard spells to deal heavy damage to an enemy unless they relied on the sheer physical crushing force generated by the magic. Not every student possessed an Over-consumption Spellbook; for the average student, even a spellbook with a hundred-point consumption was a final trump card.
Thus, this type of equipment significantly reduced the threat level of the Witches.
On the battlefield, the lethality of Evocation spells was unquestionable. Changing combat styles carried great risk, and besides, other types of spells weren't entirely immune to the metal's effects.
After some discussion, the group reached a consensus. Since the enemy had such a hard counter for mana-dominant methods, they would simply switch tactics. There was no need to bash their heads against a wall by playing into the enemy's hands.
Mana Sources and spellbooks were merely the most accessible forms of power within the Witch Academy, but they were by no means the only ones. Alchemy equipment, potions, and spell arrays were all crafts that could function without direct mana intervention.
However, these methods were seen as last resorts. What most people were actually pinning their hopes on was... the large-scale destruction equipment mounted on the Witch Battleships!
If there was pure power available to crush the opposition, why bother with such headaches? That was the prevailing thought.
"Speaking of which, what is the progress on the Mana Annihilation Cannon proposed by the Spell Research Society? Can it reach a threshold that ignores the weakening effects of that equipment?" someone asked.
Many eyes turned toward the representative of the United Club's Transcendent Academic Department. They were responsible for the R&D of the Witch Battleships and the large-scale mounted destruction weapons. The United Club had burned an eye-watering amount of money on these academic projects recently—enough to make anyone feel a twinge of physical pain just thinking about it.
"Theoretically, the Mana Annihilation Cannon will show those fellows that their magic-draining gear is just as fragile as their flesh. However..."
"However what?"
"However, the processes of R&D, testing, and implementation all take time. Building weapons isn't like molding clay," the Academic Department representative grumbled.
They had already tolerated being told to build floating battleships from scratch in a few months based on blueprints provided by mentors. Now they were being pressured to deliver a finished product in even less time. Did these people think the technical department was omnipotent?
"Then what is the fastest you can do? You have to give us a deadline."
"One month..."
Before the representative could finish her sentence, she was cut off. "Impossible! One month? Do you know what time it will be in a month? By then, this year's College Entrance Exam will be practically over! Do you understand?"
"Exactly! You built a floating battleship in a few months, and a mounted weapon is going to take that long?" another person chimed in, questioning her.
"Do you have any idea how fast one month actually is? And don't bring up those battleships—those are just floating iron coffins that look impressive on the outside! If you don't understand the tech, why don't you try it? Let's see if you can manually craft one!"
The Academic Department representative had a short fuse. Fueled by a sense of intellectual superiority, she snapped back at them.
"Calm down... they're just frustrated by the enemy's underhanded tactics. Our enemies are always the top academies and the Hundred Academy Alliance, not our own people."
Once a mediator stepped in to smooth things over, the meeting quickly returned to its agenda. They soon moved on to the next topic: the hidden issues on the Blood Slave Peninsula.
Due to the Blood Sacrifice event, nearly a third of the cities on the peninsula had become ghost towns where no one dared to live. The combat sequences stationed there had quickly allied with local families to conduct a sweep of the area.
During this sweep, they discovered many hidden areas buried underground.
Unlike the Witch Academy, which loved creating various types of spaces—Curtain Wall spaces, folded spaces, overlapping spaces—other Transcendent races lacked the foundation to allow their students to play with such high-end methods. Consequently, to expand their space, they either built floating islands in the sky like the Holy Angels or excavated and expanded underground.
As a result, many underground facilities were discovered on the Blood Slave Peninsula. These underground structures were found in a very regular pattern, following the nodes of the Blood Sacrifice ritual.
The largest of these was the massive space beneath the Blood Slave Academy.
The combat sequences had not entered it rashly. If they triggered some irresistible trap, it would be pure suicide. Instead, they sent small squads for flexible exploration. Even if they encountered an irresistible force, they could be rescued through standby support or brought back for resurrection.
"Currently, we have discovered one large underground cavern facility on the Blood Slave Peninsula. The number of small and medium underground facilities has reached 134, and that is not the final count."
Many were stunned by the number. This wasn't the first time they had heard this news; during the last meeting, the number of identified underground facilities had barely reached double digits. Now, it had jumped to triple digits.
Initially, they had received squad exploration intelligence shared by the Baking House's combat sequence. The conditions inside had truly shocked them.
They had discovered a vast number of "unknown creatures" being bred underground!
It was confirmed that they were humanoid, though their limbs differed significantly from humans. They were entirely hairless, including their heads, and possessed a sickly, pale appearance. They were bloated and massive in size.
They also feared light.
When discovered, these creatures were thriving. It seemed the underground facilities used special materials to insulate them from the effects of the Blood Sacrifice.
These facilities also housed many remaining students from the Blood Slave Academy. Once captured, they confessed quite readily.
These "monsters" were all former students of the Blood Slave Academy who had completed their studies or graduated. They had completely degenerated into Blood Slaves driven only by instinct.
Indeed... this form was what the Vampires called a "pure Blood Slave." A blood-producing machine that knew nothing but how to provide blood.
If it were only this, they would have simply felt more disgusted by the academy; it wouldn't have warranted such intense focus. At most, there would have been some disagreement over how to "humanely" dispose of these Blood Slaves.
But they had encountered Wizard Apprentices there!
Ultimately, those Wizard Apprentices had destroyed the facility and successfully escaped.
This move was undeniable proof that the Wizard Academy had actively intervened on the Blood Slave Peninsula, and they had done so through secret infiltration.
However, the Wizard Academy flatly denied any involvement. Since the United Club was not yet prepared to declare war on the top academies, the matter remained in a tense stalemate.
Consequently, the No. 0 Special Operations Sequence remained on the peninsula, using these special underground facilities as bait to ambush Wizard Apprentices.
Yet, more often than not, by the time an underground facility was discovered, it had already been sabotaged by the Wizards.
And now, according to Cleveland, 134 such places had been found!
They still couldn't determine why the Wizards were so obsessed with destroying these facilities. Were they afraid that materials like Blood Crystals would fall into the hands of the Witch Academy?
Please... once the academy found out what those things actually were, a wave of revulsion had spread. How could the Witch Academy possibly want them? They weren't worth much money and would only ruin their reputation.
But to say they were covering up crimes... that also made no sense.
Now, the No. 0 Special Operations Sequence had pulled back its exploration squads to guard only the super-large underground facility beneath the Blood Slave Academy, leaving the smaller facilities to be destroyed by the Wizards.
Even if the Wizard Apprentices didn't destroy them, the Witches would have eventually. Their moral compass wouldn't allow such things to exist before their eyes. Keeping the largest facility was enough to figure out what the enemy was up to.
"Has the Academy said anything about this?"
"We've alluded to it, but the Academy doesn't seem to want to interfere too much in our actions. They told us to handle it as we see fit—if we can't stand the sight of it, just carry out a total humane destruction."
"In my opinion, there's no need to make a mountain out of a molehill. Regardless of what obsession they have with these places, just destroy them all," someone suggested.
"You hothead, that suggestion is worse than useless. If those Wizards are willing to take such risks to destroy these facilities, there must be a secret down there. How about... we ask Teaching Assistant Xiao Han for help? See if she's interested in this, and then we can decide."
The representative who made the suggestion looked at Cleveland, waiting for a response.
"Should we trouble Sister Xiao Han..." Cleveland frowned, weighing whether to go through with it.
"I can try to feel out Sister Xiao Han's thoughts on the matter," Cleveland replied, not giving an immediate answer.
She planned to consolidate the recent developments and then report to Sister Xiao Han. Although this was her own initiative to provide a periodic work summary, she believed having such an excuse was better than simply approaching her out of the blue.