"ENOUGH!"
The First Mage shrieked, raising herself from her throne in a rush of fury.
"Moraine Dazima, I hereby strip you from your title of Senior Apprentice! You may no longer call yourself an initiate of the Tower!"
The old woman waved her hand and tore my coiling serpent necklace off my neck with telekinesis.
The moment the accessory flew into her palm, the First Mage continued.
"Based on all the crimes you committed, I should've sent you to the magistrate to be executed. Or, at the very least, have you spend the rest of your life rotting in the dungeon!"
The old woman sighed and went on with an exasperated face.
"But given the strong pleas foolishly, stubbornly, and endlessly submitted by the High Mage Zeref on your behalf, I will...refrain...from delivering such sentences."
She proceeded to point to the gates.
"Moraine Dazima, I hereby banish you from the Tower and proclaim your excommunication! You are no longer allowed to step your foot on the Tower's grounds, nor are you allowed to keep associating yourself with a mage of the Tower! You will also be banned from joining sanctioned sorcerer societies throughout Dunia!"
Those extreme sentences of the First Mage were no surprise to me.
I knew the risk of practicing dark arts the moment I began learning their formulas.
In fact, simply being expelled from the Tower and being excommunicated were the best outcome I could expect to receive.
This punishment actually worked out perfectly for my plan.
I no longer needed to worry of the Tower breathing over my neck.
I could do whatever I wanted now.
There was nothing more that I could ask for.
Although there was actually just one more thing.
"I will accept the judgment you've given out. But allow me this simple request before you throw me out of the Tower."
To my surprise, the old hag granted my final request after I voiced it.
Either she was being generous or she just wanted to get rid of me quickly by agreeing to whatever I wanted.
While being escorted by eight High Mages, I walked out of the trial chamber and treaded through the grand halls of the Tower.
I journeyed through the complex corridors with a sense of familiarity I had developed over five years in this institution.
Antagonizing eyes stabbed through me as I walked through the building.
High Mages who used to be my instructors. Senior Apprentices who used to be my mentors, and recently colleagues. Junior Apprentices who used to be my peers, and recently mentees. And Novices who used to be my friends, and recently students.
All stared at me as if I was a ruthless Phirdaus creature.
Fools! Each and every one of them!
Ignorant sorcerers of the ways of the world.
I could not wait to leave this place and rid myself of this idiotic bunch.
Though there was one exception in the entire group. One good apple among the rotten pile.
Eventually I reached a wing of the Tower where the High Mages quartered themselves.
With my High Mage escorts by my side, I swiftly made my way through the fancy corridors until I found myself in front of a door which was guarded by a pair of High Mages.
One of my escorts stepped up and spoke to the two guards.
The pair then opened the door and gestured me to enter.
Leaving my escorts in the hallway, I walked through the door between the guards.
I could sense their disdainful gaze watching over me as I walked past them.
Not to my surprise, the door slammed shut behind me. I believed the guards wished the heavy wooden panel would bump my limbs and bruised them a bit or a considerable more.
I ignored their stunt and walked into the room.
It was an apartment reserved for a High Mage.
The arrangement and design were quite luxurious, befitting for a noble. And most accommodating for a mage.
A reception area, a study, a bedroom, and even an alchemy lab and a small spell-casting chamber.
Even the Senior Apprentices did not have this much luxury. A bedroom and a study-reception area were all we got for our apartments.
I was looking forward to the day when I would be granted all these facilities just to myself.
Well, given the outcome of my trial, that hope was now crushed to pieces.
I did my best to ignore the things that would had been promised to me if I were to become a High Mage of the Tower and turned to the occupant of this dwelling.
A woman with flowing raven-dark hair and a pair of violet eyes as beautiful as polished amethyst gems.
She wore a specially-crafted black-and-white magic dress embroidered with the clouded sun insignia. An attire which symbolized the noble House she married into.
"How do you do, Marla?"
I greeted the woman as I found her sitting by the fireplace. Eyes staring somberly at the flames.
She sighed at my approach.
"I'm sorry that I could not attend your trial, Moraine. The First Mage did not allow me to enter the chamber. I'm not even allowed to leave my room."
I chuckled at her words.
"You've done all you could for me. Your presence wouldn't change a thing in the trial."
"But how could I let my pupil go through such ordeal alone? Being directly tried by the First Mage like that…"
I could not help but smile over her struggle.
Marla Zeref.
A High Mage of the Tower of Circle and the sorcerer who discovered my talent and raised me to become a mage of the Tower.