Wizarding Age: I can analyze everything

Chapter 91 There are too many people

Since the news of the trial was released, it has attracted the attention of countless people, both openly and secretly.

Everyone wanted to know which three wizard apprentices would ultimately stand out and become the elites representing Dawn City in the competition.

And as countless people eagerly awaited, this day finally arrived.

The trial site was set up in the mountains more than 50 kilometers outside the city.

Early in the morning, the mountains were crowded with wizard apprentices who came to watch the battle.

The four major wizarding academies, the city guards, the Silver Legion, and even some mercenary groups sent their wizarding apprentices specifically to come here.

Wizard apprentices, who were rarely seen in the outer city in the past, were now everywhere on the mountainside. As far as the eye could see, there were dense crowds of people, numbering at least tens of thousands, making it a rare and spectacular sight.

At the mountaintop, a group of wizard apprentices who were participating in the trials had gathered.

Pei Ze looked around and estimated that there were no fewer than five hundred people in the densely packed crowd.

It should be noted that those who dare to sign up for the trial are at least Level 3 Wizard Apprentices, and are either elites of the academy who have cultivated advanced meditation techniques, or veteran apprentices who have accumulated years of experience at the Level 3 Wizard Apprentice level.

Anyone here would be considered an elite in any other place.

These 500-plus people, if taken to the interdimensional battlefield, would be enough to wage a medium-intensity war.

It is worth mentioning that although the crowd appeared to be large and crowded, it was actually clearly divided into four parts.

A group of seemingly young boys and girls gathered together, all dressed in gray robes and wearing badges on their chests, signifying their identity as students of a wizarding academy.

These people are subtly divided into four smaller groups, each representing one of the four major wizarding academies: Shadow, Violet, Tower, and Moonstone.

Among them, the wizarding apprentices of the Tower Academy unanimously gathered around Pei Ze, implicitly taking him as their leader, even the senior students did so.

This scene attracted a lot of attention.

Many scrutinizing gazes swept over his face and the first-year badge on his chest, some with doubt, others with curiosity.

To the right of the academy group was a group of wizard apprentices dressed in gray robes with leather armor underneath, their demeanor very efficient.

They belonged to the city guard.

To the left of the academy group was another group of apprentices wearing grey robes over leather armor.

Compared to the wizard apprentices who came from the city guards, they were more refined and powerful, with a faint but sharp, bloody killing intent emanating from their bodies.

Undoubtedly, these people were wizard apprentices from the Silver Legion.

Only the Silver Light Soldiers, who have fought on the interdimensional battlefield for many years, possess such a fierce aura.

The last group of people were dressed in various ways and stood in a scattered and chaotic manner, giving the impression of a mob.

They were wizard apprentices from various mercenary groups and adventure teams.

Compared to the other three groups, these people were noticeably less energetic and spirited.

In fact, these people were indeed not as strong as the members of the other three groups.

They came to participate in the trial only hoping to try their luck.

What if I get incredibly lucky and pass the trial?

That would be a huge profit!

They made no attempt to conceal their purpose, talking loudly about the matter amidst laughter and banter, which drew disdainful and contemptuous glances from the other three groups.

Pei Ze shook his head secretly upon hearing this.

These people don't even think about it properly. The purpose of the Dawn Council holding this trial is to select elites to represent Dawn City and Crimson Lotus City in a duel.

Since this involves the distribution of profits across an entire plane, the Dawn Council will undoubtedly be extremely cautious in this matter.

Even if someone is truly lacking in ability and gets a spot in the competition purely through incredible luck, would the Dawn Council allow that person to participate in the competition?

The answer is obvious.

The lucky one will most likely be eliminated from the competition due to an accident, or even disappear without a trace. Then the Dawn Council will select another powerful wizard apprentice to fill the vacancy.

This was almost predictable.

To be fair, this trial was indeed fair.

But that was prepared for a very small elite.

They can compete fairly for three competition spots on this stage prepared by the Dawn Council.

As for the others, they are merely green leaves to set off the flowers.

If someone doesn't know their place and tries to be a flower, they'll end up being uprooted.

Unfortunately, few people can see this clearly when faced with the temptation of huge profits.

Just as Pei Ze was deep in thought, another group of people were secretly observing him from the other side.

"That person is Pei Ze?"

The speaker was a tall, slender young man.

He had a pair of ice-blue eyes, and his features were as hard as ice sculptures, exuding a chilling aura.

He wore a black apprentice robe, and the badge on his chest was engraved with a winding, deep river.

River of the Underworld!

The emblem of the Shadow Academy.

Around the young man, more than a dozen wizard apprentices gathered, surrounding him like stars around the moon.

As soon as the young man finished speaking, another young man with short, reddish-brown hair and three black lines painted on his left cheek immediately said, "It should be Pei Ze. Apart from him, no other first-year student at Tower Academy can command such obedience from the upperclassmen."

A black-haired youth with an earring sneered, "The guys from Tower Academy are getting more and more useless. A bunch of third-year students are leading a group of first-year students. After Yin Xue became a wizard, are they all without any third-year students?"

"That's not how it works." The red-haired youth shook his head solemnly. "I heard that this Pei Ze killed a drinker and a legendary knight who colluded with heretics in one night during the previous operation to wipe out the Hand of Deep Resentment. If that's true, then his strength should not be underestimated."

The black-haired youth scoffed dismissively, saying disdainfully, "You believe such a rumor?"

"How could a newly promoted level three wizard apprentice possibly kill a legendary knight?"

"Even if he did manage to kill two legendary knights, he must have used some special method—either a potion or some powerful consumable magical item!"

Upon hearing this, several students from the Shadow Academy around him nodded in agreement.

They didn't believe that a first-year student could defeat a legendary knight fair and square; after all, it was simply too unbelievable.

It's worth noting that even Monvi, who is widely recognized as the top student at Shadow Academy, couldn't achieve this level in his first year.

The red-haired youth shrugged, looked at the blue-eyed youth who had remained silent, and said, "Monvi, what do you think?"

Meng Wei glanced in Pei Ze's direction and said indifferently, "I'm not interested."

Whether the rumors of Pei Ze killing the legendary knight are true or false, it means nothing to him.

There were at least twenty or thirty wizard apprentices present, all capable of killing legendary knights.

Of these people, only Sang Fan and Su Shouhai are truly worthy of his attention as opponents.

As for the others, they are nothing to fear.

At this moment, Meng Wei's expression suddenly changed, and he looked up at the front.

"They're here."

The others also realized what was happening and followed his gaze.

Three wizards dressed in white robes appeared on the previously empty ground a hundred meters away.

Soon, others also noticed the wizard's appearance.

The once noisy mountaintop quickly fell silent.

Everyone stared intently at the three wizards, their expressions ranging from tense and solemn to expectant and excited.

Of the three wizards, the leader was tall and wore a silver mask that covered the left side of his face. On the right side of his face, which was exposed, there were no eyeballs in the eye sockets, but instead a silver pocket watch face.

The minute and hour hands inside were still moving slowly.

The masked wizard looked around, a sinister smile suddenly appearing on his face.

There are too many people.

Before the puzzled wizard apprentices could figure out what he meant, the masked wizard suddenly opened his mouth and let out a howl.

The sound was extremely sharp, and it resounded throughout the mountaintop in an instant.

Pei Ze felt as if a steel needle had pierced his brain through his eardrum. The pain made his vision go black, and he staggered back two steps, almost fainting.

"The Banshee's Wail!"

Pei Ze immediately thought of a famous spell.

This spell is created by imitating the howl of a banshee. Those who are hit by it will suffer mental damage at best, and death at worst. It is incredibly powerful.

Pfft!Pfft!

A series of muffled thuds came from all around as bodies fell to the ground.

Amidst terrifying screams, many wizard apprentices rolled their eyes back and fainted on the spot without uttering a sound.

In less than two seconds, more than half of the wizard apprentices collapsed to the ground.

Two or three seconds later, the extremely sharp howling finally stopped.

Pei Ze shook his head, finally calming the dizziness. He looked around and was surprised to find that there were less than a hundred wizard apprentices still standing.

"Get these overconfident fools out of here!"

The masked wizard sneered and waved his hand.

Immediately, a group of soldiers strode down from the mountaintop, carrying away the unconscious wizard apprentices one by one.

The wizard apprentices who were still standing watched this scene in silence, their expressions complex.

Clearly, that "howl" was the first test, designed to weed out those who lacked the strength to take advantage of the situation.

And the results were very significant.

More than four-fifths of the participants were eliminated.

In particular, the wizard apprentices from mercenary groups and adventurer groups were completely wiped out; not a single one survived.

Those who are still standing on the mountaintop at this time are basically the elite of the elite.

Pei Ze sighed inwardly.

He guessed that the Dawn Council might take measures to screen out a group of people, but he did not expect the screening to be so intense, eliminating more than four-fifths of the participants on the spot.

Moreover, they used such swift and decisive methods.

"But that shouldn't have been a real banshee's howl. The power of a ninth-ring spell isn't that weak," Pei Ze said thoughtfully.

If it were a true ninth-ring spell, probably no wizard apprentice would still be alive.

The masked wizard must have just cast a weakened version of the spell created based on the Banshee's Howl.

Before long, the unconscious wizard apprentices were all taken away.

The mountaintop suddenly felt much more spacious.

The masked wizard glanced around, nodded in satisfaction, and with a casual wave of his hand, a two-meter-high portal of light appeared out of thin air in front of everyone.

"This is the entrance to the maze."

The masked wizard spoke calmly.

"Three rainbow gems are placed in the very center of the maze. Apprentices who obtain the rainbow gems and hold them until the end of the 72-hour trial period will receive a spot in the competition."

"During the trial, the use of potions, scrolls, external golems, and consumable magical items is prohibited."

"Once the trial begins, everyone will receive a teleportation ring. The ring is imbued with teleportation magic, which, once activated, will instantly take you out of the maze and back here. However, that also means you have given up the trial."

"Now everyone enters the maze in order, one person at a time."

After explaining the rules of the trial, the masked wizard did not give everyone time to react and immediately announced the start of the trial.

The crowd looked at each other in bewilderment, but soon someone stepped forward and walked toward the portal.

Pei Ze also took a step forward and followed the group into the portal.

Before long, all the wizard apprentices disappeared behind the portal, and the mountaintop became empty in the blink of an eye, leaving only three wizards.

With a casual wave of his hand, the masked wizard caused the light gate to instantly shatter into countless light particles. Under the influence of an invisible force, all the light particles shot into the sky like arrows, exploding suddenly in the high sky and radiating patches of hazy light, which intertwined to form a huge and unparalleled light curtain.

The apprentices, who were eagerly waiting on the mountainside, noticed the appearance of the light screen immediately and craned their necks to look up at the sky, their faces showing excitement.

"It's finally starting!"

"It's finally starting! I've been waiting impatiently."

"I wonder what form the trial will take?"

"Look, there's a picture."

Amidst the astonished gazes of the crowd, the light screen high in the sky quickly displayed a series of separated images.

A figure is presented at the center of each image.

They were none other than wizard apprentices participating in the trials.

However, someone soon realized that something was wrong.

"Huh, why are there so few people?"

"Indeed, I clearly saw four or five hundred people on the mountaintop just now, how come there are less than a hundred left now?"

Where did everyone else go?

The crowd discussed amongst themselves, their expressions puzzled.

Just then, an apprentice suddenly exclaimed, "Someone is coming down the mountain!"

Everyone quickly turned to look and saw a group of soldiers carrying people down from the mountaintop, hurrying down the mountain with great speed.

"It's those who participated in the trials!"

"What happened? Why are so many people unconscious?"

Curious apprentices quickly stepped forward to stop the soldiers and, upon questioning them, soon learned what had happened on the mountaintop.

As the news spread, the crowd erupted in uproar.

What kind of operation is it to eliminate more than 80% of the participants before the trial has even officially started?

In an instant, everyone gained a deeper understanding of the severity of the trial.

"It's a good thing I didn't go, otherwise I would have been incredibly embarrassed."

Gu Lin patted his chest, a look of relief on his face.

She had previously considered joining in the fun, just to get some exercise.

It seems fortunate that she didn't sign up impulsively, otherwise she might have been one of those carried down the mountain.

That would be so embarrassing!

"Speaking of which, where is Pei Ze?"

Gu Lin muttered to himself as he searched for Pei Ze's figure on the light screen.

No sooner had he finished speaking than a soft hum came from beside him.

She turned her head, rolled her eyes at Yin Guang, and said, "Hey, don't be so petty, okay? That incident happened so long ago, why are you still so annoyed with Pei Ze?"

(End of this chapter)