Of course, the dark wizard's intention wasn't to conquer an entire fully-formed plane. Rather, he likely imagined sneaking through the space-time rift to plunder abundantly on the other side. Beings of first level or higher invariably stood at the pinnacle of mortal existence in any realm they entered. Their extraordinary powers could easily level cities and topple kingdoms. Dark wizards were notorious for their destructive capabilities, often surpassing ordinary wizards.
They might not conjure vast armies like the wizards in the Sanctums or summon magic capable of annihilating entire continents, but their individual combat prowess was something to behold. While the black wizard's words revealed his greed and lack of sanity, there was a glimmer of longing in the eyes of both the other dark wizard and Master Andis as they listened. However, such thoughts remained mere fantasies; fully-formed planes were not so easily stumbled upon.
The many Sanctums and Knights' Halls in the wizarding world never ceased their celestial explorations each year, but alas, the fully-formed planes had either been directly claimed by wizard civilizations or drawn into wizard alliances long ago. Finding an unexplored, virgin plane was akin to searching for a needle in a haystack!
Let alone fully-formed planes; even locating a resourceful half-plane would be a stroke of great fortune for the dark wizards of Mosobla City. The only concern was that if the rift led to a worthless, dilapidated plane, it would be an effort wasted. In fact, the likelihood of it being a ruined plane was high, as such types constituted the majority of the astral spaces.
While the three black wizards conversed quietly, the annual assessment in the training ground had entered its latter stages. The battles of the low-level and entry-level apprentices had concluded early on, leaving only a few intermediate and high-level apprentices still competing.
Among the high-level apprentices, the arena was filled with the loudest commotion. The training ground served as a robust location provided by the Black Magic Academy for apprentices to trial their spells, and it was indubitably solid. However, even so, numerous deep craters appeared in the ground as a result of the intense duels between high-level apprentices. Occasionally, waves of elemental energy rippled through the air above the training ground, resulting from the magical clashes between the high-level apprentices and the protective magical shield overhead.
Because the three official black wizards presiding over the assessment were distracted in conversation, the seven owl academy monitors flew around the periphery of the training ground, prepared to intervene should any accidents arise from the ongoing duels among the high-level apprentices.
By this point, twenty-some entry-level apprentices had met their deaths, seven low-level apprentices had fallen, and even two intermediate apprentices had been taken down. Surprisingly, despite the greater intensity and destructive capabilities of the high-level apprentices' spells, none had perished, thanks to the watchful owl monitors.
"I believe Lady Qioni has been a bit too lenient in nurturing these youngsters," one of the chatting wizards noted.
"If we followed the apprentice elimination rules from the Black Domain of the Western Isles, all of them should be thrown into the Monster Forest or the Underground Corpse Caves for trials."
"Only the ones who survive, wielding ten skulls from peers or the cores of magical beasts, should earn their just rewards, not like this, allowing these kids to challenge each other freely."
"What are they doing, playing house?" Master Andis, with his cold demeanor, suddenly interjected, ignoring the low conversation of the two other black wizards.
His comment caused the surrounding atmosphere to drop a few degrees. The two wizards exchanged glances, momentarily stunned. They had become black wizards because they were wanted by the Sanctums, unlike Andis, who appeared to have been a dark wizard since his days as an apprentice and was rumored to hail from the Western Isles.
Despite the fact that they had grown indifferent to the value of lives since becoming dark wizards—countless weak apprentices had met their ends at their hands over the years—they found it hard to adapt to the icy cruelty and dark rules that flowed naturally from Andis's speech.
One of the black wizards chuckled awkwardly, saying, "If we truly followed the Black Domain's apprentice elimination mechanism, I doubt even one in ten of these kids would survive."
"Hmph, what's the point of keeping useless waste alive?" Andis scoffed coldly.
The black wizard felt a headache coming on; as an official dark wizard, he was aware of the circumstances within the wizarding world and the state of the Black Domain. He shook his head, saying, "The Black Domain can maintain this elimination mechanism because the Western Isles have enough island continents supplying a continuous stream of apprentice seeds."
"Even the smaller islands have several human kingdoms—with their sizeable populations.
"Contrast that with our Shadowy Lands… heh, though it's said to have flourished in ancient times, it ultimately belongs to the heartland of wizard civilization."
"Let's not even mention the Belen Empire, a top-tier force in the wizarding world off to our side; even the surrounding Sanctums and Knights' Halls are not something we can provoke," the black wizard explained.
Surviving amidst the many competing factions was no easy feat. Not to mention, dark wizards were overwhelmingly rejected by the Sanctums and Knights' Halls of the wizarding world. Each time they ventured to the surface for plunder, be it in pursuit of people or treasure, it was a risky affair.
Having a few hundred apprentices to maintain the basic operation of this magical academy was already a result of great efforts from the three dean leaders. If they were to replicate the rules of the Black Domain entirely, rest assured that soon only two or three apprentices would remain alive!
This was far from the initial intentions of the three deans; they saw potential in these apprentices…
The black wizard's rebuttal made Andis narrow his eyes, an icy glint flickering within, causing the two black wizards opposite him to tremble slightly. If they had doubts about Andis's strength before, it was now abundantly clear that he was indeed a powerful first-level wizard, on the brink of breaking through to second level.
The aura of coldness he projected was indicative of the elemental embodiment characteristic that only a second-level wizard possessed.
Speaking of Master Andis also connected him to Sain and Lina. Two months ago, during the altercation between Scarface Chock and Sain in the Abyssal Street, one of the significant reasons behind the clash was Chock's ambition to attract Andis's attention during the annual assessment and become his disciple.
Among the intermediate apprentices at the Black Magic Academy, only the strong and temporarily mentor-less Lina was his fiercest competitor.