He led Sylutia forward. The bustling streets were so full of strange new sights that the young woman scarcely knew where to look, and creatures she had never seen before kept appearing.
Besides Mages, she saw plenty of Elves, visitors from other continents, and even envoys from the distant Eastern Continent.
Blanur, the City of Star-Gazing, was unusually open and welcoming in that era. People dressed boldly, ahead of their time. Exquisite graffiti covered the city's walls, and many of its buildings had strikingly unusual designs.
Whenever Sylutia stopped before a shop, she could see unfamiliar goods through its clear display window: treasures from faraway lands, ornaments made from Astral Realm creatures, and high-end magazines containing the latest spell models.
Though this was a scene from centuries ago, Sylutia felt that Blanur back then had been even more prosperous than the Mage Alliance of today. Its outlook, in particular, had been remarkably radical and open.
"What do you think the Star-Gazer School was like, Tia?"
"I only know what the records say. It was once the foremost school in the Mage Alliance. Much of its doctrine concerned the Star World, and it actively explored humanity's origins and the paths its future might take."
"Mm. That isn't wrong, since nearly everything you know comes from records I left behind." He turned to her, his figure and features shifting. He was still Abelid, but his face and bearing had grown far younger, like an ambitious man in his early twenties who had just arrived in a great city from a small town.
"Back then, I'd just left the town where I'd lived for years and come to this city to study. Blanur wasn't only the Star-Gazer School's stronghold. Representatives of countless other schools gathered here to exchange ideas, debate, trade what they