Mage Academy

After the Holy Tower Mage accepted the Aether Crystal, he said, "Go in. Don't waste my time."

The mages entered first, with the apprentices close behind. Their eyes and hearts were filled with nervousness. When Adam, walking at the very end, stepped into the Teleportation Array with both feet, the runes emitted a silver glow. The light formed a protective layer around every apprentice. Then Adam felt his body twist inward toward the center. The sensation was indescribably agonizing, as though his entire body had been forcibly stuffed through a tiny hole.

The next instant, another sensation arrived. His body underwent the same torment again, except this time it was being pulled back out of that hole.

Several of the other apprentices began to retch violently. Even Adam found it hard to suppress the urge.

By the time Adam's vision returned, they had arrived somewhere else. Eileen Mage waved her hand, scattering a mist of water that seeped into their bodies and greatly eased their discomfort.

"This is the reaction caused by fragile bodies being unable to withstand teleportation. It is also why we did not teleport you directly from Barren Island to the Mage Continent," Black Mage said. "We have now arrived at the Mordo Element High Tower. Later, you will attend the entrance ceremony together with the other apprentices of this batch."

"Mordo Element High Tower?" William repeated the name in confusion. Wasn't this a mage academy?

Black Mage explained calmly, "That's right, it is the Mordo Element High Tower. The mage academy was merely established by the Tower Master at the request of the Mage Council. This will be explained later."

Black Mage paused, then continued, "For the sake of our fairly pleasant time together along the way..."

The apprentices grumbled inwardly. Pleasant, built upon death?

"I will give you a piece of advice. Be cautious before making your choice. Once the contract is formed, you will have no chance to regret it. Oh, and one more thing: until you have mastered sufficient knowledge, try not to come into conflict with the local apprentices."

The group followed the mage out of the room containing the Teleportation Array and discovered that they were in an extraordinarily vast hall. Scattered pedestrians moved around them, their gazes carrying meanings that could not be read.

"Don't look around carelessly. The High Tower is where mages reside. If you accidentally anger some mage, no one will be able to save your lives."

Everyone's hearts tightened, and they hurriedly withdrew their curious gazes. From Black Mage's words, they realized that the academy was no paradise either. Apprentices truly were not some scarce resource.

Soon, they walked out of the hall. Only when they looked back did they discover that they had emerged from a colossal tower floating in the air. Its body stretched to an immense height. From its cloud-piercing spire, an invisible-to-the-naked-eye yet easily sensed torrent of energy poured into it. The energy circulated through the entire tower, making the Element High Tower look less like a fixed building and more like a rocket waiting to launch at any moment.

Below the Element High Tower stood rows upon rows of relatively ordinary buildings, arranged in a ring around it. Adam noticed that newcomer groups like theirs were emerging from some of those buildings, gathering toward a designated location under the guidance of mages.

Local apprentices? Adam murmured inwardly. Every local apprentice wore an expression of extreme pride. Whenever their eyes happened to sweep over the Barren Island apprentices, they revealed undisguised contempt, as though they were looking at country bumpkins entering the city for the first time.

The local apprentices were dressed far more extravagantly than they were. Adam noticed that every one of them had more or less some magical item on hand, and their total Mental Power was also stronger.

"Because they have lived in a High-Magic Environment all their lives, do they understand magic better?"

The crowd eventually converged in a plaza paved with some unknown material. It was pitch-black yet crystal-clear, resembling obsidian.

There were more than a hundred apprentices in this batch. Apart from the six of them, all the others seemed to be local apprentices. The two groups stood clearly differentiated, displaying an unmistakable sense of mutual rejection.

The mages stopped leading them and instead walked toward a high platform at the front of the plaza. Three mages were already standing there, all dressed in black robes. After the guides ascended the platform, the leading mage gave a light cough. Adam felt a crushing pressure descend, instantly suppressing every conversation. The plaza became utterly silent.

The black-robed mage nodded in satisfaction, then said, "I am Victor, Dean of Mordo Mage Academy. First, welcome to Mordo."

The apprentices remained silent as cicadas in winter. Victor Dean clearly did not care whether they reacted, and continued, "During your first year, you will receive free education, including foundational courses in rune knowledge, elemental knowledge, potion knowledge, alchemy knowledge, body-tempering knowledge, and more. Within one year, you must choose your future direction of study."

"Beginning in the second year, you will have two choices. The first is to sign a contract with the great Mordo Hyperdimensional Mage. The contract stipulates that after becoming a Formal Mage, you must follow the Mordo Hyperdimensional Mage on three Plane Conquests, or serve as a Tower Mage for three hundred years. In return, you may continue receiving free knowledge and education."

"The second is to study at the academy as a free apprentice. You will need to pay sufficient value to obtain knowledge, and the fees will be determined by the instructor. Your actions will be free, and after becoming a Formal Mage, you may choose to leave at any time."

"Of course, all this is conditional upon your becoming Formal Mages. During the apprentice stage, you must obey orders and fulfill your proper obligations."

After Victor Dean finished speaking, he left directly. The other two black-robed mages then explained several minor details, including some fees that still had to be paid during the first year's free period, such as accommodation fees and library borrowing fees. They also specified the areas apprentices could enter freely and those that required an application to access.

Among this was one piece of fairly friendly news for the Barren Island apprentices. The Magic Beasts the apprentices had killed aboard the Mordo Academy, after deducting the portions handed over to the guides and the ship's maintenance costs, would be converted into Energy Stones and returned to the apprentices, enough to cover their most basic living expenses.

After saying this, all the mages departed. Several Senior Apprentices took over, leading them toward their assigned dormitories.

Along the way, Adam carefully analyzed the mages' words and found that their terms were not particularly harsh. There were no conditions that people could not accept. He simply did not know whether there were verbal traps hidden within them. Still, given the mages' pride, they presumably disdained deceiving apprentices.

The group of six from Barren Island all relaxed. What they had worried about most had been the costs. Apart from William, who had the support of an apprentice father, and Ophelia, who possessed half a small Energy Stone vein, the others were utterly penniless. Being able to obtain knowledge for free by signing a contract was undoubtedly a good thing.

When the local apprentices beside them saw their relieved expressions, one of them let out an undisguised sneer. The malice packed within that laugh instantly enraged Randy. This poor apprentice from Barren Island had become extremely sensitive about his self-esteem after entering the academy.

Ignoring Randy's furious glare, the local apprentice said, "Country bumpkins will always be country bumpkins. Do you think the academy's terms are pretty good? Ha, listen carefully. Those terms are for Formal Mages. Do you really think you can become mages? Ridiculous."

"Bastard, what did you say?!" Randy roared in fury, heedless as he tried to use magic to teach the local apprentice a lesson.

The local apprentice dismissed Randy's threat with contempt. He did not even bother assuming a defensive posture as he said in an even more disdainful tone, "It seems you still haven't recognized where you are, idiot."

William hurriedly grabbed Randy, who was on the verge of losing his mind. He had already seen the Senior Apprentice leading them reveal a dissatisfied expression. Causing trouble immediately upon arrival, before understanding the situation, was clearly unwise. He said to Randy, "Randy, calm down. You absolutely cannot act now. I'll explain it to you later."

Seeing that Randy was still seething, the local apprentice raised an eyebrow contemptuously, drew his palm across his throat in a throat-slitting gesture, then left with his head held high.

William said quietly to Randy, "If you had attacked him just now, you would certainly have died. Attacking without first issuing a challenge to a duel, in front of so many witnesses, is an ambush. The others would not let you go, and no one could save you."

Randy calmed down. Unable to vent his anger, he turned his resentment upon Adam and said in a deliberately low voice, yet one Adam could hear perfectly, "A guy who only knows how to fight his own kind. Pah."

Adam felt no ripples in his heart; he even found it somewhat amusing. In his eyes, disputes started by people clearly belonging to the same social stratum over laughable reasons such as where they came from were foolish. Randy was foolish, and so was that apprentice.

The Senior Apprentice showed no reaction. He had seen this sort of thing countless times. As long as it did not interfere with his task, it had nothing to do with him whether the newcomers fought one another to the death. All he needed to do was bring them to the dormitory area.

The apprentices' rooms were all double rooms. Thanks to Adam's terrible popularity, no one was willing to share with him. Even William, whose attitude toward him was ambiguous, would not defy the group's will at a time like this. Adam did not care. Living alone was obviously better.

The Senior Apprentice said coldly, "The fee will be deducted from the Energy Stones converted for you." Then he looked at Adam. "As for you, pay double."

Adam nodded.

After speaking, the Senior Apprentice turned and left. Everyone entered their respective rooms. The rooms were quite nice; the academy had not been stingy toward apprentices in this regard. Adam paid no attention to that. He was recalling Victor Dean's words.

"Plane Conquest. Hyperdimensional Mage." Adam cared especially about those two terms. Were mages truly beings who transcended dimensions? They could actually launch wars against other worlds on their own initiative. Then Hyperdimensional Mage was a rank above Formal Mage, meaning one had broken free from the shackles of dimension?