In the sky, an airship about two hundred ters long slowly descended.
The silver-blue propellers spun, and the airship's silver shell reflected flashes of light under the sunlight. Its aesthetically pleasing engineering lines and clean exterior filled the students below with admiration and envy.
This was a large airship carrying personnel from "Tetis College," and it also represented the most powerful school within the current Mage Alliance, the "Mithril Clock."
The airship landed in the center of the recruitnt exhibition area, then anchored and lowered its steps, revealing the interior filled with exquisite instrunts resembling a starry sky. These instrunts could greatly enhance observation precision, used for researching various things, analyzing Spell Models, Alchemy creations, and so on.
Many of the Mage Alliance's instrunts were produced by the "Mithril Clock" school. They had also established nurous guidelines, set industry standards, and built the most important foundational frawork for the Mage Alliance.
On this day, besides "Tetis College" under the "Mithril Clock," representatives from colleges subordinate to the other two major schools also arrived in the Asra District.
The "Mithril Clock" school's exhibition hall was the descending airship, while the "Origin Hourglass" exhibition hall was a massive hourglass shaped like a volcano, divided into several levels arranged chronologically from bottom to top. The "Solar Furnace" exhibition hall, anwhile, was a giant transparent sphere, at the center of which burned a magnificent golden fla that illuminated the darkness. Its surging heat gave every student who stepped inside a baptism of the "Scorching Sun," restoring their spirit and vitality.
If the "Mithril Clock" established the rules and direction for the entire Mage Alliance's developnt, then the "Solar Furnace" school provided the driving force for all its operations.
This school researched and produced various types of power furnaces and engines, used in countless airships, steam vehicles, ships, large machinery, and more. They also produced boiler equipnt and lighting fixtures, igniting lamps and providing heat across all regions of the Mage Alliance.
Although it currently ranked only third, it was also the youngest of the three major factions, brimming with vigorous, untapped potential.
"Have you decided, Hedra?" the instructor asked once more, confirming whether this young girl intended to apply to "Tetis College."
"Yes, I'm ready." Sylutia nodded in response.
"In that case, go ahead." The instructor took out a seal, stamped it onto Sylutia's examination permission certificate, and handed it to her.
Picking up the certificate, along with the letter of recomndation specially prepared for her by the Asra District authorities earlier, Sylutia walked beneath the silver-blue airship.
There were no sightseers here, only examinees filled with ambition and eager anticipation. They lined up, waiting, praying to pass the assessnt smoothly and enter this most prestigious college.
As Sylutia approached, many waiting students noticed her.
Silently and without a word, they made way for her to pass. Even those who hadn't noticed were pulled aside by their companions, clearing a path.
Her black hair brushed gently in the breeze. Wherever this young girl passed, the students quickly fell silent, then watched her walk by.
From a distance, students who didn't know the situation asked curiously.
"Who is that? Why is everyone making way for her? Is she soone special?"
"You don't know? That's the famous figure of our Asra District, the 'Untouchable Black Griffin,' Hedra. Her reputation and strength are recognized by everyone. Even if you ask an ordinary laborer on the street, they'll know that na."
"Is she that powerful?" The student covered her mouth, a bit incredulous.
"Yes." Surprisingly, those classmates who were usually arrogant and liked to disagree had nothing to say today. They just silently watched that figure walk through the crowd.
Soft black hair, a simple blue iris hair clip, the girl carried her books and certificate. Dressed in a quiet black dress, she walked lightly toward the airship. If it were their first eting, no one would associate her with such a forceful nickna. In fact, it would be easy to overlook this quietly tempered girl.
But today, as her figure passed by, that quiet temperant struck like another kind of thunderbolt—it was the sole stillness amidst a thousand noises and distractions, so striking that it could not be ignored.
...
Crossing the short steps, Sylutia stepped into the spacious interior of the airship. A mage in a black formal suit with a monocle was already waiting there. He took the certificate and letter of recomndation from the girl, scanned them with an appraising gaze, and nodded slightly.
"Miss Hedra, please co in. You are the first examinee today. I wish you success."
He then lifted a black curtain, allowing the girl to enter the spacious area.
One by one, orange lamps lit up, illuminating the path before her until she reached the center of the vast circular hall. Then another set of lights ca on, and on the spectator seats opposite her appeared a group of examining mages, seventeen in total, ranging from the Fifth to Sixth Tier.
"We will now begin questioning. We will score you based on your answers and performance."
"Yes."
After that, the examiners posed a series of difficult questions. The scope of the assessnt ranged from basic knowledge of secret arts to the actual construction of Spell Models, from experints requiring hands-on practice to on-the-spot solutions for entirely new problems, and from pure mathematical analysis to real combat against powerful enemies.
"This is the second-to-last assessnt item. You will face a Third Tier 'Blood Frenzy Beast' alone. Defeat it within the allotted ti."
As the words fell, a sealed tal cage rose from one side of the circular hall where the girl stood. Inside, a wolf-like beast nearly four ters tall was struggling and roaring.
The cage opened, the chains unlocked, and the blood-red beast burst out. It first threw its head back and howled, then opened its bloody maw with fangs dripping long strands of saliva. The creature's appearance was like a giant, enlarged Dire Wolf, but its muscles were far more powerful, and lacking skin, the muscle fibers were clearly visible.
[Blood Frenzy Beast] (Third Tier · Bloodline): An experintal product fused with the bloodlines of multiple ferocious beasts. It can erupt with astonishing combat power in a short ti. As a minion, it might be too costly to keep, but as an enemy, it is a nightmare for peers of the sa tier.
After erging, this experintal beast didn't give Sylutia much ti to prepare. Its bloodshot eyes locked onto the girl, and it let out a chilling hiss before charging at her ferociously.
Seeing this, Sylutia slightly widened her eyes but didn't dodge. A light flickered in her gaze as she analyzed the beast's condition in an extrely short ti.
It was called "Third Tier," but the speed and power of its burst far exceeded that of ordinary knights. From its initial sprint to reaching Sylutia took only three seconds.
In that mont, Sylutia's mind raced at high speed. Everything before her seed to slow down. The Blood Frenzy Beast raised its right claw, its sharp talons cutting through the air, leaving extrely fine trails of airflow. The tips emitted a faint red glow, sharp and dangerous, as they lunged toward Sylutia's face.
Dodge? There was no longer ti for that. She could only withstand it head-on.
She raised a thick black hardcover book to block the incoming claws.
The book's cover split open, and countless pages flew into the air. Taking advantage of this brief visual obstruction, Sylutia abandoned the book and leaned back to evade.
It took two backflips in midair before Sylutia completely dodged the ambush. Then, her body rose, and black feathers materialized around her.
Soon, a pair of pure black wings ford on her back, lifting the girl into the air.
Her broad black wings flapped. When Sylutia reached a safe altitude in midair, she spread her hands, and swords ford from condensed Magnetite Sand materialized around her, circling her.
Then, these flying swords aid at the leaping "Blood Frenzy Beast" below. The blades humd, and streaks of cold light swept across the swords' surfaces, making them sharper and more durable.
After the seventh streak of cold light traced across the blade, these flying swords shot forward, emitting a sharp whistling sound as they charged at the enemy.
The silver-cold flying swords tore fine cuts into the Blood Frenzy Beast's body, snapping its tendons. Then they continued flying, turned around, and accelerated for another dive.
Considering the beast's body, which was as tough as steel, Sylutia didn't command the flying swords to attack directly. Instead, she tore open wound after wound until she finally severed the Blood Frenzy Beast completely.
The ferocious head flew into the air, rolling onto the ground still steaming. Soon after, the beast's running body also ceased movent and fell to the ground.
"Congratulations, Miss Hedra. You have passed this assessnt. Next is the final item."
"Please use the raw materials on the table, in an environnt without any reference system, to create a clock that displays the current accurate ti with an error of less than two seconds."
As an assessnt for the "Mithril Clock" school, the final item had to be clockmaking, and the difficulty this ti had been raised to the maximum.
Perhaps all examinees present had prepared to make a clock, but how could they perfectly align their clock's ti with the current standard ti in an environnt without any reference system?
What this question likely truly intended to test was whether she knew what the current "standard ti" of the Mage Alliance was based on. And even if she knew, how could she use that source to calibrate her clock's ti?
The complex knowledge and theories involved touched on over a dozen subjects and a vast array of chanical craftsmanship—hard to imagine that a Mage Apprentice could solve it.
They posed this question also to find out where this girl's limits lay. For ordinary examinees, these examiners would never ask a question of this difficulty.
Faced with such a challenge, even Sylutia fell into brief contemplation, pondering a solution.
A few minutes later, the girl began to act. To the astonishnt of all the examiners, she simultaneously manipulated six light blue magic hands to assist her. The tedious and trivial tasks that would have taken a lot of ti were handled and completed with exceptional efficiency and speed under the aid of these magic hands.
Afterward, incredibly fine components took shape, then were assembled quickly and precisely.
Before everyone's eyes, an exquisitely beautiful rotating clock tower took form. It had six sides, each with a dial, displaying the current ti of various regions within the Fourth Strike.
[Six-Sided Clock Tower] (Third Tier · Rare): A clock tower crafted with exquisite and superb skill. Its interior incorporates the lost arts of the "Star-Gazing School" to create an astrolabe, aligning with the positions of the stars to determine the current location and ti.
When this beautiful and delicate Six-Sided Clock Tower was completed, all the examiners present began to applaud, praising this gratifying masterpiece.
"Now we can be certain, Miss Hedra, that you are the one we have always been waiting for—the one who will bring new changes to the Mithril Clock school."
"Congratulations, Miss Hedra. You have passed all the assessnts."
"The gates of Tetis College will be opened for you."
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