Is This Really Just a Box?

In the eastern mountains of Dawn Capital, a lush black forest grew.

Deep within the Black Forest stood a vast graveyard in silence.

The dusk light was like gold, shrouding more than half the graveyard.

Yet that radiance could not dispel the gloomy atmosphere in the slightest. Instead, it lent the place an inexplicable strangeness.

The graveyard was enormous.

Every tombstone had been carved from marble, and they looked exceedingly luxurious.

It just seemed to have been abandoned for a very long time.

Weeds ran rampant, and the tombstones were covered in vines.

Owls occasionally flew overhead, leaving behind bursts of eerie cries.

The villagers living at the foot of the mountain had always feared this graveyard in the mountains. Even though they knew it was not truly a graveyard, but a mage's tower.

Ignorant villagers always regarded strange winds, clouds and mist, and magical beasts as the mage's wrath. They warned their children never to approach the Black Forest, or they would surely be bewitched by the mage.

If they were lucky, they would become a tombstone in the mage's tower or a penned magical beast. If they were unlucky, then...

Whenever they got to that point, they never continued.

Fear of the unknown surrounded generation after generation of villagers.

Many people treated its inhabitant as an indescribable being, but in truth, the one living here was an aged mage proficient in potion-making.

He had an eccentric temperament and lived in seclusion, barely communicating with anyone. He only sent Apprentices down the mountain to buy food or conduct other business.

Hedy, clad in a cloak and carrying the food she had purchased, left beneath the fearful gazes of the villagers. Their fanciful gossip swirled around her ears, but she paid it no mind.

As that old mage's Apprentice, she had long since grown used to all of it.

Now, she only wanted to finish the last stretch of the journey as quickly as possible.

Even so, by the time she returned to the center of the graveyard, night had already fallen.

The sinister, terrifying atmosphere had become especially intense.

But she did not care in the slightest and headed straight for the very center of the graveyard.

There stood another enormous tombstone.

A tombstone that looked like a black tower!

"You're finally back."

The statue beside the tombstone suddenly spoke in a dry voice. As its mouth opened and closed, dust sifted down. "Hurry inside. Master is waiting for you."

As the voice fell silent, a door actually appeared on the tombstone.

A spiral staircase extended endlessly downward, gradually vanishing into the darkness.

Hedy entered without hesitation.

Despite this place's sinister and terrifying appearance, it was a rare Magic Anomaly Zone.

In a place like this, whether one meditated or restored magic power, the process would be much faster.

She arrived on the second underground level.

The old mage, wrapped in a black robe, stood in the center of the potion laboratory. Yet he was not holding the glowing potion he usually carried.

His hair was gray-white, his body withered. Time had left deep marks upon his face, making him seem as though he could die at any moment. But Hedy knew that the old mage was still far from returning to the Divine Kingdom... or the underworld.

She even suspected that the old man could live forever.

"You're back."

The old mage wore an expression entirely unlike his usual one. He looked wildly excited. "Hedy, you need to come congratulate me now. Congratulate the birth of a new 'living saint'!"

"I have passed the god's trial and witnessed the god's greatness!"

"The god has fully affirmed my spirit of pursuing mysteries!"

"The god said that I am someone with the potential to explore this world's truth!"

Hedy stared blankly at her teacher.

A man who rarely showed emotion, he was especially talkative today.

And... every word he said was more shocking than the last!

Could he have taken too many drugs?!

Did he poison himself by taking one of the new medicines he developed?

But the detection artifact had not sounded an alarm. He seemed to be in a normal state.

How had he received a response from the Magic Goddess?

Didn't the old man only pray at critical moments while brewing potions?

Didn't he worship the Magic Goddess merely so he could pray when things depended on luck?

After standing there dazed for several seconds, she hurriedly expressed her respect and congratulations to the old mage.

Only fanatics, only the most devout fanatics, could possibly receive a god's response.

No matter who it was, anyone who received a god's response deserved respect!

What was more, he had received a response from the God of All Magic, the Lady of Mysteries...

The old mage's face was full of smiles. "The god's Wisdom is with every one of us!"

After a bout of excited speech, the old mage finally seemed to have vented the excitement in his heart. "Now, I need you to do something—give these rings to every mage or Mage's Apprentice."

"What are these?" Hedy was visibly stunned.

Ever since she had accidentally entered this place at the age of six, she had lived here.

She was certain that she had never seen these rings before.

"These are gifts bestowed by the god." The old mage's eyes were filled with fanaticism. "The god said that they will affect every spellcaster in the world."

"Everyone will become stronger because of them."

"During the pursuit of mysteries, they will become the greatest aid for spellcasters!"

Hedy stared blankly at the old mage.

For a moment, she even suspected that the old man had been influenced by cultists. Yet these rings had indeed appeared in the mage's tower for the first time.

They were merely rings forged from Refined Iron, but they were covered in densely packed runes. Even she, who was on the verge of becoming a Mid-Order Mage, could not possibly create them.

With such a vast quantity, even if every mage in the capital worked together, it would probably take several years.

Could these really be gifts bestowed by the god?!

Because of her teacher, she too believed in the Magic Goddess.

She prayed every time she brewed potions.

But she had never imagined that someone beside her would actually receive the god's attention!

Then does that mean I could too?!

At the thought, a faint sheen of cold sweat appeared on her forehead.

"Rest assured! I will make sure every mage receives one."

"Very good. Set out now. These are the documents and recommendations I have prepared for you."

The old mage waved his hand, and a coffin-shaped box appeared beside Hedy. It was riveted and reinforced with metal as luxurious as gold, covered in intricate patterns, with some documents inside. "You can pack them into this box and take them with you..."

Within the Magic Goddess's Divine Realm.

Roger watched the scene, and the corner of his mouth could not help twitching. "Are you sure this is the highest-level existence among the Magic Goddess's fanatics near the capital?"