Chapter One Hundred: Seats and the Abandoned Crystal Pit

“Powerful? How powerful counts as powerful?”

Someone below called out.

The cloaked man said, “At the very least, your companion crystal must have reached the ninth tier, or you must possess ninth-tier strength yourself. The Abyss of Void is no simple place; if you are not strong enough, going there will be useless.”

Though he spoke in a roundabout way, everyone understood what he meant and immediately began murmuring among themselves.

“If anyone wants to go, you may sign up. Although I cannot reveal the details of the Abyss of Void for now, I can promise you this: it holds the greatest opportunity in this world!”

No one doubted those words. After all, everyone present had come here for the trial, and each had a name and a reputation. The cloaked man might seem mysterious now, but once the team was finalized, if he still refused to reveal his identity, the group would likely scatter on the spot.

“Our team is willing to go!”

Lando knew that voice well. It was Jens, followed by his teammates.

“Four of my teammates are ninth-tier. I may only be seventh-tier, but I have a special healing ability, and...” As he spoke, he waved his hand, and the Crystal Winged Dragon appeared out of thin air. Lando could see at a glance that it was even larger and more imposing than when Jens had first tamed it.

“Excellent!” The cloaked man nodded with satisfaction and motioned for the five of them to come to his side.

With Jens leading the way, other powerful figures who were interested began signing up one after another.

“Oh, Lando, should we go too?” Leah asked as she leaned over.

Lando looked at Leah, then at Alice. Seeing that Alice was deep in thought, he smiled and said, “I’m interested. I think I’ll go. What about you two?”

“Of course! I want to go too!” Leah said at once, excitement bursting from her.

Alice said with studied nonchalance, “I happen to be ninth-tier, so I can go.”

Calvo smiled. “A place this mysterious naturally interests me as well.”

Lando turned his gaze to the sisters Shade and Jenna, only then noticing that they were both only eighth-tier, and both were fire-aligned.

Shade caught his look and said helplessly, “How was I supposed to know I’d run into Jenna here, and that she’d also chosen the fire element?”

Jenna could only spread her hands in resignation.

After asking around, Lando learned that they had only just reached the eighth tier not long ago. Even if he and the others helped them advance to the ninth tier, it would probably still take about ten days.

“All right then,” Shade said. “If you want to go, then go. Jenna and I will just find a team to tag along with and wait for you.”

Jenna nodded to show that she agreed.

As fellow arcanists, none of them dwelled on it. In the end, the four of them also signed up.

When no one else came forward, eighteen people had gathered around the cloaked man. Aside from Lando’s group of four and Jens’s five-person team, the remaining nine were also all distinctive in their own ways.

“Very well, everyone, you may go about your business.”

That was what the cloaked man said to the others left behind. Then, with the eighteen of them, he departed, leaving behind a crowd full of envy.

After walking for a long while, with the meeting place long gone from sight, Jens spoke up. “Can we be straight with each other now?”

The cloaked man stopped, let out a soft laugh, and removed his hood. “Hello, everyone. Let me introduce myself. My name is Stran Lloyd, from the Ancient Curse Arts Division of Gastrow Academy. I am this year’s freshman—Tenth Seat.”

“Oh? The Tenth Seat among this year’s freshmen in the Ancient Curse Arts Division? You’re quite a remarkable person,” Jens said, his tone somewhat grave.

Seeing that some people did not understand what the Tenth Seat meant, Jens explained, “Among the old schools, individual academies do not have seat rankings. The ‘Tenth Seat among this year’s freshmen’ refers to the overall ranking of all freshmen in the Ancient Curse Arts Division.”

Only then did Lando understand the weight of that title. The Ancient Curse Arts Division had thousands upon thousands of academies across the entire Arcane Empire. To rank among the top ten out of so many freshmen was proof enough of Stran Lloyd’s ability.

At that moment, Calvo also spoke. “Stran Lloyd, the rising genius of the Ancient Curse Arts Division. I never expected someone like you to come to the Crystal World.”

Lando: ...

Stran gave a faint smile. “Naturally, I have my own reasons. Let us return to the matter at hand. On the way to the Abyss of Void, we must pass through an abandoned crystal mine. There are many crystal creatures there, which should be just right for those who have not yet reached the ninth tier to improve their rank.”

As he said this, Stran suddenly turned to look at Lando. “From the looks of it, you’re aiming for a purely elemental companion crystal? That should be based on your academy’s intelligent core’s calculations, am I right?”

Lando hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

“Since we are companions now, I’ll give you this information for free,” Stran said. “The upper limit for elemental companion crystals is the ninth tier. Non-elemental companion crystals, because of their pure nature, can be raised to the tenth tier.”

He glanced over the others as he spoke. Seeing some of them look surprised and others remain unreadable, he silently noted it before continuing, “But that is nearly impossible. To advance from the ninth tier to the tenth, you can only hunt ninth-tier crystal creatures or members of the tribes. Even if you counted every ninth-tier being in this world, it still would not be enough, and that is assuming the world is as it is now.”

“There is another method. The energy of the core of a large regional node can also satisfy your needs, but the difficulty and uncertainty of that approach are even greater. The Crystal-Origin Ruins are an example. Doing so might even anger that great lifeform, and for us, the cost would far outweigh the gain.”

“Once before, there was also a special instance in which this world was opened to a single genius alone. He cleared the entire world and raised a non-elemental companion crystal to the tenth tier—but that was the end of it.”

When he finished, he gave Lando a meaningful look, then continued explaining the journey ahead to the Abyss of Void.

Lando, meanwhile, fell into deep thought. If Stran was telling the truth, then there was indeed no need for him to keep walking the path of the non-elemental companion crystal. He also believed the other man was likely speaking honestly, yet something about it still felt off. Stran had clearly been offering advice out of goodwill, and yet Lando could not shake the feeling that it was all a little too deliberate.

“...All right, that’s the general outline. Does anyone have anything to add?”

Seeing that no one had anything to say, Stran went on, “Good. Then let us set out now!”

...

The abandoned crystal mine was not too far from the Crystal-Origin Ruins. The group of nineteen reached it in just one day.

The entrance to the mine was vast, with rolling mountain ridges stretching away behind it. Strangely, ever since they entered this area, not a single plant could be seen. As far as the eye could reach, even the distant mountains were bare and desolate, with only the occasional crystal cluster standing among them.

Through the perspective of his mindscape, Lando could even faintly make out traces of ominous black energy drifting restlessly through the area.

“This is the entrance to the abandoned crystal mine. Everyone must be careful. There are a great many crystal creatures inside, and most of them possess special attributes.”

None of them were novices. They all knew when to relax and when to be serious. After confirming the group’s readiness, Stran led the way into the abandoned crystal mine.