Wizard: Starts with Advanced Meditation

On the eve of the Five Crown Trials, all four academies were shrouded in a somber atmosphere as the apprentices made their final preparations for this crucial trial.

Meanwhile, in a secret underground chamber somewhere in the center of Maranseaux.

The room is filled with all sorts of grotesque torture instruments, and the walls and floors are soaked in thick, black blood, with a stench permeating the entire space.

In the corner, a tall figure stood quietly, hidden in the dim shadows.

His pristine white robes were stained with dark red blood, and drops of undried blood were still dripping from the hem, clearly indicating that he had just finished a brutal and inhumane research.

"Buzz—"

The next moment, the runic door to the secret chamber suddenly lit up, and a tall figure appeared amidst the flashing blue light.

The other person was also dressed in a pure white robe, but unlike the previous person, this white robe had a pattern of four interlocking gold rings shimmering on the back.

He is Leibts Rafini, a graduate of the Tower of Trials and a renowned Blood Domain Watcher.

"Huh? Why is nobody here?"

After entering, he glanced around, his tone revealing a hint of doubt.

Suddenly, a deep voice reached Leibtz's ears:

"I'm here……"

Leibtz turned his head sharply and saw that the blood-stained figure from before had quietly appeared behind him.

"Oh! Valerius, your ability to conceal your mental energy fluctuations is truly impressive; I couldn't even sense you."

Leibtz smiled and patted the other person on the shoulder.

Seeing that the other party remained silent for a long time, Leibtz looked puzzled and then asked:

"Why did you call me here? Do you need any more materials for your Golden Ring Crown?"

He paused, glanced at the blood-stained house and the other person's robes, which were completely soaked in blood, and said helplessly:

"Your speed is too exaggerated. You don't need to be in such a hurry."

"Vampires are a race with great research value. Which race like them wouldn't require thousands of years of study by us wizards to fully understand?"

"but……"

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly changed the subject, even he himself began to have some doubts, and muttered to himself:

"It is indeed strange, isn't it? Several hundred years have passed, the progress of this research shouldn't be this slow..."

As they were talking, Leibitz noticed Valerius's stiff expression and immediately realized that Valerius was a key researcher. He quickly changed the subject, saying:

"Hehe, you know what? Our people even speculate that the symbolic blood of the vampires might have been 'locked up' by their creator, hahaha..."

If we're talking about the wizarding academy most closely associated with the Golden Crown, then it's undoubtedly the Myriad Peaks, which has four branches across the continent.

After all, the forces behind both sides in the wizarding world were on good terms.

Therefore, after the five great families took control of the Oren plane and established the Golden Crown.

The myriad-tiered spire thus became, in effect, the "second authority" second only to the Golden Ring Crown, and was quite keen on handling some shady matters for the Golden Ring Crown, including this time...

"I heard... that so-called 'final trial'—was it your doing?"

Suddenly, Valerius asked in a low voice.

"Oh? Hahaha... That's right, you think my plan is pretty good too, right?"

Upon hearing this, Leibtz laughed loudly, completely oblivious to the intriguing expression on the other person's face.

"Those apprentices who won the Five-Crown Trial, while their talent may not compare to those from the center of our continent, are still considered geniuses by many, aren't they?"

Leibtz chuckled, his tone full of disdain for the branch school apprentices.

"My plan can both suppress the 'Resurrection Cult' that's showing signs of rebellion, and also use these champions to verify the claims of those Sorting Wizards when they went there..."

Just as Leibitz was praising his plan with great relish, he didn't notice at all that a pair of blood-red pupils suddenly lit up behind him.

suddenly!

--laugh!!

"Ugh—! You—!!"

Leibtz froze, his pupils contracted sharply, and he looked down in disbelief at his chest.

"Thump, thump—"

Valerius easily pierced Leibitz's chest with one hand, and Leibitz's living heart was firmly held in his hand, beating rapidly.

Immediately, Valerius pointed his index finger, and a blood-red rune appeared, burrowing into Leibtz's heart.

Before Leibitz could react, he saw a burst of bloody light suddenly appear on Valerius's hand. He then pulled his arm back and stuffed the heart back into Leibitz's body.

"Buzz—!!"

"Waaaaah! Waaaah!!"

After putting the other's heart back, Valerius let his arm fall, then slowly took a few steps back, looking down quietly at Leibtz who was struggling.

Suddenly, a large amount of blood gushed out from his chest, and wherever it touched, the wounds on his body healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Leibtz, however, was also affected by this power, becoming weak and unable to struggle.

"Thump—"

"You!... Ugh... Tsk... Pfft... Ugh!"

Leibtz collapsed to the ground, the blood solidifying into crimson lines that spread across his body.

His body convulsed, but his eyes looked blankly at Valerius in the distance.

He never expected that Valerius, who had worked with them for many years and dissected countless vampires, would actually know blood magic!

What's even more terrifying is that the other party is one of the leaders of the Five Rings Family—the Soya Valen Family!

Blatz struggled, trying to retrieve the communication crystal from his storage bag to inform the higher-ups at the Vulture Peak, but...

"Ahhh!!"

Seeing this, Valerius simply waved his hand, and the patterns instantly surged into Leibtz's hands, completely destroying them.

At the same time, Valerius slowly walked up to Leibtz and said disdainfully:

"Leibtz..."

As he spoke, his eyes suddenly rolled, and his pupils, which had turned blood red, turned back into a brilliant gold.

Leibitz didn't notice this abnormality; he had already lost consciousness and his body was twitching unconsciously.

"You really think... our target is your genius apprentice?"

Valerius's voice was as cold as frost.

"What we've always wanted are simply 'containers' to hold them, except that those 'containers' will inevitably be geniuses."

As he spoke, he bent down and gently ran his fingertips across Leibtz's chest, which was covered in blood-red markings, lifting the blood-red markings that seemed to writhe like living things.

"The arrangements you made were merely to lessen our suspicions. As for those poor champions..."

As he spoke, a hint of amusement flashed in Valerius's eyes.

"Since you don't care about their lives at all, then you can handle it yourself—clever little wizard, hehe..."

"..."

"No, perhaps... I could also arrange a trial for 'them', hehe..."

……

After a long while, the blood-red markings on Leibtz's body faded away, and with the sound of flesh writhing, he opened his eyes, which had turned into blood-red pupils.

Valerius glanced at it, then turned around and pulled out a blood-red communication crystal.

"Hehe, so Bevic and the others have already arrived. In that case, my arrangements can be simpler."

Putting away the crystal, Valerius's eyes rolled again, transforming into those ferocious, blood-red pupils.

"Tsk, who exactly left those clues for them?"

He muttered to himself, glancing at "Leibitz," who had slowly stood up.

"It seems there's a mole among us."

(Please take a look at the comments; I'd like to ask you some questions about certain plot points in this chapter.)