Chapter 359: Shadow Under the High Tower

The Academy, the magnificent Tower of the Great Sage, Professor Hector Lei En's study.

The goose-feather-like heavy snow slapped against the glass window, but the room was so quiet that one could only hear the "rustling" sound of ancient books turning pages automatically.

Hector, who had just returned from the winter assessment site at the border, was sitting in front of the fireplace, listening to the work reports of his assistant instructors with slight fatigue.

Most of the content was related to the research he was personally responsible for, especially experiments related to the "Void Realm," one of the Academy's top secrets.

Standing in front of the professor, the assistant instructor clutching the report reported nervously.

"... The energy of the 17th Void Realm is still unstable. We lost three 'Peering Mirror' golems and found nothing."

"The initial contact with the 'Flying Boat' world was declared a failure. The other side seems to possess a field we cannot understand that can interfere with magic power conduction. Our power automatically dissipated as soon as it touched the edge of that energy, and unfortunately... the other side didn't seem to notice us at all."

Hector listened to the reports of the assistant instructors expressionlessly; all the reports were basically within his expectations.

Until the last assistant instructor in charge of this year's winter apprentice recruitment reported another matter at a rapid speed.

"Professor, the grading work for this winter's recruitment has been initially completed. Like previous years, the number of people who passed the assessment is one thousand, but... there is one thing you might be interested in."

The assistant instructor's expression was excited. Just as his voice fell, he presented a report with both hands and continued excitedly.

"An unprecedented answer sheet appeared at the exam site. The three assistant instructors in charge of the final review unanimously gave full marks without knowing it!"

Hector's slightly frowned brows relaxed, but then furrowed even tighter, appearing a bit disapproving.

He had set the exam questions this year himself, and he knew their level of difficulty.

Especially those subjective questions about magic ethics and the exploration of the origin, there could not exist a "perfect answer" in the standard sense.

"Full marks?" he asked back in a flat tone, "Did your standards loosen, or did a real genius mix into this year's candidates?"

"Please take a look!" The assistant instructor didn't retreat because of the professor's questioning, but became even more excited, handing over a re-copied copy of the answer sheet.

Hector raised his eyebrows, waved his magic wand, and the test paper floated in front of him.

He began to review from the first line. His initial expression still carried a trace of scrutiny and pickiness, but it was soon replaced by shock.

"... The soul is not a simple container for magic power, but a 'string' that interferes with reality. Its essence is the fulcrum that pries the material world from the spiritual level. The depth of the soul may not determine its capacity, but determines its 'vibration frequency,' thereby determining which level of 'Source Power' it can resonate with..."

"By the way, my understanding of 'Source Power' is that it is the 'World Root Power' that involves all forms of transcendent power, regardless of religion."

Hector's expression was first shock, then disbelief, and then turned into a kind of ecstasy of discovering a shocking treasure, so much so that his breathing became rapid.

Influenced by the teachings of Saint Xisi, most of the sources the Academy could find from the Empire were waste dregs with a lot of shit in their heads, neither understanding the teachings of Saint Xisi nor the principles of mysticism, so much so that the Academy's winter assessment every year could be called sifting gold from shit.

It was just that he didn't expect that he had really sifted out a piece of gold this time, breaking the essence of transcendent power in one sentence!

This was of course common knowledge in the Tower of the Great Sage.

But it was too incredible that mineral slag that hadn't been re-smelted could also realize this level!

And it wasn't just about the transcendent power part!

For the proposition of the Void Realm, this heaven-defying candidate also gave an exquisite insight based on the limited content on the stone tablet!

As if possessed, Hector recited a small part of the discussion, his fingers holding the test paper trembling slightly.

"As for the 'Void Realm,' my guess is that it might not be the stars in the sky, but a parallel space-time that overlaps with the world we are in but has a completely different 'vibration frequency.' As I mentioned before, spirit is the string that plucks the material world, and two strings of the same frequency can trigger resonance. This is exactly why we can see them..."

Genius!

The flaws in the theory didn't hinder the fact that this guy was a genius!

If it weren't for the fact that only the Academy in the entire Empire was studying the Void Realm, he would even suspect whether this guy was some old guy involved in Void Realm research answering the questions!

Of course, this was also impossible.

Not to mention that the Academy's professors wouldn't be so bored, these discussions were clearly inferences based on the question setting itself and didn't contain specific experimental content.

If he were to solve this question, he might write a more rigorous discussion, but he would never have thought of such a tricky angle!

Even more unexpectedly, he could actually use the theory of strings and resonance to connect the Academy's "Void Realm Theory" with the Tower of the Great Sage's "Source Power Theory"!

"Pa!"

Hector patted the answer sheet heavily on his knee, his eyes burning with unprecedented light. He ordered the assistant instructor in an unquestionable tone.

"What is this candidate's name? Where is his intent? At all costs, this person, our Tower of the Great Sage must take him!"

The assistant instructor replied hurriedly: "Professor, his name is Mako Gage."

"Mako Gage..." Hector repeated the name, as if he wanted to carve it into his heart, and continued excitedly, "You go to the border immediately! Host his interview—"

He changed his words halfway through, his face showing an urgency that could no longer be concealed, and stood up with a wave of his sleeve.

"No, I'd better go myself!"

He couldn't wait to discuss the theory of the Void Realm with that candidate in person!

Hector could even imagine—when the famous Professor Hector stood in front of him and invited him to join his research team, how ecstatic that genius who longed for the Academy would be!

A perfect answer sheet, a candidate named Mako Gage, set off a small ripple on the top floor of the Tower of the Sage.

Professor Hector Lei En had decided to go to the border in person to welcome this once-in-a-century genius.

However, the sages above the high tower didn't know that behind this answer sheet that could be called a work of art, there was no brilliant soul to match it; there was only a monster cultivated by them and the Empire with their own hands.

Just when Professor Hector Lei En was shocked by a "perfect answer sheet," an apprentice named Milos, under the cover of his senior, left the Academy's temporary camp on the border of the Luo De Kingdom and quietly sneaked into the almost undefended Eagle Rock Territory.

As an Academy reserve student from the Northern Duke's territory of the Luo De Kingdom, unlike his fellow countrymen who valued martial arts, he had been full of longing for mysterious magic since he was a child.

It wasn't just interest.

He was also lucky enough to have the talent to step into mysticism!

An accidental fall into the water awakened his ability to fly in the air, and at that time he didn't know a single spell, so much so that his parents once thought it was a miracle sent down by Saint Xisi.

After learning that it wasn't a miracle but a sign of awakening transcendent power, his parents sold the last few acres of thin fields in the family almost without hesitation, changing from free people to serfs, and finally gathered enough travel expenses to send him to the Academy.

And Milos's talent was quickly verified. He stood out in the written exam and received an olive branch from the Tower of the Great Sage with his superior "soul potential."

The story was beautiful so far, and Milos firmly believed without doubt that he would soon become a noble mage and pick up his parents from the lord to his Mage Tower.

However, he still overestimated the weight of a genius.

This was the Academy, which gathered magic geniuses from the entire Os Continent, and he was just a boy who fell into the water by accident and survived.

There were plenty of transcendent beings here whose experiences were more legendary than his.

Not only that, there were those nobles who could learn magic with a wave of their hands, without having to go through any dog-shit embarrassing things to cast spells... as long as they were willing to learn that stuff.

Compared to those real "pets," his aptitude could only be considered average.

After struggling for several years at the bottleneck of promotion, he not only exhausted all his savings but also exhausted his spirit, and picking up his parents from the lord's land was even more remote.

He knew very well in his heart that his talent was only so much, and the blessings accumulated in his previous life and the life before that ended here. He had used them all up, and Bronze Tier was the limit of his soul level—he could never break through in this life no matter what.

Unless—

Use methods outside the system.

Milos had heard of a place called the "Void Realm," which was the Academy's highest-level secret. It was said that there were things inside that could improve a person's soul level without side effects!

Even if he knew that using these things required a huge price, he had no other choice for someone like him who was at the end of his rope.

He needed money!

And a lot, a lot of money!

Although redeeming his elderly parents who couldn't plow the fields didn't actually take a mountain of gold, not even a single gold coin, but had he worked hard for half his life just to let his parents live the life they could have lived originally?

If that was the case, what did his displacement along the way count for?

Someone as smart as him should at least be a guest of the Northern Duke, or even a family mage. Only in this way could he at least get a knight's title when he retired and pass the fief he was granted to his future eldest son!

Fortunately, the Academy had many smart people who were as eager to progress as he was, and he soon found accomplices in this foul-smelling utopia.

The Tower of the Great Sage had a very unpopular job, which was to be responsible for the annual winter apprentice recruitment assessment. Many mentors were extremely annoyed by this boring work, but there was actually profit to be made in it.

Although the Academy had a recommendation letter system, not all recommendation letters would be accepted in the end.

Especially when the person holding the recommendation letter only possessed secular wealth but did not possess secular power...

They would select the easiest to bully and the hardest to bully from these people, and make small, harmless adjustments to their fates.

For example, Mako Gage, who was wealthy but not very smart, was a child who needed adjustment.

As a merchant family that was wealthy in the Luo De Kingdom, Mako Gage's father, Dorian, possessed wealth that could rival a nation, but unfortunately did not have power that could rival a nation.

In this case, no matter how much money they had in their pockets, it was just being collected for the King and the Dukes, and didn't truly belong to them. Dorian knew his position very well; his entire family was a white glove for nobles to collect wealth, and should be thrown away when dirty.

Although money could buy him a luxurious manor and beautiful women, and even the fake smiles of nobles, it couldn't buy true respect and a sense of security.

He knew very well that in this theocratic kingdom with clear classes, the fate of the Gage family had long been written in the Holy Word Book.

Their only way out was to bypass this rigid feudal system and obtain a "hard currency" recognized by the entire Empire—the identity of an Academy mage.

That was one of the tickets to the "Road of Prominence," and unlike the Knight's Road, it wasn't full of danger, and unlike the Adventurer's Road, it wasn't just a seemingly sweet big cake.

If the unreachable "Void Realm treasure" was Milos's lifelong craving, then stuffing his eldest son Mako, who was unlearned and only knew how to chant poems all day, into the ranks of mages was the greatest wish of his life!

Otherwise, no matter how much money he earned, it was earned for others.

However, he still underestimated the arrogance of the Academy.

There were too many people trying to "go through the back door" here, and he, a merchant without a title, couldn't even get a number in front of the mage adults.

That recommendation letter from an imperial baron he spent a lot of money to get sank into the sea after being handed in, with no news. It wasn't until the winter recruitment approached that he learned his son still needed to honestly participate in the apprentice assessment, and his connections weren't as hard as he imagined.

After all paths were declared failures, Dorian Gage finally decided to take a risk and use the money he was most familiar with as a tool to open the road.

In his view, everything in the world had a price. Since power could be traded, a mere test paper was naturally no exception.

As long as the price was right.

And so, a fallen apprentice who sold his principles for his future, a tycoon who trampled on rules for his family... two souls who had no intersection, the red thread of fate was intertwined like this.

Dusk fell, and in the "Adventurer's Home" tavern in the traveler camp of Eagle Rock Territory, Dorian's butler, Yankov, straightened his collar and pushed open the creaking wooden door.

Since the admission list on the stone tablet was announced, the "Adventurer's Home" tavern in the traveler camp of Eagle Rock Territory had become a place where two extreme emotions intersected.

Some people were celebrating here, while more people were drowning their sorrows in alcohol.

Butler Yankov passed through these joys and sorrows that had nothing to do with him, and found the person he had been waiting for in a hidden corner of the tavern.

Looking at the old butler walking toward him, Milos leisurely tasted a cup of expensive ale, with a smile of everything under control on his face.

Yankov sat opposite him.

At the same time, an inconspicuous sack slipped from under his cloak, and under the cover of the table's shadow, it fell silently to Milos's feet.

"Sir, you dropped your things." Yankov said in a very light voice, as if he were giving a secret signal, "... Please count it."

Milos didn't even look at the money bag at his feet, just waved his hand contemptuously.

The simple storage ring on his finger flashed slightly, and the money bag on the ground disappeared without a trace, as if it had never existed in this tavern.

That storage ring was borrowed from his senior for him to handle things.

"No need, I trust you." Milos took a sip of ale and said lazily, "Anyway, your young master is still in the Academy, you know what I mean... This shop didn't open today, and this money isn't something I can earn alone."

"Yes, I understand, and please trust the character of the Gage family. My master was able to make the business so big, relying on the ancestral motto of honesty as the foundation."

Yankov nodded slightly; he naturally understood these rules.

It was just that at this time, his gaze couldn't help but fall on Milos's storage ring, paused for a moment, and still couldn't help but ask politely: "By the way, please don't mind, do you have any more of this storage ring? My master has always wanted to buy one."

Milos seemed to have heard a huge joke, sneered, and refused decisively: "Then you can let him give up this idea; that's not something your master is worthy of possessing."

These words were not pleasant, but Yankov couldn't refute them.

No longer mentioning the ring, he looked around nervously and lowered his voice to confirm one last time: "Fine, I was just asking. Also, my young master's matter... won't it be exposed?"

"Rest assured." Milos took another sip of mellow ale and waved his hand lazily, "All the voided scrolls were turned to ashes at the 'burning point' that night. The doggerel poem your young master wrote is already dead without proof. As for the passed scrolls, in fact, not many people will look at them carefully. Do you expect those professors to personally look at those childish things?"

Speaking of this, he paused for a moment and quietly placed a piece of paper on the table.

"By the way, just in case, I copied the content of that paper. Remember to let your young master memorize it well, so he can deal with it even if asked by a professor."

Throwing down this sentence, Milos leaned on the back of the chair, tasting the ale with no worries, a light of calculation flashing in his eyes.

The swapped scroll was carefully selected by him. In the eyes of a professional answerer like him, it was obviously lackluster and had nothing worth mentioning.

Especially the insights about Source Power and the Void Realm were even more childish and laughable. Although he hadn't been to the Void Realm himself, nor had he truly understood the roots pursued by the Tower of the Great Sage, he also knew that it was definitely not something an ordinary person was worthy of talking about.

However, considering that the scroll had enough words and the handwriting was neat and the attitude was serious enough, it was very easy to get a passing grade.

The written exam for winter recruitment was, after all, just a preliminary screening. Only those who didn't become apprentices would take it too seriously.

Milos was certain in his heart that the person who was swapped looked like a bookworm without power or influence, and dreamed of sneaking into the Academy, and might have even sold his family property for this. If it weren't for this, that guy wouldn't have written so many words in the snowy weather.

No one would stand up for such a guy.

As for why he was so certain, it was because he himself used to be such a person.

Since he liked taking exams so much, then take it again next year.

Yankov finally breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.

He thanked Milos profusely, as if the other party were a great benefactor of the Gage family, and then hurried out of the tavern.

Milos rubbed the storage ring on his knuckles, feeling a sense of floating in his heart, feeling that he had stepped onto the peak of his life.

So what if it's the Gage family with wealth rivaling a nation?

In front of the respected mage adult, isn't it as humble as a dog!

His self-confidence was as hard as steel. He decided to find those mortal girls in the traveler camp to release himself before returning to the Academy.

However, when he excitedly arrived at the corner of the camp, he was astonished to find that those women who were originally soliciting business here had disappeared collectively overnight, leaving only a few empty tents emitting the smell of cheap perfume.

Really strange.

He returned to the tavern to ask the bartender, and the bartender only said vaguely that it seemed they were arrested by Sir Richter's guards the day before.

"This is his territory in name... although he doesn't come here often, you know, this kind of thing is not recognized by Saint Xisi after all."

Milos looked at the bartender incomprehensibly.

"Saint Xisi above... he actually still remembers that he is a knight of Saint Xisi, how did I hear that he doesn't even care about the undead."

That undead mage seemed to have some connection with the Academy. He remembered hearing which senior mentioned it, telling them not to look for trouble for themselves, to be some good person for a bounty of a few dozen silver coins; that wasn't something they, with only Bronze strength, could challenge.

The bartender seemed to feel a bit blushing and coughed and said.

"That's not quite it, Master Richter is still very diligent. I heard that he took people to wipe out the undead in Pompeii Village a few days ago."

Just by that guy?!

Milos was dumbfounded, but he was too lazy to get to the bottom of it. He just felt extremely disappointed, could only finish a cup of dull wine alone, and returned in low spirits.

However, at this moment, he didn't know that a small mistake of his had brought huge trouble to him and even the mage masters behind him.

The three assistant instructors in charge of grading didn't realize at all that the full-mark papers they gave were "commodities" swapped by their colleagues.

They just upheld fairness in the trivial matter of "grading" out of their own academic vision and knowledge reserves, and moved their love for talent for that six-thousand-word "thesis."

In the past hundred years, it was unprecedented for three assistant instructors to unanimously give a full-mark evaluation to the same scroll.

After all, those were subjective questions, and there was no standard answer at all.

And wanting to shock three mages with Silver and even Gold Tier strength at the same time with the body of a mortal was also almost impossible to happen.

However, there happened to be so many coincidences in this world, and this small-probability event that was absolutely impossible to happen just happened.

Not only that, this scroll also alarmed the real powerhouse of the Tower of the Great Sage—Professor Hector, who had Platinum Tier strength!

It was just that no matter if it was Professor Hector, or other professors who also set their sights on this legendary apprentice, no one had realized what that scroll they put on the scale was until now...

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 360 =====