Sorcerer: I want to be an Academic Prodigy

He had wandered around many cities.

In the end, he discovered numerous ancient records in a ruin, and thus, Fire Fury City was established from the ruins by a series of fortuitous circumstances.

In the eyes of those who sought refuge here, Fire Fury City was a harmonious place to settle down, but in Harper's heart, it was merely a temporary stop where he could leave at any moment.

The only reason he was still in Fire Fury City was that he had no clues, no useful clues about the upper realm.

Now, he couldn't answer the great Divine Venerable, nor did he feel worthy to do so.

"Ah! Another damn night."

Harper's ears twitched, and immediately after, bright torches lit up on the other side of the city, illuminating that section of the city wall, clearly indicating something unusual had occurred.

"Lord Harper, a large group of shadow creatures are attacking, and the City Guards on watch may not be able to hold them off."

"Understood, follow me to kill the enemy."

The night was different from the day; the night was countless times more dangerous than the day.

Even when he was in the study, Harper didn't take off the soft armor he wore, and upon hearing the commotion, he armed himself fully and led a group of Near Guards, quickly running along the city wall to the other side.

"The Master of Fire Fury is here."

"Monsters, you're doomed."

Before Harper could get close, the City Guards who were resisting noticed his arrival, and their morale soared.

Harper knew well that these City Guards, having not undergone much training, could handle a small group of shadow creatures, but once their numbers increased, they wouldn't be able to hold out for long before the defense collapsed.

"Move aside, I'm going to personally slay them."

As Harper rapidly approached, he saw from a distance the shadow creatures climbing up from outside the city walls, with numerous tentacles already on top of the wall, and some half-bodies over the parapets.

Rushing forward, with a swift swing of his sword, he cleaved the soft-skinned creatures, which the City Guards found hard to break through, into two, then four, until they were hacked into eight pieces and turned to dust.

Shadow creatures were like that, regardless of their shape, their bodies could become soft, extend, and they had considerable toughness.

Fortunately, these shadow creatures were neither fast in movement nor climbing, and they feared fire a little, making it easy for him to slay them with his sword.

On the city walls, where Harper's longsword passed, the climbing shadow creatures were cut down one by one, and their remains all turned into black dust, which scattered down.

After this black dust settled, it would gradually disperse over time, and it was hard to say whether it was unrelated to the gray dust floating around during the day.

"Is anyone hurt?"

"Lord Harper, everyone is fine."

"That's good; if anyone's injured, they should go down and rest, let someone else take over night watch, nothing can go wrong at night."

Under the revered gazes of everyone, Harper slew most of the shadow creatures and even the last one, resolving this crisis.

For him, this was just a routine move, with no sense of accomplishment.

After giving a few casual instructions, he leisurely returned to the castle, knowing that if other ignorant shadow creatures attacked afterward, he might still need to come here or to another location.

This was his daily routine as the Master of Fire Fury.

To be honest, he didn't particularly like this kind of life, just as he didn't like this world.

Returning to the study, Harper forced himself to calm down and read when he heard a mysterious voice.

"Harper, you've become slack."

"I haven't— Oh, Great Divine Venerable, little Harper pays homage to the Great Divine Venerable, little Harper has seen the Great Divine Venerable, little Harper has seen—"

"Alright, alright, I heard you, there's no need to repeat it so many times."

"I'm excited; I thought I'd never get the chance to see you again."

Undoubtedly, Harper was also a member of the Black Star Legion, and the Divine Venerable he constantly thought of was none other than the True Witch King's throne of Danaila.

This place was actually the Ash Plane. Ivan knew that a war between both sides was bound to break out sooner or later, so he naturally had to plant a few pawns here in advance just in case.

Harper was just one of them; his mind was not particularly bright, nor was he very promising.

And the Ash Plane hid many mysteries; even using Heaven Gate for contact wasn't simple. If it weren't necessary, Ivan wouldn't naturally reach out to Harper.

"Your Fire Fury is doing well."

"Really? Hehe, many of them said they wanted to build it, and I thought it wouldn't be a bad thing, so I let them establish it, just convenient for me to read the materials here."

Hearing the Divine Venerable's praise, Harper was overjoyed and truthfully explained.

It seemed he was right to establish Fire Fury City.

"There are indeed quite a few books and writings here." Ivan said.

"Yes, yes, they were found in the ruins of the original city and brought here." Harper eagerly introduced.

"Have you discovered anything?" Ivan continued to ask.

"I'm extremely sorry, little Harper hasn't found any clues about the upper realm yet, disappointing the Great Divine Venerable." Upon hearing this, Harper's excitement instantly dissipated, and his expression turned gloomy.

"It's no problem."

"Really?"

"Why, is what I said not credible?"

"I believe, I believe, in little Harper's heart, your words, Divine Venerable, are the truth."

Ivan didn't really mind this issue. After all, Harper wasn't the only one who was like this; other undercover agents also hadn't gained any insights. It had to be said that the degree of mystery in the Ash Plane was unprecedented.

It was known that the Ash Plane was divided into upper and lower realms, respectively, the gray realm below, and the ashen domain above.

However, the upper and lower realms seemingly had no significant connection, as if something separated them, making it difficult to gather any useful information.

The peculiarities of the Ash Plane didn't end there.

The gray realm below could be described as vast, but most areas were uninhabitable for creatures. The southern part was covered with ice and snow, entirely a frozen land, with many shadow creatures and shadow demons running amok.

Although the majority of the northern region wasn't frozen land, it also harbored many shadow creatures and shadow demons, putting anyone who entered during the night in great danger.

Only areas near fertile lands or volcanoes were habitable, and even there, strongholds had to be built on top to prevent harassment from shadow creatures, with low food production, leading to very few living beings in the gray realm.

The channels for living beings in the gray realm to ascend to the upper realm were also severed, with strength inferior to even some small planes, rendering it a place of despair.

If Ivan hadn't repeatedly confirmed that this was the Ash Plane, he would have thought he came to the wrong place.

Everyone said the Ash Plane was the most peculiar, and he had thoroughly experienced this notion that he couldn't find a way into the ashen domain, nor did he press for it, knowing that the agents here would be useful eventually.

"I've got a task for you." Ivan continued.

"Divine Venerable, please instruct." Harper's eyes lit up; he was more afraid of being ignored by the great Divine Venerable than he was of any task.

"There is a dead volcano beneath your city, isn't there?"

"Yes, yes, I went down there myself, it's all red down there, just too hot to stay for long."

"That's good then, I need you to use the energy there to set up some things, and remember, without my permission, do not activate them on your own."

Ivan had come looking for him because, of course, there were tasks to assign.

The Danaila Plane would be attacking the Ash Plane soon, and he himself was just one of the thrones, with many who were more powerful than him, not to mention those at the supreme level and the progenitors he could not fathom in the slightest.

Once the war broke out, anything could happen, and he couldn't help but prepare more.

"Yes, yes, little Harper will comply, ensuring no errors whatsoever." Upon hearing this command, Harper repeatedly assured.

"Alright, remember what you said." Ivan agreed to this with ambiguity, having no full intention of letting Harper handle it all: "I'll borrow your body for a moment; I need to take a personal look at the volcano's crater."

Harper wouldn't refuse; in his mind, this was the utmost honor.

Ivan looked into the crater and left shortly after, leaving behind a relatively simple task.

That should do it; after all, this time, for the sorcerer world, they weren't the main force, and it was more about witnessing and participating in such massive-scale battles, treating it as military practice.