Chapter 961: Blessings and Curses Entwined, The Rehearsal Ends

In truth, Xia Duo was not as calm inside as he appeared, but just as he had said to Niya, since they were already here, what else could they do!

Unless he did not want to continue in Netheril, he had no choice but to accept the arrangements of the Seven Towers.

Although this experience was somewhat unpleasant, strictly speaking, it was not a bad thing; the festival would be attended by envoys from all sides, and surely the Seven Towers would not act against those being rewarded and commended in front of foreign envoys!

If they were to actually do that, it would be far too inconsistent with the "persona" the Seven Towers had always projected!

Strictly speaking, this matter should be considered a good thing for Xia Duo; at least from the perspective of the Seven Towers, and even in the eyes of most others, it should be a good thing.

What Xia Duo was truly worried about was not the festival itself—there might be some "tricks" involved, but those would be aimed at enemies, not their own people—the real trouble was the subsequent influence.

As the saying goes, "Misfortune, it is upon which happiness depends; happiness, it is in which misfortune lies hidden." Just from what Xia Duo could see now, at the very least, it was a bit too high-profile.

However, this kind of worry could easily be transformed into determination—a determination to fear no hardship, to break through layers of obstacles, and ultimately realize his own ideals.

Thinking of this, Xia Duo even felt he could let the storm come more fiercely.

Of course, thoughts are thoughts, and will and determination are will and determination; in reality, he still hoped that it was better to avoid extra trouble, as what he lacked most right now was time for stable development.

Not long after, Xia Duo heard a burst of chaotic noise from outside. Listening carefully, it seemed that everyone had arrived and was coordinating the rehearsal process.

Had time passed that quickly? Yet when he looked at the time, several hours had already gone by; he hadn't felt it at all, and it had suddenly jumped to the present.

And he hadn't even gained any insights from observing the Semi-plane yet!

But the collective rehearsal was about to begin, and Xia Duo did not want to delay, lest he be called out by name, which would be embarrassing in front of hundreds of people.

"Niya, get ready to go out!"

"Oh, okay!"

Niya hurriedly began to organize and pack away the scrolls and materials scattered on the table, while Xia Duo put away small items like the teapot, teacups, and chairs. Once Niya had finished packing the materials, he put the table away as well.

Once outside, it was truly a clamor of voices; if Xia Duo had not cast a sound-insulation spell earlier, he would have been driven out by the noise long ago.

"Mage Xia Duo, over here!"

Xia Duo distinguished a familiar, not-too-loud voice from the noisy background. He looked in the direction of the voice and saw Angelin, surrounded by a group of people, waving at him.

Xia Duo immediately understood. According to the procedure, it was the reward ceremony first, and they, these Arcanists, were ranked near the front. Of course, except for Xia Duo, the others would only have their names announced.

This was also why Xia Duo felt it was too high-profile; he was in both the reward ceremony and the commendation ceremony, and he was the protagonist in both, as if this New Year Festival were being held entirely as a debut ceremony for him.

Too high-profile.

However, since Angelin had called him, he could not ignore it; not only did he have to respond, but he also had to go over and join them.

After all, when they rehearsed the reward ceremony collectively in a moment, he would be appearing in the same batch as six other Arcanists, including Niya, only he would be highlighted while the others would not.

After joining them, Xia Duo couldn't help but ask, "Mage Angelin, how long have you been here?"

"For a while now. It's good that you came early; you can at least have a place to rest," Angelin said with a smile.

Xia Duo did not take this seriously. This Semi-plane was as large as the Arcane Plaza outside; even if the temporary buildings on the edge were full, it was impossible to let a student of a Great Arcanist stand around waiting.

After the pleasantries, a dignified female voice appeared within the Semi-plane. Xia Duo was very familiar with this voice, having heard it just a short while ago—it was Archmage Greta.

"The collective rehearsal begins. Those not in the process, retreat to the periphery and be good spectators; do not make any sound!"

As soon as the voice fell, the Arcane Plaza within the Semi-plane suddenly went quiet. No one spoke anymore; there was only the rustling sound of the crowd adjusting their positions according to the previously rehearsed flow.

The entire plaza was coordinated as if by robots. Xia Duo, mixed in the crowd, did not dare to act out of turn; even though it was just a rehearsal, a sense of solemnity grew faintly in his heart.

After the hundreds of people in the plaza were in their respective places, a gentle and melodious sound of instruments began to play, sounding as if it were right by his ear, yet also as if it were far away.

Xia Duo listened carefully and couldn't help but become immersed in it. There had been none of this during the individual rehearsal, though the receptionist at the time had said there would be music.

Accompanied by the music, a deep male voice began to slowly recount the origin, the process, and the final victorious result of the Green Field Plane War.

Of course, during this process, the music also became impassioned, finally reaching a climax—

"The reward ceremony begins!"

After that, it followed the same flow as the previous individual rehearsal, only this time there were more people, and even various Great Arcanists, as well as Elf and Dwarf envoys, appeared via Magic Image.

It looked much more formal than the previous individual rehearsal, and because of this, there were no excessive omissions in terms of duration.

It took nearly half an hour to complete the entire process of the reward ceremony, and this was just the beginning; the commendation ceremony that followed was the main event.

Compared to the one hour it took to complete the whole process before, the time taken for this collective rehearsal was much longer.

But regardless, no matter how long it was, it eventually had an end. When Archmage Greta announced the conclusion, Xia Duo let out a long sigh of relief in his heart.

Others were mostly just participating, but he was being stared at by hundreds of pairs of eyes, bearing all kinds of emotions, which made him very uncomfortable.

This was just a rehearsal; if it were the official ceremony, there would be an audience, and there would be even more people.

This couldn't help but remind him of when he married Niya, which was the Midsummer Festival the year before last. At that time, he was also being watched by countless people, and unlike the later Midsummer Festival, he was already considered top-tier then; his mindset was completely different.

Both then and now, he was being watched while in a weak position, without much initiative; it looked glorious, but in reality, he was panicked.

He forced a friendly expression and nodded in greeting to the High Mages who came up to him one by one, but in his heart, Xia Duo was complaining wildly: where did these people get so much social enthusiasm!

Fortunately, after the collective rehearsal ended, those who were not Pioneers could leave. The vast majority of these High Mages were not Pioneers, and after receiving the notification that they could leave, they departed very quickly.

Leaving with them were a large number of Intermediate Mages from the Seven Towers who had participated in the Green Field Plane War. After these people left, the entire Arcane Plaza in the Semi-plane suddenly became empty.

After sending Niya out of the Semi-plane, Xia Duo finally found some peace. He casually found a temporary building to continue studying this Semi-plane while waiting for further notification from above.

He was very curious to see what exactly they wanted the Pioneers to stay here for!