Sorcerer: I want to be an Academic Prodigy

Chapter 451: Chapter 450: The Unique Blood Guard

Upon hearing his command, Mason stretched out a branch that transformed into a vine and, without a word, probed into his own body. After some rustling and rummaging, he pulled out an object and presented it before Ivan.

A glossy, pitch-black seed.

Ivan recognized it at a glance—it was the seed that nurtured the Shadow Blood Tree, presumably used to foster other Shadow Blood Guards.

Following his signal, Mason cast the seed onto the other side of the island, where it embedded itself into the rocks. Underneath this area’s rocky terrain lay numerous corpses, all of which were Bloodline Alterators from the Green Sprout Society who had been executed.

After waiting three minutes, the seed sprouted and broke through the rock, growing into a sapling.

The sapling grew rapidly until it reached about ten meters tall, at which point its growth slowed, as if it lacked the energy to grow any further.

...

Like the tree before it, this one seemed to exist somewhere between reality and illusion, with branches but no leaves, and a bark that was half pitch-black, half blood-red—undoubtedly another Shadow Blood Tree.

Once it fully developed, it would surely become another Shadow Blood Guard.

Ivan nodded understandingly. It appeared all Shadow Blood Guards were cultivated in this manner, with Mason’s own strength and abilities being the highest.

“That’s enough, Mason. There’s no rush to foster the rest of the Shadow Blood Guards,” he said, halting Mason’s endeavors to gather more seeds. It was clear that this task was somewhat strenuous for Mason.

“What about the other abilities?”

“Swoosh swoosh.”

Mason pondered for a moment, then two more vines unfurled from his robust trunk. The arms of the vines, both black and red, shot rapidly to one side, producing a swift, whistling sound as they cut through the air.

However, they only pierced the empty air, appearing to achieve nothing.

“This doesn’t show their power. How about I play with it for a bit, for a clearer comparison?” suggested a swamp ant, clearly eager for a challenge.

Without waiting for a reply, the vine tips rippled, and each tugged down a dark shadowy figure.

The swamp ant was taken aback—these were its own ant sentinels.

This was hardly honorable combat, launching an assault without consent—no, that wasn’t right; the ant sentinels were all stationed outside the space.

“Continue,” Ivan said.

“Swoosh swoosh.” Following his orders, Mason reached into the air and quickly pulled down two more ant sentinels.

“Not bad, not bad,” Ivan praised generously.

It was evident to him that the ant sentinels were powerless against Mason—they might serve as servants, but they were still beings of Level 3.

Compared to each other, Mason’s capabilities were notably exceptional.

Moreover, Mason clearly had the ability to break through space to reach outside and then drag enemies into the Hunting Space—an apt demonstration of a true Hunting Space.

“Thank you for the praise, Master Sorcerer Ivan.”

“Ha ha, you can simply call me ‘Sorcerer Ivan,'” Ivan laughed, seeing Mason’s formal manner. He turned to the swamp ant and ordered, “You partner with Mason for a trial. I want to know its exact combat prowess.”

“Alright,” the swamp ant couldn’t wait to respond.

“Mason, are you ready?”

“No problem, Sorcerer Ivan.”

Seeing no objections from either party, Ivan stepped aside decisively to give the space to the swamp ant and Mason.

Mason executed his command well. As soon as Ivan stepped back, Mason launched his attack, with countless vines shooting towards the swamp ant, either stabbing or wrapping around it.

Facing the incoming assault, the swamp ant remained composed. To show magnanimity, it didn’t even use the Ze King Aura.

‘I dodge, I dodge—ugh, impossible!’

The swamp ant dodged left and right to evade the strikes from the vines, only to be firmly bound by them.

It didn’t last a single move before its dark face instantly flushed the color of a liver, which unfortunately, was hard for bystanders to discern.

“Shadow transformation, thick or thin, half-real, half-illusory; it’s somewhat similar to the Secret Techniques of the Dark Night Elven race,” Ivan explained, addressing the swamp ant’s confusions.

During the fight, it hadn’t noticed those shadowy, thinning vines at all.

“But I haven’t used my Domain Aura yet. This can’t count as a loss, can it? How about another round?” the swamp ant stammered, hoping for a retry.

“Since this is a test, one more round isn’t enough,” said Ivan, mindful of its eagerness, and he proceeded to give his instructions.

With the swamp ant’s full cooperation, the full gamut of the Shadow Blood Guard Mason’s abilities were displayed, causing the swamp ant a fair amount of suffering.

Nurturing Blood Guard seeds—that was Mason’s most fundamental capability.

Beyond that, Mason could also transform into shadow form, take on a tree person shape, traverse in and out of the Hunting Space, moving unpredictably, and wield infinitely stretching vines, as well as formidable and mysterious binding abilities.

Faced with Mason’s binding abilities, not just the swamp ant, but even Ivan himself would be unable to escape if caught carelessly by the vines. Under Ivan’s insistent prompting, Mason bound him once with his vines. The terrifying Confinement Power was etched deeply into his memory as he was dragged from outside into the Hunting Space.

He couldn’t help but marvel, it was truly a Holy Artifact created by the Dark Night Mother Goddess herself using fragments of her own weapons, its might beyond the fathoming of mortals.

After a series of tests, Ivan came to a conclusion that Mason’s strength lay somewhere between a Fake Lord and an Arcane Wizard.

Owing to Mason’s peculiar abilities, he could often produce unpredictable effects. Notably, Mason was still in the early stages of development and had considerable room for growth, promising even greater future strength.

And the entire Hunting Space, the islands that had formed from the remnants of the ancient turtle, continued to slowly grow larger, likely to turn into a landmass that traversed the space.

As for what new things might emerge once the land was fully formed, Ivan had no way of knowing.

“How marvelously peculiar, this Silver Moon Blade can actually fly by itself—equating it to an airship is hardly an exaggeration,” observed the swamp ant after the tests, without any sign of dejection.

It was true that the swamp ant had been outwitted on several occasions, but seeing that Sorcerer Ivan hadn’t managed to avoid it either, it felt instantly gratified.

“Letting it fly by itself is unadvisable for three reasons—first, the range of vision is limited; second, the speed is slow; and third, the energy consumption is high.” Ivan was unaware of the swamp ant’s thoughts, or he would have certainly slapped them aside.

As the master of the Silver Moon Blade, his ability to perceive the expanse of the Hunting Space from within was severely limited.

The same was true for Mason. @@novelbin@@

When outside the Hunting Space, the limitations of sight didn’t apply, and he could use the Silver Moon Blade as a ‘flying sword.’ Still, issues of speed and energy consumption remained, and it was less efficient than combining his Combat Energy with flight spells.

Of course, with the swamp ant to carry him, it was more convenient and less effortful, so there was no need for him to do it himself.

…

Time hurried by, and another half-month passed, with the storm clouds over the Great Sky River growing more ominous.

“Sorcerer Ivan, there’s some unusual activity in the Pure White Eyes—it seems to be getting more intense.”

“It’s time to end this.”

With a flash, Ivan appeared on the Silver Moon Blade and then went to the side of a lake.

He saw in the ‘Pure White Eyes’ mirror he had set up there that more and more chaotic black lines were appearing on the surface, and even a few larger ink spots were flickering erratically, foretelling the approach of a storm.

Without surprise, the Great Sky River would soon rise in chaotic tides, turning once again into a forbidden land no creature dared enter.

He had gained much this time, and his objectives were achieved; seeing this, he felt not the slightest reluctance and, after organizing his belongings, instructed the swamp ant to head out of the Great Sky River.

The unique environment of the Great Sky River meant they encountered no one else on the journey.

“Sorcerer Ivan, don’t forget what you promised me when we get back.”

“What?”

“Jenny, Miss Jenny!”

“I never said I could definitely get in touch with Jenny right away; we will see when we return.”

“As long as you haven’t forgotten.”

The swamp ant hastened on its way, unworried in its heart.

It knew Sorcerer Ivan all too well; the sorcerer never shot blindly. If Sorcerer Ivan said something was possible, there was an eighty to ninety percent chance; if he said it was highly likely, it was almost a certainty.

With this in mind, why worry at all?

“We’re back.”

“Yes.”

After a short while, the mist in front of them cleared, revealing a multitude of buildings, and the vast expanse of Sky Flow Valley came into view.

However, no other wizards were present at the mouth of Sky Flow Valley, aside from those on duty there.

“Esteemed Scholar, I’ve just received a message not long ago saying that the Great Sky River will be closing in a few days—I didn’t expect you to return so quickly,”

“You are the first to sense the disturbance and return.”

The on-duty wizard came up to greet him, his gaze full of awe.

Such sensitivity undoubtedly spoke of his profound spatial expertise, truly a reputation well-deserved.

“Ha ha, It was mere happenstance.”

Ivan hadn’t expected such an explanation; he had merely adjusted his Pure White Eyes to monitor nearby changes, slightly widening the range of detection.

The moment the Great Sky River showed signs of disturbance, he had decisively chosen to return.

“Eminent Scholar, why be so humble? Whether it was happenstance or not, we know it in our hearts.”

“Yes, indeed, if you don’t believe it, just stand here and wait a while; I reckon it will be half an hour to an hour before the second person returns.”

The duty wizards were very enthusiastic and earnestly admired him.

Ivan had no intention of waiting around like a fool; he declined their attempts to persuade him to stay and walked toward the interior of Sky Flow Valley.