Void Battleship

Arriving at the door of Mentor Clark's office, which looked plain but whose interior space had actually been expanded through multiple layers of folding, Benjamin knocked softly.

"Come in."

A calm voice came from within.

Benjamin pushed the door open and entered.

The room was almost unchanged from his memories.

Piles of ancient scrolls coexisted harmoniously with flickering data screens, and the air carried the faint mingled scent of parchment and energy ink.

Mentor Clark sat behind a broad desk, still looking like a slightly weary scholar with a worrying receding hairline. His gray robe was so plain it was nearly worn-out.

He was intently watching a screen so complicated it made one's head spin, streams of symbols and formulas flowing across it that Benjamin could not understand in the slightest.

Hearing Benjamin's footsteps, he merely raised his eyes slightly and nodded.

"You're here."

His tone was as casual as if greeting a student he saw every day.

"Mentor, the time has come." Benjamin respectfully performed a wizard's salute.

Mentor Clark answered with an "Mm." His fingers swiftly traced across the screen several times, seemingly completing some point in his calculations, before he casually shut it off.

He rose to his feet, smoothed the sleeves of his robe, which had not been wrinkled in the first place, and turned his gaze to Benjamin.

"Let's go."

There was no pre-battle discussion, no special preparations in sight, not even the slightest hint of tension.

His calm manner made it seem as though he was not about to deal with a Living Plane that, once out of control, could threaten several high-ranking wizards, but was merely heading out for a meal in the cafeteria or to look up some information in the library.

Benjamin was already used to this, and it instead made