Chapter 216 : Chapter 216

Chapter 216: Cooperation with the Sea Race

“I'm in a very bad mood right now. If you can't answer what I ask, I don't mind letting you experience how sashimi is made before you die.”

I pressed this fish-person's head against the reef and spoke in an icy tone.

Of course, when threatening someone, anything goes, but among the storage bags I confiscated, there were indeed knives used as weapons.

I casually drew one out and stabbed it directly into the rock.

Although the blade eventually dulled, the threat was made clear.

“Witch… Big Sis! Sis! Ask, just ask! How can I answer if you haven't asked the question!”

At this moment, this fish-person used the last of his strength to shout out his grievance.

He had simply felt an unusually large wave in the sea area and was told to go see what happened.

After all, he was relatively close.

The Sea Race's recently planned ritual had been ruined by a witch, and that lord from the Royal Sea Race Academy was furious, so he could only comply.

Those few from the Sea Race Academy were all hot-tempered masters, how could she not listen?

“Where are the people from the Royal Sea Race Academy? I'm asking where the students from the academy that can hold the Sea's Marvelous Crown Ritual are right now.”

“Royal Sea Race Academy? Students? In that direction, I… I am…”

“That direction, huh… Does your Sea Race have any plans to prepare for a ritual at this stage?”

“This… How would I know that? I have no idea about such decisions!”

“As expected of small fries, not even knowing something like this.”

I let go, sending this fish-person off cleanly.

Even if he was a worthless fellow, they still had value in being killed for points.

Afterward, I flew in the direction he pointed.

Knowing the general direction, the rest was easy to find.

At worst, I could just repeat what I did just now, and maybe even test the limits of the resonance stacking I could achieve.

It wasn't until I saw the heads of fish-people sticking out of the sea surface that I roughly realized I had arrived.

“Witch! What are you doing here again!”

“Oh?”

At this moment, seeing a familiar face made me exceptionally excited.

Although she was the one whose Sea's Marvelous Crown Ritual I had interfered with, causing it to fail, she was still a member of the Royal Sea Race Academy.

“Just out for some fresh air, what… not allowed?”

“Hehe? Fresh air? Your Witch Academy's Witch Tea Party is going just fine, and you come out for fresh air? Do you think I'd believe that! What? Came over to see us fail again? As expected, witches are all ill-natured fellows.”

“Oh, no no no, I think you've misunderstood. Previously, it was for the benefit of our respective academies. My delaying your ritual's progress was just a matter of us using our own methods. But I'm very grateful that you can still listen to me so calmly.”

“Calmly! You witch, which of your eyes can see calm! Are you blind!”

“Just a joke to lighten the mood. Now that our Witch Academy's ritual is about to be completed, I might as well tell you a piece of information. An academy that has completed a ritual must wait for another academy to complete one before they can hold their next one. So, in theory, there's no conflict between us now.”

Faced with my change in attitude, the Sea Race side was also unsure.

Although she really wanted to just surround and counterattack, they had already tried before, and it had no effect on this detestable witch.

This wasn't just the convenience of the other party being able to fly, but an overwhelming difference in strength.

She finally understood what her teacher meant before the exchange competition about being careful of the Witch Academy.

But the specific rule about the ritual interval was indeed valuable information, though not very.

After all, they hadn't even completed a single successful ritual yet, so what was the use of knowing this?

Even if they succeeded, the next ritual was still a long way off.

They had to admit that they didn't have the strength to hold rituals consecutively.

If this witch visited often, it might be difficult to even succeed with the first ritual.

“What on earth are you trying to say!”

“Actually, if I said I want to help you complete your ritual, would you believe me?”

“Do you think I'd believe such a trick?”

“Haiya, indeed, I don't even believe it myself, but that doesn't stop us from talking, does it? After all, communication is the shortcut to resolving misunderstandings. I think I should be qualified enough to represent the Witch Academy to communicate with you, right?”

“What do you want to say?”

“Let's talk about… the hidden rule triggered after the ritual is completed?”

I watched her expression with a smile.

After I mentioned the completion of the ritual, her expression clearly showed a trace of unnaturalness.

“Trigger a hidden rule?”

“Don't act like you know nothing. Your Sea Race is not being honest, huh? We, at least, learned this information through practice. From the looks of it, you… knew about it in advance?”

I sat sideways on my flying broom, crossing my legs as I asked. I had only intended to probe, but I didn't expect that she actually knew?

Although I couldn't be sure now, bluffing a bit would always bring surprises.

And now, we had something to talk about.

“Don't talk nonsense! The rules of the exchange competition were jointly established by all the major academies! How could there possibly be a leak! Also, thank you for telling me that a hidden rule is triggered after a ritual is held! I don't think there's any need for us to continue this conversation!”

“Of course there's a need! After all, if there's nothing to talk about, it means we can only resort to fighting.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“How is that a threat?”

I leaped off the broom, my foot tapping on the surface of the sea.

What supported my weight was naturally the modded Energy Shield.

I had a precedent of using it as a stepping stone before, and using it here wasn't bad either.

At least it could show my willingness to communicate with them on “equal” terms.

The flying broom, having lost my magical support, also fell and was caught by me.

“I think we need to have a formal discussion, just like your meeting with the Elves. Except, at that time you were forming an alliance, and now we're just making a deal.”

I walked towards her step by step.

This move indeed surprised them greatly.

Being able to walk on the sea as if on flat ground, such a technique was simply…

“A deal? What deal do you want.”

“I'll help you complete the ritual, and you'll let me use the hidden rule triggered after the ritual. No matter what it is or what is triggered, it must at least proceed in the way I need it to.”

“Hehe, why should we give you the ritual we worked so hard to hold? Who do you think you are? You get to take all the benefits?”

“How could that be? It's just a mutual benefit. You get the academy score, don't you? Think about it, the second academy to get a score! Such an advantage, if used well, could overwhelm the Three Great Top-tier Academies! Isn't such a temptation good? And all you need to give up is the so-called unknown hidden rule. Perhaps it's resources, or perhaps an opportunity beneficial to you, but those are too distant for you.”

I carefully analyzed the pros and cons for her, to the point that even I was a little moved by my own words.

“You'd be that kind?”

“Not kind, just mutually beneficial. After this Tea Party ends, our academy's score will reach two points. Even if we help you get one point, for your academy to surpass our Witch Academy, you'll need at least two more points. We are confident that we can prevent you from getting those two points.”

“You!”

“Don't be angry, I'm stating facts, and also conveying the sincerity and confidence of our Witch Academy.”

At this moment, this mermaid of the Sea Race was about to be angered to death by me.

This condescending tone made her wish she could tear me apart!

Slaughter me!

But she couldn't do it.

For some reason, things had suddenly reached this state.

It seemed that just because she showed a moment of weakness at the beginning, everything had proceeded to this point according to my wishes.

“Very good, it seems you're very calm. That's a great quality for an academy leader. What do you think of this deal? How about… a pleasant cooperation?”

I leaned down towards her and extended my hand.

If everything went smoothly and there was no need for a fight, then everyone would be happy.

Anyway, all of this was just a gamble of luck.

I wouldn't lose out no matter what.

Just like how I was prepared to burn the World Tree with a single thought.

It wouldn't harm me, so naturally, it was worth doing.

“Unpleasant! Our academy's teacher said before we came that not a single word a witch says can be believed…”

“Alright…”

The hand I extended slapped onto my forehead.

I felt like I had heard this sentence many times before.

Was the Witch Academy's reputation that bad?

To the point where the other academy's teacher had to personally warn them?

Could it be a grudge from the level of the Transcendent Witches.

“But the only thing you can believe from a witch is a Witch's Contract. I won't believe a single word that isn't on the contract!”

“Oh Don't pause so dramatically when you speak. You scared me so much I almost made a move. But this Witch's Contract you mentioned… this… is a bit difficult…”

“Your Witch's Contracts need to be drafted on special parchment, and that parchment is a very common material. I'd say a busy person like you couldn't have not searched for those materials, right?”

“Is there? Don't rush, let me look.”

I raised my hand to signal her not to rush.

I was indeed busy.

I traveled by broom, so I had no chance to find materials in some corner, but I had robbed many storage equipment.

There were plenty of people who helped me collect.

I took out storage bags one by one from another storage bag.

The sheer number of just the storage equipment was enough to form a pile.

This act of robbery made the eyelids of the present Sea Race twitch.

“Aha Found it. This stack should be enough, with plenty of room for trial and error.”

After rummaging for a while, I finally found it.

It took so long to find, it doesn't seem like a very common material…

“Then let's start drafting the content together.”

I spread out the parchment, picked up the pen that was with it, and started writing.

I first wrote my demands on it and then showed it to her.

After all, this was a contract that both parties needed to abide by, and no one wanted to be scammed.

After a series of “friendly” exchanges, the Witch Tea Party in the distance had already ended.

Taking this as an opportunity, the final contract was drafted.

“Then, a pleasant cooperation.”

I happily signed my name and passed over the contract, of which I had no idea how many versions we had gone through.

“Ah I forgot, my apologies. We've already had such an in-depth exchange, yet I still don't know your name. This is truly rude.”

“Remember it well! Witch, this young lady's name is Enala.”

“Enala, huh… A nice name.”

I watched as the parchment spontaneously combusted in her hand, which proved the contract had taken effect.

“Hehe, then without further ado, let's begin.”

I looked at Enala, then glanced at the other mermaids or fish-people.

The contract stipulated that I was not allowed to attack any Sea Race students before the contract was fulfilled, unless the Sea Race attacked first, otherwise I could not retaliate.

Although these could be considered unequal terms, one had to look at the whole picture.

After all, for a contract to be signed, both parties needed to agree.

I also needed to make some concessions.

If I wasn't willing to make concessions, what was the difference from coercion?

But Enala was not the only leader in the Sea Race Academy, so I still had leeway to counterattack without violating the contract.

This was to account for misunderstandings caused by other mermaids.

Of course, if there was a misunderstanding, Enala would also need to explain and appease them.

And we soon arrived at the place I had designated.

The Sea Race's Sea's Marvelous Crown Ritual was not as picky about the location as the Witch Tea Party.

Because it was unclear whether the final hidden rule of the ritual was a special permission qualification similar to the one after the Witch Tea Party or the direct acquisition of an attack ability, the location also needed to be chosen by me, until the Sea's Marvelous Crown Ritual was completed.

If Enala was crowned with the Marvelous Crown and could directly command the tides, control the ocean, and trigger tsunamis for a certain period, at least my plan wouldn't fail due to being too far away.

“By the way, do you really not know what the hidden rule after your ritual is?”

“That's natural. We Sea Race abide by the rules and won't know things we shouldn't know in advance, just like your Witch Academy's ritual. Did you know beforehand?”

“Haha, that's true. But I've done a lot of research on the rules of the exchange competition. Why don't we talk about it now while we have the chance?”

“What do you want to talk about?”

“Nothing much. We all know that the exchange competition can't go on forever. The Phantoms of the Past in the Central Ancient Battlefield will become stronger and stronger, eventually encompassing the entire map within the ancient battlefield. At that time, no contestant will be spared. But this is what we saw first. However, it also mentioned sea erosion. Enala, what are your thoughts on sea erosion?”

“What thoughts could I have? I don't know.”

“Don't be so blunt. We're in a friendly cooperative relationship now, after all. Let's put it this way, is the method of sea erosion a rise in sea level or a tsunami impact?”

“How would I…”

“Hm?”

“Tsunami, I guess.”

“I guessed that too.”

I smiled and looked at the ritual lighting up in the distance.

Instantly, I knew I had something to do.

“Then I'll leave the ritual here to your hard work. I'm going to mess up the rituals of the other academies to buy you time.”

“Naturally. We signed a contract. The penalty is withdrawal from the competition. I don't want to withdraw because of this.”

“True.”

I smiled and nodded.

I was quite assured about the contract.

Although the contract only targeted Enala, making her withdraw from the competition to violate a contract was not worth it from any perspective.

Of course, there was a lot of room for manipulation here.

After all, neither of us wanted to give the other leverage by withdrawing.

If we were forced into a one-for-one exchange, I would be the first to reject it.

Now that the Witch Academy's ritual had just finished, the Sea Race could be said to be the first to start preparing for theirs.

Currently, all the major academies were in a state of distress.

The Witch Academy was suppressing all the other academies.

Their academy rankings couldn't go up, and they couldn't compete in the individual rankings either.

Many of the smaller academies were already showing signs of giving up.

And the ritual that lit up at this moment was from the World Tree Elves.

After matching the location, I was also very surprised.

I remembered that the Elves should have been restless due to the fire.

They were preparing for a ritual so soon?

Or did they also know about the hidden rule after the ritual and were preparing to take a gamble?

But regardless, I was going to go over and bring them some pressure from a witch.

Maybe I could even start another big fire on the other side, putting them in a pincer attack.

At that time, they should be sweating profusely, right?

At this moment, under the pressure of the approaching forest fire, the Elves and the Beast Academy gradually accepted that they did not have the ability to extinguish the fire.

Even with the help of the Elemental Elf Academy, it was still a drop in the bucket.

After all, the fire would spread, but the water would not.

And the ranger who was negotiating with the Sea Race had not responded, so they needed to save themselves.

For example, by borrowing the power of the World Tree to protect their last hope.

After all, the status of the World Tree was as important as the Wizard Tower of the Wizard Academy, supplementing natural power, obtaining resources and protection, etc.

Even the Mother God in the “Mother God Hymn Ritual” referred to the World Tree.

Once the World Tree was truly burned down, Aphrodite Academy would have to say goodbye to the academy rankings in advance.

Under the circumstances where nothing could be done, they could still perform a ritual!

Because Aphrodite Academy's ritual was bound to a fixed existence, the preparations for the ritual were relatively simple.

But in the beginning, Aphrodite Academy had acted conservatively.

After all, even though they were all Elves, it didn't mean they were grasshoppers on the same rope.

For example, the Dark Fallen Elves and the Elemental Elf Academy were not affiliated with Aphrodite Academy.

They were only hindered by Aphrodite Academy's power, but if it came to a direct confrontation, they still had the ability to cause trouble for them.

What's more, next to the Elves was the Beast Academy, which was even more of a mixed bag.

Once they held a ritual, they would definitely be besieged by the Beast Academies.

Even a mere possibility was not acceptable, so the relationship between the Elves and the Beast Academy had to be managed well.

But by being conservative until now, they had been left behind by the Witch Academy, so they had to act aggressively to have a chance to turn the tables.

They even linked the Aphrodite Academy's Mother God Hymn Ritual with the forest fire, to “prove” that Aphrodite Academy could extinguish the forest fire by relying on the World Tree, which might trick some of the Beast Academies into supporting them.

Even if the Beast Academies eventually discovered they were scammed, at least Aphrodite Academy would have gotten the academy score.

According to the current situation, if the Witch Academy continued to act as it did, Aphrodite Academy could at least maintain the second rank, which was not bad.