Sky City, Nevis, headquarters of the journal Magic.
Ethereal lights drifted like fish in the sea, waxing and waning with a hint of depth and liveliness.
Suddenly, a strange glow appeared. At the center of the Tower Spirit, within a swirling nebula, countless lights spread outward like stars, carrying strange ripples with them.
"Mr. Novis, you have a new manuscript awaiting review.
Runes School, linguistics, incantation studies, spell incantation improvement...
Please complete the preliminary review within twenty-four hours and submit your comments."
At the notification, a middle-aged man with disheveled hair and an unshaven face-the very picture of a bachelor-looked up in mild confusion. His reasonably handsome features bore the weariness of someone all too familiar with overtime.
"Ah..."
Novis stretched at length, temporarily setting aside the manuscript he had been feverishly writing. He picked up the copied submission that had appeared on the Small Teleportation Array and began reading.
"'Research into the Magical Adaptation of Seris Pinyin: An Incantation-Based Spellcasting Design Using Seris Pinyin'?"
As his gaze fell on the title on the paper's cover, a trace of surprise appeared on Novis's face.
He had only recently discussed issues in this field with someone.
The subject had caused quite a stir lately. His former classmates from the same tower and his colleagues in the editorial department had all been discussing it. As an editor for a journal at the forefront of arcane research, he could hardly have missed it.
"These people really are competitive. They've already produced results? I wonder how far they've gotten."
He vaguely suspected this might be a paper submitted by Roland or Lunifis, or perhaps another collaboration between the two.
Publishing it so quickly was their way of challenging the Orthodox School.
Ordinary mages might not have heard much about this affair, but in arcane