New Guests at Sunfury Spire

"Mentor, you wanted to see me?" Lanlos pushed open the door and walked toward Alona, who had her back to him.

With a light toss, a palm-sized bag floated from Alona's hand toward him. "I'm not the one who wanted to see you."

"Huh?"

"I have to say, you've impressed me. You even got the Grand Magister to summon you personally." Alona turned around. Though her words were praise, her sharp gaze said otherwise. "How much have you been hiding from me about the Sanctum?"

"I-I wouldn't dare!" Lanlos gave an awkward but polite smile and scratched his temple, then changed the subject to the bag floating in the air. "What's that?"

"Don't bother with those little tricks. But since things turned out all right, I can't be bothered to press you." Alona smiled faintly and guided the bag into the hands of the grinning Lanlos. "One thing at a time. Let's discuss the matter at hand."

"What matter?"

"Lanlos." Alona's expression suddenly turned solemn. It was as if she had poured magic into her voice, giving it an undeniable, irresistible force.

"As a teaching assistant, you put students in danger. As a member of the academy's faculty, you took up a temporary advisory position with the Farstriders without authorization..."

The string of baseless accusations made Lanlos frown deeply. But he wasn't some hotheaded fool. He knew Alona was reciting an order from the academy, and he had no right to resist, so he didn't rush to argue.

Thankfully, things soon took a turn.

"In view of Lanlos's participation in and successful resolution of the Sanctum crisis, his merits outweigh his faults, and no further action will be taken."

"Furthermore, Lanlos's actions have greatly promoted Fastherin's fine cultural traditions. He is hereby granted the title and privileges of honorary teaching assistant as encouragement."

A carrot and a stick? Hmph. This whole routine felt awfully familiar.

Still, at least they hadn't erased his contribution. That was something.

Lanlos pursed his lips. When Alona finally finished, he asked tentatively, "Um, where's the encouragement?"

Alona glanced at the red bag embroidered with a golden phoenix in Lanlos's hand and smiled without answering.

Coming to his senses, Lanlos finally focused on what he was holding. It was very light, weighing no more than a few gold coins, but the young elf nearly jumped for joy.

He slowly extended his thoughts into it. As he "saw" a whole new world appear before him, Lanlos couldn't stop smiling.

The Demiplane Container, also known as a Bag of Holding, was only roughly 0.5 × 1 × 2 in size, but there was no doubt it was an invaluable treasure to Lanlos.

"Is this really for me?" Still unable to believe it, Lanlos asked again and again, until Alona started to lose patience.

"Of course. Not just the bag, but everything inside it, too."

At that, Lanlos settled down and focused on the other items in the Bag of Holding.

With a thought, a red staff carved with golden patterns appeared in his hand. Its tip had been sculpted into the shape of a flame, and the golden runes engraved along it gave off a subtle yet powerful aura of magic.

Database updated...

Arcane Staff

Intellect +1

Spellcasting Haste increased by 6%

Mana cost of fire spells reduced by 18%

Spell Storage (0/1): Stores one fire spell of up to third circle.

For a spellcaster, intellect determined the power of their spells. Add the haste, reduced mana costs, and that enviable Spell Storage!

There was no question that this piece of magical equipment was valuable.

"Every mentor has one of these, but hardly any teaching assistants can get their hands on one. You've struck it rich."

Lanlos was about to thank her when he noticed a letter rolled around the staff's handle.

What was this?

A question mark appeared in his mind as the young elf slowly unrolled it.

"This is a task I've assigned you. You've done good deeds over the past few days, but the fact is, you skipped work. The Grand Magister happens to have summoned you to Silvermoon City, so I'm assigning these collection tasks to you."

"One more thing." Alona patted Lanlos on the shoulder, her tone turning somewhat dangerous. "This is your task. You are not to ask Lansan for help for any reason."

Lanlos swallowed and quickly nodded. "Yes..."

"The budget is in the bag. Get ready, then set off..."

"But what about travel expenses?" Lanlos's smile was a little strained. It wasn't that he was stingy; he was simply flat broke...

"Travel expenses? Hahaha!" Alona burst out laughing as if she'd heard the funniest joke in the world, leaving Lanlos baffled.

The Magister soon seemed to realize something was amiss and quickly composed herself. "Remember, boy, we're Arcanists!"

"..." Lanlos was about to speak when dazzling white light surged from Alona's hand. The next moment, it engulfed him completely, and he vanished without a trace.

Before he could even get a good feel for the sudden sensation of weightlessness, Lanlos felt his feet touch solid ground once more. The air around him was thick with a rich, comforting aura of magic.

"Welcome. The Grand Magister has been waiting for you for quite some time." A hoarse, low voice came from behind him. Lanlos immediately opened his eyes and turned around.

An elven mage in an ornate robe bowed slightly to him. His greeting was more impeccable than anything in a textbook.

"Where is this?" Lanlos asked, surveying the spacious room.

Aside from a few desks and chairs near the entrance, the room had almost no decoration. The most eye-catching feature was the enormous magic circle covering the entire floor.

"This is Sunfury Spire, the reception room for Magisters."

"The reception room?"

"Yes. All teleportation spells cast by outside Magisters entering the Sunstrider Court can only be directed here." The mage gestured invitingly to Lanlos, then led the way out.

As soon as he stepped through the door, Lanlos was stunned by the sight before him.

Unlike other mages' towers, Sunfury Spire was unimaginably vast.

The ceiling was filled with magically enchanted lamps that floated on their own. They didn't just provide light; they also served as sentries. Luxurious, colorful veils made of fine silk transformed the bright lamplight into shimmering rays of every hue.

Magically transplanted trees floated beside the path, as if the air itself were their soil. Beautiful young maids hurried back and forth. Their exquisite gauzy garments and glittering, expensive jewelry were impressive enough, but the intoxicating wines and food they carried were all priceless.

This wasn't just simple luxury. The High Elf nobles' decadent, extravagant lifestyle—one of wine, women, and song—made Lanlos's eyes turn red with envy.

Everyone liked to enjoy the finer things in life, and he was no exception. But compared with the satisfaction he got from growing stronger, he preferred the latter.

"So, where's the Grand Magister?" After wandering around Sunfury Spire with Iniven for quite a while, Lanlos was starting to get bored.

He didn't like this kind of showing off, especially when he was so broke he could barely afford to eat...

Just as he was about to speak, Iniven suddenly froze. A subtle trace of magic reached his ear. After a brief silence, he bowed to Lanlos. "The Grand Magister is ready to receive you. Please follow me."

Ready?

What had the Grand Magister been doing before? Busy working, or watching someone?

Lanlos's gaze flickered slightly as he casually glanced up at the crystal lamps overhead.

The latter seemed to sense his gaze, and one of them flickered faintly.