Chapter 498: Another Visit to Seventon

Accompanied by a flash of white light, a young Mage dressed in dark red Mage Robes and holding a Silver Staff appeared on the Teleportation Array; the person who had arrived was none other than Xia Duo, summoned here from Linshui Village by a "phone call" from Niya.

To be honest, coming to Seventon again, Xia Duo felt somewhat annoyed; the new project proposal for the Arcane Competition he had submitted was adopted, but not only was there no reward given, they even called him over to provide training for a bunch of novices.

He was currently at a critical moment in sensing his Soul, and having arrived at Giles Tower, how could he dare to practice Meditation under the eyes of others? But he dared not disobey the summons of a Great Arcanist, especially since the Princess, who was a Great Arcanist, could be considered his superior and backer.

Since he relied on others to make a living, he had to show some respect regardless. Furthermore, although there was no reward yet, once the Snow Melting Competition settled, as long as the Netheril side achieved good results in the 【Arcane Maze】, the reward would certainly not be lacking.

And whether they could achieve good results had a certain connection to his training; at least in the eyes of those above, it did.

After exiting the Arcane Union, it was Niya who came to "pick him up" and lead him into the Old City District; if there were no one to lead the way, who knew how far out of his way he would have had to go.

Of course, one could also go directly to Giles Tower via the Arcane Union's Teleportation Array, it was just that Xia Duo did not have the Access Key for the Giles Tower Teleportation Array, even if it were only a temporary one.

"Xia Duo, do you know? You are very famous now. Ever since the new project for the Snow Melting Competition was announced, many people have been inquiring about you, and even the Elves have stopped nitpicking."

"Is that so?"

Xia Duo's expression remained unchanged, and his tone was somewhat flat, but in reality, his heart was not as calm as it appeared on the surface; being able to gain fame was of course a good thing, after all, he speculated that his Bloodline Awakening might be related to those belief powers directed at him.

But fame would also bring some negative influences, such as attracting jealousy and the like; if he could choose, he would rather quietly reap all the benefits.

Of course, Xia Duo did not fear challenges; he now had enough confidence to deal with everything.

It was just that trouble was something he wanted to avoid as much as possible; besides wasting time, what use was it?

Seeming to notice that Xia Duo was not very interested, Niya turned to introduce the situation of Giles Tower to him. Although Niya had been in Giles Tower for less than a year, and most of that time had been spent in a state of catching up on lessons, she was at least more knowledgeable than Xia Duo, wasn't she? Before long, the carriage carrying the two entered the Old City District. The Old City District was far less prosperous than the New City District, and it would not be an exaggeration to even call it deserted, yet Xia Duo felt a faint atmosphere similar to that of a university on Earth.

Besides the tallest Giles Tower, there were many other low Mage Towers. According to Niya's introduction, these Mage Towers were all built by Archmages; although they were not as perfect as the Tower of Time, they were also passed down in an orderly fashion and were of great value.

The advancement path for an Archmage was very narrow; apart from gambling on the ethereal possibility of becoming a Legendary Mage, directly advancing to an Advanced Arcanist was basically impossible.

Most Archmages would find ways to build a Mage Tower when their lifespan was nearing its end to leave for future generations, and those with money built them even earlier.

Of course, land in the Old City District was limited, and the Mage Towers that could remain in the Old City District were all from a long time ago; the most recent Mage Tower built in the Old City District was over a hundred years ago.

Subsequent Archmages mostly tried to secure a piece of land near Seventon to build a Mage Tower and pass it down.

When land in the Nether Core Region was still relatively abundant in the beginning, it was not difficult to secure a piece of land; one could even occupy it as long as it was ownerless land, after all, Archmages themselves had the right to pioneer new lands.

Many very small Territories were born this way.

But now, ownerless land in the Nether Core Region was already extremely rare, and even if there was any, many people were eyeing it. Most Archmages now chose to enter the Seven Towers directly, or the Mage Towers of other Great Arcanists.

Although it was not as free as having one's own Mage Tower, it also did not require the hardship and trouble of pioneering new land in the wilderness.

Listening to Niya's introduction, Xia Duo thought of even more. In the current era, if Netheril did not have a fundamental breakthrough in productivity, then population saturation in the Core Region had become a foregone conclusion.

Then the pioneering movement led by the Princess was perfectly in line with the current trend of the times.

If they did not go to pioneer new land, then the Inner Land might have to consume its population through war, and pioneering, besides being able to obtain new land, would itself also reduce the population.

Even if the Princess had not been the first to propose it, other lords would have come out to do it, after all, the current Nether Territory was itself pioneered from nothing.

They were now just walking the path of their ancestors once again.

Pioneers had already become the progressive elements of Netheril. Thinking of this, Xia Duo could not help but let out a soft laugh.

Hearing the laughter, Niya turned her head and asked curiously, "What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing, just thought of a name from my hometown."

Mentioning his hometown, Niya became even more curious, "Xia Duo, you aren't a Netherese, right? Why have I never heard you mention your hometown?"

Xia Duo had no intention of hiding the fact that he was not a Netherese, but the existence of his hometown still required some technical embellishment; after all, he did not want others to know that he was an existence from an Other Plane, or even an Other Universe.

All along, he had claimed that his hometown was in the far east beyond Keman; as for where exactly, only heaven knew.

Because of the existence of Mu Yan, Xia Duo felt that this world should have a so-called Kara-Tur Continent, but whether it was on the same Plane as Netheril was hard to say.

Anyway, Mu Yan claimed to be from the east, and he also claimed to be from the east. Mu Yan claimed to have encountered a space-time Liexi, so he would just say he had experienced one too; anyway, there were not a few people who had had such experiences.

As far as Xia Duo knew, a 【Teleportation Spell】 error, besides potentially causing the Spellcaster to get lost in an Other Plane, could also implicate other people nearby.

Teleportation accidents in Netheril had long been common, especially with Teleportation Scrolls, which greatly increased the probability of such accidents occurring; this was also the reason why Xia Duo prioritized stability when researching Teleportation Spells.

He was truly afraid of death.

Seeing that Niya was interested in his hometown, Xia Duo did not feel repulsed by it, but seeing the tall tower not far ahead, he smiled and said, "My hometown is in a very distant, very beautiful place, but this story would be very long. If you want to hear it, I will tell it to you slowly when there is time in the future. Now, take me into Giles Tower first."

"Oh, right, Archmage Greta is still waiting for you in the Mage Tower." Remembering the important business, Niya immediately became anxious again, pulling Xia Duo as she ran toward the foot of the tall tower.

(End of this chapter)