On the day of the appointment ceremony, the skies over Eternal Night Graveyard were unusually free of fog.
Bone Plaza had been prepared early.
At the center of the plaza stood a high platform piled from gigantic bones. Hundreds of grayish-white bone pillars had been planted around it, each burning with ghostly blue Soul Fire.
Several rows of bone chairs had been arranged beneath the platform, their backs engraved with various runes. They were reserved for important Academy figures and visiting representatives attending the ceremony.
Farther out, the plaza was already packed with Formal Wizards, forming a dense black mass.
These "important figures," who had once seemed extraordinary in the eyes of Apprentices, were now merely inconspicuous spectators.
As for the Apprentices, they were not even qualified to stand in the plaza. They could only crowd around its edges, standing on tiptoe and craning their necks to peer inside.
Whenever a wizard approached, they scattered like startled birds, terrified of offending the important figures.
A ring of Soul Hunters maintained order around the plaza, their ghostly blue eyes watching everything nearby.
At that moment, Lynn stood in his laboratory, adjusting his collar in a conjured mirror.
He was still wearing his dark purple wizard robe today, except the Lord of Myriad Phenomena emblem on its back was much larger than usual, like a distorted star map spread behind him.
He pinned the Soul Department Chief's Badge to his chest, the soul-thread patterns on it glowing faintly.
When the door opened, a Soul Hunter was already waiting outside.
The Soul Hunters were led by Vice Principal Cersei and were specifically responsible for monitoring the Academy's interior, dealing with traitors and serious rule-breakers.
They possessed excellent concealment abilities and were stationed throughout every corner of the Academy. They could act directly against