Chapter 215: The Cruel Methods of the Fallen Land Academies
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 215: The Cruel Methods of the Fallen Land Academies
"Hmm? This is... Red Velvet cake? Xiao Han, you know how to make this too?"
"It's the Baking House's signature item, after all. I've seen it made often enough, though I'm not sure how the taste compares. Help me test it out." I sliced the cake and served a piece to each of them.
"Sister Xiao Han, please give me that biggest piece left over!" Minian spoke up immediately, eyeing the remaining portion after I finished slicing.
"Alright, it's all yours. I have to make more anyway." I watched Minian. She had just finished a large bowl of Cat Rice and was now diving into dessert—was she trying to turn this Witch Tea Party into an all-you-can-eat buffet?
"By the way, Tan Han, you should know the meaning of Red Velvet at the Baking House, right?" I whispered as I handed her a plate.
"The meaning? I think... I know a little."
"Did the Shopkeeper say anything to you?"
"She spoke to you too?"
"Looks like she told everyone." I shrugged and smiled. The Shopkeeper was really going all out this time.
"Sister Xiao Han, Sister Tan Han, what kind of riddles are you two speaking in?"
"Nothing much. Just some matters regarding the Holy Covenant Witch Academy. We agreed to a few requests."
"I'll make more Red Velvet cakes later for you all to take with you. It'll save time during the next ritual. Oh, and if you run into anyone from the Holy Covenant Witch Academy, remember to help out by throwing a Red Velvet cake in their face. Consider it a favor." I chuckled softly.
"Eh? I feel like this isn't that simple. Did the Holy Covenant Witch Academy cause trouble for you?"
"I'm not sure. It might be a grudge from the Senior Sisters' generation. If you can smear a Red Velvet cake on someone's face, the Shopkeeper might even give you a discount when you buy sweets at the Baking House." I said it as a joke, but if the Shopkeeper was watching, she really might give a discount. After all, so many things in that bakery just wouldn't sell.
Wait, did I just indirectly advertise for the Shopkeeper?
Well, this was a Witch Tea Party; anything said here stayed here.
Once the desserts and tea were served, everyone began sharing what they had been up to. I listened with great interest, especially to Minian's explanation of their confrontation with the wizards at the wizard tower and the Truth Ritual. It sounded incredibly thrilling.
The wizard academies had some truly bizarre methods and terrifying wizard tools. Even with their forces split between guarding the wizard tower and the Truth Ritual, they hadn't flinched. Minian and the others had managed to test out the tower's defensive and offensive capabilities, eventually luring the Holy Covenant Witch Academy students over with specific resources to finally break the enemy's ritual.
"That's our story. Sister Xiao Han, your turn! I want to hear about you starting that forest fire! You have no idea—even on our side, we ran into more than one randomly respawned elf and student from the Beast Academy. Sister Xiao Han, you're currently number one in individual points!"
"Alright, my turn. I'll just give a brief summary." Since this was a Witch Tea Party, everyone needed to exchange information or ask questions. We were all acquaintances here, so I didn't mind sharing.
"After leaving the last tea party, I headed toward the forest in the Beast Academy's territory. There, I met someone from the Moe Cat Academy... Hm? Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"I think I hear it too. Is another academy attacking?" Minian stood up quickly, looking around in a panic.
"It seems to be coming from that direction." Tan Han focused for a moment, locking onto the giant sword standing directly opposite the Remains Mountain. An Abyss Troll was pinned beneath that sword, creating a magnificent, if grim, landmark.
"It sounds like a cry for help. Why does it sound like Lan Baihui?"
"It doesn't just sound like her. It is Lan Baihui." Once Tan Han confirmed it, she dashed straight toward the location.
"Lan Baihui? There? That's such an obvious spot. Didn't you guys notice her when you arrived?"
"You didn't notice either, did you? Who would expect a person to be tied to a giant sword that big?"
When Tan Han finally brought Lan Baihui down, everyone gasped in horror.
At this moment, Lan Baihui was barely recognizable as human. Her school uniform was in tatters, soaked in filth and blood. Her limbs were snapped, and bone was visible through her skin in several places.
Though this was a dream, the sensation of pain was not filtered out. Lan Baihui's voice was hoarse and broken; it was a miracle anyone had recognized it at all.
Looking like this, no one would have guessed it was Lan Baihui. They would have assumed she was just another corpse littering the area.
The only words repeating from Lan Baihui's lips were pleas to kill her, to let her go.
"Damn it! Them! How dare they! How dare they treat a student of our Witch Academy like this!" As the most energetic person present, Minian's voice trembled with rage at the sight.
Everyone here lived normal lives; none had ever witnessed such torture. Even a single glance at the scene sent chills down their spines.
The edges of Lan Baihui's wounds weren't clean cuts from a blade—they were jagged, the result of gnawing and biting...
"Move aside, let me try a Flesh Healing spell." Unable to watch any longer, I stepped forward. This was a high-consumption spell, and even then, I couldn't guarantee such injuries could be fully repaired.
But I felt that spending over a hundred mana was worth the attempt.
"Um... Sister Xiao Han, the wounds haven't been cleaned..."
"The effect of the Flesh Healing spell will automatically expel foreign objects from the wound. Don't underestimate the power of a high-consumption spellbook." I offered a brief word of comfort and began the healing process.
"I'll help too. Missing limbs require limb regeneration. My healing spells are quite comprehensive." Tan Han knelt down beside me.
"Okay."
I didn't stop her. This wasn't the time to show off. My spell was for Flesh Healing, but how was I supposed to heal missing limbs on my own?
Before long, I was no longer needed for the physical repairs. Lan Baihui's injuries healed rapidly under the spells, and I applied a pain-weakening effect from the Sensory Weakening series to at least dull her suffering.
"These academies from the Fallen Land! The Necromancy Academy! The Lesser Demon Academy! The Lesser Demon Academy! I won't let a single one of them go!"
"I'll slaughter every one I see!"
"Slaughtering them is too good for them! They did this to Lan Baihui! I want them to feel this exact same pain!"
"Academies like that shouldn't even exist!"
I sat silently in my chair at the tea party. I no longer had the heart to work on the cakes; the prepared bases sat unfinished.
But fueled by the shock of what I'd just seen, an idea that had only been a passing thought now felt like something I absolutely had to realize.
I opened my Memory Bookshelf. From the few books stored there, I picked one and opened it—the one recording the map of the exchange competition.
Previously, I had only thought about it without testing its feasibility. If it was possible, I didn't mind pulling off a stunt similar to burning the World Tree.
The academies of the Fallen Land wanted to play this game? They ambushed our Witch Academy... did they really think everyone's strength was the same as Lan Baihui's? Is that where their confidence came from?
They had crossed the line. Now, I would dig up their very roots.
The Fallen Land was the foundation for those academies. The Necromancy Academy needed the skeletons here to control the undead. This area was designated as the Abyss, with the path to the lower levels blocked by the troll, but the leaking demonic power was their perfect source of energy. Whether it was the Fallen Academy, the Undying Academy, or the Succubus Academy, the natural terrain here was better for them than any recovery potion.
If this map were a vast continent, my idea would be a pipe dream. But this was an exchange competition map; the sense of isolation between regions was heavy, which meant the distances between them were compressed.
I looked at the map currently floating before me, calculating the distance between the Fallen Land and the sea.
"Sister Xiao Han, what are you doing? Wait, Sister Xiao Han, where did you get a map?"
"A spell effect," I said flatly, holding the pen from the Memory Bookshelf. "Do you think the Sea Clan has the ability to trigger a tsunami?"
"The rules say the exchange competition map will be subject to erosion from the Central Ancient Battlefield and ocean erosion. The Ancient Battlefield relies on waves of Phantoms of the Past that get stronger with each wave, but ocean erosion wasn't clearly explained. A reasonable deduction would be that either the sea level is slowly rising, or..."
"The ocean swallows the land. It might be a hidden rule of the Sea Clan's ritual."
"Sister Xiao Han, why are you asking this now? Don't tell me... Oh!"
"Don't you think, looking at the map, that the Fallen Land is a bit too close to the sea?" I drew a line connecting the Fallen Land to the coastline.
Although the side of the Fallen Land facing the sea was mostly high-altitude mountain ranges, it wasn't entirely blocked. The rift of the Abyss extended here, looking as if the land had been split open.
It looked perfectly positioned to welcome an influx of seawater. It seemed that when designing the terrain, the Witch Academy had left hints that were almost too obvious.
Then again, had any of the witch teachers who designed the terrain actually thought of this?
"Lan Baihui, are you feeling better?"
By now, Tan Han had exhausted every method she knew. Lan Baihui looked completely different than before. If not for the state of her clothes, no one would have guessed she had just endured such inhuman treatment.
"Am I... finally dead...?"
"It's okay. It's over. You'll be fine."
Tan Han held Lan Baihui, comforting her. She had just endured such torture, and Lan Baihui was just a girl who hadn't been in the transcendent world for long. How could she have been prepared for this?
* * *
Outside the dream.
After witnessing the atrocities committed by the academies of the Fallen Land, the audience was incensed. Even the students from Afuhemi and the Holy Covenant Witch Academy, who should have felt some satisfaction at seeing their rivals suffer, felt disgusted by the Fallen Land's methods.
What kind of "normal" academy acted like that?
The Senior Sisters of the Witch Academy were already shouting for those academies to be disqualified, but their actions hadn't technically broken any rules. The Witch Academy officials couldn't show too much obvious favoritism.
At most... when the Witch Academy students in the stands started pummeling the students from the Necromancy Academy or the Fallen Academy, the referee teachers only made a token effort to stop them.
"This is too much. Far too much. Our Witch Academy has never suffered such an insult."
Even the Witch Academy teachers were emotional. They had witnessed the entire process through the live stream. This was a targeted attack on the Witch Academy!
It was a slap in the face to the entire institution!
"You're a Transcendent Witch; calm down. After being provoked like this, those little ones will finally realize what they're truly up against."
"If they enter a Transcendent Academy without being prepared for this, then they aren't qualified. They represent the awareness of the Witch Academy's new generation. This is a good thing; it's better to learn this here than to be skinned and deboned in reality."
"True. And that little one who talked about burning the World Tree... is she brewing something even bigger?"
"Flooding the Fallen Land? She certainly has a bold imagination. But it's not impossible. Who designed this map? She's a genius."
"I heard Teacher Lina supervised the design. If the Sea Clan shows some backbone, completes their ritual, and triggers the hidden rule of ocean erosion, they could absolutely use that one tsunami opportunity to submerge the entire area."
"After all, the Abyss Troll is our common enemy. It's a pity we can't tell them that directly."
* * *
Back in the dream.
Lan Baihui had improved significantly under everyone's comfort. Her physical wounds were gone, but she still had some psychological stress responses. It looked like she would need specialized counseling after the competition.
Meanwhile, I briefly explained my idea to Tan Han and the others.
However, the plan was still very much a "what if."
While the terrain supported it, where would the tsunami come from? How would we flood it?
Why would the Sea Clan listen to us? How could we be sure they even had the power to trigger a tsunami?
Was it worth helping the Sea Clan complete their ritual just to vent our anger?
What if they completed the ritual and the hidden rule didn't meet our expectations?
Questions came thick and fast, and we had to make our own choices.
"I'll go negotiate with the Sea Clan. I'll leave the ritual here to you."
"Wait, Sister Xiao Han, didn't you say things between you and the Sea Clan were already..."
"Then I'll follow the Fallen Land's example and force them to complete the ritual. The Sea Clan's ritual site isn't like ours. I'll ask the rest when I get there."
"Isn't that... a bit much?"
"I'm not like those guys from the Fallen Land. I have my own bottom line. Besides, excessive sympathy will be the death of you." I said firmly.
"You guys should finish those cake bases yourselves. Put some cream on them and take them with you; you might need them for the next ritual."
"Also, I almost forgot something very important." Just as I was about to leave, a thought struck me.
"What is it?"
"I have a spell called Teleportation Summoning Spell. I've tested it, and it can transport people. That means once I've marked you, I can use this spell to summon you all to my side."
"Eh? Whoa! Sister Xiao Han, you have a god-tier skill like that?! Me, me, me! Give me a mark! Sister Xiao Han, if you're going to do something big again, summon me! I want to be there!" Minian immediately raised her hand.
"The mark is a bit fragile and disappears upon death. Everyone... be careful. Tan Han, do you want one?"
"Of course. The application of this spell is very interesting. With this, our ritual speed will be the fastest of all the academies."
"That's what I was thinking. Plus, if we can't win a fight, we can call for backup very quickly." I smiled.
"If even you can't win, then pulling us in will probably just give the enemy more bodies to pile up, right?" Tan Han joked.
"Not necessarily. Sometimes, numbers are justice. I'm leaving now. I'll leave the tea party in your hands." I took my tea party invitation and flew off on my broom.
Of course, before leaving, I marked all of them and did a quick test to make sure it worked.
The distance from here to the Sea Clan's territory wasn't far. The problem was finding the Sea Clan students once I reached the ocean—and getting the information I wanted would be even harder.
Before long, I reached the sea, but I didn't encounter any Sea Clan members. The ocean was vast, and there were only thirty students per academy at most. Subtracting the two I had already sent packing... it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Maybe I should make some noise to get their attention?
I recalled my unfinished "Resonance" technique. This modification skill, like "Floating," was applicable to most basic Evocation spellbooks. Previously, I had only tried it with the Rock Collapse Spell—the earth element.
What if I resonated with the water element?
The ocean was full of seawater, the place where water elements were most concentrated. Resonating with water here would be much simpler than with earth.
My only water spell was "Torrent Spell." Usually, I used it to condense water into a high-pressure jet for piercing damage. One shouldn't underestimate the damage water can do—after all, water cutters exist. As long as the pressure is high enough, water is incredibly powerful.
I reached out my hand and cast the Torrent Spell. Without the added pressure, the flowing water was harmless.
"Resonance... just like the rock resonance back then..."
I fumbled with the resonance technique. During this time, I also cast the Practical Learning Spell on myself. With the boost from that spell, my progress accelerated significantly.
But it still didn't seem like enough. I kept reinforcing the Spirit Language Suggestion of "Unity of Knowledge and Action."
"Water Element Spirit's Blessing!"
I looked up, thinking about what else could help me. Reviewing all my spellbooks, I realized I had almost forgotten the Element Spirit's Blessing.
This spell usually summoned a random spirit, but through my modifications, I could specify the element. I had almost used it for a fire spirit out of habit.
With the Water Element Spirit's Blessing, my affinity for the water element shot up. Furthermore, the water spirit granted me the power to control water, just as the fire spirit had granted me control over flames.
"Seawater... resonate with me!"
I gave a low shout. Under the blessing of the water spirit, the surrounding seawater began to churn. Combined with the resonance from the Torrent Spell—an Evocation spell I now had complete control over—a surge of seawater centered on me began to heave, sending out an incredible wave.
For a split second, I almost felt as if I could control the entire ocean. Wave upon wave of water resonated, layer upon layer of surf.
Standing at the very center, it was easy to fall into such an illusion.
But when I tried to exert more force, I realized I was still powerless in the end. I didn't have the innate talent of the Sea Clan, who possessed the Tide Blessing. I was relying purely on resonance and the power provided by the water spirit.
While I couldn't trigger a true tsunami, my actions were still terrifying.
In a way, it was a miniature tsunami. The waves I pushed out headed toward the shore, swallowing the coastline and greenery. But... this level of water wasn't enough to truly impact the coast. At most, it would destroy some buildings on the beach, let alone submerge the Fallen Land.
Still, mastering this technique was a formidable tool, and it gave me a deeper understanding and practical experience with "Resonance."
I wondered if I could do it if I teamed up with the Sea Clan...
"I found the source... It's that witch again!"
"That witch... she, she's coming toward me! Ah!"