A ray of sunlight shines into the small room, brightening up the very modest room. The walls were painted beige, and on the opposite side of the door was an equally narrow window, with a small bed large enough to sleep one person leaning against the window. At the head of the bed is a bookshelf and a writing desk, on which are randomly placed a few books that the apprentice needs to study every day, and at the foot of the bed is a simple shelf with the apprentice's toiletries, and a bronze mirror embedded in the wall above the shelf. Other than that, there was no other furniture or decoration in the apprentice's room, not even the fireplace. In Chavanna, even in the coldest season, a fireplace is not necessary, but for young girls who are afraid of the cold, something is better than nothing.

Ness was sitting at the head of the bed dangling her feet boredly, her white linen dress swaying with her legs. When she was in Alesia, she wore satin dresses embroidered with elaborate patterns, but when she arrived at the Mage's Tower, she had to wear linen dresses that were hard and a little worn against her delicate skin, and to her displeasure, the apprentices could only wear white dresses. But after so many years of apprenticeship, she has unconsciously got used to it.

It's been ten days since Ness returned to the Mage Tower, and in those ten days, she's done almost nothing. When will they remember to let me go and synthesize the third seal, and what about the apprentice-to-mage promotion ceremony after that? Ness was eager to become a mage, but the archmages didn't seem to be in a hurry.

At this moment, there was a knock on the door, and Ness answered excitedly, and at the same time, she quickly jumped out of bed, and Rui, who was wearing a mage robe, opened the door and walked in. "What, still no news?"

"Yes, if they don't come to me again in five days, I'll go out alone, to Deville, to find Fern. Ness pouted, looking enviously at Rui's mage robes. According to the rules of the Mage Tower, the first thing an apprentice needs to learn in the Mage Tower is to be respectful and polite in front of any mage. But in front of Rui, Ness can make an exception and not comply.

Rui's mage robe was gorgeous but just right, with a pale gray background and white patterns, the neckline was open low, just to reveal the black gems on the silver necklace, a white belt around her waist, lining her waist, and a long skirt that reached the foot with intricate lace around the edges of the skirt. This whole outfit is matched with Rui's calm and calmness, revealing a noble and cold feeling everywhere. "Forget it, Ness, even if they leave you to dry for another month, you won't step out of the Mage Tower. ”

Ness tore at her white linen dress, she was not happy with her white outfit, the only thing she could do was her belt. "Ahh ”

"In terms of being outside the Mage Tower, it's the opposite. Rui sat down in the chair next to his desk. "I talked a lot about Moses in the past, and then, in passing, I talked about you, your background. ”

Ness sat back at the head of the bed, fiddling with a handful of her hair. "I'm sorry, Ray, I didn't mean to hide it from you, and Fern, I even wanted to tell him, but he refused, and until the end, he didn't ask me again. ”

"You don't have to apologize to me, since I'm in the Mage Tower, there must be a way to ask, but to ......Fern who is far away in Deville," Rui's hand ran over a piece of parchment on the desk. "You should write to him, even if it's just a casual word, or you can tell him in a letter, and I dare say Quai will write to Fern too. ”

Ness looked up, but then lowered her head again. "I thought I'd wait until I was done with the promotion ceremony before writing to him. Then she immediately thought of something. "Queai has a lot of work to do, and she probably won't be able to write to Fern so soon. ”

"Then you'll have to ask her herself, and she probably won't tell you the truth, and if I were her, I'd be going to get the letter out before you do. Rui pursed her lips, but she couldn't do anything about Ness.

Ness kept her head down, her mouth pursed. "I wish Hesey hadn't written to Queai. ”

"Then you and Fern are probably dead in Sarah. Rui sighed. "It's up to you, but remember, don't delay too long. ”

As soon as she finished speaking, there was a sharp knock on the door, and Ness came back to her senses. "Who?"

The door opened, and Nerfi appeared, a woman with pale flaxen hair and very white skin, almost as tall as Rui. Nerfi wore a dark blue mage robe with light blue patterns, and her long brown hair was tied into a bun on her head. The mage wanted to convey instructions to the apprentice in a commanding tone, but when he saw Rui sitting on the side, his black eyes looking at her quietly, he suddenly felt a pressure and had to slow down his tone. "Ness, Grand Sage Etiyès, Archmage Fabioso is waiting for you in the Holy Dome on the twentieth floor, and in accordance with their instructions, I have come to inform you that you had better not keep them waiting too long. With that, Nerfi glanced at Rui warily, then quickly turned around and walked out of the room, dragging the floor-length dark blue skirt behind her.

In normal times, Ness would have to complain to Rui about how bad these mages were, but now, she had completely forgotten about it. "Rui, Holy Dome! Is there a promotion ceremony going on?"

Rui smiled and nodded. "I can't think of anything else at the Holy Dome, but they might let you craft three holy seals first, so your trial is truly complete. ”

Ness quickly straightened her hair in front of the bronze mirror, letting the long bright red hair drape naturally over her shoulders and down to her chest, and then repeatedly flattened the wrinkled skirt. "Rui, it's so good, I've been dreaming of this moment!"

"Go ahead, don't keep them waiting too long, the Great Sage is very busy. Ruiya stood up and walked out of the room with Ness.

The five floors below the Mage Tower are all apprentice rooms, and although there is a rule that you can't make loud noises in the Mage Tower, in the apprentice area, this rule is similar to nothing. But when the apprentices who were joking loudly in the corridor saw Rui walking by, they all quickly closed their mouths and bowed their heads respectfully to Rui. At this time, Ness's heart wished that she was also a mage.

The two of them walked up the corridor to the twelfth floor, the inside of the mage tower looked the same as the outside, it was built in a circle, there were no stairs in the whole tower, only a gradual upward walkway spiraling like a giant snake with no end in sight until it reached the top, on the outside of the walkway, there were rooms for mages and apprentices, and on the inside of the walkway, it was hollow, from here you could directly see the garden at the bottom of the tower from the top of the tower, with an unobstructed view. Because of the structure of the building, there is no strict number of floors, but the mages still divided the entire interior of the tower into twenty-two floors according to their own habits. In addition to the apprentice area, from the sixth floor to the ninth floor is a spacious room for mages to teach apprentices, and above the tenth floor up to the fifteenth floor is the mage area, according to the rules, only mages can reach here, and apprentices are not allowed to come above the tenth floor unless they are summoned, and of course there is no need to come. Floors 16 to 19 are where mages study and experiment with magic, and the Holy Dome is on the twentieth floor. Above the twentieth floor, there were two more floors, but no one knew what was there, and there had been a few bold male mages who tried to explore the twenty-first floor, but before they reached the Holy Dome, they were bounced back by a wall of air that appeared out of thin air, and they were punished for cleaning the apprenticeship area for a month. Letting the mage clean the apprentice area is arguably the harshest punishment ever. The sunlight shining from the top of the tower illuminates the entire interior of the Mage Tower, and even in the apprenticeship quarters on the lowest floors, there is no need to light the oil lamps at all.

Rui's room was on the twelfth floor, and she had to accompany Ness here. "Ness, may the god of magic be with you, I await your good news. With that, the mage gently hugged Ness.

"Thanks, Rui. Ness hugged Rui back, then straightened her clothes and continued to walk towards the twentieth floor alone.

As she walked, she remembered her father, who tearfully handed her over to Fabioso at the age of thirteen, when she cried out loudly to her father, who was drifting away, but was eventually taken to the Mage's Tower. And now, she has been studying in the Mage Tower for nine years, and has almost completed the last hurdle before becoming a mage, she is about to become a mage.

Then, she thought back to the mages and apprentices who had bullied her, and it was already very difficult for a weak girl in her teens to live alone. The male apprentices would put bugs in her shoes, and some of the female apprentices would also ostracize her, and every time she would cry out in fear or grievance, and on several occasions she would try to rebuke them harshly, but the mischievous apprentices would laugh and run away, ignoring her at all, and then still making her cry with pranks. From time to time, the mage would scold her for some small mistakes, and she couldn't even reply, so she could only admit her mistakes obediently. Whenever she did, she would hide under the covers and cry for one night, and then the next day, she would continue to try to get used to it.

Finally, Fern came to her mind. Fern, I'm about to become a mage, and I wouldn't be where I am without you by my side, and I know that no words can express my gratitude to you. But I promise you that when the ceremony is done, I will write to you, and you must wait for my letter, and we will see you again, I believe, and I look forward to it all the time. Ness's eyes were red, and before she knew it, tears were dripping.

The Holy Dome, the most sacred hall of this mage tower is right in front of Ness, she doesn't know how many times she has dreamed in her dreams that she has walked here, and today, the scene in her dream is about to come true.

Ness took a deep breath, pushed the door open, and stepped inside.