The Cornflower Witch

"Awakening the Horn of Courage," this topic was not only difficult for Sylutia, but other mage contestants also found it unfamiliar and strange when facing it.

Because of the development of Mechanical Creations and the Mage Alliance's professional system, the Alliance's current warfare methods no longer rely on large-scale armies. Instead, airships paired with high-tier mages first perform targeted bombing and destruction of important targets, then powerful mechanical creations advance on the ground to sweep away low-tier grunts and obstacles, and finally the army enters to complete the cleanup.

Such a warfare model doesn't place high demands on the army, so horn-type creations from the military formation system have been neglected for a long time.

"It seems quite a few contestants are stuck on this stage, showing varying degrees of hesitation and contemplation." The audience outside discussed.

"The ancient Royalty System dates back to the tribal era, and horns were also born in the tribal era. So some countries that rely on knight formation combat still have partial inheritance of this knowledge. As for the Alliance side, it's indeed been a long time since we've seen them."

While Sylutia was pondering, she happened to overhear this remark and recalled how Scholar Heide had, during their studies, flipped through records about the founding war of Regas's ancestors, which included some stories and legends.

That's right, the book was called "The Tree Rings of Firs ~ Tales of the Mountain Nation." A hundred years ago, the Knight King Raygard Bouverie led the "Fir Knight Corps" through twenty-seven consecutive battles. Ice-crack patterned swallowtail banners fluttered as thousands of lances, like thunderbolts, tore through the freezing mist, crushing countless enemies and hostile tribal forces, before finally establishing the capital at White Cliff City.

Interestingly, the Knight King Raygard Bouverie's main campaign to conquer the mountains took place during the Sinking Fog season, and they even lost quite a few important members to heavy snow during that time. This history also recorded the various methods Raygard Bouverie used to deal with the cold and icy mist.

Reading more books really does pay off, Sylutia mused, then walked toward the material table.

"Wind-Calming White Ox Horn," "Brown Blood Red Fir," "Ring White Grass seeds"... Her gaze searched, picking out materials one by one.

First was processing the ox horn to serve as the main body of the horn instrument. Then came carefully baking the Brown Blood Red Fir, peeling off layer after layer of tree bark, separating the fibers within, then twisting them into sturdy rope rings to fit around the outer layer of the horn, enhancing its strength. Finally, she ground up the Ring White Grass seeds and processed them slowly with high-temperature charcoal fire, turning them into fine white ash.

Lastly, she used this white ash to carve an ancient shaman totem on the inside of the horn, granting it the effect of boosting morale.

Since she had only known about this from books before, Sylutia had to experiment several times at each step, cross-verifying with the knowledge she'd gained in the Western Mountain Range. She slowly confirmed the details and finally spent nearly forty minutes completing the horn.

[Ancient White Wind Song Horn] (Third Tier·Excellent): A reproduced ancient horn that can awaken primal battle instincts and courage. Commonly used on battlefields, sounded before formation charges.

The effect should be decent, right? Sylutia looked at the heavy horn in her hands. Although Discernment Eyes and her senses both told her this creation was well-made, she hadn't actually tested it in practice, so she wasn't confident.

She looked up at the time. She needed to continue to the next test now and couldn't waste too much time on this.

"Warm Current That Melts the Frost" - deciding what form this treasure should take also gave Sylutia a headache. If it were making a large bomb, she had plenty of relevant knowledge, but something that both generated heat and properly protected fragile creatures while maintaining them in a very stable state was not an easy task.

She looked at the dazzling array of materials on the table and finally chose to walk her own path of expertise. She selected a fiery red herb—this was raw material that had already been harvested as medicinal herbs, but what Sylutia valued was the "Scorching Sun" Aspect contained within this plant.

[Fire Blaze Herb] (Second Tier·Excellent): A special herb that grows near volcanic craters, containing the "Scorching Sun" Aspect.

Besides being used to make potions, this herb was also a raw material for advanced gunpowder, usable for making high-grade enchanted bullets or bombs.

After taking this "Fire Blaze Herb," Sylutia didn't rush to dry and grind it into powder. Instead, she used alchemical pharmaceutical methods to produce "Verdant Dew Water" on the spot—a dew used to nourish plants. Back when she was a gardener, she was extremely proficient at this. Now using a different method to produce it was still not difficult.

Eight magic hands operated simultaneously. While making the Verdant Dew Water, she also used other materials to craft the lantern base.

When the Verdant Dew Water was nearly complete, Sylutia re-buried the "Fire Blaze Herb" into the lantern base, then poured in a small amount of Verdant Dew Water to nourish it. After that, she activated the Magic Arrays inscribed on the base, stimulating the "Fire Blaze Herb's" Aspect heat energy to diffuse a gentle warmth wave.

This should work, right? Sylutia thought for a moment, then added a bit more Verdant Dew Water to make the warmth wave stronger. Feeling it roughly met the standard, she set down that lantern and began work on the final steam vehicle.

At this moment, Sylutia's true strength was on full display. Seventeen magic hands appeared simultaneously, with processes progressing in parallel—like a one-person factory. The skeleton, power furnace, transmission structure, and operating system of a steam vehicle were rapidly constructed. It was hard to imagine that a vehicle could be completely built in just one hour, and with good quality at that.

Looking at the completed steam vehicle, Sylutia placed the "Molten Essence Crystal" she'd retrieved earlier into it as the power source. The vehicle then started up, emitting a soft steam roar.

Success. She thought silently. This vehicle was probably the easiest creation she'd made in this competition.

Looking back at the previous items, she was fairly satisfied with the other three, but the lantern made from the "Fire Blaze Herb" still had some shortcomings. If she were still a gardener, she could use various methods to activate and strengthen the "Fire Blaze Herb" in the lantern. However, limited by her identity, many of the rune-inscribed Magic Arrays and techniques she could use had been cut down significantly, making the actual effect rather mediocre.

But wait—couldn't she take another "Third Tier+" raw material? Instead of using the finished "Verdant Dew Water" to stimulate the Aspect, why not directly install a Third Tier "fire seed" into the base? That would provide more energy, and the "Fire Blaze Herb" would merely act as something like a flow regulator, making the "fire seed's" power disperse more steadily.

With that thought, she went back to the material station, searched around, and found a "Verdant Nectar" Aspect fire seed—a "Pine Cone Essence Crystal." She installed it into the lantern base, re-adjusted the inscribed Magic Arrays, and finally completed this lantern for thawing and warming.

[Fire Blaze Lantern] (Third Tier·Rare): A treasure that resists extreme cold. A lantern that continuously emits gentle heat waves. The knob on the lantern can adjust the "fire seed's" output power, controlling the intensity and spread range of the heat.

Whew, that should be about it. Sylutia checked the time—there was still half an hour left. She re-examined her five creations, continued inspecting and fine-tuning them, then submitted all five works ten minutes before the assessment ended.

"Hedra has also completed her works. Truly impressive."

"I see a lot of people stuck on the final vehicle-making stage. That thing's pretty complex—even contestants who know how to make it need a lot of time to adjust."

Ten minutes later, the competition ended. The judges announced for all members to stop. Out of 116 contestants total, 31 had completed all five works.

Then came the scoring phase. Five masters serving as judges first inspected each contestant's submitted works, then had the evaluators test them one by one.

"Opening the gate!" the host announced enthusiastically. Then, under the expectant gazes of the audience, a massive gray-white long-haired boar walked into the arena. Its enormous frame made the platform tremble slightly with each step.

Three evaluators picked up guns made by different contestants and entered the arena. They aimed at the giant boar, and after restrictions were lifted, the boar began charging with hurried steps while the three evaluators fired in sequence.

Amid the gunfire, several bullets flew out. Some were deflected by the boar's thick hide, some only left scorched bullet marks, and others penetrated the tough skin and embedded into the boar's body—but none could stop the boar's advance.

"Next group."

Another three evaluators entered and also picked up three differently-styled hand cannons to aim at the boar. Unfortunately, the results remained poor. Only one hand cannon's bullets penetrated the bristles and hide, entering the boar's body.

This continued until the third batch, when a bullet finally pierced through, damaging the boar's internal organs and causing it to topple sideways in agony.

After twelve rounds like this, the guns made by the 116 contestants were eliminated by more than half. Only 47 proved capable of actually harming the boar, but even then, the effects varied wildly—some shots could penetrate the boar's skull, while others only left small craters and bloody holes, with the boar still possessing strong counterattack capability.

"Group 9: Alaric 67 points, Gain 79 points, Hedra 82 points..."

After the first round of scoring, Sylutia checked the rankings. Only 23 people were ahead of her. This result was pretty good.

Then came the second round—evaluation of the "Lantern That Pierces the Mist." When the contestants' works were brought up, many failed to meet the requirements, because the "gray-white mist" that appeared on site wasn't ordinary fog. Some inexperienced works that hadn't been tested in practice immediately lost their light in the mist and were swallowed by it.

In this round of evaluation, Sylutia's "Moon-Waiting Lantern" took second place. First place went to contestants from the "Appraisal School"—they specialized in optical products, and the works they brought out this time were indeed a cut above.

Third round: "Awakening the Horn of Courage." In this event, most mages performed poorly. Some horns, when sounded, didn't awaken the "fear-voice monkeys'" courage at all—instead, they scared them away.

"Now contestant number 79, Hedra's work." One evaluator raised the horn and sounded it.

A desolate, resonant horn note echoed through the arena. Initially, the ten monkeys inside seemed at a loss. But when the "winter wolves" on the opposite side approached, the monkeys began to change. They first hesitated to flee, but didn't run too far. When the winter wolves decided to hunt a few monkeys as prey, those monkeys were finally stirred to courage by the horn, beginning to fight back.

The "fear-voice monkeys" awakened their bloodlust. Their claws elongated and their movement speed increased. Facing the Third Tier "winter wolves," they began fighting bravely. After a brutal battle, four monkeys died, but the winter wolf paid the price of one eye and fled in defeat.

"Hedra scores 76 points." This score wasn't particularly high, but everyone else scored even lower, so she ranked third.

Fourth round: "Warm Current That Melts the Frost." Sylutia's [Fire Blaze Lantern] achieved fourteenth place.

Fifth round: "Snow Vehicle Breaking Through the Ice." In this round, Sylutia took first place by a far margin over everyone else.

Although she only got first place in the final event, Sylutia's overall score wasn't low at all. In the end, she secured first place by a narrow margin—a result that surprised many audience members and judges alike.

"It seems we underestimated this young lady before." One master commented.

"There are differences even among geniuses. She's already touching the threshold of those legendary historical figures."

"Let's see how the next event goes. The second event involves large-scale war machines, and Hedra has no prior experience in making those."

In the viewing room, Amelie was equally excited to see Sylutia take first place in the overall score of the first event. Even though no one else was in the room, she couldn't help voicing her congratulations.

At this moment, the sky was gradually brightening. The sun in the distance was slowly rising. Before they knew it, an entire night had passed.

The second event, the "Mechanical Creation" competition, would require an entire day of preparation. So the contestants headed to their respective workshops instead of remaining in the stands. Tomorrow, they would bring their completed war machines to compete for the final championship.

During this time, Sylutia could also return to the viewing room to rest for a while and have breakfast with Amelie.

"Welcome back, Hedra."

Walking into the room, Sylutia was greeted by Amelie. Seeing that she looked a bit tired, Amelie, following the knowledge and manner taught in books, pulled Sylutia into her embrace and let her rest her head on her lap to sleep.

Sylutia initially didn't want to be this much trouble, but she was indeed quite sleepy—after all, she hadn't slept all night. Leaning against Amelie's soft body, a wave of comfort made her reluctant to move. Her eyelids began to droop, then slowly closed, drifting into a light nap.

And so, when Sylutia opened her eyes again, it was already half an hour later. Although the sleep wasn't long, for a Transcendent like her, it was enough to replenish a good portion of her energy.

Sylutia sat up, glanced at where she'd been sleeping, and helped massage Amelie's thighs: "Having me pressing on you for so long, doesn't it hurt?"

"It's fine. Hedra is very light." That's what Amelie said, but Sylutia noticed that above her white thigh-high socks, faint dark red pressure marks remained on her skin.

"It's nothing."

Amelie shook her head. In truth, she often slept anywhere in the library herself, accustomed to clothes leaving slight marks on her arms and legs. These would fade in a while.

That's what she said, but Sylutia still felt a warm feeling rise in her heart.

Standing up, she looked at the glass outside. As the two discussed where to have breakfast, a knock came at the door, and then Sage Aitos walked in.

"Good morning, you two." The old man, seeing the two standing side by side, spoke with a slightly teasing tone.

"Good morning, teacher." Amelie politely bowed, while Sylutia beside her blinked and could only do the same.

Although the Dean deserved respect, this formal kind of courtesy wasn't usually necessary. Afterward, Aitos sat down, asked about their situation last night, then praised Sylutia a few times, commending her achievements in the competition.

"The latter half of the event will be very difficult. Don't put too much pressure on yourself." Aitos thought for a moment, then spoke. "Since we happen to have rare free time together like this, why don't you two come with me to meet a few good friends of mine?"

Good friends? Would ordinary friends need such a phrasing? Sylutia immediately realized something.

"Of course, they're about as powerful as I am. You might need to address them as 'Sage.'"

Just as she thought—the only ones who could stand shoulder to shoulder with Dean Aitos would be other Sages. Sylutia felt a surge of nervousness. Amelie beside her remained as calm as ever—perhaps this young lady didn't understand how powerful Sages truly were.

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