In the semi-basement, the vampire Howard addressed his fellow vampires: "The Vampire Transformation Curse is inherently the most powerful blood curse system of our Blood Curse Court."
"From the lowest-ranked Vampire Servants to Vampire Barons, and up to the pinnacle—the Vampire Grand Dukes... the hierarchy is strict, with orderly progression."
"This is an advanced blood curse personally cast by the Formal Wizards of the Blood Curse Court."
"Most of us underwent transformation not just for combat prowess, but to compensate for our lack of Wizard Talent by becoming vampires."
"However, the blood curse system we bore previously had some core aspects sealed by the higher-ups of the Blood Curse Court. Now, they've unlocked some of its functions within us."
Howard twisted his neck and laughed heartily: "We've been granted a new ability—Blood Devour. By capturing outstanding White Wizard apprentices, extracting their hearts, and consuming their heart's blood, we can absorb a portion of their Mana."
"The more we consume, the greater our chances of becoming First Class Wizard Apprentices. Of course, the White Wizards we devour must have higher innate talent than ourselves for it to be effective."
"The higher the talent of the White Wizard apprentice we consume, the more Mana we gain."
"Therefore, we must specifically target the geniuses among the White Wizards."
The vampire apprentices' eyes immediately transformed, brimming with fervor, excitement, and exhilaration.
Given their original talents, becoming First Class Wizard Apprentices would have been impossible. But now, because of this war, they had a chance to alter their fates.
This wizard war had already changed too many destinies—and would continue to change even more.
The Blood Devour ability allowed them, with their inferior talents, to challenge the threshold of becoming First Class Wizard Apprentices.
Though the side effects were undoubtedly severe—as with all shortcuts through Dark Magic, the consequences often matched or even outweighed the benefits—these Blood Curse Court wizard apprentices cared little for such concerns.
Howard produced a dagger-shaped crimson pendant. "Come forward one by one. I will pierce your hearts with the Blood Key to unlock this ability for you."
"Let the hunt for the White Wizard apprentice geniuses begin!"
Immediately, all nine Blood Curse Court vampire apprentices stepped toward Howard.
...
Lilith's Cottage.
The White Wizard Association Breeder Competition was a contest spanning the entire Southeast Corner Domain. Thus, when the preliminary rankings were announced, they drew considerable attention.
Many Breeders, and even some Formal Wizards, were puzzled by the sudden appearance of the name Locke Augustine on the rankings and began inquiring about his Wizard Mentor.
Locke's fifth-place finish in the preliminaries undoubtedly marked his first entry into the core circle of First Class Wizard Apprentices.
Inside the wooden cottage.
Mary, a First Class Wizard Apprentice and also a Breeder, scanned the list placed on her workbench in her laboratory.
She saw her name placed beyond eleventh in the preliminary round and couldn't help but curl her lips. "I passed. This is my third time participating in the preliminaries, and the result isn't bad."
"Considering I held back some of my strength, achieving this ranking is quite decent."
Mary then shifted her gaze to the fifth spot on the leaderboard. "Locke Augustine, Breeder Assistant? His entry ranked this high in the preliminaries?"
"Now that I think about it, I believe I've seen him a few times in the public plantation," Mary carefully sifted through her memories related to Locke.
Unfortunately, Locke had seemed so unremarkable back then that she couldn't recall ever speaking to him, leaving her with only fragmented impressions.
"He must be a newly promoted First Class Wizard Apprentice."
A flicker of surprise crossed Mary's eyes. "For his first competition, this performance is impressive. Did his Wizard Mentor guide him?"
"Never mind." Mary stopped dwelling on it. "Whether he's truly talented will be clear from the finals. No one goes all out during preliminaries, so the results aren't that meaningful."
"But ranking this high suggests he's already mastered the Magic Resonance Breeding Method. He should be able to pass the Breeder Certificate assessment soon."
Mary put away the ranking documents and resumed her experiments.
...
At the same time, in the First Circle Wizard district of Lilith's Cottage, Francis sat in his office reviewing the same rankings.
As a dedicated senior consultant and academic supervisor of Lilith's Cottage, he always paid close attention to the White Wizard Association's Breeder Competition results.
After all, such competitions reflected the reputation of Lilith's Cottage.
Prestigious wizard academies often had many apprentices on the leaderboard, even topping the ranks, while weaker institutions rarely saw their students listed.
This was both a measure of an academy's strength and a way to showcase its capabilities.
To Francis, Lilith's Cottage students competing wasn't just their personal endeavor.
From his perspective, it was the academy's business too.
Now, Francis scanned the rankings meticulously from bottom to top.
He nodded in satisfaction. "Our students performed exceptionally well this time. Seven of them made it into the top fifty."
"Perhaps someday, our Breeder Magic category at Lilith's Cottage will rank among the elite disciplines."
"However..."
Francis' gaze settled on the upper ranks, landing on the fifth position: Locke Augustine. A mix of contemplation and surprise flashed through his eyes. "This boy's potential exceeds my expectations."
"He's not just an ordinary First Class Wizard Apprentice who advanced quickly."
"I truly regret assigning such a student to Sophia." A hint of remorse surfaced in Consultant Francis' eyes.
"While preliminary results shouldn't be taken too seriously, they still demonstrate his potential in breeding studies."
"Regardless of the finals outcome, ranking this high in preliminaries speaks volumes on its own."
Francis pondered for a moment. "While we can't approve a medium-sized Botanical Garden for him, other benefits should be arranged as soon as possible."
"For instance, approving a small-to-medium sized Botanical Garden for him promptly."
"Judging by this development trend, this student clearly has the potential to become one of our next generation's Wizard Seeds, succeeding the likes of Mary and Angron."
"So it's best to have Sophia sign the contract. As long as she remains at the academy, we won't need to worry about other issues."