Beneath Basia City's seemingly peaceful surface, countless undercurrents had begun to stir.
Sage and Grand Sage differed by only one word, but the gulf between them was as vast as earth and heaven.
In the past, the other families probably wouldn't have learned the news so quickly... After all, when Earl Ster truly wanted to keep something secret, no one found out.
For instance, no one knew why the Desert People had hunted him so relentlessly. Speculation had run wild for five years. Some had guessed he'd taken a treasure they wanted, but... a Sage-level Mage Tower? That was still hard to believe.
Even more surprising was Earl Ster's willingness to part with something so valuable just to secure his younger son the chance to become a Mage.
Even the Finch Family was puzzled. Just how valuable could those things be, for a Grand Sage to accept them and agree to teach someone with talent as utterly ordinary as Linde's?
When the Ster Family had first tried to enter the world of magic, the other families had tested the two Ster children with magical talent to see how far they might go.
People who knew nothing about magic could never understand: someone with genuine talent could resonate with the elements in the air without any instruction, and even see certain elemental Runes directly while meditating.
Such people were rare, but once one appeared, no person or method could hold them back.
Did they think just anyone could develop Crystal Energy Technology like Ismail?
No Mage Family would offend someone like that.
But of the Ster Family's two children, the boy would struggle even to become an Intermediate Magus.
The girl, on the other hand, might have a chance of reaching Advanced Magus—if she had enough resources and a qualified teacher.