The appearance of the Holy Light Badge made the two Formal Mages at the Spire's entrance glance sharply. Crafted by a Peak Tier 2 Mage, it was a rare light-aspected healing artifact—no trivial treasure even for the two Tier 1 Mages before Kay. For an apprentice like Kay to pull such an item from his pocket, he must have had connections.
"Midiqi? Have you heard of him?" the female Mage asked her companion. When he shook his head, she turned to Kay. "Midiqi of the Dawn Holy Spire? I'll go report this to the Spire. If there really are Formal Mages who know him, you might qualify for an internal enrollment spot."
With that, she departed—and in a most unusual way. Instead of flying directly toward the Azure Source Holy Spire, she leaned close to a massive green leaf behind her and whispered something. The leaf let out a sound like a yawn, then unfurled, stretching backward in the blink of an eye to form a slender green pathway connecting to the Spire's inner islands. The female Mage hovered just two or three meters above the ground and glided along this path into the Spire's depths.
Only Kay and the male Mage remained. Their exchange hadn't gone unnoticed by nearby apprentices and knights—none of whom were Azure Source Holy Spire students. Seeing a Formal Mage go out of her way to report for Kay, they couldn't hide their envy.
"The Azure Source Holy Spire is new, so it lacks deep roots," muttered an Aspirant Mage, his tone bitter. "It takes in nearly as many apprentices as it can hold every decade, but it doesn't have many Formal Mages. To attract more, it's offering all sorts of perks—one of which is that Formal Mages inside can recommend apprentices for enrollment unconditionally."
He was too old to be accepted as an apprentice, though the Spire would welcome him if he ever became a Formal Mage. Many low- and mid-tier apprentices shared his envy of Kay. Luckily, dusk was falling, and the crowd had thinned—otherwise, even more onlookers would have gathered.
Neither Kay nor the male Mage paid the gawking apprentices any mind. After a tense silence, the male Mage's eyes lingered on the Holy Light Badge, clearly intrigued.
"Apprentice, let me inspect your token," said the green-haired Mage. A Formal Mage's request was not a suggestion, but Kay's heart sank at the sharp edge in the word "inspect." Still, he handed over the badge with a respectful bow. His time at the Dark Magic Academy had taught him the value of humility—especially when facing those stronger than himself.
The Formal Mage preened at Kay's deference. Once he had the badge in hand, he dropped his cold demeanor entirely, turning it over in his fingers with obvious fascination. As time passed and the female Mage didn't return, Kay's unease grew. The male Mage, meanwhile, looked utterly relaxed, clutching the Holy Light Badge as if it were already his.
Kay thought bitterly: There was no such thing as absolute fairness or kindness in this world. The Dark Magic Academy had been brutally harsh, but the Formal Mages of the Holy Spire were hardly all as noble as Master Midiqi, the Tier 2 Mage he'd met before. The caged Featherbloom Sprites he'd seen in the market that day had already made it clear—this was a world where the strong preyed on the weak. Until you had absolute power, being bullied by those stronger was an unbreakable rule.
As dusk deepened, the male Mage snickered. "Why don't you come back tomorrow? Finding someone who knows this Midiqi you mentioned might take longer than expected."
His words made Kay's mood darken further—almost as dark as his expression. But the male Mage paid no heed and was about to urge Kay to leave when two streaks of magical light descended.
"Haha! When did Midiqi start recommending apprentices to our Azure Source Holy Spire?" boomed a hearty voice. "A hundred years ago, we offered him a position as a grade director to teach here, and he turned us down flat!"
A middle-aged man in a red robe appeared beside the female Mage who'd left earlier. Kay instantly sensed the man's aura—no weaker than Master Midiqi's. This was undoubtedly another Tier 2 Mage. The female Mage's deference and the green-haired Mage's flustered reaction made it clear he held high status within the Spire.
"Is that you, young man?" The red-robed Mage glanced around, then fixed his gaze on Kay. His presence was as intense as a roaring flame. Under the weight of a Tier 2 Mage's mental pressure, Kay forced himself to nod.
Tier 2 Mages wielded terrifying mental power—and this one seemed to have mastered advanced detection magic. He barely glanced at Kay before nodding in approval. "An Advanced Apprentice in your twenties? Midiqi didn't send me some incompetent kid. You'll join my first-year cohort. Now—what's your connection to him?"
"Master Midiqi offered me a spot at the Dawn Holy Spire Academy, but family matters made the Azure Source Holy Spire a better fit," Kay replied respectfully. "He gave me this token and said he had acquaintances here."
The red-robed Mage burst into laughter. Even the female Mage behind him looked at Kay with a curious expression.
"So Midiqi wanted to take you as his apprentice! Shame you two didn't get the chance. But no matter—you'll be with me now. Our Azure Source Holy Spire is every bit as good as the Dawn Holy Spire!" he said gruffly.
Turning serious, he looked at the male Mage. "Terek, shouldn't you hand over that token?" His voice had cooled.
Panicked, Terek nodded frantically. "Y-yes, of course! My mistake, Director Johnny!" He hurried to pass the Holy Light Badge to the red-robed Mage.
Kay followed Director Johnny and the female Mage into the Azure Source Holy Spire, leaving Terek to guard the entrance alone. The long leaf pathway connecting the outer and inner islands was infused with special gravitational magic—Kay felt his body grow lighter, and invisible force fields along the sides seemed to shield apprentices from falling off.
As they walked, Johnny, the Tier 2 Mage in red, chatted casually about the Spire's chain islands. His easy demeanor put Kay at ease—after all, if Midiqi (a Mage of such noble character) counted Johnny as a friend, Johnny could hardly be a villain.
Once they reached the Spire's main island, Johnny turned to the female Mage. "Eileen, could you finish helping him with the new student formalities? I've got an experiment to get back to..."
"No problem, Director Johnny," Eileen replied.
Johnny smiled, tossing the Holy Light Badge back to Kay. "Work hard, kid. You should be ready for the Regional Holy Spire Academy War in ten years. Don't let me down as one of my apprentices. If you need anything, come find me on the 278th floor of the Spire!"
Kay caught his recovered badge and bowed. "Yes, Master Johnny."
Johnny left quickly. Eileen and Kay exchanged a glance, then she took charge of his enrollment. The Azure Source Holy Spire had far more apprentices—and Formal Mages—than Kay had expected. Even on his first day, everything he saw and everything Eileen mentioned made it clear the academy was over ten times larger than the underground Dark Magic Academy he'd attended.
The Spire had nearly ten thousand apprentices, all under a hundred years old. Eileen explained that any apprentice who hadn't advanced to Aspirant Mage by the age of one hundred would be asked to leave. "The academy doesn't want apprentices to die of old age here—it would tarnish the Spire's name. Besides, if you haven't become an Aspirant by a hundred, your chances of ever becoming a Formal Mage are next to zero. Even with the Spire's resources, we can't afford to waste them on someone like that."
The Azure Source Holy Spire was actually lenient compared to others—some expelled apprentices who hadn't advanced to Aspirant by seventy or eighty. It gave its students an extra twenty or thirty years.
Eileen first took Kay to the academy's central Guidance Hall to register. With a Formal Mage assisting him, the process went smoothly—especially since his sponsor was not just Eileen, but Director Johnny himself. The working Formal Mages couldn't help but steal glances at Kay; in previous years, new student formalities had been handled by Advanced Apprentices. Kay was far luckier than his predecessors.
His first enrollment gifts included a crystal ball, two sets of replacement robes, two High-Grade Energy Crystals, and an Azure Source Holy Spire insignia. The crystal ball and robes were standard, but the glowing orange-red High-Grade Energy Crystals made Kay's lips twitch. He wasn't short on resources, but High-Grade Crystals were rare anywhere. To receive two for free—this was the wealth of a Holy Spire academy.
Noticing his surprise, Eileen explained: "The academy gives every apprentice two Energy Crystals a year as a stipend. Novice and Low-Tier Apprentices get Low-Grade Crystals; Advanced Apprentices like you get High-Grade ones. But don't think two High-Grade Crystals go far. Except for some public courses, almost all classes taught by Formal Mages cost money. If you want to advance quickly and go far here, you'll either have to pay a fortune for their private lessons—or become a Formal Mage's apprentice."
Kay wasn't surprised. There was no free lunch in the world, and Mages in the Wizarding World lived by the rule of equivalent exchange. To gain knowledge, he would have to pay—but this was far better than the Dark Magic Academy, where apprentices risked their lives for every lesson.
At the Guidance Hall, Kay also signed a magical oath—his first. The white parchment was etched with lines of emerald elemental runes, a clear warning: once signed, he could only fulfill the oath. Breaking it was impossible—unless he wielded power greater than the Azure Source Holy Spire's Lord.
This was no evil indenture, just a fair, voluntary enrollment oath required of all new students. The Spire offered Kay a platform to learn and grow, plus annual Energy Crystals for training—and it didn't do this for free. Holy Spires were not charities. To thrive, their Lords used every means to sustain and expand their power: waging wars on other planes to plunder resources was just one method.
The oath spelled out Kay's obligations clearly. If he ever advanced to Formal Mage, he must serve the Azure Source Holy Spire for at least a hundred years before leaving. If he failed to advance and was expelled, he would have to work in the Spire's surrounding industries for a decade. And even as an apprentice, he would be forced to complete a mandatory academy mission every three months.
Every clause was designed to profit the Azure Source Holy Spire.