"That makes me want to know a little more." Jerry suddenly cracked a joke.
It seemed his mood had settled a little... or rather, after continuously counting the fallen meteorites, he had finally relaxed.
"Actually, Jerry, you should understand how that feels." After repeating the meteorite count Jerry had just given the duck-voiced man responsible for recording it, the male mage grew excited too, his voice seeming to rise. "But Kayo definitely wouldn't."
"What do you mean?" The duck-voiced man named Kayo couldn't help asking. "Why wouldn't I understand?"
"Despair Tower only accepts people who become Advanced Apprentices before sixteen. I'm guessing that's all you know, right?" the male mage asked in return.
"Yes. Is there something wrong with that?" Kayo didn't quite understand.
"Heh, actually, which Mage Tower on our continent doesn't have that rule?" The male mage gave a mocking laugh. "A rule everyone knows isn't the real rule. You can understand that much, can't you?"
"Huh?" Kayo asked in confusion. "Becoming an Advanced Apprentice at sixteen isn't exactly easy!
"My aptitude wasn't among the best in my family, but it wasn't bad either, and I only just managed to advance at sixteen."
"You find it so hard because you were taught from childhood to keep your foundations solid for your own future." Kayo laughed again. "But for apprentices from outside like us, as long as our Mental Sea doesn't explode, as long as we don't die, we have to push ourselves to the limit."
"But both you and Jerry have much better aptitude than I do," Kayo readily admitted.
"But I didn't have all those resources, Kayo!" Jerry couldn't help sighing.
"Then what's the hidden rule?" Kayo pressed. "You know I don't pay much attention to these things."
"If you want to enter Despair Tower, you have