Kay had no choice but to sign the enrollment oath—even with Tier 2 Mage Johnny as his sponsor, he couldn't bypass this academy rule. He'd also figured out what Johnny's role as "Grade Director" entailed.
Above all else at the Azure Source Holy Spire Academy stood the Spire Lord, supported by three Tier 3 Archmages serving as Deans. These Archmages were rarely seen; not just apprentices like Kay, but even Tier 1 Formal Mages rarely crossed paths with them. The figures who appeared most often to apprentices were the teaching Formal Mages and Grade Directors like Johnny.
The Azure Source Holy Spire had existed for over two centuries, and its academy had grown alongside it. Every decade, a new cohort of apprentices was admitted, and each cohort was overseen by a Tier 2 Mage—tasked with assisting the three Deans in managing apprentices and supervising the Formal Mages' teaching. Given that apprentices could stay at the Spire for up to a century, there were roughly seven or eight Grade Directors like Johnny.
As for the "Regional Holy Spire Academy War" Johnny had mentioned, it was a trial event held every fifty years between the Azure Source Holy Spire and several nearby Holy Spires. Eileen explained that the Azure Source Holy Spire had performed poorly in the last war, so both Grade Directors like Johnny and the three Deans were determined to improve their standing in the next one.
In hindsight, even without Master Midiqi's token, Kay would likely have been accepted into the Azure Source Holy Spire as an Advanced Apprentice in two years. But enrolling two years early was a priceless advantage—for Mages, time was wealth. Those two extra years of study could let Kay master countless elemental truths and arcane knowledge. A two-year gap could even shape his entire life: if he distinguished himself in the upcoming Regional War, he might catch the eye of the Spire Lord or other high-ranking figures, boosting his chances of one day becoming a Formal Mage.
"There you go—this is your apprentice dormitory," Eileen said, stopping in front of a quiet, standalone three-story building. She'd nearly finished helping Kay with all enrollment formalities, and with Johnny's name backing him, the process had been smooth sailing.
This standalone dorm was a luxury no ordinary Advanced Apprentice could hope for. Even with the Spire Academy's vast grounds, such private accommodations were scarce. Without Eileen's help, Kay—an outsider—would never have received such treatment.
Grateful for her half-day of assistance, Kay pulled ten magic coins from his spatial bracelet and offered them to her. He'd refused to spend ten coins on a Featherbloom Sprite slave in the market, but this was an investment—far more valuable than a mere exotic slave.
Eileen blinked in surprise. "You're quite wealthy for a young apprentice, aren't you?" She smiled, twirling a lock of her honey-blond hair. "With Tier 2 Mages like Midiqi and Johnny backing you, you must have a powerful family too."
Kay merely smiled and said nothing. Eileen didn't press; she accepted the coins and added, "But don't waste your money recklessly—ten magic coins could pay for two regular magic courses. I live on the 76th floor of the Spire. If you have small troubles and don't want to bother Director Johnny, you can come to me. I'll help if I can." She winked.
After Kay thanked her again, Eileen left. He watched her go, murmuring to himself: "Do all Tier 1+ Formal Mages live in the Spire? Will I ever have the chance to join them?"
The day after enrolling, Kay threw himself into academy life. With public courses starting the following week, he headed first to the academy library—and was stunned. The Azure Source Holy Spire's library was over a hundred times larger than the one at Menzoberranzan's Dark Magic Academy.
Mages were fanatical about knowledge, and the Spire had spared no expense in building this treasure trove of wisdom; its size alone rivaled half the Dark Magic Academy he'd once attended. The sheer volume of knowledge it held was beyond what any single apprentice—even any Formal Mage—could fully absorb.
Beyond the common elemental disciplines (wind, fire, earth, water), Kay found shelves upon shelves of books on light, darkness, thunder, necromancy, plant magic, summoning, and even astrology. There were also vast sections on alchemy, potion-making, and magical runic arrays. This was the true heritage of a Holy Spire Academy.
Kay couldn't yet speak to other aspects of the Spire, but the library's breadth and depth already dwarfed organizations like the Thorn Ring, Holy Concordat, and Fire Emblem in the Lycia Alliance.
Naturally, borrowing books came at a cost—either academy points (earned only by completing apprentice missions) or magic coins. Even with his hundreds of magic coins, Kay knew he couldn't afford to splurge. Knowledge truly was expensive.
"I need to focus on specific fields from now on," he mused. "And even though the public courses are for low- and mid-tier apprentices, some of them must still be useful to me."
In addition to exploring the academy and researching useful public courses, Kay visited the Mission Hall in the western part of the academy. The hall wasn't just for accepting missions—it also let apprentices post tasks in exchange for a fee.
Kay had been away from the Lycia Alliance for over half a year, and now that he'd safely enrolled in the Spire, he felt he owed Count Grant a message. The count was his only remaining blood relative; though Kay never said it aloud, he cared deeply for him.
He had two options to send the letter:
Post an academy mission, hiring an apprentice to deliver it to Grant's territory. This was cheaper—low- and mid-tier apprentices often jumped at long-distance missions, as they combined travel, experience, and pay. But it was slow: Kay, an Advanced Apprentice, had taken half a year to reach the Spire; a weaker apprentice might take nearly a year.Use the academy's high-tier magical messengers. These were fast—delivering the letter in roughly a month—but costly: one High-Grade Energy Crystal or one magic coin per letter.
After deliberation, Kay chose the magical messenger. This also taught him the Spire's exchange rate: 1 magic coin = 1 High-Grade Energy Crystal. He smiled to himself—trading a Low-Grade Healing Potion for a magic coin back in Petertown had been a brilliant deal.
He handed a short letter to the on-duty apprentice at the Mission Hall. While most Spire apprentices were considered "prodigies," few were as well-funded as Kay. Knowledge came with a price, especially private lessons from Formal Mages, and even wealthy apprentices struggled to cover all expenses.
Thus, apprentices worked everywhere in the academy: not just the Guidance Hall (staffed mostly by Formal Mages), but also the library, classrooms, mission hall, cultivation areas, and plantations. Some did simple work like cleaning; others took on more complex roles, assisting Formal Mages to keep the academy running. A lucky few—those with exceptional skills—worked as assistants to Formal Mages or handled specialized tasks in monster breeding grounds or plantations.
To outsiders, Spire apprentices seemed noble and privileged. But only those inside knew their lives were far from easy—they were busier than apprentices in most magical organizations. Yet this busyness was a sign of their dedication; the academy taught them not just knowledge, but deeper lessons about discipline and ambition.
When public courses began, Kay paused his personal research and began attending classes regularly, notebook in hand. Most public courses were designed for low-, mid-, and entry-tier apprentices—free of charge (no magic coins or points required)—to help beginners step into the world of elements. As an Advanced Apprentice, Kay stood out like a sore thumb.
Many low-tier apprentices wondered where this unfamiliar Advanced Apprentice had come from and why he was attending basic classes. But Kay didn't care. While he'd learned foundational knowledge at the Dark Magic Academy, those lessons had been taught by twisted Dark Mages—nothing compared to the carefully selected Formal Mages at the Azure Source Holy Spire. Moreover, the Spire's foundational curriculum covered far more ground than the tiny Dark Magic Academy ever had. For example, he'd recently been attendingIntroduction to Light MagicandBasics of Other Planes—two courses that didn't exist in Menzoberranzan.
Watching the young apprentices eagerly absorb knowledge, Kay felt a twinge of envy. What had he been doing at their age? Cowering in Master Kaelthar's anatomy class, terrified of becoming the next dissection specimen. Or venturing alone into the dark underground, forced to complete deadly academy missions. The Dark Magic Academy had never coddled low-tier apprentices with easy tasks. By the time Kay was their age, he'd already slit the throats of over a dozen underground humanoids who'd tried to ambush him.
Kay also noticed another difference from the Dark Magic Academy: a niche course calledOtherworldly Creature Anatomy. Though it was a free public course, attendance was sparse—only around twenty apprentices, including Kay. Compare that to popular courses likeIntroduction to Fire MagicorIntroduction to Water Magic, which filled classrooms with 100–200 apprentices.
Today, Formal Mage Lanqi was teaching dissection to the twenty-odd apprentices. Unlike Kaelthar, who'd used human corpses, Lanqi worked with the bodies of otherworldly humanoids. The faint smell of blood in the air kept most low-tier apprentices away. Still, the class had a fair number of mid-tier apprentices—over sixty percent—and even two Advanced Apprentices, including Kay.
Mage Lanqi had an exceptionally gentle temperament. In fact, nearly all Formal Mages teaching public courses at the Spire were patient and kind—shattering Kay's previous impressions of Wizarding World Formal Mages. This made sense, though: they were academic Mages, not battle Mages who'd endured endless plane wars and had no patience for inexperienced apprentices.
In front of Kay lay a shoulder blade from an otherworldly humanoid—a hidden perk of the course. Lanqi occasionally gave out such body parts for apprentices to dissect, helping them deepen their understanding of otherworldly creatures.
"Not all intelligent beings across the Astral Plane are humanoid," Lanqi explained, gesturing to the specimen. "But humanoids tend to have higher intelligence and share similarities with Wizarding World humans, so they're more likely to join the Wizarding Alliance. Beyond humanoids, creatures like the slimes, shalor worms, and skyblade mantises I showed you last class have very low intelligence—though this refers to their average 族 (group) intelligence. Most planes produce mutated individuals; when these mutants reach Tier 1 or higher, their intelligence undergoes a profound transformation."
He continued: "The specimens before you are from the Komut Plane, which I visited during my travels. The native creatures there share a 60% resemblance to Wizarding World humans in appearance, but their internal structures are vastly different. Now, dissect them and see for yourselves."
Lanqi wasn't a battle Mage, but he was obsessed with exploring other planes. In his 441 years of life, he'd traveled to eleven different planes—all vassal planes of the Wizarding Alliance, ruled by Wizarding civilization. For a fee of magic coins or energy crystals, knights and Mages could visit these conquered planes to train and explore.
Lanqi's stories of other planes fascinated the young apprentices: giant creatures several meters tall, strange beings living in tree hollows and caves, floating islands drifting in the sky, exotic foods, and breathtaking landscapes. These tales spurred the apprentices to strive for greater power, dreaming of exploring such wonders themselves once they became Formal Mages.
It was no surprise Lanqi taught bothOtherworldly Creature AnatomyandBasics of Other Planes—his passion for otherworldly knowledge was evident. He also offered advanced courses on other planes, but these came at an extra cost. Given the small size of his public classes, however, few apprentices likely signed up for his advanced lessons.
Kay, who'd experienced the (Yellow Sand World), knew other planes were far less idyllic than the apprentices imagined. Even so, he was eager to learn Lanqi's advanced knowledge of other planes—understanding such information would help him navigate future plane wars or travels with far greater ease.
"Wait—you're Kay, aren't you?" Lanqi suddenly spoke up, pausing his lecture to look at Kay's dissection work. "Your technique is quite unusual… and the precision of your dissection is remarkable."
Talent shines anywhere. Kay's dissection skills had once impressed Kaelthar, a Formal Dark Mage; it was no surprise they caught Lanqi's attention now. His movements exuded professionalism and precision—he'd mastered nearly 60% of Kaelthar's expertise in this field. No wonder Kaelthar had once considered taking him as an apprentice.
While Lanqi was a Formal Mage, he wasn't as skilled in dissection as Kaelthar—he might even be outclassed by Kay. No one was perfect, and Formal Mages weren't as all-knowing as apprentices imagined.
Intrigued by Kay's skill, Lanqi set aside his lecture and asked, "Which Formal Mage taught you this dissection technique?"
"Master, I learned it from my family," Kay replied respectfully.
"No wonder I've never seen this technique at the Azure Source Holy Spire—your family must be an ancient magical lineage," Lanqi smiled. "I happen to have an otherworldly creature skeleton that needs perfect dissection for my lab collection. Could you help me sometime? I'll reward you with academy points and other benefits." He asked directly in front of the class.
A Formal Mage's request was not something Kay could refuse—and it gave him the perfect chance to learn from Lanqi. "It would be my honor, Master Lanqi!" he said.
Their conversation drew glances from the other apprentices, but the class was small, and most mid-tier and Advanced Apprentices were too busy to gossip. Kay didn't gain fame at the academy—only a few apprentices took notice of him.
Lanqi's precious specimen was a lizard-like otherworldly creature with four wings. He explained it was a juvenile sub-dragon with a Tier 1 Early life force—one of his most valuable collections. It was clear Lanqi wasn't well-off; otherwise, he wouldn't have asked an apprentice like Kay to help with the specimen. Kay suspected most of Lanqi's salary from teaching at the academy went toward his otherworldly travels and collecting rare creature specimens.