The night passed in silence. By early the next morning, as the sky just began to lighten, Allen appeared punctually in the first-floor hall. The Elder Wizard was already waiting there. A moment later, Vera and Colin arrived one after the other.
"Good. I like punctual children." The Elder Wizard nodded, leading them out of the tower.
The square was empty and quiet in the early morning. The semi-circular Teleportation Star Gates shimmered with a soft light in the dawn. Handing each of them a black badge, the Elder Wizard led them toward one of the more inconspicuous Star Gates, which bore the inscription: "Panorama Corridor Plane".
"Once inside, you will be teleported directly to the square of the Seven Towers Alliance. Just head to the new student reception area." He came to a halt, giving the trio one last look. "Life at the academy is more cruel—and yet fairer—than you can imagine. Don't waste your talents, and don't disappoint the organization's investment in you."
His gaze lingered on Allen for a second longer.
"Especially you, Allen Wesren, the 'Outlander'. You will either soar to the heavens or... fall and be crushed to pieces. I look forward to seeing just how far you can go."
With that, he said no more, simply making a gesture inviting them to proceed.
Taking a deep breath, Allen was the first to step forward, walking unhesitatingly into the brilliant, flowing curtain of light. His vision was instantly swallowed by pure white light, accompanied by a slight sense of weightlessness.
When the light and humming of the Teleportation Star Gate—which made it feel as though his internal organs were being shifted—finally dissipated, an almost suffocating "pressure" seized him. It wasn't physical weight, but rather the sheer density of "existence" itself. The air here... No, it couldn't even be called air. Every breath felt like swallowing warm gel as bizarre energy surged down his throat and into his lungs, making him want to cough while simultaneously instilling an instinctive craving for more.
He staggered a step, clutching his forehead. The humming of the teleportation still lingered in his ears, and everything before his eyes was distorted by glowing halos. Forcing himself to blink, he tried to piece together the chaotic visual information. The first thing that came into focus was the Rune slab beneath his feet, its glowing halo shifting as it firmly supported his body. Only then did he slowly raise his head.
In the next second, he held his breath.
He was standing in an incomparably vast, circular square. In the distance, seven massive towers encircled the area, towering majestically like heavenly pillars supporting the Sky Vault.
The tower directly ahead was constructed entirely of an Obsidian-like material. Molten gold-like patterns slowly flowed across its surface, making it look as if a living volcano had been forcibly molded into the shape of a tower. To his right, a pure white tower floated silently hundreds of meters above the ground. Countless thick, luminous chains hung from its base, extending deep into the void, seemingly anchoring it to an invisible world. Yet another tower was bursting with vitality, its form constantly shifting and changing between woods, vines, and crystals.
Each of the seven high towers possessed its own divine uniqueness, leaving onlookers spellbound.
The sky was not blue, but rather a distorted ocean of light. Giant Magic Runes floated in the air like islands, slowly rotating on their axes and pouring down a soft radiance from an unknown source. Countless points of light—Wizards riding Magic Carpets, Flying Ships, or turning themselves into streaks of light—darted between these "islands." They carved out intricate and highly efficient trajectories, looking remarkably like busy flight paths in a spaceport, yet far more dreamlike and far more... unscientific.
RUMBLE—
A deep, soul-piercing sound echoed from extremely high above. Allen looked up, his pupils shrinking sharply.
A colossal, inverted mountain peak, wrapped in countless chains flashing with lightning, was slowly "plowing" through the clouds above. The base of the mountain was covered in dense metallic structures, cannon muzzles, and crystal arrays flashing with Runes. It was a giant city suspended out of thin air. The shadow it cast swept across the square, brushing over the heart of every newcomer.
"Don't just stand there like an idiot, you're in the way!" an impatient, irritable voice rang out from behind him.
A teenager wearing a blue Apprentice Robe and riding a hovering skateboard nimbly bypassed him, rushing toward a Teleportation Platform flashing with blue light at the edge of the square before disappearing in an instant.
Only then did Allen manage to wrest a shred of reason from his extreme shock. Forcing his mind to work, he tried to analyze the situation.
"DSeek," he commanded in his mind. "Record environmental parameters, analyze the architectural structure..."
DSeek responded faithfully, and streams of data began to scroll through his consciousness.
[Structural Analysis: The target 'tower' exhibits non-classical mechanical support models; unable to assess!]
The result of the analysis only made him feel more powerless. The "miracles" here were built upon an entirely unfamiliar set of rules; the scientific paradigms he knew felt incredibly pale and feeble in this place. The magnificence here wasn't meant to manifest the glory of a Deity, but was a pure embodiment of power. It was a cold, arrogant display of knowledge transformed into a reality-altering force.
Taking a deep breath of the air saturated with Magic Power, Allen felt a stinging pain in his lungs, yet it was accompanied by a bizarre sense of excitement. In his mind, the city skylines of Earth crazily intertwined and collided with the sight of the seven towers before him.
"This isn't a fairy tale," he said to himself, his voice so low that only he could hear it. "This is a... miracle that can be touched with my own hands."
He looked down at his current hands—the still-tender hands of a 15-year-old boy—and couldn't help but recall his years on Earth.
"I, Allen, once lived a life governed by precise calibrations. Every single day was like a perfect carbon copy of the one before it. The alarm clock at seven in the morning, the Number 17 bus that always arrived a few minutes late, the seemingly eternally unchanging stack of documents on my desk, and even the familiar ringtone of the colleague in the next cubicle—all of it became an unbreakable physical law in my world.
"My fingers used to type countless reports on a cold keyboard. The words were accurate, the formatting perfect, but strung together, they amounted to absolutely no meaning at all. I felt like a flying insect frozen in transparent amber. I could see the dazzling brilliance of the outside world, I could perceive the passage of time, yet I couldn't move an inch. Everything around me was certain, predictable. I knew exactly where I would be in thirty years, what position I would be sitting in, and what kind of problems I'd be dealing with—provided I could run pointlessly until then, like a machine that never wore out.
"This kind of 'ordinariness' wasn't mere barrenness; it was a suffocation of the soul. It was like a thick layer of dust covering all colors and sounds. Only by immersing myself in strategy simulation games after work could I find a long-lost sense of joy.
"That is, until... I came to this world. Until... I heard the roar of Merlin using words to pry reality apart.
"The world in his words—a world capable of 'toying with Deities' and 'rewriting rules'—struck like a thunderbolt, tearing apart the gray canopy of my sky! It wasn't fear, but a yearning that made me tremble all over, a desire bordering on vertigo.
"Do Wizards pursue eternal life? No, what I crave first and foremost is the feeling of being alive—a racing heartbeat, an unknown path ahead, breathing in different possibilities with every single breath.
"Do they pursue power? Yes, I crave power. But not to rule over anyone—rather, to shatter things! To shatter that damned 'certainty' that bound the first half of my life! I want to see with my own eyes what kind of dazzling sparks will burst forth when I manipulate Magic Power with my own hands.
"Becoming a Wizard? This was never a multiple-choice question. For someone who has stayed in a silent Hell for far too long, even if the raging fires outside are enough to incinerate the soul, I will throw myself into them without a second thought. Just to feel the scorching heat once more. Just to personally touch that non-conforming... reality known as a 'miracle.'"
Fear still existed—fear of the unknown, fear of the mighty. Yet, a much stronger flame, born of his instinctual curiosity, burned fiercely in his heart.
"Well then," Allen Wesren said as he straightened his back. His gaze swept over the inhumanly spectacular sights once more before finally landing on the line at the new student registration office in the distance—a line leading toward the unknown. "Let me see just how wonderful this world truly is."
He set off, walking toward the line that would decide his fate, walking toward this new world—one that made him feel as insignificant as a speck of dust, yet caused his soul to tremble with exhilaration.