CH2 Mage Tower
***
Alex and his escort of knights travelled westward.
Their journey took over ten days, leading them through shadowy forests and rugged mountain ranges, across the mighty Aegean River that spanned much of the continent, and past the territories of various nobles—including one belonging to a Grand Duchy.
During this ti, Alex realized that Jarred wasn't necessarily looking down on him—or at least, not only that. Rather, the man was simply a man of few words. He spoke only when he had to.
Still, Jarred fulfilled Earl Drake's orders. Occasionally, he would speak about the Fury family or explain parts of the world to Alex.
Through these short lessons, Alex slowly pieced together a clearer image of his new lineage, and of the world he now inhabited.
The Fury Family, as it turned out, was far from united. Drake Fury had earned his title of Earl through personal rit.
If all the lands controlled by various Fury family mbers were combined, they could rival even a Duchy—perhaps even a Grand Duchy.
Unfortunately, the family was riddled with pride and ambition. Its mbers found it difficult to submit to any singular leader. Independence was more desirable than consolidated strength.
Aside from Earl Drake, the strongest among them, there were four Counts, and over a dozen Viscounts and Barons with the Fury family na.
The world, like many feudal societies, revolved around land and title. Across the Arun Continent, nobles waged endless wars to increase their domains and rise in noble rank.
Thanks to the existence of planar travel, scarcity of resources no longer limited ambition. Nobles frequently invaded lesser planes, plundering them to fuel their wars back ho.
In fact, securing spatial coordinates of lesser planes and exploiting them had beco an unspoken requirent for nobility itself.
Independent powerhouses and private organizations also used planar travel to gather resources. You could say planar travel had beco the cornerstone of the world of Pangea.
Yes, this plane/ realm was called Pangea.
The na wasn't lost on Alex. He had not forgotten the one who brought him here; Heart_of_Pangea.
He had theories about that person's true identity, but for now, it was the least of his concerns.
As Jarred explained, not everyone in this world could cultivate. Only those born with talent could beco Professionals.
Professionals were ranked as: Novice, Beginner, Interdiate, Elite, Veteran, Saint, and Legendary.
There were ranks beyond Legendary, but Jarred hadn't bothered to elaborate.
According to him, the Legendary rank represented the top 1% of the world. As for the ranks above that—well, Alex would learn of them if he reached that level.
Along the way, Alex also learned from the other knights that Jarred was one of Earl Drake's most powerful and trusted n—a mid-stage Saint-ranked Dark Knight.
Earl Drake himself was a newly risen Legendary Berserker.
After the long, exhausting journey, their destination finally ca into view.
Alex's jaw nearly dropped.
When they set off, he had assud he was being exiled to so remote, decaying mage tower. But what stood before him defied expectations.
The Mage Tower— no, DragonHold Enclave, wasn't a re tower, but a massive mountain-spanning complex. The central tower stood over half a kilotre tall, surrounded by buildings that extended across an entire range and spilled into the tributaries of a nearby bay.
This wasn't just a tower. It was the domain of a legend: rlin Pendragon.
To Alex's utter shock, the teacher chosen for him was not only a senior Legendary Mage, but also one of the Virellian Empire's powerhouse guardians.
They were granted entrance without delay.
Inside the Mage Tower, Alex stood in awe within a massive hall of impossible design. The chamber shimred with a dreamlike glow, carved entirely from a single piece of translucent blue crystal—including the throne where rlin Pendragon sat.
The man looked surprisingly plain: a middle-aged gentleman with kind eyes and a sagely expression. Dressed like an old aristocrat rather than a Legendary mage. His presence, though, still exuded tiless wisdom and knowledge.
And beside him stood a woman—strikingly beautiful, with a voluptuous figure, cascading black hair, and piercing icy-blue eyes that gazed at Alex with gentle warmth. Dressed in a mage's robe, she radiated a mature allure.
If it were his past life, Alex might've tried flirting.
He nodded at her in greeting, then quickly looked away.
Jarred stepped forward and relayed Earl Drake's intentions.
"My master hopes that you will take Young Master Alex as your student—for old ti's sake."
Alex was surprised by the respectful tone with which Jarred used to address him. He quickly realized it was all part of keeping up appearances—for the family's dignity.
rlin shook his head. "If I accepted every noble's child on the basis of 'old ti's sake,' my tower would be filled with them."
"He possesses the purest Furor Bloodline seen in generations," Jarred responded without hesitation. "Though he lacks talent in the warrior path, his intellect is promising. His path surely lies in magic."
rlin turned his gaze on Alex. The boy felt as though the mage were peering into his very soul.
The Legendary mage's expression lit up. Even the crystal hall seed to shimr in response.
"He certainly has wisdom beyond his years," rlin said thoughtfully. "An essential trait for a mage.
"How far can I go?"
Jarred straightened. "You may do whatever you deem necessary. The only condition is that Young Master Alex returns a competent man by Pangea's standards."
rlin nodded slowly. "I hope Drake understands that I only use the best and finest of materials. So too would my student. The cost of my personal guidance will be... significant, even if only in material cost alone."
There was a long pause before he added, "For old ti's sake... I'll accept ten years' worth of profits from one of his primary planes."
"In-plane ti?" Jarred asked.
"Of course not. Pangea ti."
Jarred's lips twitched. That was a heavy price.
Ti in Pangea flowed slower than in most lesser planes. Ten years here could be decades —or even centuries— elsewhere.
The cost amounted to nearly half of Drake's projected inco for the next decade. It would severely impact his military ambitions for the upcoming upheaval.
Still, Jarred nodded. The deal was struck.
rlin added, "I'll also help the boy with his bloodline issue. I assu that's why he was sent here."
Jarred exhaled in relief. That was the Earl's minimum requirent.
As the knight turned to leave, he paused and looked back at Alex one last ti. The cost of the deal was staggering. He could only hope the boy would prove worth it in the years to co.
He and the Fury knights departed imdiately, returning to Ashen Castle.
rlin turned to Alex.
"From today, you are my student. You will obey my instructions completely—without hesitation or question. Understood?"
"Yes," Alex replied firmly.
He'd read enough cultivation novels in his past life to know what was expected of an acolyte.
"This is my daughter, Zora. Her instructions are to be followed as if they were mine."
Alex nodded again, his expression growing serious. He buried his earlier thoughts about her even deeper behind a mask of focus.
Zora gave him a soft smile. It cald him more than he expected.
"Bring him to the Examination Hall," rlin instructed.
"Yes, Father."
Zora led him through portals, glowing elevators, and winding hallways until Alex was thoroughly disoriented.
They finally arrived at the Examination Hall— a space filled with alchemical equipnt, arcane arrays, and magical instrunts whose purposes Alex couldn't begin to guess.
Zora handed him over to the supervising mage and departed through a portal, returning to her father's side.
Curiously, Alex wondered why rlin hadn't just teleported him directly here.
He was asked to remove his clothes, drink a glowing potion, and lie on a cold tal bed where he was bound. Then, an array of needles —so thin as hair, others as thick as pencils— pierced into his flesh.
Ordinarily, a Grade-0 detection spell would suffice to test an acolyte's potential. But for the handpicked student of the tower's master, the mages pulled out all the stops.
rlin and Zora observed through a private surveillance spell—accessible only to the highest authority in the tower. Zora calmly prepared tea for her father as the results ca in.
Alex shivered in pain as his consciousness alternated between awareness and numbness.
"High elental affinity. No dominant elent— balanced across the board."
He convulsed as elental energy surged through him, testing his magical resistance.
"Significant magical resistance detected across all elents. Passive absorption of ejected mana detected."
Then ca the worst.
A spiritual probe pierced his very soul.
"Impeccably strong spiritual force... far beyond the level of a genius."
The next round of examinations focused on his physical condition—and surprisingly, the results were even more concerning than his magical aptitude.
On paper, his individual paraters suggested he possessed a powerful physique.
Muscle fibre toughness, bone strength, neural conductivity— all obtained data were impressive. And yet, sothing deep within him seed to be limiting the actual overall functioning of his body.
It was as if a hidden force at his very core was suppressing his potential.
The tests dragged on for hours, culminating in a thick stack of reports filled with conflicting data and perplexed observations.
---
When Alex finally regained consciousness, the supervising mage inford him of the final verdict: his overall performance was excellent—just short of the threshold that could've marked him as a genius.
Aside from his overwhelming spiritual force, there were no major abnormalities nor special attributes to take note of.
At the very least, they said, he was guaranteed to reach the rank of a Great Mage—an above-average result by all standards.
But Alex hardly paid attention to any of that. The mont he woke up, he realized sothing had changed.
The world looked different— richer, more vibrant.
He could now see strange, shimring particles floating in the air. These particles moved subtly, drawn toward the mages in the room.
As they entered each person's body, the particles would shift in colour, adapting to the dominant hue of that mage's internal mana.
Then it happened.
One of the mages activated a fire spell. In that instant, Alex watched as the surrounding particles surged toward the tip of the mage's wand, turned a brilliant crimson, and ignited into fla.
It clicked.
He had awakened an ocular ability—one that allowed him to 'see' mana.
***
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