The Wizard's Pursuit of Truth

Zack sneered, responding with his own Spiritual Power. ’But you still had your trump card, didn’t you? Wang Ya Harak. He was the final winner. The top three are as good as yours.’

’I was just your second choice. Does it even matter if I win or lose?’

He was utterly disheartened. Hanging his head, he dejectedly left Freshman Square.

Kaze Antuun: ”...”

The corner of his mouth twitched.

’If I really had that kind of power,’ he thought, ’how could the Antuun Clan be stuck in its current mediocre position?’

[Current Dark Badge Count: 8,233]

It was a staggering number, representing every Dark Badge Wang Ya had managed to find.

He stood on the back of a flying beast, the wild wind whipping through his hair. His gaze was fixed on the Dark Light pattern in his palm as a smile touched his lips.

The afterglow of the setting sun illuminated his fair cheeks. Finally, unbridled laughter resounded across the sky.

He had succeeded. It was a moment for joy, a moment for unrestrained laughter.

All his immense hardships had led to this result.

Images of the countless difficulties and setbacks from his Wizard Experiments flashed through his mind... He suddenly clenched his right fist with all his might, as if seizing the future itself.

...

The Teleportation Light Gate shimmered with faint ripples as a figure in a black Wizard Robe emerged. He had a fair, handsome face, and his eyes, set beside a tear-drop mole, shifted slightly.

At that moment, all eyes in Freshman Square were fixed on him.

Their gazes were filled with admiration, shock, appreciation, and even a defiant fighting spirit...

From within the crowd of freshmen, Matthew and Mona watched the distant figure ascend the square’s high platform. They saw him walk past one genius freshman from the Wizard Clans after another until, with a nod from the Teaching Wizard, he took the top spot. Rod Stark, the genius of the Stark Clan, stood behind him. Fox Granger, the genius of the Gobseck Clan, was behind him as well...

They were overcome with complicated feelings. Wang Ya had done something no one had even dared to imagine: he had taken first place in the Secret Realm competition.

He had already surpassed so, so many people, leaving them all far behind.

Wang Ya was one of the last freshmen to emerge from the Secret Realm. He had spent a great deal of time hunting for Dark Badges in every corner of the realm; he had practically scoured the entire Erosion Forest.

Surprisingly, Gray was also in the top ten, ranked seventh. He grinned and winked at Wang Ya.

It wasn’t just Gray; three other freshmen of common birth had also made it into the top ten, though their ranks were lower.

Wang Ya’s meteoric rise shattered the status quo of the top ten being dominated by freshmen from the Wizard Clans, knocking out many other outstanding geniuses. Right now, in the projection conference room, the heads of many clans were staring daggers at him, their teeth clenched in fury.

If looks could kill, Wang Ya would have died a hundred times over.

Because of one single person, Wang Ya Harak, the entire plan of the Wizard Family Alliance had been utterly shattered, throwing the situation into chaos.

With one piece of their plan shattered, the entire thing was in danger of collapsing.

They would have to spend a great deal of time recalculating and formulating a new, comprehensive plan.

Puni Stark’s expression was grim. Even though one of his own had taken second place, he was looking at the big picture... ’Those bastards from the School Lineages are probably laughing their heads off right now,’ he fumed.

Lando Wizard was indeed laughing heartily. He was about to receive an unprecedented payout from the betting pool.

His ten thousand Magic Stones were about to multiply seven or eightfold.

He couldn’t help but slap the back of the Wind Wizard next to him. Finally, no more slogging through miserable contract work for other Extraordinary Schools! Finally, he’d have enough resources to buy himself enough time for a good, long rest.

”I told you this kid had what it takes!”

Jialan Wizard also appeared on the high platform, but she looked none too pleased. Her face was a mask of resentment and regret. Grinding her teeth, she glared at the gloating Lando Wizard beside her and kicked him squarely.

’What had she missed out on? Tens of thousands of Magic Stones!’

’That was tens of thousands of Magic Stones, free for the taking!!’

Jialan Wizard stared intently at Wang Ya Harak, who frowned slightly in confusion.

”Wang Ya Harak, I’ll remember you,” Jialan Wizard said. Inwardly, she started grumbling, ’Magic Stones, so many Magic Stones I missed out on... If only I’d bet on him to get in the top three, it hurts so much... This kid is a walking gold mine.’

Wang Ya: ”...”

’What’s with her?’ Wang Ya thought, baffled. ’This Jialan Wizard is so strange.’

As the Teleportation Light Gate dissolved into dissipating light and faded away, a shimmering projection screen materialized in its place.

Gusai Wizard stood on the high platform, his solemn voice echoing across Freshman Square. ”I hereby declare the freshman Secret Realm competition officially over.”

”The top three are: Wang Ya Harak, Rod Stark, and Fox Granger.”

”The wizards ranked fourth through tenth are: ...”

As Gusai Wizard made his announcement, the news was simultaneously broadcast to all Wizards in the Dark Land Headquarters.

At the same time, within the Dark Information Hub, special permissions were automatically granted to the top three Wizards.

Deep within the first floor of the Dark Library, Kelan Wizard rose from her chair. An autumn breeze from the window rustled her hair. A smile graced her lips, as if her gaze could pierce through the building itself to see the proud, upright figure of the Wizard on Freshman Square.

”Junior Brother, I knew you’d surprise everyone. You really did it; you secured a spot in the top three.”

”With this, Master should be able to get his wish. I just hope you won’t be too surprised when the time comes.”

She recalled her conversation with the Illusory Dream Wizard from a few days prior.

Her smile deepened. The Illusory Dream Lineage was indeed too quiet; all told, there were only a handful of them. She was greatly looking forward to a new member joining their ranks.

...

”Yes! He won, he won! I bet on the right one! I did it! I’m rich!”

”How could this happen? It was four against one! How could they possibly lose? What kind of monster is this Wang Ya Harak?”

”No! My Magic Stones! The Magic Stones I spent half my life working to earn... they’re all gone! Give them back! Give them back to me...!”

In several Wizard Cities near the Dark Land Headquarters, betting pools had also been set up. Although they couldn’t view the events inside the Secret Realm directly, they could provide text-based updates to the betting Wild Wizards and clan Wizards.

Some Wizards collapsed to the ground in despair, unable to accept the results.

Most of the Wizards were ashen-faced. It was simply too ridiculous. They had all lost.

Only a small minority of bettors had won big, and they were beaming from ear to ear.

The betting on the Heaven-Filling Fire Secret Realm was stable, without many ups and downs.

But the betting on the Erosion Forest Secret Realm was a constant rollercoaster of twists and turns, keeping every Wizard who was following on the edge of their seat, their hearts in their throats.

By the end, during the four-against-one fight, almost everyone believed Wang Ya Harak was doomed to fail.

The number of people betting on the other Wizard Freshmen reached a new peak.

Who would have thought there would be such a massive upset, such an unbelievable turnaround?

This Wang Ya Harak had, against all reason, become the final winner.

The Law Enforcement Wizards began to clear out the Wild Wizards who were disrupting the peace, roughly shoving them out of the betting hall.

This was the nature of Wizard betting. If you chose correctly and won, you could have everything you ever wanted; the Magic Stone profits were enough to make anyone green with envy.

It required no effort, only foresight and guts.

But if you lost, you were left with nothing, half a lifetime of work gambled away.

...

”Within the Wizard Family Alliance, our noteworthy opponents are Puni Stark and Ocam Stark. These Wizard Clan heads are all extremely troublesome. When the time comes, it will be up to me, Saiya Wizard, and Erin Wizard to handle them.”

At the Salon Association meeting, the projection screen had long since been turned off. Xugus Wizard was explaining the specific details of their plan.

He also went into detail about the tricky opponents’ Witchcraft and the Wizard Paths they followed.

”Kaze Antuun is not to be underestimated either. He seems to have some ambiguous connection to the Rhine Lineage. Among the Extreme Wizard Apprentices, his Power is considerable.”

Wizard Yi Si nodded slightly. He had faced Kaze Antuun directly before and knew he was a formidable opponent.

Just then, a strange expression flickered across his face.

Saiya Wizard and Erin Wizard both froze for a moment, then subconsciously glanced toward Xugus Wizard at the head of the table.

Green Demon Wizard blurted out in shock, ”Four against one, and he still won? He took first place in the Secret Realm competition? That’s just outrageous!”

As he spoke, his eyes also shifted to the head of the table, just in time to meet the cold, indifferent gaze of Xugus Wizard.

Green Demon Wizard: ”...”