Sky City Nevis, the Mages' Council, the Arcane Committee.
Against a pitch-black backdrop like the boundless void, billions of lights glittered like stars. Countless formulas, ciphers, and incantations drifted up as white text, becoming vast projections of light that spread into the dark depths.
One manuscript after another-Arcane Papers-shot like meteors toward an enormous, star-like orb of light deep at the center.
It was as magnificent and majestic as a deity. Even the patterns projected by its spots of light seemed millions of light-years wide, filling the heavens with the infinite wonders of creation.
Yet the moment Roland's Arcane Paper entered it, this divine, magnificent orb abruptly stuttered for no apparent reason.
In that instant, it was as though a thousand years had passed.
A melodious voice rang out among the billions of stars in the boundless void.
"What is it?"
A giant hand suddenly reached over, blotting out the sky and sun as though obscuring the entire universe.
This "universe" was actually a sphere no larger than a human head, and the orb floating amid its primordial void was merely a fist-sized Tower Spirit.
"Lord Ovesto, a new Arcane Paper has arrived."
In that brief instant, the little Tower Spirit had already read the paper thousands of times. It offered its recommendation in an emotionless, mechanical voice.
"You may find it interesting."
"Oh?"
The owner of the voice snapped his fingers, sounding mildly intrigued.
A screen of light instantly appeared before him, followed by thousands upon thousands of words cascading down like a waterfall.
"A new writing system? Interesting.
Why does every Runic Studies Apprentice Student these days seem to enjoy inventing their own language and script?"
His casual voice gradually fell silent, as though he had realized there was more to this than met the eye.
Because Atrelin's language and script needed to resonate with magic power, they were inherently suited to spoken expression. It was a typical phonographic writing system, with pronounced inflectional features.
A complex magic element could often express additional meanings simply through the addition of affixes, prepositions, postpositions, modifiers, adverbials, and subordinate clauses. If even greater precision was needed, one could add singular and plural forms, masculine and feminine genders, progressive, perfect, and future tenses...
To put it diplomatically, this linguistic system was "rigorous" and "standardized," naturally as orderly as "keeping records with knotted cords."
But this magical language was not flawless. At least, once Arcana began to develop, people had recognized its many shortcomings in conveying meaning and keeping written records.
It... was utterly unsuited to writing and recordkeeping!
Although bards often praised Atrelin's language as "melodious as poetry," sounding pleasant was all it had going for it.
Even the most conservative Atrelin natives, those with the greatest national pride, had to struggle with its complex, variable tenses and long-winded, convoluted word combinations-never mind its absolute shitshow of a grammatical system!
By now, Atrelin's script had reached a dead end. As a result, many advanced mages and top students at the Arcane Academy simply discarded it without mercy, using the elves' script as a substitute for their writing.
Even Roland's Arcane Paper before him had been written in Elvish Script.
In the Arcane Empire, this was not merely permitted but encouraged. It could even be called a fashion among the upper classes.
If you could not speak Elvish or write in Elvish Script, you would be embarrassed to call yourself a distinguished mage or a member of high society...
Yet the elves' language and script were not products of human civilization, after all. The esteemed mages could hardly keep using them forever to teach their descendants and develop their own Arcana.
For precisely that reason, the upper ranks of the Arcane Empire were also eager to try creating efficient, convenient new magical scripts.
Such a script had to be a suitable medium for increasingly complex magical knowledge and Arcana principles.
With growing interest, Ovesto began studying the paper closely.
"Master Ovesto, you've received a new invitation to a meeting..."
A man who looked to be in his thirties entered, dressed in magnificent mage robes.
"Swein, perfect timing. Come and look at this paper!"
"What sort of paper is it? Seeing you act like this really is a surprise, Master. But I'm only a humble Review Assistant now. Is it really appropriate for me to read an Apprentice Student's graduation paper like this?"
"Of course it is. I've already decided to admit him to my Mage Tower, so there's no issue of leaking information or breaking procedure."
"Huh?"
Surprise appeared on Swein's face.
His earlier remark about being surprised had been slightly teasing; he had not thought much of it.
Now, however, he was genuinely curious.
"What sort of paper could have caught the eye of Archmage Ovesto, renowned for his exacting standards?"
The high-ranking mage serving as a Review Assistant spoke with a smile, then sat down at the large redwood table opposite and adjusted the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose.
"Oracle... huh?"
Watching Swein's initial astonishment gradually turn into shock, Ovesto could not help smiling.
"Well?"
"Master, are you truly certain an Apprentice Student could have written this?"
Swein raised his head. He did not answer the question directly, but his reaction had already made his feelings clear.
After several sharp intakes of breath, Swein could not help saying, "Judging by the level of ability this paper demonstrates, its author certainly qualifies as a promising talent. Your decision to admit him was wise indeed, Master.
"Still, ensuring that he joins our Mage Tower may take some effort."
"How so?"
"As an archmage with an excellent chance of advancing to Legendary rank, your every move draws attention. Inevitably, anyone you take an interest in becomes highly sought after as well.
"Back in the day, I was sorely tempted myself and nearly got lured somewhere else."
Looking at his prized pupil, Ovesto abruptly realized that this was indeed true.
Although he had absolute confidence in his own Mage Tower, the student's limited experience and knowledge might leave him unaware of the Orvisto Wizard Tower's true standing in Arcana circles. Someone could easily fool him with outdated rankings and lure him away with a few paltry benefits!
Swein volunteered to resolve the difficulty. "Your heart is set on Arcana, Master. You have no time for such petty, underhanded tricks. Let your student handle this for you. I'll go to Flandre myself.
"By the way, do you still have authorization to grant an additional spell? Try granting him a Level 1 Spell..."
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