**Chapter 72: The Needs of Wizards**
“But… the academy is actually willing to offer high-tier military merits as a reward. Can the dean handle that?”
After the initial excitement, Jie Ming calmed down, sensing something unusual.
As Clark had said, the academy wasn’t just commissioning him. Likely, every senior wizard skilled in the Alchemy Technique was tasked with producing materials resistant to energy corrosion.
As a mere third-rank wizard apprentice, Jie Ming’s output and material quality couldn’t compare to senior wizards.
The military merits were probably distributed based on individual contributions, meaning the academy was spending a significant amount this time.
These were high-tier military merits, unobtainable through exchanging points or low-tier merits, only earned by completing tasks from the Star Orbit Tribunal.
And to take on such tasks, one needed at least seventh-rank wizard status.
In all of Noren Academy, the only seventh-rank wizard was the elusive dean.
“Guess why the dean’s been absent all these years?” Clark’s face showed a rare, gloating expression. “He’s out there on the frontlines, slaving away like a beast of burden.”“Hiss…”
Imagining the mysterious dean toiling like a workhorse, Jie Ming couldn’t help but want to laugh.
But considering he’d be working under the dean in the future, and fearing repercussions, he twisted his expression into a grimace, sucking in a breath.
“Cough… um… to single-handedly support the entire academy, the dean is truly a role model…”
“Laugh if you want. That old codger’s hardly a proper sort anyway,” Clark said with a half-smile, glancing at him.
Perhaps due to a shared sense of being overworked, Clark’s expression softened.
Jie Ming’s lips twitched, but he suppressed his amusement.
To shift focus, he raised another question: “That Shadow Plane sounds like a tough nut to crack.”
“That plane’s form is peculiar. Its beings exist in a half-elemental, half-biological state, and the shadow element’s unique nature causes heavy losses for wizards.”
Clark didn’t hold back, fluently sharing details about the Shadow Plane. Jie Ming’s second-level training protocol granted him clearance for such information.
“It’s that tough to fight… Why doesn’t the dean take action himself?” Jie Ming couldn’t help but ask.
From the academy and Clark’s reactions, the Shadow Plane likely lacked a powerhouse on the dean’s level, or they wouldn’t be so relaxed.
Moreover, the higher a wizard’s rank, the greater their advantage over peers from other civilizations. A high-tier wizard’s strength far surpassed ordinary beings of the same level.
Even if the Shadow Plane had a seventh-rank being, with numbers in the double digits and the plane’s full support, the dean could probably handle them single-handedly.
“Because that world has a deity equivalent to a sixth-rank being.”
“Hm?” Jie Ming tilted his head in confusion.
Clark glanced at him, ignoring the puzzlement, and countered, “What do you think the wizard civilization’s obsession with planar wars is for?”
The purpose of wizards’ wars?
Jie Ming blinked, pondering cautiously before answering, “For… resources and knowledge?”
Wizards pursued many things, but it boiled down to resources and knowledge.
“Not bad. At least you’re not blind like some fools,” Clark said with an approving smile.
“We don’t wage wars for the thrill of destruction… though some idiots do. Most wizards join planar wars to gain more knowledge and resources to advance further.”
“If a plane surrenders its knowledge and resources immediately upon invasion, wizards wouldn’t bother destroying its native civilization. They’d even accept them as vassals. Many vassal planes in Noren’s workshop came about this way.”
“Even if the natives resist fiercely, wizards don’t mind—actually, they welcome it. War catalyzes the birth of new knowledge.”
“Some factions, upon discovering a new plane, deploy balanced wizard forces based on the plane’s strength to maintain high-intensity warfare, fostering new knowledge.”
Clark glanced at an unremarkable bracelet on his wrist. “Of course, such extremists are usually from the Crimson Court. The Star Ring Federation leans toward what I mentioned earlier.”
“Can you really distinguish good from evil between these factions’ ideologies?” Jie Ming’s eye twitched, silently scoffing.
To him, both the Star Ring Federation and Crimson Court were war criminals!
Neither was any good.
What? I’m part of the Star Ring Federation now?
Oh, never mind then.
Jie Ming now understood why the academy was willing to expend such resources on the Shadow Plane. A tough plane like that promised richer resources and knowledge.
Noticing Clark’s gaze, Jie Ming coughed, reining in his thoughts. “If that’s the case, shouldn’t the dean act to preserve most of the resources?”
“That’s the tricky part,” Clark shook his head. “A sixth-rank being is negligible. In a head-on clash, even exceptional fifth-rank wizards could take them down.”
“The issue is, once a being reaches sixth rank, they can access the plane’s origin. While they can’t manipulate it as precisely as wizards, crude use can drag the entire plane into mutual destruction.”
Jie Ming understood. It came down to cost-effectiveness and profit.
If pushed to desperation, the enemy could render the wizards’ campaign fruitless.
“How do you handle a situation like that?”
“Three ways. One, deploy a stronger wizard. An eighth-rank wizard can suppress a plane’s self-destruction, even against another eighth-rank being. Two, continuously send forces to weaken the plane’s power until its origin is sufficiently diminished. Or…”
Clark paused, glancing meaningfully out the window, “…a wizard advances to sixth rank within that plane.”