Chapter 197 : Chapter 197

Chapter 197: The Complex Rules of the Exchange Competition

Leaving Teacher Ji Niang's office, I was also thinking back on the conversation we just had.

Although I couldn't tell anyone because of the contract, I couldn't even speak of it to Big Sis Bai, who had also signed the contract.

The means to override the contract's content was a power that only a Transcendent Witch could master.

That was why Teacher Ji Niang could ignore the original content of the contract and let me know more information, and it would still be covered by the contract.

But Big Sis Bai couldn't do that.

So I couldn't discuss this matter with Big Sis Bai, not even through hints.

Tan Han isn't she the only protagonist?

In the end, there is only one protagonist, so after that one is finally achieved, what about the rest?

Will they die?

I forgot to ask about this point.

If they would die and lose their protagonist status, then according to my understanding, they were just supporting characters and cannon fodder wearing the skin of a protagonist, muddling through a mire that no one could interfere with.

The means to prevent outsiders from interfering, after all, it was said that there was only one protagonist, so making so many meant that besides the real one, the rest were definitely fakes.

The academy must have thought this through more thoroughly than I have.

I kind of understood what Teacher Ji Niang meant by there being too many "protagonists" and no room for supporting characters and cannon fodder.

When supporting characters and cannon fodder put on the protagonist's coat, where is there room for the supporting characters of supporting characters and the cannon fodder of cannon fodder?

Although I didn't really want to admit it, my current position was indeed that awkward.

But to have me stay out of it could I do it?

I could, of course I could, but I had already told Big Sis Bai to look forward to my performance.

Perhaps this was what Teacher Ji Niang meant by making promises too early would lead to shouldering a heavier burden.

But this kind of situation also depended on the person.

For Big Sis Bai.

I could only say I was willing.

Only Tan Han, she's the most pitiful one, right?

She didn't know anything, but on another level, she had to bear everything.

Perhaps the so-called destiny she saw was all arranged by destiny.

As intelligent as she was, she should have thought about it too, right?

Had she?

If she really had, then her level of ideological awareness might be even more terrifying than I had imagined.

And the fact that Teacher Ji Niang told me such a thing at this moment probably had ulterior motives.

Perhaps it also involved the issue of "taking sides."

I had long thought that there must be something wrong with so many academy exchange competitions, but I never thought the problem would be this big.

Didn't this mean that all the visiting academies had their own "Child of Destiny" to represent them?

But putting aside the identity of destiny, wasn't this just a very normal drama of various academies supporting their own prodigies?

It was just that now everyone was betting on whose Child of Destiny would be the final one.

That's why I said I hate destiny.

It's like a malicious hindsight expert, laughing at everyone's previous efforts being worthless in the face of the final result.

So if destiny really had a so-called tangible existence, it would probably be crushed to death by all life at the first opportunity.

As for whether I will ultimately support Tan Han…

If I asked myself this, I could only answer that I didn't know.

It was just that Tan Han was currently the closest one to me among all the Children of Destiny I knew.

And Teacher Ji Niang had also revealed another person, "Yao Beijuan," who would also become a Child of Destiny like that.

But it didn't matter.

There was no threshold for becoming a Child of Destiny, and not all Children of Destiny had a good ending, right?

If a Child of Destiny was destined to rise smoothly, even if the path was full of twists and turns, it was just a matter of a single sentence.

And this didn't require so many people to maintain the so-called script.

Isn't it good to let things develop naturally?

Compared to worrying about this matter that didn't belong to me in the first place, I was more concerned about what good things the academy had given me in the name of club subsidies.

I had already received all three hundred Magic Power Sources.

As for the rest, I think I should only have a Spellbook, right?

After all, I really couldn't imagine what else could help us in the exchange competition.

Since external items couldn't be brought into the Dream State, only one's own strength was real.

I opened the storage equipment.

The space inside wasn't small, but after taking out so many Magic Power Sources, a large area had been emptied out.

And what was left was indeed as I imagined, a Spellbook, but there was only one.

And next to it were several bottles containing potions.

“Potions?”

I took out the accompanying instruction note, which described the effects of these potions.

Constitution Improvement Potion, a potion that enhances the body's overall quality.

It was a good thing that continuously improved one's physical strength and various qualities in a gentle way, with no side effects.

Mental Power Nourishing Potion, this potion had a certain effect of increasing mental power, but its main function was to nourish mental power.

It had a good effect on damaged mental power or the discomfort caused by a surge in mental power.

It was a perfect match with the third type of mental power potion.

This kind of good thing that increased mental power was indeed very nice.

They should be able to be used together, right?

I looked at these three potion bottles.

I'll ask the knowledgeable Big Sis Bai later and take them under her guidance.

Soon, I arrived at the Witch Cat Cafe again.

Unlike yesterday when I sat in a seat with a good view, this time Big Sis Bai was waiting for me in a private room.

And I had also found the Gold Cat Card mailed to me in the villa's mailbox when I went back last night.

There were also many other letters from people I didn't know, but I kept them all properly.

After all, the letters were addressed to me, so I'll check them one by one when I have time in the future.

“Big Sis Bai, you've been waiting for me so early?”

I pushed open the door.

This place seemed to have a very conventional cat theme.

After entering, it didn't feel like entering a room, but like walking into a dream world with only cats.

Cat elements and various cat toys could be seen everywhere.

On one side, on a huge cat tree, there was a giant cat head.

When I looked over, it would even shake at me and produce the cute auditory illusion of a “meow”.

Using illusions as solidified spells for the decoration of a themed private room?

This was truly a genius design.

“Little Han is here, come and sit.”

At this moment, Bai Yu was teasing a cute little kitten.

Only after seeing me arrive did she finally release her demonic claws.

The kitten fled from the figure that had been tormenting it just now, even detouring a certain distance when it saw me.

“Mm.”

I came to this low table and sat directly on the floor.

“The academy has already released the specific rules for this exchange competition. Things might be more complicated than we imagined.”

Bai Yu got straight to the point as soon as she spoke.

The Earth Vein System on her body also projected a three-dimensional map.

“Oh? Is that so?”

I casually replied.

After all, I hadn't had time to check the specific situation yet.

Now seeing that Big Sis Bai had even gotten her hands on the dream map for this exchange competition, I didn't think about it anymore.

“Yes, the map for this exchange competition in the Dream State can be said to be very fragmented. It's probably the result of a compromise between the various academies. But even so, this large map is enough to be divided into more than ten areas.”

More than ten areas?

I looked at this huge three-dimensional map with great interest.

What attracted me the most was naturally the island floating in the sky.

“What is this?”

I asked, pointing at this floating island first.

“This is the Sky Floating Island. It gathers the Divine Power Source of the angels and the authority to use Divine Arts.”

“Huh? That’s so cheating?”

“Cheating, not really. Each academy has its own power system, so there are naturally conveniences and limitations. Just like the Spellbooks and Magic Power Sources we witches use, perhaps these are the most free things, right?”

The source of the angels' power is the Holy Light Divine Power.

This is the source of their power, just like our Magic Power Source.

And their Divine Arts are different from spells.

This is an understanding engraved in the angel race.

Although it sounds so divine, it's actually just borrowed power.

Borrowing is also a means of utilizing transcendent power, and Divine Arts are such an additional means, just like how we cast spells with the help of Spellbooks.

“The Wizard Academy has similar limitations to the Holy Angel Academy.”

Bai Yu said this and pointed to a place on the map where there was a tall tower.

“This is the Wizard Academy's Wizard Tower. The wizards' power is very mixed. It can be said that any power that can be leveraged by mental power can become their means. They stop at nothing. Therefore, they rely heavily on various external objects when using their own power, such as casting materials, etc. Even they themselves are beings modified for the sake of power.”

“Although they call themselves human, in essence, they are even less human than any other race. If you could see the Mechanical Faction of wizards, you would see their bodies completely replaced by machinery. And the Deadly Poison Faction, they themselves are the seedbeds of Voodoo. They even raise Voodoo Bugs as pets inside their bodies, etc. They call this the Symbiosis of Life.”

“The wizard's methods are very strange, Little Han. You need to be careful later. They even like to use curses. Don't leave behind any skin fragments, hair, body fluids, etc., that contain your body information. It might become casting material for curses.”

“And this Wizard Tower is their supply point, and also a manifestation of their power within reasonable limits. What's against the rules is the Wizard Tower itself. It is also a terrifying war machine. You need to be careful about this as well. After all, if the Wizard Tower is destroyed, the wizards' means and power will be greatly reduced. So the Wizard Tower's abilities are very terrifying and difficult to destroy. It was only under the pressure of many academies that it could only take effect within a certain range.”

“So the wizards have turned this into a positional battle instead?”

I asked curiously.

“It can only be said to be so to a certain extent. The Wizard Tower only needs a few people to stay behind. I'm sure the Wizard Academy will definitely let a few guys who can control the Wizard Tower enter. Perhaps their strength is not worth mentioning, but they are definitely skilled at defending the Wizard Tower.”

“Alright, that's indeed disgusting,” I said with a shrug.

In that case, I really wanted to find an opportunity to topple this tower.

Then, Big Sis Bai explained to me the largest area on this map.

It was a huge forest, and a giant tree in the center was also very conspicuous.

That was the virtual Aphrodite World Tree in the Dream State.

It was just a simulation of its appearance, and it was scaled down by a lot.

Needless to say, this was the territory of Aphrodite Academy, but that wasn't all.

This was the territory of all elves.

After all, Aphrodite Academy was not the only elf academy, it was just the most famous one, and the only transcendent elf race academy in this world.

But next to this dense forest was a place with slightly sparser trees.

This was the territory of the Beast Academy and its Beastman academies, such as the Cat-person Academy, Charming Fox Academy, and even the Minotaur Academy.

They didn't have the obvious weaknesses and places to defend like the wizards and angels, but their locations also didn't have very strong support.

Even the angels and wizards with strong support couldn't have their abilities cover the entire map.

The remaining Sea Tribe was located in the waters surrounding the map, which could be said to occupy the largest area of the map.

Then there was the Dragonblood Academy's active volcano.

The setting there was that an ancient dragon had fallen, and the volcano flowed with the bloodline power of the ancient dragon.

And I didn't know if it was intentional, but a large amount of treasures, gold coins, antiques, etc., were gathered here.

Although they were all fake things in the Dream State, they were deliberately written into the rules.

This was enough to see what the Dragonblood Academy had fought for these useless things back then.

I felt that the students of their academy should really thank them.

The rumor that dragons love treasure was really true.

Then there were the Ancient Forging City Ruins guarded by the dwarves.

Due to the special nature of the dwarves' power system, this ancient city ruins only served to delay their development time, so in theory, the dwarves were the safest in the early stage.

As for the Blood Clan's Land of Eternal Darkness, and the Fallen Land where academies of demons, succubi, undead, etc., were located, they were also prepared for those academies.

What was very interesting was that within the Land of Eternal Darkness, there was a core Blood Pool that the Blood Clan needed to protect, as well as a pasture for developing Blood Slaves.

The Fallen Land imitated the Abyssal Underground.

The overall feeling was somewhat like a super-large basin with stratum faults, which was very consistent with my fantasy of the living environment of those dark creatures.

And there was another place, which was the largest central area of this map, the Central Ancient Battlefield.

It could be said that the map was already designed, and the main battleground was here.

But the actual battle situation would depend on the circumstances.

Maybe everyone liked to sneak-attack bases and swap bases?

No one could say for sure about this kind of thing.

The Central Ancient Battlefield was considered a war relic.

The setting was that various situations would occur here, such as extreme weather, natural disasters.

The battlefield would also simulate the Earth Vein situation.

Under the interference of the Earth Vein, various abnormal situations would occur here, similar to the killing scenes of ancient battlefields emerging under the power of the Earth Vein.

People here might face various armies with a stern and murderous aura.

And the Central Ancient Battlefield had another setting, which was that from time to time, Phantoms of the Past reshaped by the Earth Vein would rush out from inside and destroy indiscriminately, turning the surrounding areas into a part of the Central Ancient Battlefield.

This was mainly a restriction on academies with fixed areas.

After all, without restrictions and weakening, how could this exchange competition be played?

And those without restrictions, like the beastmen, could change their base at any time, it was just that the living environment would become uncomfortable.

Even the angels in the sky couldn't escape.

No one wanted the Holy Angel Academy to have an easy time, so the ancient battlefield deliberately had an air force, which was specifically designed for the Holy Angel Academy's floating island.

Such a huge amount of work was just the product of countless thoughts in the Dream State.

Listening to Big Sis Bai's description, I was constantly marveling at this miracle.

But I still had a question.

“Big Sis Bai, what about our Witch Academy?”

“Do you think our Witch Academy needs to guard a broken place like them?”

“No need. Then where will our Witch Academy appear?”

I asked curiously.

“Central Ancient Battlefield.”

“Eh? Isn't that very dangerous?”

“Precisely because it's very dangerous, but it has to be admitted that witches don't have many shortcomings, so appearing in this Central Ancient Battlefield, at least that's what the rules say.”

“This is our original advantage! This is a battle, how can they balance our advantage like this! Do they have to wrong us to make it an even match?”

I asked angrily.

“I think so too, but this is probably also the academy's compromise. Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's talk about the ranking method for this exchange competition.”

“The so-called academy exchange competition, the key is exchange. What is being exchanged? Naturally, it's the strengths and weaknesses of the academies and the combat power of the students.”

“This is very realistic, and this also determines the two aspects of Academy Ranking and Individual Ranking.”

“First is the Academy Ranking. This ranking is very interesting, but also a bit complicated. Each academy needs its own academy to perform a ritual rich in academy characteristics. This generally requires unity and cooperation to accomplish. During the ritual, a full-map announcement and positioning will be made. And only one ritual can exist at the same time. If the ritual is successfully held, one point will be awarded. If it fails, no points will be awarded. The ranking will be based on the score. If the scores are the same, the ranking will be in the order of who reached the score first.”

This passage, Big Sis Bai was basically just reading the rules directly, and she didn't explain what a ritual was.

“And the individual ranking is even more interesting. Everyone can be resurrected twice, which means three lives. Killing one person gets one point, and then it is amplified based on one's own life base, which becomes the final individual score.”

“For example, if you have all three lives, killing one person gets one point, and the final score is three points. If you die once in the middle, the final score is reduced to two points. After all lives are lost, 1 will be the final base, it won't be 0. That is to say, if the fight really goes to the end, everyone might have a base of one, and if someone's base is still three or two in the end, this person is very likely to be ganged up on by others. This is the interesting part, it utilizes human nature, no one can have an easy time.”

“Then this is really interesting…”

I sat on the side and lamented.

This was truly a complicated exchange competition.

How long would it take to determine a winner?

We can't just not go to school because of the exchange competition, right?

Although I had course exemptions, what about the other students?

Or were the other students not important?

I suddenly realized a problem.

Everyone's eyes were focused on the protagonist.

What about ordinary people like me?

They couldn't possibly live as exciting a life as I did, so their lives were they abandoned?

It should be an illusion…