Chapter 201: Inheritance

It was indeed a performance, at least in the eyes of Mages like Xia Duo, but to the common territory residents, it was the heir to the territory demonstrating their power.

Niya reached out her palm, facing upward, and a ball of burning flame appeared out of thin air above her left hand, gradually rising and expanding.

The surrounding residents immediately let out a chorus of gasps, and then, following the sound of Bishop Anbulier's introduction and the residents' exclamations, the flame in Niya's hand began to change.

Fire, ice and snow, lightning, thunder—all sorts of sound and light effects, whatever was needed to awe the crowd!

Talking about Magic Theory with ordinary people was useless as they wouldn't understand, but ordinary people were very capable of accepting powerful forces that already existed in the natural world.

It was just that this seemed a bit dull to the Mages.

Just as Xia Duo was wondering when this performance would end, a blue beam of light suddenly shot from the Mage Tower to the northwest of the square, connecting to Niya, and Xia Duo was startled by this sight—

The scene in his Magic Vision was even more astonishing; from the Tower Spirit to Niya, wherever the blue light passed, the Magic Net twisted wildly, forming something akin to an energy channel.

But what was being transmitted was not energy, but some unknown existence that Xia Duo had never heard of or seen before.

Xia Duo thought to himself, perhaps this was the real performance!

……

At this moment, under the illumination of the mysterious blue light, Niya's body floated slightly, with only her toes touching the ground, and her previous performance of controlling elements and energy came to an end.

Beside her, Anbulier had finished the introduction and was watching this scene quietly, seemingly moved, while Lord Aipusi handed the Scepter in his hand to Niya and solemnly announced:

"Niya, my daughter, I entrust the Tower of Time to you!"

In fact, the transfer of the Tower of Time's Permission Level had been going on for nearly a month, but the previous transfers had been subtle and not as intense as today's.

The handover and inheritance of a powerful Magic Item could not be decided by just a few words or a piece of Document; it involved the transfer of various Permission Levels and the essential linking and locking of people and objects, which was very complex.

And after today, there was only one final step left in the true sense of the Tower of Time's inheritance—the death of the previous owner.

Niya knew the responsibility she bore, took the Scepter, and nodded heavily, "Father, I will not let you down!"

The blue light from the Mage Tower vanished, and Niya landed quietly. The supervisors of the various territory affairs, who had been waiting on the side, led by Town Mayor Sain, bowed to Niya in unison, offering their loyalty!

Bishop Anbulier, who had witnessed all this, also came to the line of territory officials to pay tribute to Niya; although he did not speak words of allegiance, the meaning was already very clear—

The Temple and the Lord were in high alignment!

This greatly stimulated the surrounding residents, pushing Niya's reputation to its peak; if there was anything still lacking, it was probably the allegiance of the members of the Tower of Time.

However, the Tower of Time was not part of the territory Sequence, and Mages would not speak of allegiance lightly, but the members of the Tower of Time were inherently bound to the Tower of Time; they had the reality of allegiance without the name.

Watching Niya, who had become the protagonist, accepting the allegiance of officials and subjects and the congratulations of Archmages, Xia Duo felt quite conflicted. The dream of latching onto the (future) Lord had been realized, which should have been worth celebrating, but becoming a Pioneer made him feel very uncomfortable.

He had already roughly read through the Pioneer agreement on that gold paper; generally speaking, there were quite a few benefits to becoming a Pioneer.

Such as guaranteeing the legitimacy of the pioneering effort in the name of the Princess, providing some of the necessary supplies for pioneering, and ensuring the ownership of the territory would not be encroached upon by others.

However, the premise for all of this was—to go pioneer, and to succeed.

If one didn't go, there would be no support, and one might even be attacked by others because of it; although the gold paper didn't write the specific consequences of not going to pioneer, he imagined there wouldn't be anything good.

And if one went, the wilderness welcomed you! You might end up buried in there for the rest of your life.

Just as he had made a small name for himself at the Arcane Competition and was about to get a promotion and a raise to reach the pinnacle of life, he never expected a hot potato to fall from the sky.

To accept, or not to accept, that is the question.

……

On the way back to the Mage Tower, Xia Duo was still weighing this matter. In fact, there wasn't much to consider; what Xia Duo truly needed was time, not the status of a Pioneer.

It was just that Kaili kept chattering in his ear, dropping hints, wanting to see the gold paper, wanting to see the Scepter, and even wanting to see the Ring of Focus rewarded from the Arcane Competition; it was incredibly annoying.

Xia Duo could only pretend to still be thinking and ignore him.

After leaving the square, the sky had completely darkened. There was still a banquet in the Mage Tower, and the lights in the square were not turned off, but left for the residents.

The territory had arranged food and drinks for them to revel in.

The banquet at the Mage Tower was hosted by Niya. The Lord and the Archmages did not appear, but there were still many Senior Mages in attendance. Niya's performance was poised and graceful; after the "display" in the afternoon, she no longer had the nervousness she had when she first appeared.

As Niya's two students, Xia Duo and Jianaer also received everyone's attention, especially Xia Duo, who had already shown impressive potential and had also received the title of "Pioneer" conferred by the Princess.

Unlike the relatively cold attitude of the visiting Mages, the Mages of the Tower of Time were much more enthusiastic. This time, Xia Duo could be considered to have met all the Mages of the Tower of Time.

When he returned to his residence after the banquet, before Xia Duo could even relax, he received a reminder from the Tower Spirit—the Lord requested his presence!

The Tower Spirit's voice was slightly different from before, but Xia Duo, whose mind was full of how to escape the pioneering mission, had no extra energy to notice.

……

After entering the Elevator, without Xia Duo needing to speak, the Tower Spirit sent him to the floor where the Lord was located.

Entering the room, Xia Duo unobtrusively examined the furnishings around him, trying to peek into the Lord's personal preferences; at the same time, he did not show any negligence and bowed respectfully:

"Lord!"

Seeing Xia Duo, Lord Aipusi put down the teacup in his hand and said in a relaxed tone: "Xia Duo, Xia Duo, I have been paying attention to you for some time!"

"Ah—"

Xia Duo immediately racked his brain to recall if he had said anything he shouldn't have or done anything he shouldn't have within the Mage Tower. Fortunately, Xia Duo had always been cautious; aside from that organization matter, he was no different from anyone else.

And since the organization had existed until now and no one had come to warn him, it meant it should be in accordance with the rules.

"I agreed to Leonard bringing you into the Mage Tower," Lord Aipusi pointed out.

During last year's Midsummer Festival, Aipusi noticed strong Magic Net fluctuations outside the town and discovered a powerful Bard was casting spells, though not destructive ones.

After some conversation, Aipusi sent Leonard to handle the matter. Since it involved a powerful figure, how could Aipusi not pay attention to Xia Duo?

Watching Xia Duo go from surprise at hearing he was being watched to quickly calming down, combined with the Arcane Competition and Xia Duo's previous performance in the Mage Tower, Lord Aipusi showed an undisguised look of appreciation.

"Xia Duo, what is your opinion on becoming a 'Pioneer'?"

Of course, Xia Duo couldn't directly say he didn't want to be a Pioneer. After thinking for a moment, he said: "Pioneering territory for the Empire is the responsibility of every Spellcaster!"

This was a sentence Xia Duo had seen in many Mage biographies, and it didn't feel unfamiliar at all to say it now.