Chapter 3

"All apprentices who have completed the talent assessment and passed, proceed to the central square immediately! The selection of major direction is about to begin!"

The cold voice broadcast repeated continuously in the hall, urging the crowd to move.

Jie Ming had just come down from the test area and hadn't had time to sort out his thoughts before he was pushed by a stream of people toward the exit on the other side of the hall.

He could feel the anxiety and confusion permeating the apprentices around him.

The emotions brought by the assessment results hadn't been fully digested before they were pushed to the next fate-deciding link like ducks being driven to the shelves.

The hall exit led directly to the huge square in the center of the academy, and the moment Jie Ming surged out of the gate with the crowd, the scene before him made him unable to help but exclaim.

This square was unimaginably large, like a miniature city. The ground paved with black shimmering material extended to the end of the line of sight, reflecting the light cast from the air.

And what truly attracted all eyes were the huge sorcery images suspended above the square that made adrenaline soar.

Wizards fought on different plane battlefields where flesh and blood flew, powerful magic fell like meteors, and every attack was accompanied by heart-shaking sound effects and light and shadow effects.

Ferocious alien creatures, collapsed ancient ruins, huge magic constructs shuttling through the starry sky... all of this was presented in the most intuitive and eye-catching way.

Below the screen, lines of huge rune characters flickered with dazzling light:

【Glory is ahead!】

【Wealth is infinite!】

【The road to rapid promotion!】

【Join the combat department, achieve legend!】

Before long, a huge wizard phantom condensed from the light and shadow in mid-air, his expression serious and cold, and his voice echoed over the square without emotion, as if from a distant starry sky:

"Welcome to Plane Nuolun Academy. The academy will provide you with the top-tier supernatural knowledge to help you ignite the fire of spirit and build the ring of truth."

"But power is not without cost! According to the principle of equivalent exchange, every apprentice needs to sign a contract with the academy, and after reaching a certain strength or studying for a certain period, go to other planes connected by the star track network to open up territory for the Federation and the academy!"

The wizard phantom's gaze swept coldly over the dense crowd below, his voice without any ups and downs:

"Now, you need to make a choice between two major directions—the 【Combat Department】 representing power and conquest! And the 【Logistics Department】 representing creation and support!"

"Next, you have one day to choose your major direction; grasp this only opportunity well, once chosen, it cannot be changed!"

After speaking, the wizard phantom dissipated.

A huge magic light screen then rose in the center of the square, dividing the square clearly like a barrier.

The light screen also carried huge signs: 【Combat Department】 and 【Logistics Department】.

Below, various smaller light screens marked specific sub-items; the combat department had factions like 【Soul Department】, 【Evocation Department】, 【Summoning Department】, etc.

On the other side were 【Alchemy】, 【Potions】, 【Enchanting】, 【Constructs】...

Standing in the areas closest to the apprentices were some mentors or senior apprentices of the academy, selling hard for the final promotion.

"Choose the combat department! The shortest contract period! The most generous resource tilt! The front line is the best whetstone and the fastest springboard to high-tier wizards!" A middle-aged male wizard with an excited face shouted loudly in the combat department area, his voice carrying an incitement to people's hearts.

"The academy will provide you with the most elite spell models, the most powerful magic equipment! And the opportunity to obtain the inheritance of ancient ruins, grabbing wealth and glory belonging to you in countless planes!"

This scene made Jie Ming a little dazed: "Oh my, this recruitment fair... where the hell did this bring me, am I back in the country again?"

And besides these things with a strong sense of deja vu, at the very front of the combat department area, a group of powerful wizards stood on a temporary stage built by magic.

They wore uniform standard robes, wore badges of at least Tier 1 official wizards, and the proportion of Tier 1 wizards was very small; the vast majority were Tier 2 wizards, and there were even several Tier 3 wizards!

From the academy's publicity, these wizards were all alumni who participated in military service in the previous batch, returning wizards who "temporarily withdrew from the front line to return to school to guide the freshmen."

They either stood tall or chatted casually, their eyes carrying the sharpness and confidence honed on the battlefield, and their bodies exuded powerful auras.

"Look! That is Mentor Mars, a Tier 3 wizard! He just returned from performing a mission in the Red Flame Plane, and it is said that he beheaded several powerful fire elemental lords!" An apprentice next to him whispered, his eyes filled with longing and awe.

"And that young one over there, an official wizard who has only been promoted to Tier 2 for a short time! I heard that he completed the contract mission after only five years of participating in the war, and has been honing himself on the battlefield ever since."

"... Tsk, aren't we all apprentices who just came for the test today? Why do you guys know so much?!" Jie Ming couldn't help but complain in his heart.

Of course, he also knew that country bumpkins like him were still in the minority; many apprentices with qualifications were nobles themselves, and the nobles of this world seemed to be wizards.

Influenced by what they saw and heard, it was normal for these apprentices to know some things about the wizarding world.

Jie Ming walked to a combat department promotion area for the "Puppet Department," and the light screen in front clearly marked the contract conditions for this department:

After joining the Puppet Department, apprentices have ten years of study time, and after reaching ten years of study time or reaching the strength of a Tier 1 official wizard, they will be sent to the battlefield.

During this period, basic knowledge and high-tier knowledge related to the Puppet Department are all open for free, and there is a resource supply equivalent to 100 points of credit every month.

Contractors must serve on the battlefield for seven years or obtain Tier 2 military merit to end their military service...

Jie Ming walked through the combat department's promotion area and scanned it all the way; the conditions of other combat departments were about the same.

There was no change in study time and strength requirements, and knowledge related to the department was also open for free.

The difference was probably the value of the monthly resource supply and the time of military service.

Basically, they could give 100 to 150 points of credit for resource supply every month, and the military service time ranged from 5 years to 15 years.

After spending a long time looking from beginning to end, Jie Ming turned his head to look at the other side.

In sharp contrast to the hustle and bustle of the combat department was the relatively deserted flow of people in the Logistics Department area.

The mentors here basically had no intention of promoting, and even if someone asked, they just pointed to the light screen impatiently.

Jie Ming roughly looked at the contract conditions they gave, and understood the reason for the deserted Logistics Department.

The maximum study time hadn't changed, but everything else had basically changed.

All Logistics Department departments only provided the most basic knowledge, and subsequent advanced knowledge needed to be exchanged with credits, and only basic resources worth a mere 10 credits were provided every month.

And... a military service period that was shockingly long—thirty years!

The conditions proposed by all Logistics Department departments were like they were carved from the same mold; except for some differences in names, the rest were exactly the same.

"What kind of joke is this, a thirty-year contract period?" An apprentice complained in a low voice, "This is too long, the shortest in the combat department is only five years!"

Stimulated by such obvious welfare differences and intuitive "success stories," many people had longing for power and glory flashing on their faces, and began to surge toward the combat department area quickly.

Those apprentices with high talent were the key targets for the combat department mentors to win over.

Jie Ming's level six talent also made him a target of attention for combat department mentors, and several mentors' gazes had already swept toward him intentionally or unintentionally.

However, in this torrent of fanaticism, Jie Ming appeared out of place.

Having experienced the information explosion in his past life, he was not confused by those dazzling magic images and shiny "winners," and the nervousness that he might become an experiment subject at any time made him observe constantly, and he soon discovered some strange things.

"There are ninety-seven wizards who returned from the combat department... strange, why is it such a number?" Jie Ming frowned.

These wizards who had just returned from the battlefield had a very unique temperament, not to mention that the returning wizards of the combat department were now gathered on the stage, being promoted by the combat department mentors like exhibits.

Although the Logistics Department on the other side didn't have very conspicuous promotions, the returning wizards were basically gathered in one place, and when they looked at the stage of the returning wizards of the combat department, playful expressions flashed in their eyes from time to time.

Jie Ming suspected that these returning wizards should have accepted tasks similar to cooperating with the promotion, which was why they were all gathered together.

Then the question came, why were there only ninety-seven people?

Since it was "cooperating with the promotion," why wasn't the number a round one, for example... one hundred?

This was a wizard academy, famous for its rigor and pursuit of knowledge; theoretically, such a situation of "not being able to make up a round number" should not appear in such a public occasion.

"Two possibilities. In the wizarding world, because of some special wizard rules or numerical symbolism, ninety-seven is indeed an 'integer.' Two..."

Thinking of a possibility, Jie Ming's face became a bit ugly: "... They don't have the ability to make up one hundred."

What did it mean not to have the ability?

Of course it was... everyone else died!

These ninety-seven people were very likely the only survivors of that batch who were sent to the battlefield, experienced layers of screening, and countless killings!