The Semrio Star Sector of the Creation Star Ring.
Inside an Observatory designed by the Astral Council.
A mage in pale purple robes sat listlessly in a chair, muttering things like, "Working overtime even on Creation Day," "I didn't want to swap shifts, but he insisted," and "Who knows whether the magic crystals I earn will cover my family's energy needs."
Just as he was debating whether to order a glass of the empire's latest dragon-blood wine through the Sacred Spring Trade Guild, enormous ripples suddenly spread across the curtain before him, which had remained utterly still until now.
Then a vast Sky Castle covered in blue-purple roots and flowers abruptly appeared before his eyes.
Through the monitoring outpost's crystal walls, he could clearly see the hazy radiance enveloping the Sky Castle, gleaming beautifully in the somewhat dark Astral Plane.
"..."
The poor monitoring mage's eyes widened.
He hadn't heard of any mages coming out lately. Besides, didn't leaving the Semrio plane require notifying the Astral Council and submitting an application first, as well as the guidance of a Titan's power? How had this one suddenly popped out?
Just then, a woman wearing crystal glasses appeared.
As she walked forward, a force pulled the monitoring mage away. She smoothly took over his work, sitting in the chair and gazing at the Sky Castle, excitement in the eyes behind her lenses.
"Leave this to me."
"Lady Dantalian!" The monitoring mage hurriedly bowed respectfully, but before he could finish speaking, a force teleported him straight into the monitoring outpost's break room. Even the door was locked.
"..."
"This shouldn't count as slacking off, right?"
After a brief hesitation, he decisively flopped onto the bed. Whatever.
With a Legendary Mage handling things, surely no one would give a lowly mage a hard time