Chapter 156: Niya

Mage Depake also took the opportunity to introduce him to Xia Duo: "This is Mage Niya, a Level 7 Mage, and also a student of the Lord."

Level 7? And a student of the Lord?

Xia Duo was startled. Mage Depake had previously said that this female mage was already a Level 6 Mage before the age of twenty.

If she is Level 7 now, doesn't that mean this mentor of his might be (much) younger than him? No wonder she became the Lord's student.

If he were the Lord, knowing he had such a genius mage under his command, he wouldn't be able to sleep soundly if he didn't take her as a student.

Just as Xia Duo was pondering the situation of Mage Niya, the Tower Spirit suddenly sent a notification—

"Mage Xia Duo, congratulations on obtaining a permission upgrade. Current Permission Level: 2."

This good? Xia Duo's eyes lit up, and he immediately looked at Niya. According to Depake's earlier hint, the one who just upgraded his permission should be Niya.

"Thank you, Mentor."

"Mm." Niya nodded calmly, "From now on, you can move out of the Apprentice Dormitory."

The magic girl's voice was very pleasant to listen to and very much to Xia Duo's aesthetic, but he would not be rude about it. He first bowed to Niya, then said to Depake:

"Lord Depake, thank you. I will finish reading that book as soon as possible."

"No rush, no rush." Depake waved his hand, his tone quite kind, "Read it slowly, no need to hurry. In the future, when following Mage Niya, you must listen to her advice more, understand?"

"Yes."

"Go on."

After leaving the Niya Research Room, Xia Duo asked the Tower Spirit about the specifics of the Mage Tower's Level 2 Permission while hurrying toward the dormitory; he planned to move out tonight.

"Mage Xia Duo, the Mage Tower's Level 2 Permission includes the following content—"

Enduring the Tower Spirit's mechanical and hollow voice, Xia Duo listened carefully to every word. To summarize, the Mage Tower's Level 1 Permission was no different from an Apprentice's, but that was only a temporary permission.

Afterward, Apprentice-class or management-class Official Mages, as long as they were assigned a mentor or a work position, could obtain at least Level 2 Permission.

Only then would they be worthy of an Official Mage's treatment. First is the Independent Research Lab, which includes the residence, and there is also a free scheduled meal delivery service, which can be delivered to the Research Lab or Library in advance, saving a lot of trouble.

Secondly, the reading permission for the Library is upgraded. This is quite important and is the most primary and stable way to obtain Knowledge in the future.

There is also the Material Requisition Office, where one can collect some consumables every month, such as paper, ink, etc. —better than nothing.

Finally, there are some things related to the Tower Spirit. After obtaining Level 2 Permission, one can go to the Material Requisition Office to collect a "Tower Spirit Instruction Set," making it more convenient to command the Tower Spirit.

Of course, corresponding to the rights are obligations. Holders of Apprentice-class Official Mage permission must remain consistent with the Mage Tower in all aspects.

In layman's terms, Xia Duo is now a member of the Mage Tower's establishment; he must be obedient and cannot quit at will. A mentor can order a student around at will, but it must be reasonable and come at a cost.

Management-class Official Mage permission has far fewer restrictions; they can leave whenever they don't want to work, but when they want to borrow books from the Library, the restrictions are much greater than for members within the establishment.

As a modern person, Xia Duo understood the relationship between rights and obligations very well. No one runs a charity; to get great benefits, one must pay a great price.

If he kept thinking about pies falling from the sky, Xia Duo reckoned he would have long since become Old Neil's Slave.

Returning to the dormitory, he packed up simply. Xia Duo's personal belongings were not many; he was still living under someone else's roof and had no desire to shop extravagantly.

Everything was either issued by the Mage Tower, a daily necessity, or a study necessity; there wasn't even a single extra item.

While feeling emotional, Xia Duo also used enjoyment to motivate himself. If he wanted to live a better life, now was the time he needed to work the hardest.

When leaving, Xia Duo specifically went to the registration office on the dormitory floor to cancel his dormitory. Originally, he didn't need to do this, but he wanted to leave some convenience for Aideliqi, Dien, and the others.

Plus, he had some small vanity about showing off in front of others, so he went.

It was just that when he saw the complex emotions of nervousness, fawning, and awe from the Apprentice on duty at the office, Xia Duo didn't feel much joy in his heart.

He knew that, to a certain extent, he was now a mage who had detached himself from low-level interests. Although this was initially a choice made when he had no other way out, he had now experienced the joy of Magic.

Even if he obtained a truly safe, stable, and comfortable environment one day, he would still choose to study Magic. Perhaps by then, he would be a pure mage.

Of course, he was quite utilitarian now; as long as it was beneficial to him, he would do it. Of course, if this choice also happened to align with his wishes, that would be best.

This time, he didn't manage to latch onto the Lord's thigh, but latching onto the Lord's student's thigh wasn't bad either, and she was a young Level 7 female mage.

Compared to male mentors who were 30 or 40 years old and had a lower Spellcasting Level than Niya, this result was already quite good.

While using "spiritual victory" to comfort himself, Xia Duo followed the Tower Spirit's guidance to receive his new "home." The interior layout was similar to other mages' rooms, just much shabbier.

The place to live was secondary; what Xia Duo cared about most was the Research Lab. He hadn't entered any other mage's Research Lab before, and now that he finally had his own private territory, he had to take a good look!

Research Lab is a general term; it can include all rooms including the Laboratory, Reception Room, bedroom, Study, storage room, Wei Sheng Jian, etc., or it can specifically refer to the Laboratory.

Manually opening the main door, the interior of the Laboratory was divided into two rooms: one Spell Laboratory, capable of combing through the Magic Net and smoothing out Magic Net fluctuations.

The other was a General Laboratory, similar to a chemistry laboratory on Earth, containing some simple experimental tools and experimental materials.

Xia Duo just glanced at it and skipped over it; it was better to acquire these things himself eventually. He went to the Spell Laboratory first.

But the moment he entered, the Tower Spirit's voice followed like a shadow, "Mage Xia Duo, the current Spell Laboratory charges 10 Gold Coins per hour. Please proceed to the Public Level - Material Requisition Office to pay as soon as possible."

"My God!"

Now Xia Duo was afraid whenever he heard the Tower Spirit's voice. It was either a fine, a deduction, or a notification to do something; in short, most of it was nothing good.

Hearing the notification, Xia Duo realized that this Spell Laboratory actually required payment! It was just that it was opened near his "home," which made it much more convenient for him.

"Deep breath, deep breath!"

Xia Duo temporarily calmed his depressed mood. He didn't plan to look at other places, fearing he would be angered again, so he tidied up and prepared to sleep.

On the other side, on the top floor of the Mage Tower, inside Lord Aipusi's Study, Niya, who had just met with Xia Duo earlier, had run here.

Holding a short Magic Wand in her hand, she stood by Lord Aipusi's desk, staring tightly at her father's face without moving. She had been maintaining this posture for a while.

And Aipusi just acted as if he didn't see her, preoccupied with checking the recent detailed status of the Territory. Time passed bit by bit.

Both wanted the other to speak first, not wanting to weaken their own momentum, so they remained in a stalemate.