Cornflower Witch

Chapter 421 The Six-Sided Clock Tower
A two-hundred-meter-long airship slowly descended from the sky.

The silver-blue propellers turned, and the airship's silver hull reflected shimmering light in the sunlight. Its ergonomic lines and neat appearance inspired admiration and envy from the students below.

This is a large airship carrying the personnel of the 'Tethys Academy', and it also represents the 'Mithril Clock' school, which is now the most powerful school in the Mage Alliance.

The airship landed in the center of the admissions exhibition area, then secured itself, lowered its steps, and revealed the exquisite facilities and instruments inside, as beautiful as the starry sky. These instruments could be used to greatly improve the accuracy of observation, to study various things, analyze magical models, alchemical creations, and so on.

Many of the instruments in the Mage Alliance are produced by the 'Mithril Clock' school, which has also established numerous guidelines and set industry standards, thus building the most important foundational framework for the Mage Alliance.

On this day, in addition to the Tetis Academy under the Mithril Clock, representatives from the academies under the other two major schools also arrived in the Asra District.

The exhibition hall for the 'Mithril Clock' school is the airship that has landed; the exhibition hall for the 'Origin Hourglass' is a giant hourglass resembling a volcano, divided into several layers arranged from bottom to top according to history; and the exhibition hall for the 'Solar Furnace' is a huge transparent sphere with a magnificent golden flame at its center that illuminates the night. The surging heat emanating from the flame allows every student who enters to be baptized by the 'blazing sun,' restoring their spirit and vitality.

If the 'Mithril Clock' set the rules and direction for the development of the entire Mage Alliance, then the 'Sun Forge' school provided the driving force for the operation of the Mage Alliance.

The various power furnaces and engines developed and produced by this school of thought are used in many airships, steam locomotives, ships, large machinery, etc. They also produce various boiler equipment and lighting fixtures to light up the various regions of the Mage Alliance and provide heat.

Although it is currently ranked only third, it is the youngest of the three major schools of thought, with a burgeoning potential for further development.

"Are you sure, Hedra?" the teacher asked again, confirming whether the girl wanted to apply to the 'Tethys Academy'.

“Yes, I’m ready,” Hiltia nodded in reply.

"In that case, go ahead." The teacher took out a stamp, stamped it on Silti's exam permit, and then handed it to her.

Picking up the certificate and the recommendation letter that the Asura District officials had prepared for her, Siltia stepped into the silver-blue airship.

There were no visitors here, only eager and expectant candidates queuing up, praying that they would pass the exams and enter this most prestigious academy.

When Hilti walked over, many of the waiting students noticed her.

Without a sound, they made way for the girl, and even the students who hadn't noticed before were pulled by their companions to clear the path.

Her black hair fluttered gently in the breeze, and wherever the girl went, the students quickly quieted down and watched her walk past.

Students in the distance, unaware of what was happening, asked curiously.

"Who is that? Why is everyone making way for her? Is she someone special?"

"Don't you know? That's Hedra, the famous 'Black Griffin' of our Asura District. Her reputation and strength are recognized by everyone. Now, even if you ask an ordinary laborer on the street, he will know her name."

"Is it that powerful?" The student covered his mouth slightly, somewhat incredulous.

"Yes." Surprisingly, none of these usually arrogant and argumentative classmates came out to refute him today; they just silently watched the figure walk through the crowd.

With her smooth black hair adorned with a simple blue iris hair clip, the girl, carrying books and proof, dressed in a quiet black dress, walked lightly towards the airship. If it were the first time seeing her, no one would associate her with any powerful nickname, and they might even easily overlook this quiet and gentle girl.

But today, as she walked by, her quiet demeanor struck like a thunderclap, a solitary tranquility amidst the hustle and bustle, so striking and impossible to ignore.

……

After climbing a short flight of steps, Hilti stepped into the spacious airship. A mage dressed in a black suit and wearing a monocle was already waiting there. He took the certificate and letter of recommendation handed over by the girl, glanced at them scrutinizingly, and nodded slightly.

"Miss Hedra, please come in. You are the first examinee today. I wish you the best of luck."

He then lifted the black curtain, allowing the girl to enter the spacious area.

One by one, orange lights lit up, illuminating the path the girl was about to take until she reached the center of the huge rotunda. Then another set of lights came on, and a group of judge mages appeared in the audience opposite her. These mages ranged from the fifth to the sixth rank, totaling seventeen.

"Now you can ask questions, and we will score you based on your answers and performance."

"Yes."

The judges then posed a series of challenging questions, ranging from basic esoteric knowledge to the construction of practical spell models, from hands-on experiments to on-the-spot responses to entirely new problems, and from pure mathematical analysis to real combat against formidable opponents.

"Now is the penultimate assessment item. You will face a Tier 3 'Blood Frenzy Beast' alone. Please defeat it within the time limit."

As soon as she finished speaking, a closed metal cage rose up on one side of the round hall where the girl was, and a wolf-like beast nearly four meters tall was struggling and howling inside.

The cage opened, the chains unlocked, and the blood-red beast burst forth. It first roared, then its gaping maw and fangs spewed forth long streams of saliva. The monster resembled a magnified wolf, but its muscles were far more powerful and lacked skin, revealing the clearly defined muscle fibers. [Blood Frenzy Beast] (Tier 3 - Blood Law): An experimental product fused with the bloodlines of multiple ferocious beasts, capable of unleashing astonishing combat power in a short time. It might be unsustainable as a subordinate, but as an enemy, it is an absolute nightmare for those of the same rank.

After the experimental beast emerged, it didn't give Hilti much time to prepare. Its bloodshot eyes stared intently at the girl, then it let out a chilling hiss and charged forward.

Seeing this, Hilti opened her eyes slightly, without flinching, her eyes flashing as she analyzed the monster's condition in a very short time.

Despite being called 'Tier 3', its speed and power far exceeded that of an ordinary knight. From the start of its sprint to reaching Hiltija, it took only three seconds.

At this moment, Hilti's mind raced, and everything before her seemed to slow down. The Blood Beast raised its right claw, its sharp claw leaving a trail of air in its wake, its tip emitting a faint red glow, sharp and dangerous, as it lunged toward Hilti's face.

Avoid it? There's no time to spare anymore; we can only tough it out.

The thick, black book rose up, blocking the oncoming claws.

The book cover cracked open, and many pages flew out. In this brief moment of obstruction, Hiltiya abandoned the book and leaned back to avoid it.

Almost doing two backflips in the air, Hiltiah managed to completely evade the attack. Afterward, she soared into the air, with black feathers appearing around her.

Soon, a pair of pure black wings wove together on her back, carrying the girl into the air.

With a flap of her large black wings, when Hilti reached a safe mid-air, she spread her arms and a series of flying swords made of magnetic sand appeared, circling around her.

Then these flying swords were aimed at the 'blood beast' leaping up below. The blades hummed, and streaks of cold light covered the swords, making them even sharper and stronger.

...After the seventh cold light flashed across the blade, these flying swords shot out, rushing towards the enemy with a sharp whistling sound.

Silver Cold's flying sword tore tiny gashes in the Blood Frenzy Beast's body, severing its tendons, before continuing its flight and circling back, launching another accelerated dive.

Considering the opponent's body, which was as solid as steel, Hilti did not command her flying sword to attack directly. Instead, she repeatedly tore open the wound until she finally cut the blood beast completely in two.

The hideous head rose into the air, steaming as it rolled to the ground. Soon after, the blood-red beasts that had been running and chasing each other on the ground also stopped moving and collapsed.

"Congratulations, Hedra, on passing this assessment. The next task is the last one."

"In an environment without any frame of reference, using the raw materials on the table, please make a clock with an error of less than two seconds that displays the current accurate time."

As the final test for the 'Mithril Clock' school, the last task is inevitably the creation of a clock, and this time the difficulty has been increased to the highest level.

Making a clock might be something all the candidates prepared for, but how do you make your clock perfectly match the current standard time without any reference point?

This question is probably really testing whether she knows what the current Mage Alliance's 'standard time' is based on, and even if she does know, how she can use that source to calibrate her own clock.

The complex knowledge and theories involved involve more than ten disciplines and numerous mechanical processes, making it hard to imagine that a mage apprentice could solve them.

They asked this question to find out the limits of this girl's abilities; these examiners would never ask such a difficult question to ordinary candidates.

Faced with such a difficult problem, even Hiltiya paused briefly to think of a solution.

A few minutes later, the girl began to act. To the astonishment of the examiners, she simultaneously manipulated six pale blue magic hands to assist her. The tedious and time-consuming tasks were carried out and resolved in an exceptionally efficient and rapid manner with the help of these magic hands.

Then, each tiny part takes shape and is quickly and precisely assembled.

Before everyone's eyes, an exquisitely crafted rotating clock tower took shape. It had six facets, each with a dial displaying the current time in different regions of the Fourth Continent.

[Six-Sided Clock Tower] (Tier 3, Rare); A clock tower made with exquisite and superb craftsmanship. Its interior uses the lost 'Astrology School' technique to create an astronomical instrument, which can be aligned with the stars to determine the current location and time.

When the beautiful and exquisite 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 person we have been waiting for, the one who will bring new changes to the ‘Mithril Clock’ school.”

"Congratulations, Miss Hedra, you have passed all the tests."

"The gates of the Thetis Academy will be open for you."

(End of this chapter)