Cornflower Witch

Chapter 446 The 'Tower of All Things' in the Sky

The year-end Silver Bell Festival has begun. The freshmen of Tethys Academy prepare early on this day, each wearing their neat academy uniforms and gathering in the hall, which is not only filled with freshmen but also with other upperclassmen.

For freshmen, upperclassmen are no longer just ordinary seniors, but powerful figures to be looked up to. They move about in more magnificent uniforms, and many of them exude an aura of at least the fourth rank. Although they haven't reached the overwhelming level of the third rank difference, they are already enough to make many second-rank freshmen dare not move. It's like children crammed under the same roof as a group of giant beasts, feeling nervous inside.

Even though these senior students did not show any malice, the difference in their social standing, even in simple glances and fluctuations in strength, made the freshmen feel a sense of mental pressure and tension.

This feeling is like a small piece of iron moving through a room full of magnets. If you are not careful, you will be pulled off course. In this state, it will be much more difficult to use your various abilities or spells. If you are not careful, you will be able to manipulate them incorrectly or fail.

"These are just upperclassmen; I can't imagine what it would be like if they actually went there?" The freshmen sat together and talked quietly. There was a special area designated for them.

"There should be protective measures in place. I remember that among the people attending the ceremony, there were a small number who were not high-level superhumans, but rather some celebrities with relatively weak abilities."

“Generally speaking, even if there is a difference of two ranks, it won’t have such a huge impact in a one-on-one situation. But there are too many senior students here today. Apart from us, the lowest rank is three, and there are quite a few fourth and fifth graders who are all gathered together. That’s terrifying.”

"Many of the fourth-year students are members who have been studying at the academy for more than ten years. We have only been here for half a year. When we enter the third tier next year, we will not feel so much pressure." Although they are relatively weak now, the students who come to Tethys Academy are still very confident and believe that they will have no problem advancing to the third tier within a year.

For the mage system, the third tier is indeed the real beginning. With specialized core secret arts, the mage's advantages gradually become apparent, allowing them to fight on par with wizards.

As the crowd whispered among themselves, the side door of the hall opened, and several figures dressed in a completely different style from the ordinary students strode in. They were the top students from each year, and the strongest of them was like a moving ice candle. The invisible force field he emitted quickly silenced all the students in the hall.

He walked at the front, leading several people behind him to stand on the high platform in the hall. His bright eyes swept across the room, making many students tremble with fear. Even some older students avoided his gaze and dared not look him in the eye.

"Hello everyone, I am Norres, the fifth-year student leader. Today, I will lead you to the Silver Bell Festival." His voice was short and powerful. Beside him stood the student leaders of each grade, including Hilti.

"Now, the chiefs of each grade will take attendance and record and report any absent students." After that, the chiefs of each grade stepped down from the stage and began to take attendance and record the students.

Hilti glanced briefly at the area where the new students were located. All the new students except for her were present, but she still walked down and walked around before returning to the stage.

"Seven third-grade students are missing; they each have other tasks and responsibilities," a chief student with slicked-back hair reported first.

“Twelve fourth-grade students are missing, and their names have been recorded,” another girl with long, chestnut-colored waves replied simply.

"One second-grade student is absent because they were delayed by a previous mission and couldn't make it back in time."

“All first-year students are present,” Shiltiya replied.

"Alright, hand over the list of absent students to me." He then gathered the papers and glanced at the crowd in the hall once more.

“Now, under the guidance of your respective chief students, follow me.” After saying this, he stepped off the stage first and walked straight to the door exit, followed by the fifth-year students in single file.

One minute later, all the students arrived at the plaza outside the hall. The chief turned around, his eyes gleaming with a bright blue-white light. Then, with a wave of his hand, the students in the entire plaza were enveloped in an invisible cloud of energy.

[Cloud Spell] 'A spell that allows a person to briefly levitate in clouds and mist.'

The older students had expected this, but many of the freshmen were still quite curious as they watched their feet gradually lift off the ground and hover in the air, about a meter above the ground.

Then, indigo and deep purple light sand suddenly swept in from the distance and rushed into the ground beneath everyone. In the next few seconds, the light sand quickly settled and condensed, weaving into a giant magic carpet covering the entire square.

[Construction Spell - Flying Magic Carpet] 'A magic carpet woven from invisible power, capable of carrying heavy objects and flying through the sky.'

Compared to constructing hard metal objects, constructing soft and tough objects is much more difficult. A regular magic carpet is already considered excellent if it can carry 3-4 people, but this huge magic carpet carried more than a thousand people and quickly rose up. Before the new students could even stand firmly, it began to accelerate and rush into the sky.

The powerful airflow caused the new students to stagger. At this moment, Hilti looked around, raised her sleeve, and silver vines quickly spread from her feet, then wove into a huge vine cage that enveloped the new students, preventing anyone from being blown away and also reducing the influx of airflow.

Seeing this, the older students who were about to intervene smiled and stopped.

"The top student in this year's class is not bad."

“This kind of spell shouldn’t have been prepared in advance. In other words, she created a completely new spell model in just a few seconds without even having a spell core, and then cast it.” Another senior student pushed up his glasses and looked at the girl in the wind.

"This is no longer just 'good,' it's astonishing."

"Oh, right, I almost forgot they're all only at the second tier and can't cast spells at will."

"What's her name again? She looks to be the youngest among the new students."

"I think her name is 'Hedra'. No rush, we'll have a chance to get to know her eventually."

"Haha."

The Tethys Academy is part of the Mithril Clock school, but the Mithril Clock school is not just the Tethys Academy. Its core area is adjacent to the academy, but it is also extremely large. There are many institutions here, some of which are responsible for the standard planning of the entire Mage Alliance, some coordinate the operation of resources in various regions, and others are responsible for the production and maintenance of war machines.

After flying through the sky for a while, the magic carpet finally slowed down, and the students were able to gradually see the towering tower hidden among the distant clouds.

The tower is thousands of meters tall, and its top is nowhere in sight. As the group approached, they had the illusion that the tower was so large it blotted out the sky. Compared to the tower, they seemed extremely small, like grains of sand or dust under a sea of ​​clouds.

"This is the 'Tower of All Things,' one of the three great towers of the Mage Alliance," an older student introduced from the front.

"The His Majesty we admire and yearn for resides atop the tower, and his presence protects the entire Mage Alliance."

That must be the named one who guards the 'Mithril Clock' school,' the girl thought.

The named 'Abelid', whose titles were 'The Bell Maker' and 'The Time Thief'.

More than 600 years ago, he led the 'Clock School' to its peak and, with the assistance of two other named individuals, spearheaded the 'Time Stealing Ritual', taking control of the shattered alien star sleeping inside the 'Clock of the Four Seasons'. From then on, he gained the power to interfere with time and engraved his name on the wall of the world.

Such actions naturally incurred the displeasure of the Four Seasons' Controller, who unleashed a terrible punishment upon the Fourth Continent. Dry, fierce winds swept across the land, leaving the entire continent without a drop of water for years. Wildfires raged across the wastelands, and 'disaster beasts,' representing the Controller's wrath, roamed the wilderness, bringing decay and death. To atone for his mistake and appease the Controller, 'Abelid' promised to spend 100 years recasting the Four Seasons Bell for the Controller, repairing its flaws. He and a group of mages and craftsmen also created sixteen exquisite artifacts, which were offered as sacrifices to the Controller, thus easing the tension.

The repaired 'Clock of the Four Seasons' was more powerful and precise than before, which indirectly enhanced the authority and power of the Four Seasons Diviners. The matter gradually subsided afterward, and 'Abelid' swore an oath before the Diviners that he would never again touch any power of the Clock of the Four Seasons, thus appeasing the Diviners' remaining anger.

Although hundreds of years have passed, some of the aftereffects of that event still linger. Fairies are almost nowhere to be seen on the Fourth Continent, and many elves only migrated there later. In addition, wild beasts in the mountains and forests are more likely to absorb spiritual energy and mutate into ferocious beasts that wreak havoc.

Opinions within the Woodland Alliance are divided regarding 'Abelid'. Some believe that his act of theft was ultimately dishonorable and not worthy of respect, while others believe that he was a true hero among humans for seizing a portion of power and authority from Sichen.

Among the current major constellations, there are no pure humans. Although the three major aspects of human nature were born and expanded due to human activities, the history of human rise is still too short, far less profound than that of fairies and dragons.

Minutes later, the magic carpet rose into the clouds, carrying everyone through the last clouds to the interior of the tower.

The magic carpet beneath their feet dissipated into a stream of air, and everyone landed on their own. The freshmen, who were here for the first time, couldn't help but look up in awe.

This is only one floor inside the tower, but it feels like a place inhabited by giant creatures from ancient times, incredibly tall and spacious.

"Then how do we get up?" Someone looked inside the tower and found that there were only towering pillars all around, nothing else. The floor was gray stone with some dust particles accumulating on it.

"We'll know soon enough," some people whispered.

At this moment, Chief Norres arrived at the center of the open space inside the tower. As he activated a hidden device, the floor beneath everyone's feet slowly moved, revealing a hidden giant magic circle.

Then the magic circle lit up, and a slight humming sound emanated from beneath their feet, as if a giant engine had started to turn.

This scene caused some freshmen to feel worried and panicked, but they suppressed their fear by looking at the calm and composed senior students around them.

As the light spread throughout the entire magic circle, the entire hall floor instantly activated, propelling everyone towards the top of the tower like a catapult.

As they watched the distant ceiling suddenly approach and about to collide with it, many people cried out in fear. But the floor beneath their feet did not stop; instead, it carried them directly through the ceiling and continued to rise.

It was only then that the freshmen realized what had happened, clutching their frightened hearts and panting. Seeing this, many of the older students burst into laughter, indicating that they had also been quite frightened in their youth.

It felt like riding an elevator, but the speed was almost as fast as a rocket, Hiltiya thought to herself. Looking down, the ground beneath her feet had become extremely blurry and hazy, separated by clouds. As she entered the high altitude, the air became thinner and everything became clearer, as if everything in her vision had become much clearer.

Is this the sky far from the Sea of ​​Twilight? No wonder the Celestial Masters reside high in the Heavenly Courtyard and rarely come down.

About a minute later, the floor where everyone was standing came to a stop, and at that moment, a series of noisy and lively sounds came from the side.

Near the top of the tower, five branches branch off from the main tower, each with tiered seating that surrounds the main tower. Many of these branches are now full of people.

Upon arriving here, guided by Chief Norres, the group headed towards one of the passageways, ascended the stairs to one of the sub-towers, and found their seats in their respective grade areas.

Hiltiya glanced around and estimated that if all the branch towers were full of people, they could probably accommodate nearly 200,000 people, which shows how magnificent the building was.

However, the venue was not full today. Instead, it was divided into several neat areas, which included guests from other schools of thought, nobles from member states of the Mage Alliance, celebrities from various regions, and other visiting groups not belonging to the Mage Alliance.

When her gaze swept across one corner, Hilti paused slightly, for she saw members of the Woodland Alliance, led by the bard Elofis, whom she knew well.

"This elven bard comes from the Second Continent. He has traveled to many places and has a wide circle of friends. He understands the cultural customs of people from different places and is always good at socializing. He is currently affiliated with the Woodland Alliance and is very suitable as a diplomatic envoy."

Not only the Woodland Alliance, but also the flag of the Harp Flower Alliance, a force in the eastern part of the Fourth Continent, said to be a prosperous place with thriving commerce and affluent lifestyle, where visitors from other continents can occasionally be seen.

As for the 'Sea Cliff Blood Clan' north of the Ice Sea, they also sent representatives, but the number was very small, occupying only a small area, and they hung the 'Blood Rose' flag.

Shortly after sitting down, the students chatted excitedly about this year's guests and events, while Siltia was called away by the senior student next to her to an open space not far away.

This place is where the top students from each grade gathered. Spencer is here too, but compared to the other senior students, he is quite inconspicuous.

“Everyone’s here. I’ll give some instructions.” Norres clapped his hands to quiet everyone down, and then everyone’s eyes turned to the burly chief.

“The Silver Bell Festival is a grand ceremony held by the school every year, and people from all sides come to participate and watch. As members of the school, we naturally cannot lose face.” He briefly explained the reason for the arrangement.

“Other trainees only need to immerse themselves in the ceremony, while we need to pay attention to many things to ensure that the whole process goes smoothly.” He then began to explain the various things to pay attention to.

"...In the second half of the Silver Bell Festival, there will be some free time. This is often an opportunity for various forces to interact. As the number one ranked school in the Mage Alliance, many people will be curious about us. You will also meet many forces outside the Mage Alliance."

"This is often the period when accidents and incidents are more frequent. Due to differences in concepts, habits, and culture, there have been many conflicts in the past, but fortunately, we have now learned from our experience."

"Next, I will send you a booklet with notes on things to pay attention to. You should read it all carefully and memorize it. I believe this is not a difficult task for an excellent monk."

"During the subsequent exchange activities, please try to gather students from your respective grades together so that it is easier to take care of them and deal with problems in a timely manner. If something happens, try to resolve it yourself if it is simple, and if you feel it is difficult, please notify me immediately and I will come over to handle it."

"These are communication orbs. Now, each of you take one." With that, he opened his hand, and several orbs that had been prepared beforehand floated up and flew to each of the chiefs.

"That's all I wanted to say. Although the Silver Bell Festival will be a bit tough, as the top students, the academy will also offer generous rewards. I will hand them over to you one by one after the Silver Bell Festival. I won't let you down."

After giving her instructions, Hilti and the others returned to their seats.

At this moment, numerous colorful stars, trailing long tails, rose from the sea of ​​clouds, adorning the sky, and finally bloomed above the tower, the scattered meteor streaks making the entire venue exceptionally beautiful.

Accompanied by the continuous bursts of starlight, enthusiastic cheers erupted from the tower in the sky.

The annual Silver Bell Festival has officially begun!
(End of this chapter)