As one of the Three Great Families that controls the power of the academy, the Watkin Family also occupies a significant area.
Unlike the Lidia family’s castle, the Watkin family’s residence is styled more like classical gardens and ancient towers, where structures resembling towers rise silently amidst a dense jungle filled with mutated magicalized plants.
Monde Watkin is the Dean, and he lives in one of the three-level Troika Towers; his location is particularly advantageous.
At this moment, in the simply furnished reception room, Monde was taking a nap on a reclining chair with two Shadow Ant servants attending to him on either side.
Having sensed the activity at the Ant Being barrier and the subsequent transformation of the Troika Tower’s defenses, he got up and paced to the window, peering outside through the glass.
“Such an admirable and resolute junior, praiseworthy indeed,” Monde remarked with a complex expression, his gaze containing both admiration and indifference.
Talents must be used for one’s own benefit to truly be considered praiseworthy.
Those who fail to recognize this often end up buried in the dust of history. The question is, which type is Sorcerer Ivan?
Suddenly, the protective force within the reception room became abnormally dense, drawing Monde’s attention. In his line of sight, a portal seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
“Sorcerer Ivan, what are you trying to do?” In face of this unexpected event, Monde maintained his composure, approaching the portal with a stern face, and called inside.
The two Shadow Ant servants unconsciously shadowed him.
“Dean Watkin, please come in for a talk,” Ivan’s voice emerged from inside the portal.
Hearing this, a mocking smile spread across Monde’s face. As an old sorcerer, he had roamed the Moon Pincer Peninsula over three hundred years earlier, whereas Ivan was nowhere to be found at that time.
Displaying such trivial tricks in front of him was truly ridiculous.
Monde stood still, prepared to mock, when an extremely unusual disturbance erupted behind him, and danger had quietly descended.
“Bam!”
A shadowy figure violently collided with Monde, who stood at the forefront; the speed and strength forced Monde to acknowledge the serious threat.
In a haste, Monde had no chance to avoid and could only cast an instant Plant-type talent spell for protection.
One side launched a sudden attack, while the other defended in desperation.
The collision sent Monde tumbling into the portal.
The aggressor followed suit, entering right after him.
In the blink of an eye, Monde found himself in a small, dimly lit space. Looking over his shoulder, he saw that the portal had closed, and the attacker was clearly a two-winged ant beast.
“Sorcerer Ivan, that’s quite a technique, turning the academy’s own Shadow Ant servants to your aid,” said Monde with an ashen face; he distinctly remembered that the ambusher had initiated the attack from where one of the Shadow Ant servants had been positioned.
This clearly indicated that the Shadow Ant servant had been replaced, an act that could only have been carried out by someone not only familiar with Shadow Ant servants, but with a deeper motive still.
Furthermore, there was a scent on the two-winged ant beast reminiscent of the Shadow Ant servant that Monde could not ignore.
“A minor trick, not worth mentioning,” Ivan’s figure appeared, a mere projection formed of energy particles.
“That creature is your reliance, a Level 3 creature. Do you even know what you are doing?” Monde glared furiously, nearly uncontrollable.
As the Dean of the academy, a veteran Level 2 Sorcerer, to be ambushed and outwitted by a mere Level 1 Sorcerer under his command, was a humiliation of the highest order.
“I merely wish to convince you through this act.”
“Has anyone ever told you that your way of convincing people is very inappropriate?”
“After my diligent work, the Ant King Barrier Array has now been transformed into the Ant King Rebirth Cocoon Array, which can aid in advancing to Level 2 Sorcerer. I hope the academy can fully support my promotion to Level 2 Sorcerer in return for my efforts in repairing the barrier,” said Ivan.
Ivan ignored the Dean’s dissatisfied tone and stated his intentions directly.
Earlier, upon realizing that Dean Watkin had silently returned to the academy, likely targeting him, Ivan naturally didn’t wait idly. After some consideration, he decided to seize the initiative.
Strike first to gain the upper hand!
As long as Dean Watkin was taken care of, Ivan wasn’t concerned about anyone else.
He meticulously orchestrated a plan, and, without anyone noticing, he brought Dean Watkin to this secluded space.
“Sorcerer Ivan, haven’t you seen the numerous Level 1 Sorcerers at the academy? How long have you been here, and how much have you done for the academy to deserve such a valuable opportunity—what makes you think—”
“Swamp Ant, teach this man a lesson. Let him acknowledge his situation.”
As Monde started posturing as the Dean, attempting to distort facts and downplay Ivan’s contributions, Ivan became somewhat irritated and ordered the swamp ant to take action to sober up a certain individual.
“As you command!”
“How dare you!”
The swamp ant had been eagerly awaiting Ivan’s command. Layers of rock-like armor appeared on its dark body, enveloping it in an impenetrable defense—an unusual application of its ‘Boulder-Marsh Control’ ability.
It pounced immediately, its speed astonishing.
‘Lightning Fire Lava Ball’
Confronted with the charging Level 3 creature, Monde calmly unleashed a fiery flames lava ball imbued with lightning, aiming it at the two-winged ant beast.
The swamp ant had its own countermeasures; the originally faint earthy yellow runes lines on its body became vivid, casting a mesmerizing glow that spread outwards.
This was its ability—Gravity Manipulation—which allowed it to arbitrarily increase or decrease the gravity within a specific area.
The swamp ant’s speed abruptly increased, while the fiery flames lava ball correspondingly slowed down by half a notch. With the simultaneous increase and decrease in speed, the swamp ant cleverly avoided the fiery flames lava ball.
After the must-succeed spell attack missed its target, Monde only felt a heaviness come upon him, forcing him to confront the approaching two-winged ant beast head-on.
“Old chap, let me loosen those bones for you,” the swamp ant probably didn’t even notice that it actually harbored a deep-seated resentment towards the Mongna Ant Land Cottage for having trapped it for so long.
Due to the puppet’s heart, it was unable to hold any disrespect towards Ivan, leaving it no choice but to direct its resentment towards someone else, like the present Dean Watkin, for instance.
“Boom! Boom!”
When the sorcerer got close, spells were cast less fluidly.
Most sorcerers possess not inconsiderable close-combat abilities, and Monde was no exception; however, compared with the Level 3 King Blood creature that was the swamp ant, he had significant shortcomings.
There was also the disadvantage brought about by the terrain.
This resulted in Monde, a Level 2 Sorcerer, actually being at a disadvantage in the fight.
“As I thought, you’re badly hurt, your movements have become sluggish.”
Outside the small space, Ivan was originally prepared to lend a hand, but after witnessing the slightly crazed swamp ant overpowering Monde in their fight, he extinguished the thought of entering the fray himself. Instead, he just manipulated the power of the Ant Being barrier, causing the small space to continually transform into another form.
Inside the small space, Monde was fuming, but he didn’t lose his composure, continually seeking a chance to break out.
Falling into a disadvantageous position for a while, he finally found an opportunity, shook off the swamp ant, and dashed outside the small space. He suddenly exceeded his earlier momentum, unleashing even more powerful attacks.
To his disappointment, the attacks were like dropping a stone into the sea, without the slightest effect.
Not only that, after absorbing the energy he brought, a peculiar force from the small space fed back to him, relentlessly burrowing into his body and nourishing every inch of his flesh.
But Monde keenly sensed a certain transformation occurring in his body.
“You can’t escape, let’s continue practicing a bit more.”
“Curse you! Once I break free, I’ll grind your bones to dust and scatter them to the winds.”
The relentless swamp ant resumed its harassment, preventing Monde from sensing the changes within his body and forcing him to dodge its sharp edges.
After a minute or two, Monde’s expression drastically changed; he could feel a very small part of his power, including spiritual power and lifeforce, seeping out of his body, and he realized he was being locked onto by something.
For someone who was not fully recovered from serious injuries, this was certainly adding insult to injury.
“The Ant Beings Sacred Altar?”
Monde glanced to one side, and as expected, the hitherto inactive altar had activated, its golden patterns filled with a light golden glow.
Different from his memory, though, was that the Ant Beings Sacred Altar seemed to have gained an additional disk, which was also inscribed with sprawling runes lines.
Something is not right!
This Ant Beings Sacred Altar had just activated; so where did that force come from just now?
Monde’s expression became so gloomy it seemed water could drip from it. He realized he had fallen into a cage, like a trapped prey, and the continual loss of power made him fear for the worst.
This time, he probably had to serve as a sacrifice.
“Dean Watkin, now we can have a calm and peaceful talk, can’t we?” Ivan’s voice sounded timely.
Together with his voice, the swamp ant ceased its attack, receded to one side, and Monde’s power no longer drained away.
“What do you intend to do?”
“Didn’t I just say? I just want to use the college’s protective grand array to achieve the advancement to Level 2 Sorcerer, and I hope you can understand that.”
“I can promise you the second use.”
“Let’s not talk about that; the peculiar power that assists in advancement needs to accumulate slowly. After I use it once, who knows when the second time will be.”
Ivan directly pierced through his ruse. When it came to understanding the Ant King Rebirth Cocoon Array, he believed he knew more than anyone else at the college.
Now Monde was completely at a loss, having not expected the other party to know everything. What was more troublesome was the power controlled by the other side; it indeed qualified him to have an equal dialogue with Monde.
No, Sorcerer Ivan had no reason to know, unless he had joined some other organization beyond the Moon Pincer Peninsula while operating behind the Mongna Ant Land Cottage.
“Sorcerer Ivan, I ask you only one thing and hope you will answer truthfully—are you a member of the Star Moon Alliance?” After a pause, Monde asked solemnly.
“No.”
“Was it you who sold my whereabouts to the Star Moon Alliance last time?”
“No.”
“Impossible, then how do you know the name ‘Ant King Rebirth Cocoon Array,’ where did your runes sorcery array diagram come from, you clearly betrayed the Mongna Ant Land Cottage, didn’t you?”
After all, Monde had been the Dean of the college for so many years. Even in captivity, he didn’t shrink back but instead interrogated boldly.
“Dean Watkin, do you really want to know?” Ivan’s gaze was piercing as he stared at him.
“Even if it costs me my old life, I won’t let a traitor succeed and sully the college’s reputation that has been clean for thousands of years.” Monde straightened his back, his voice filled with conviction.
“Sorcerer Ivan, why not let me teach this old chap a lesson again, so he can understand his current situation better,” the swamp ant suggested maliciously.
Inside and outside the small space, the atmosphere suddenly became tense—as if a storm was about to break.