I actually won an award!
I really won an award!
Soreno shivered with delight, as though he had enjoyed an iced drink on a scorching summer day. His whole body felt refreshed, filled with indescribable pleasure.
This award was simply too important. Within the arcane civilization led by Atrelin, it was the highest honor a young mage could receive.
Moreover, with this achievement under his belt, pursuing the Arcane Star Award would no longer be a distant dream.
Indeed, under Atrelin's political traditions, winners of the Morningstar Award and the Arcane Star Award would receive ample resources and worldly power.
It was a shortcut to being selected as a commissioner, representing status, standing, power, wealth, glory...
Everything, absolutely everything, that mages dreamed of.
Yet a moment later, he felt calm again, even finding it all rather dull.
The Morningstar Award? What was that worth?
Could it grant immortality?
History was full of people who had won the Morningstar Award or the Arcane Star Award and become Grand Mages.
But they, too, could not escape birth, aging, sickness, and death. In the long river of time, they were nothing more than fleeting foam on the surface.
Hardly worth mentioning.
"Only legendary beings and deities, those who have transcended, can rise above the ages and live forever."
Once Soreno understood this, he felt his soul had been elevated. The goals he pursued in life had become entirely different.
He responded to everyone's compliments and congratulations with extraordinary composure, while silently making up his mind. I'll do it!
Still, the award was not entirely worthless.
At the very least, his elevated status would grant him more resources and access.
The research he secretly conducted in private would also proceed more smoothly!
Time flew, and several months passed.
News of the newly announced