The contestants have to choose different paths to reach the finish line in the half-plane mazes created by successive eight-ring wizards.

These demiplanes were opened up by Eighth Ring Mages during their experiments and are usually only the size of a small village.

The whole game is similar to a sandbox-style level-breaking game, where each demiplane is a level, and all the demiplanes together form a maze.

The school will use space gates to connect these small demiplanes and allow students participating in the competition to move forward through them until the finish line.

There are not many difficulties in the competition, which can be roughly divided into three points: first, how to find the space door leading to the next demiplane inside the demiplane. The school will deliberately hide these space doors; second, the harsh environment inside the demiplane. These demiplanes are usually the places where high-level mages dump various abandoned research. There are not only swamps formed by venom, but also alien monsters. The environment is dangerous; third, and most importantly, there is a competitive relationship between students. The college will not interfere with whether students form teams, so both individual competition and team competition are allowed. This also leads to some people attacking their teammates in order to win.

In addition to these, the school will usually ask the machinist to make some steel guards and constructs to be placed in the demiplane, or build some safe houses.

…

"Garlin, I'm not being stingy. Just look at the money we have given you from the Tower of Wonders! Is that stingy? But you want us students from the Tower of Wonders to work for you for free after the final exams until next summer. Are you kidding me?"

In the office, Mooreban was arguing with the dean of the Tower of Spells.

A large part of the funding for the Tower of Wonders comes from students' processing, which is the main channel for wonder craftsmen from relatively poor families to repay their student loans.

But people from other schools actually wanted these students to work for them for free, which would not only lead to a reduction in the supply of the Tower of Wonders, but also make those students lose their livelihoods.

So whether for public or private reasons, Mooreban didn't want to agree to this.

"I know, Moore class, I know this request is a bit excessive, but in the last competition, our eight schools reported each other for cheating, so this time, in order to put an end to the last incident, we have no choice but to ask you for help."

More than thirty years ago, the current Tower of Wonders was controlled by a group of mages who did not want to choose a school of specialization. They believed that mages should not be bound by a school.

But later on, these guys were found to be seriously corrupt. In order to make up for the deficit, the Magic Council (the upper echelons of Arkanix) introduced artificers to the Mage Tower.

The current tower owner, who was financially strong, not only helped to repay the deficit of the Magic Council, but also gave everyone some funding every year, so the Mage Tower was changed to the Tower of Wonderful Equipment.

But ever since he moved into the Mage Tower, the Tower Master has not been very interested in getting involved in the Nine-Layered Path competition.

Following the example of their superiors, most of the artificers of Akanix also chose not to participate in this competition.

Even if they participate, most of them are helping friends from other schools and never run to participate on their own.

In the words of those teachers, "If you have that much time, you might as well make a few more equipment and sell them for money. Honor? If you invent a tool that benefits the country and the people, you will have more honor than the champion of the Ninefold Path!"

And because the original ninth group of mages was gone, and the artificers were too lazy to participate, the Nine-fold Path competition had been jointly undertaken by the eight major schools over the past thirty years.

So they inevitably started to have some backup plans.

The matter became a big deal in the last competition, when students from eight schools each reported their opponents for cheating, so the last competition was the only one without a true winner.

So, in order to put an end to cheating, the eight major schools are thinking of seeking help from the machinist.

"Then why don't you use some of the funds to hire senior students from our Tower of Wonders? Especially those sixth and seventh graders who have paid off their student loans."

Seeing his master's embarrassed expression, Carl took advantage of his young age and asked.

Upon hearing this, Moore's class also became excited.

He was originally worried about the "internship" for the sixth and seventh graders. Those students had never actually participated in the work of the Wonder Machine Workshop. They only helped the teacher to make some well-designed props and strange objects, and they were somewhat overconfident.

"Good idea! You are worthy of being my apprentice!"

Standing up from his seat, Mooreban walked quickly to Karl and patted his shoulder with a happy face.

Several deans of instruction in the Mage Tower had awkward looks on their faces. They had originally planned to get something for free, but now they had to pay back part of the funds they had obtained from the Magical Machine Tower, which made them feel very uncomfortable.

The Spell Tiger thought about it and felt that this was indeed a solution, so he began to discuss the matter with Mooreban.

The two of them quickly worked out a general plan, and those who were left who wanted to take advantage of the situation were too embarrassed to say anything, so they just filled out the forms and went back.

"Ah! My good disciple, this time it's all thanks to you!"

After seeing off the deans of instruction from other wizard towers, Moore turned around and patted Carl's shoulder happily.

"What's wrong?"

Although he is good at business, Carl still has some knowledge about such workplace matters.

Mooreban gestured toward the door and then said:

"Do you think their presence here is just a coincidence? They are just trying to get something for free! They are secretly putting pressure on me! If I had known, I shouldn't have approved the money so quickly! This will make them think that our Tower of Wonders makes money faster than mining gold or dragon crystal!"

After hammering his knee in annoyance, Mooreban returned to his seat and continued to impart workplace experience to his apprentice.

"They must be thinking of getting some free labor from us so that they can have more money left over and enrich themselves!"

"Of course, Galen shouldn't be such a person. We are old friends. But I can't say for sure about the other schools, especially the one from the Enchantment School. He didn't take advantage of us. Look at him, he looks like he has suffered a great loss!"

As he was speaking, Mooreban saw the design draft that Carl was holding.

He stopped talking, took the design draft, and began to point out some design flaws and areas for improvement on Carl's part.

As they were talking, Mooreban discovered the VR glasses designed by Carl among the pile of design drafts.

"What is this?"

After informing his master of the function of the VR glasses, Carl looked at his stunned master and couldn't help feeling a little proud.

"Sure, kid! That's a great idea! But it might be a little troublesome to actually make this thing. The size of the test machine might be much larger than the one in your design."

Listening to his master's advice, Carl suddenly had an idea in his mind.

"Master, what do you think? If we make this thing and let the seniors use the strange device with the Mystic Eye spell as a video recording tool in the maze, can we broadcast the competition process? Queen Aundair allocates so much money to our school every year. If we invite her to watch, won't it make her feel more involved? And..."

Before he could finish his words, Carl's shoulders were firmly grasped by Mooreban.

"Good disciple! Good idea!"

(End of this chapter)