The Training Grounds—Azure Source Tower's dedicated space for apprentices to test their magic. Its vast, open expanse let them unleash any newly learned spells without restraint. The endless lawn was pockmarked with craters, a testament to how many times it had endured the bombardment of apprentices' magic.
Rumor had it the grounds weren't just for apprentices; there was a separate section for official Mages and above to test their own spells—shielded strongly enough to withstand the earth-shattering blasts of Level 2, even Level 3 Grand Mages. The barriers in the apprentices' area weren't quite that extreme, but they could still handle whatever the apprentices threw at them.
That day, upon arriving, Kai paid three times the usual fee to reserve a private section—one where only he could use the space. His upgraded Sun Eye spell, now refined to new heights, was easily his strongest trump card (excluding the official Mage artifacts left to him by Moses). It was anextremeapprentice-tier spell, teetering on the edge of power only Level 1 Mages could command. Today, Kai was here to see just how strong it was—whether it could truly match the might of an official Mage.
Having survived the fall of Menzoberranzan, Kai knew all too well the overwhelming power of Level 1+ Mages. It was the kind of strength that could raze a city with one hand—on an entirely different scale from the elemental magic wielded by apprentices.
Low, intricate incantations echoed across the empty knoll. Kai's target was a dozen practice dummies over a hundred meters away—special props designed to withstand advanced magic. Take Kai's Flame Blade, for example: it could split one dummy in two, but not destroy it completely. The academy would simply melt down the fragments and reuse them. Even mid-tier or weaker spells barely scratched these reinforced dummies, leaving only minor dents to gauge a spell's power and accuracy.
Sun Eye required a longer incantation than any other advanced spell Kai knew—a small flaw, but one he'd mitigated with other improvements. When the incantation ended, Kai pointed forward.
A massive golden circular pattern materialized before him, looking just like a lifelike golden eye from a distance. But there was a difference from when Kai had fought Senior Apprentice Mark years earlier: at six points around the giant eye's edge, six smaller golden eyes glowed brightly. With a wave of Kai's hand, the giant eye dissolved, merging into six smaller golden orbs that circled his body—each one a perfect, eye-like sphere.
What made this achievement even more remarkable was that, after painstaking research, Kai had modified these six "eyes" to draw fire and light elemental energy not just from his own magic power, but also from the natural world around him. This, especially the absorption of light energy, gave the upgraded Sun Eye far greater sustainability.
Years ago, Sun Eye could only fire two blasts after being cast. But lab calculations showed the improved version could unleashsix volleys—thirty-six golden beams total. A once-single-target attack had been transformed into a devastating area-of-effect spell. No wonder Kai considered it an extreme apprentice-tier ability.
That said, since each smaller eye packed less elemental force than the original Sun Eye, Kai didn't naively multiply its power by six. His conservative estimate put each volley at roughly four times the strength of the original spell.
Heart pounding, Kai watched as a golden torrent erupted into the sky above the Training Grounds, streaking straight toward the distant knoll. Sun Eye's range and area coverage exceeded even his expectations. In a burst of explosions and flames, every dummy on the knoll was reduced to dust—and a third of the knoll itself was flattened.
It was worth noting the Training Grounds' soil was reinforced with solidification magic, far harder than ordinary earth. And he'd only usedtwo volleys.
Kai felt a surge of satisfaction at the experiment's success—though a faint frown creased his brow. The knoll's destruction meant he couldn't accurately measure Sun Eye's attack power. Glancing upward, he spotted a faint cyan translucent barrier shimmering in the sky.
"I've heard the Training Grounds' shield can withstand a full-powered strike from an official Mage…" Kai murmured.
With a flick of his finger, the six golden eyes—originally aimed at the knoll—swung upward toward the sky. Eager to test its limits, Kai unleashed another volley of golden beams.
The first six beams struck the cyan barrier in an instant, triggering a roar of elemental collisions and explosions. When the smoke cleared, the barrier looked untouched. Kai felt a twinge of disappointment, but wasn't surprised—this was within his expectations.
Undeterred, he fired the remaining three volleys in quick succession, focusing all eighteen golden beams on the exact same spot. From his position on the ground, Kai couldn't see that his first volley hadn't been for nothing: the barrier at that spot was already half as thin as the rest.
When the final eighteen beams hit, a deafening boom shook the air. To Kai's delight, a huge hole had been blown clean through the cyan barrier above him.
He'd barely pulled out his crystal orb to record the result when a furious shout rang out: "Dammit! Which official Mage is testing spells in theapprenticearea?!"
The voice carried the authority of a Level 2 Mage—far stronger than Headmaster Johnny or Mage Midici. Kai could feel its pressure even from a distance. He quickly stowed his crystal orb, glanced around to confirm no one was watching, and slipped away from the Training Grounds.
"Did you hear? A few days ago, an official Mage tested magic in the apprentice section of the Training Grounds and blew a hole in the sky barrier!" A group of apprentices whispered outside the library.
"Really? Which Master did that?" a Mid-tier Apprentice asked, wide-eyed.
"No one knows. Master Lena's been looking for them, but only apprentices were in the area that day," another replied.
"Word on the street is the Mage must've hidden their aura—pretended to be an apprentice to fool Master Lena's detection," a female apprentice added, leaning in conspiratorially.
Kai, walking toward the library, was still buzzing with excitement—he'd been riding that high for days. Now, he needed to refocus and plan his next phase of study or research. The apprentices' whispers jolted him back to the present: they were talking abouthim.
He'd barely thought about that incident since it happened. He hadn't been caught by the on-duty Mage, and few would ever suspect an apprentice could unleash that kind of destruction. Lucky for him, even though he'd used a private section, the part of the sky he'd targeted was a public area. By the time the Mages realized what had happened and started checking apprentices, Kai was already back in his dorm.
Ignoring the gossip, he shook off his stray thoughts and stepped into the library. This was the difference between him and most other apprentices: they fixated on academy rumors and trivialities, while Kai only cared about his magic research and experiments. He couldn't even be bothered to learn about things that didn't concern him. It was no wonder he'd always been a little out of place at Azure Source Tower.
Just as he was about to enter, a quick glance out of the corner of his eye revealed Glen standing in the center of the apprentice group. As a Senior Apprentice, Glen was one of the highest-ranked among them—hence his spot in the middle. But unlike the others, who chatted eagerly, Glen stared at the ground, deep in thought.
Kai had seen Glen like this countless times in the library: even amid the noise of their gossip, he could retreat into his own world. No doubt he was mulling over his magic research.
The other apprentices barely reacted—they were used to Glen's oddities. Most of the time, they treated him like a ghost. If he weren't a Senior Apprentice and one of the three strongest in their circle, he'd never have stood in the center.
"Glen, you're here," Kai said, greeting him. "Are you all heading out to do something?"
Glen was his first real friend at Azure Source Tower—he owed it to him to say hello. Kai's voice wasn't loud, but he wove a whisper spell into it, ensuring Glen heard him immediately. Even when Glen retreated into his thoughts, he never fully tuned out his surroundings—not in a noisy crowd like this. Kai's greeting wasn't an interruption.
"Yes, we're off to complete an academy mission," Glen replied.
At the sound of their conversation, the apprentices' chatter died down. There were over a dozen of them, all Mid-tier or higher—no weaklings. Glen turned to introduce Kai: "This is my friend from the library, Kai. He's quite skilled in Light and Fire magic."
No one reacted. Glen was just as unpopular as Kai. Most of these apprentices were from Glen's home kingdom, but few were close to him—only three or four, all Low or Mid-tier Apprentices.
Glen, sensing the awkward silence, added, "Kai's already an Archapprentice."
That finally got a reaction. Archapprentices stood at the very top of the apprentice hierarchy at Azure Source Tower. None of them knew Kai had defeated Mark years earlier—time had buried that incident, and Kai had never returned to the Challenge Stage. His brief moment of fame had long been overshadowed by others.
Mark, by contrast, still had a reputation: he clung to the bottom of the academy's top 20 (combat ranking), but staying on the list at all proved he had real skill.
A 黑 - cloaked apprentice stepped forward from Glen's side. "Greetings. I'm Hildas Garon," he said to Kai.
His robe was far more elaborate than the others', adorned with gold-threaded patterns that hummed with faint elemental energy—a Mid-tier magic item. Kai recalled Glen's home kingdom was called Garon. This must be a member of the royal family—and one of the three Senior Apprentices in the group.
Kai hated dealing with aristocratic apprentices, but for Glen's sake, he nodded politely. "Kai Grant."
An Archapprentice was someone even a royal from a small kingdom like Hildas would go out of his way to befriend. Normally, this could've been the start of a useful connection: Kai might have gained ties to the Garon royal family, and Hildas could have befriended an Archapprentice—potentially linking Garon to the powerful Grant noble family of the Licia Alliance.
But Hildas's social ambitions were lost on Kai and Glen. After their brief introductions, Kai ignored Hildas entirely, and Glen never thought to formally present Kai to the other Garon apprentices. It was no mystery why these two had become friends.
Kai didn't care about Hildas's awkward, stiff expression. He focused his attention on Glen. Glen was quiet around strangers, but he opened up around friends—talking animatedly about their upcoming mission: a trip to the Green Source Mountains east of Azure Source Tower to hunt magical beasts and gather rare materials.
Notably, Azure Source Tower required apprentices to complete a mandatory mission every three months. The tasks varied widely, and apprentices could choose their own. The easiest were menial jobs like cleaning the library or other public areas; harder ones included trials like Glen's—venturing into monster-infested mountains to hunt beasts and collect materials. Even assisting official Mages with basic experiments counted as a mission.
In his five-plus years at the tower, however, Kai had completed barely any mandatory missions. It wasn't that he refused—he was just too busy, too swamped to waste time on them. Luckily, the tower was "accommodating" to apprentices who couldn't or wouldn't fulfill their duty: pay one magic coin, and the mission would be waived.
Over five years, Kai had spent nearly twenty magic coins this way. Few others in the academy could afford such a luxury. As a result, while most apprentices and Mages didn't know Kai, the Mages at the Mission Verification Office remembered him well.
Hildas cleared his throat, cutting Glen off mid-sentence. Mission details weren't meant to be shared freely—every year, apprentices died during these trials. The tower wasn't a nursery; mandatory missions were meant to test apprenticesandline the academy's pockets.
The Green Source Mountains, east of Azure Source Tower, were the richest magical beast habitat in the Green Source region. Kai had passed through other monster-infested mountains and forests before, but none compared to this. Rumor had it a large magical beast kingdom existed deep in the mountains—though only official Mages knew for sure.
Besides the mountains, the most famous trial area near the tower was the Green Source Sea, much safer thanks to its proximity to the tower. Unruly aquatic beasts and sea creatures had long been tamed by the tower's powerful Mages. Apprentices here mostly did resource-gathering tasks, using low-tier "Underwater Breathing Orbs" to stay submerged for up to two hours.
After saying goodbye to Glen and the others, Kai entered the library, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe I should go on a mandatory mission too. The next deadline is coming up soon."
Days later, high above the Green Source Sea.
Kai stood on the deck of a floating ship, gazing down at the azure waves and the endless horizon. So Mages weren't entirely solitary creatures, he thought. He was used to his routine—library, lab, dorm—and never found it boring. But an occasional trip outside did wonders for his mind and body. Right now, watching the vast sea and sky, he felt lighter, more relaxed than he had in weeks.
He was heading north to the Duchy of Gigson to investigate a rampaging magical beast—one of the highest-tier missions, reserved for Senior Apprentices and above. According to the mission details, the beast was likely an Arch-tier creature. Kai's task was simple: investigate and bring back data.
The Duchy of Gigson wasn't a weak kingdom—it was famous for its alchemy, with numerous magic shops scattered across its lands. Knights and Mages from neighboring regions traveled there regularly. Rumor had it an official Mage from Gigson held a position at Azure Source Tower and was a skilled alchemist; most of the duchy's magic-item-crafting apprentices were his disciples.
Kai had studied at the tower for years and even taken advanced courses from three official alchemists. He wondered if he'd met Gigson's alchemist-Mage without realizing it.
Thinking about alchemy brought a twinge of frustration. The tower wasn't the fountain of knowledge he'd hoped it would be. Wizards guarded their knowledge far more fiercely than he'd imagined. Even though Kai paid magic coins for advanced courses, he'd gradually realized the Mages always held back. Magic coins could buy a superficial lesson, but never a Mage's full expertise—not unless he became their disciple, their heir.
Kai had no desire to apprentice himself to any official Mage at Azure Source Tower. For one thing, his loyalty still lay with his late mentor, Moses. For another, none of the Mages he'd met were strong enough to make him want to learn under them. If he'd been willing to settle for just any Mage, he would've accepted Level 2 Mage Midici's offer from Dawn Tower years ago.
Looking back, he didn't regret his choice—but he couldn't deny he'd missed a good opportunity.
Before leaving, Kai had made arrangements for his cousin Serena. He'd left her energy crystals and a few magic coins for expenses, and told her he might be gone longer than usual on this mission.