Wizard: I Have a Cultivation System

Blackstone Fortress.

Twenty-one years had passed since the Plane Rift was torn open at Eagle’s Beak Peak, an upheaval that changed the landscape of the Continent.

The soldiers who once fought and bled here had been replaced by generation after generation. The tragedy and glory of that time had mostly settled into a few blurry lines in dusty archives, or the slurred ramblings of old veterans after a few drinks.

The Castile Kingdom, which had once exerted immense pressure from across the Iron Ridge Mountain Range, was quickly abandoned as a scapegoat by other Wizard Organizations after that catastrophe.

Under the Church Court’s encirclement, the Tower of Secret Silver suffered devastating losses, reduced to a minor organization with not even a single Official Wizard left.

This indirectly affected the secular world, causing the Castile Kingdom’s power to wane. It was a far cry from its former might and could no longer pose a substantial threat to the Peric Clan, who guarded the Eastern Territory of the Vilt Kingdom.

More importantly, eleven years ago, Holy Sword Murphy burst onto the scene. With the Peric Clan connected to Murphy by marriage, this military family, which had once merely guarded the frontier, vaulted into the ranks of the Continent’s most illustrious powers.

Even though His Excellency resided year-round in the Holy City, his unseen protection and deterrence had long made the stretch of border where Blackstone Fortress was located one of the areas on the Continent widely considered least likely to erupt in conflict.

This long peace, coupled with the special status of having no external threats to worry about, had quietly eroded the formidable fortress once renowned for its iron will and resilience.

It was afternoon at the fortress’s main gate.

The sentry on duty leaned crookedly against the cold, gray-black wall tiles. The collar of his heavy Armor was casually unfastened, revealing a sweat-stained, yellowed linen shirt underneath.

He propped himself up with a spear in one hand, its tip angled toward the ground. With his other hand, he idly fiddled with a well-worn Copper Coin, which tumbled between his fingers with a faint, monotonous jingle.

The sunlight was a bit glaring. He squinted, his head nodding, looking as if he could fall asleep on his feet at any moment.

A few steps away, another soldier responsible for keeping watch was in even worse shape.

He was sitting in the shadow of a crenelation, his helmet taken off and used as a cushion. Head bowed, he was completely engrossed in whittling a piece of wood with a small knife, attempting to carve a crude bird. Wood shavings littered the ground at his feet.

From the arched gateway leading into the fortress came the faint sounds of raucous laughter and the crisp clatter of dice. Clearly, the off-duty soldiers were gathered together, having some fun.

The air was muggy. A listless wind from the Iron Ridge Mountain Range swept over the fortress’s tall arrow towers and mottled walls, failing to stir even a speck of dust.

"Hey, I’m telling you," the sentry flipping the coin said with a long yawn, "when will these blasted days ever end? Staring at these bare mountains and rocks all day, you can’t even see a damn ghost."

The soldier whittling wood scoffed without looking up. "You should be grateful. No wars to fight, we still get paid, and the higher-ups can’t be bothered to manage us."

"That’s true, but..." The sentry tossed the Copper Coin in the air and caught it, his tone resentful. "It’s just too damn boring. Back in the day, our people here followed the Duke and faced the monsters from the Otherworld head-on. How glorious was that! And now? We’re just gatekeepers, watching a gate no one will ever come through."

"Sounds to me like you’re just upset there’s no one to shake down for money. Besides, glorious? Can you eat glory?" The whittling soldier finally finished one of the little bird’s wings. He held it up to the light to inspect it, then pursed his lips in dissatisfaction. "This is so much better. It’s peaceful. If a real war broke out, people like us would be the first to die. I don’t want to end up like my grandpa’s generation—missing arms and legs, or just never coming back at all."

The sentry clicked his tongue, looking like he wanted to argue, but in the end, he just sighed and tossed the Copper Coin up again.

This time, the Copper Coin traced an arc through the air, but it didn’t fall back into his hand. Instead, it hit the ground with a CLINK and rolled a few steps away.

"Dammit," he muttered, bending over to pick it up.

Just as his fingertips were about to touch the Copper Coin.

HUMMM!

An extremely faint, strange humming sound swept across the sky without any warning.

Both soldiers froze in unison and instinctively looked up.

The next moment, their pupils contracted violently!

There, in the southwestern sky, a streak of Dark Gold light was hurtling toward them at a speed that surpassed the limits of their vision!

It wasn’t a bird, nor a cloud, nor any flying object they recognized.

It was too bright. Even under the clear daylight sky, it shone as brilliantly as a tear in the heavens, yet it was so fast that it left only an afterimage burned onto their retinas!

BOOM!

A colossal, utterly muffled explosion suddenly erupted!

High in the sky, the sword light came to a halt as it neared Blackstone Fortress, as if it had crashed into something.

From the point of impact, a visible, transparent, and distorted shockwave furiously expanded in all directions!

On the open ground before the fortress, countless years of accumulated dust, gravel, and loose stones were ripped from the earth by an irresistible force. They formed a terrifying, dusky-yellow sandstorm that blotted out the sun and lunged toward the fortress!

"My eyes! My eyes!"

"Grab something! Grab—"

The sentries’ cries of alarm were easily torn apart by the gale.

They squeezed their eyes shut, but the fine, sharp grains of sand and stone still found their way in everywhere, striking their faces, hands, and armor with a sharp patter.

It was as if the entire world had descended into chaos in that instant.

The sky was obscured by the roiling dust and sand, growing as dim as twilight.

The banners hanging on the fortress were torn to shreds. Miscellaneous debris danced and collided wildly in the wind.