The chirping of seagulls stirred up the warm monsoon, and the whistles of steam freighters rose and fell along the docks of Horton Port.
The first day of the Harvest Moon was Horton Wizard Academy's annual enrollment day.
In the square in front of Horton Wizard Academy, the enrollment offices of popular schools like Force Field and Energy Shaping School were crowded with people, and the lines waiting to test for Wizard talent snaked like long dragons.
This was no longer the era of hundreds of years ago when the Old God Church hunted Wizards everywhere and carried out witch hunts with burnings.
Wizards have now become synonymous with power, mystery, erudition... and respectability, at least on the New Continent where Horton Wizard Academy is located.
It was precisely for this reason that whether noble or commoner, they would more or less bring their children of age to try and see if they had Wizard talent.
In contrast, only the Necromancy School was pitifully deserted.
After all, associating with corpses and flesh, and eventually becoming a lunatic—this was already people's stereotype of Necromancy Wizards.
No one wanted to become a lunatic or a weirdo, so very few apprentices voluntarily joined the Necromancy School.
The person in charge of enrollment for the Necromancy School was the Medium Diana, who sat upright in a long black lace dress, her somber aura under her wide-brimmed hat adding a few more "proofs".
Diana had long been accustomed to such cold treatment; the Necromancy School could only pick up the apprentices others had left over each year, which had almost become a customary practice.
"Good morning, Ms. Diana."
A voice broke the silence. Diana looked sideways and saw that Ivan had arrived near the Necromancy School enrollment office at some point. She returned a smile as a greeting.
Ivan's face bore unconcealed exhaustion, making his already thin and pale face look even more somber.
Diana asked kindly, "Mr. Ivan, are you ill?"
Ivan returned a wry smile.
"I haven't been sleeping very well these past few days, doing some... Wizard research related to corpses," he said vaguely.
What Ivan said was the absolute truth.
After completing the first Zombie refinement, Ivan did not rest but immersed himself day and night in the books of the Necromancy School to cram Wizard knowledge.
If he hadn't remembered that today was enrollment day, Ivan estimated he would still be soaking in the laboratory.
The Medium Diana smiled. She was also someone who had been through it and knew that Ivan was stressed about dealing with the academy's contract.
It was just that compared to academy Wizards, Ivan's theoretical foundation was too far behind; he couldn't even understand more complex spells, let alone research them?
The so-called "staying up late to research" was probably just putting on a brave face... Thinking of this, Diana shook her head.
For some reason, however, Diana suddenly felt the surrounding air turn cold, like a cold stream flowing through, making people's breathing somewhat uneven.
It was death aura...
She subconsciously tightened her collar and looked towards the source of the chill.
By Ivan's side, another person had appeared at some point. That person was shrouded in a large black cloak, extremely thin, the hood of the cloak pulled very low, the entire person wrapped tightly, not a bit of skin visible.
"Ivan, is this your... friend?" Diana felt a bit uncomfortable and subconsciously straightened up.
"Well, you could say that... She doesn't like to talk, don't mind her."
Ivan replied vaguely.
Diana's expression changed from confusion to strangeness, and then to astonishment.
Doesn't like to talk? Clearly, she can't talk!
Where did Mr. Ivan get this Necromantic creation from? It's definitely not just at the apprentice level...
Ivan couldn't hear Diana's silent grumbling. He looked at the Necromancy School enrollment office, which was deserted, and couldn't help but frown.
No wonder in the original owner's memory, Horton Wizard Academy even had plans to abolish the Necromancy School... It turned out they were completely leftovers.
Just as the two were talking, a burst of noise suddenly erupted from the crowded area, attracting Ivan's attention.
"That's a simulated battle between Wizards from different schools," Diana explained to Ivan at the right moment.
"This year, they specifically added the 'School Simulated Battle' enrollment segment..."
After Diana's explanation, Ivan finally understood that this so-called "School Simulated Battle" was essentially a performance-based enrollment method.
It was both to attract talented Wizard seeds to join Horton Wizard Academy and to make it convenient for apprentices to understand the characteristics of different schools.
Ivan asked curiously, "Which Wizard represents the Necromancy School?"
Diana hadn't expected Ivan to ask this and only hesitated before speaking.
"It's Corpse Eye John. Sorry, Ivan, I didn't discuss this with you before..."
Diana seemed a bit flustered. When she received the notification from the academy earlier, she hadn't considered Ivan at all and directly designated Corpse Eye John as the Wizard representative.
After all, Ivan was considered the weakest Wizard among the three of them.
Plus, Ivan was used to being reclusive on weekdays and didn't like interacting with them, so Diana hadn't considered Ivan at all, even forgetting to inform him.
She hadn't expected to be caught by the person concerned at this moment, which was naturally a bit awkward.
Ivan didn't mind much. He moved closer to the crowd, observing the two sides who were fiercely "demonstrating" their Wizard powers.
Currently, the ones in the simulated battle were the Protection School and the Transformation School, two First-Ring Wizards locked in intense combat.
The First-Ring Wizard of the Transformation School transformed himself into a two-meter-tall centaur warrior, charging back and forth in the arena recklessly, his attacks like a tide.
Visibly, he had also cast enhancement spells on himself such as Maniacal Muscles and Tough Bones.
The other Wizard from the Protection School was much more steady—Wizards from the Protection School were best at being as firm as a rock when being hit, and as for why they only took hits and didn't fight back, don't ask.
But the lack of offensive spells did not prevent the Protection School from becoming a popular school.
Wizard Apprentices graduating from the Protection School were often favored by nobles and the military, which meant stable jobs and generous pay.
As the "performance" ended, the two Wizards exited to applause and cheers.
Many of the onlookers had seen formal Wizards cast spells in person for the first time, and discussions rose and fell.
The next two Wizards to appear were from the Energy Shaping School and the Necromancy School's Corpse Eye John, respectively.
It must be mentioned that the representative of the Energy Shaping School—a young Wizard wearing a star-studded silver Wizard robe—looked much better than the gloomy-faced Corpse Eye John.
"Why are this Necromancy School Wizard's eyes red, and his head pointy...?"
"Lower your voice! A Necromancy School Wizard is not someone a worker like you can discuss! Be careful, you might be turned into a living corpse one day..."
Ivan looked at the dockworkers in front of him who were whispering. He originally wanted to make a joke and say creepily behind them, "You're right, how about we start with you...?"
Before he could speak, he saw that Diana had moved next to him at some point, her expression serious.
"Corpse Eye John... he might be in for some bad luck..."
What did this mean? Ivan wondered.
Diana lowered her voice: "This year, Horton Wizard Academy has a special Wizard seed, the son of Horton Port's Naval Commander, Anthony Saffman."
Ivan followed Diana's hint and looked over, only seeing a few fully armed soldiers surrounding a young man in shiny tall military boots with a cold expression, standing to the side, observing something.
"The Energy Shaping School really wants to win over this apprentice... He represents financial support and cooperation projects from the navy, so they are determined to make a big splash in this 'performance'."
Ivan realized. No wonder they arranged the weakest opponent, the Necromancy School, for the Energy Shaping School... So, they were planning to step on them to get ahead?
"The representative of the Energy Shaping School is First-Ring Wizard Matthew. He is the current Wizard star of the Energy Shaping School, holding several academic papers on spell improvement, and is also very strong..."
Before Diana could finish explaining in detail, the two saw that Corpse Eye John actually waved his hand and summoned a massive black shadow from the side.
As the black shadow revealed its true form, it almost caused an uproar among everyone present.
It was an extremely hideous stitched corpse!
It slowly lifted the tattered black robe wrapped around its body. Its greenish-gray skin was covered with rough stitch marks, like countless twisted centipedes.
Its massive abdomen bulged grotesquely, as if something was frantically wriggling inside, ready to burst out at any moment.
The Medium Diana couldn't help but hold her breath, her thoughts wavering slightly.
She hadn't expected Corpse Eye John to cultivate his stitched corpse to this level... It seemed it wasn't impossible to defeat Wizard Matthew from the Energy Shaping School.
At this moment, Diana suddenly saw Ivan next to her furrow his brow.
"Corpse Eye John is going to lose."