Sonia's lips parted slightly, but she quickly smiled and shrugged. "I just thought the titles of these two books looked interesting when I walked past, so I pulled them out to have a look. No particular reason. If they're no good, I'll return them in a bit."
Celia nodded thoughtfully. "You don't need to explain in such detail..."
Seeming to realize Sonia was flustered, Celia changed the subject. "Actually, meeting you at the Forest Library was quite a surprise. I thought you would be participating in the extermination campaign too."
"Extermination campaign?"
"Yeah, you didn't hear about it from Professor Trozan? Ah, it's probably because you've been advancing so fast that the professor would rather you miss the opportunity than take any risks."
"What is this extermination campaign?" The term hit right into the country girl's blind spot.
Celia pondered for a moment. "I don't know much about it either, since it's a private commission the university offers to genius students. Anyone lacking in strength won't even receive an invitation, and once students sign the contract, they aren't allowed to leak any intelligence regarding the campaign."
"The only reason I know is that Loren registered for it too... I heard from him that Leonie is participating as well, so I figured you wouldn't miss it."
Pausing, she added, "Supposedly, it's a special event involving all the young sorcerers in Jialesi. Even the genius sorcerers of Truth University are taking part!"
Not just Senior Leonie, but an event that even those ultimate elites from Truth University were willing to join?!
Sonia instantly felt like she had missed out on a massive boon, yet she knew it made complete sense—judging by the name alone, it was a hazardous combat operation involving real battles.
Even though she was already a sorcerer with her Silver Wings fully unfurled, she was also a rookie sorcerer who had entered the Void Realm less than a month ago. Whether out of a desire to protect her or to prevent her from dragging the team down, there was no way Professor Trozan would let her take part in such a dangerous operation so early.
'I still need to get the professor to acknowledge my strength as soon as possible, or I won't even be able to vie for events like this,' Sonia thought to herself.
...
Blood Moon Country, the outskirts of Kaimeng City, halfway up a hillside.
"Shift change. All clear."
It was ten in the morning. The two adventurers tasked with observing the Void Realm passage tapped the back of their necks and gave low reports. Soon, two other adventurers stepped out of a tent at the hillside campsite, and the two pairs exchanged shifts.
They hadn't been standing for long when the younger adventurer began cursing under his breath. "Old man, how much longer do we have to stay out here? It's getting hotter and hotter. Going without air conditioning is one thing, but there are way too many mosquitoes! Even spraying heavy-duty repellent does nothing!"
"We still have to wait another twelve hours. If they haven't returned after seventy-two hours, it's safe to assume the 'rabbit' is dead."
The cloaked adventurer beside him spoke in an emotionless, mechanical voice. A closer look would reveal that his arms, thighs, and even one of his eyes were not organic flesh, but prosthetic machinery.
"If this commission didn't award so many merits, I'd rather stay in the war zone killing water ghouls," the young adventurer grumbled. "If you ask me, whoever triggered this Void Realm passage ought to be damned. Not only does it pile on our workload, but it also creates the security risk of an otherworldly invasion..."
"Only sorcerers can cause Void Realm turbulence," the older man said. "At present, there are eighty-six unknown Void Realm passages around Kaimeng City, which means eighty-six sorcerers have triggered Void Realm turbulence—and one of them might be you. Anyone else would have every right to say that, but you are a sorcerer."
The youth's voice instantly dropped. "I was just venting... Don't you ever complain, old man?"
"Just as I've accepted that I lack the talent to become a sorcerer, I've accepted these natural disasters caused by sorcerers." The older man gave a slight shake of his head. "I grew tired of complaining before I even turned forty."
The youth changed the subject. "Old man, how do you plan to spend your merits this time? I've saved up almost enough to redeem the 'Blade' sorcery spirit. That way, even if I run into a knowledge creature, I can put up a fight."
"I've never seen you spend much, and your prosthetics are old models from years back. Are you saving merits to exchange for the newest upgrade components? If I hadn't lacked the guts to go through with body augmentation, I'd have loved to buy a 'Silver Wolf Arm' for fun."
The older man glanced at him, the cold gaze of his mechanical prosthetic eye sending a chill down the youth's spine. But the older man quickly looked away, staring toward the Void Realm passage thirty meters from the mountainside, which looked like an indentation in space itself.
"I plan to use my merits to buy some information."
"What information?"
"Information on my child."
"What child—isn't that illegal?!"
"I know. That's why I've had to save merits for so many years; otherwise, they wouldn't take the risk."
"Are you out of your mind?!" The youth was shocked. "Why do something so thankless? Don't tell me you want to raise your kid! If anyone finds out, both of you will be thrown into a Pig Cage to explore the Waterway Abyss!"
The older man shook his head. "Of course not. That child was born thirty-one years ago, if I recall right. I don't even remember what the woman looked like. I just want to see him once."
The youth couldn't wrap his head around it. "What's the point of seeing him once? With that many merits, if you spent them on yourself, you could raise your combat strength by two entire tiers! If you used them to get high on moon sugar, gamble, and fool around, it'd keep you entertained for a whole year! Why blow it all just to look at a stranger?"
"He's not a stranger. He's my child."
"How is that any different from a stranger? You have to pay money just to find out what he looks like and what his name is!"
"Still, he is my child. He was born because of me."
"I don't get it at all. You'd be better off giving the merits to me."
"You're a sorcerer, and you're still young. You don't understand. When I was young, I was just like you. Whenever I had money, I indulged in moon sugar, gambled at the First Blood Casino, and went under the knife for body modifications. But as I grew older, those amusements stopped being thrilling. I lost all interest in tomorrow."
"Until one day, I remembered that when I was young, to earn a reproduction fund, I had once fathered a child with a woman. It was as if the sky had suddenly lit up; I found my purpose in life—to lay eyes on that child."
"You are a sorcerer. You can explore the Void Realm; you can study sorcery arts. But I can't. If I hadn't undergone seventy percent full-body mechanical modification, I wouldn't even qualify to join the war zone as an adventurer. Even with gun arts, the easiest discipline to pick up, I could never cross the threshold into 'art.'"
"I've heard people say sorcerers are those who pursue miracles. That child is my miracle."
The older man pointed to his left eye. "The reason I didn't replace my left eye with a prosthetic was so I could look at my child with a real eye."
The youth mumbled under his breath, "Still don't get it..."
The older man gave a mechanical chuckle. "Don't try to understand me. It's illegal."
Bang!
Suddenly knocked flying, the youth crashed down, dizzy and disoriented. He cursed loudly, "Old man, what the hell are you doing all of a sud—"
The very next second, the words caught in his throat.
Standing in the spot where he had just been was an orange-haired girl clad in deep blue battle armor.
The girl stepped upon the older man's body, her longsword dripping with red and blue fluids. The older man's head had gone flying, his mechanical spine snapped clean through, spewing crimson blood and blue machine fluid!
The youth's pupils constricted as a light screen popped up before his eyes: [Detected—]
Crack!
By the time Loren severed the youth's head, the two resting adventurers back at the camp had already been dispatched by other campaign members.
Moments later, all one hundred and sixty-three campaign members assembled at the campsite. Every single one was clad in deep blue battle armor, and without exception, their weapons were specialized alchemical creations; even the pugilist sorcerers wore gauntlets! Yet within mere seconds of their descent, a collar forged of flickering bloodlight appeared around each of their necks, making them look like walking forms of light pollution.
"There are four rules to the game."
"First, the final blow of any kill must be dealt with an astral weapon, or no points will be awarded for slaying the target."
"Second, try to survive for forty-eight hours without dying."
"Third, eliminate as many targets as possible. Humanoid monsters take priority, followed by others. Sorcerer monsters take priority, followed by others."
"Fourth, when time is up, everyone must activate the transfer miracle in their battle armor to return here. After forty-eight hours, the Stars will proactively destroy this Tier 2 Void Realm passage."
"The sacred stars connect us, and starlight shall guide our path. Let the game begin!"
A purplish-blue radiance shimmered around the rims of everyone's pupils. Upon hearing the order, the crowd saluted in unison, then scattered all at once!
Viewed from above, only a handful of blue dots moved toward the villages to the north and south, while the vast majority surged westward toward Kaimeng City!
Chapter 114