Several carriages rolled smoothly through the streets, gradually slowing to a halt beneath the enormous arcane spire at the heart of the City in the Sky.
From a distance it hadn't seemed so impressive, but standing before it now, Heidi, Reillia, and the other apprentices could only stare in awe—their necks aching from craning upward before they could even glimpse the tower's apex. Unlike the grim, mysterious magic towers of antiquity, its entire outer layer was fashioned from a silvery-grey material that shimmered with a metallic lustre, possessing a breathtaking beauty the apprentices found impossible to put into words.
"Hm, modern metallic architecture." This style of building was one of Lucian's favourites, and his impression of the Magic Parliament immediately improved considerably.
As their host, Lazar was quite pleased by Lucian and the others' admiration for the magic tower. Seeing Felipe and his group disappear through the entrance ahead, he clapped his hands lightly and chuckled: "This is the magic tower that houses Parliament headquarters, also known as Allinger—the paradise that countless mages aspire to. Come on, let's go inside. It's already four-fifteen in the afternoon, and the headquarters staff finish at six. Only a handful remain behind for city security and surveillance."
"Mister Lazar, could we possibly come back tomorrow? We're exhausted and need rest." Quite a few magic apprentices asked this, dreading the arcana assessment. Even Anik hesitated—without the gradual build-up of repeated successes, his confidence had yet to truly take root.
Lazar led Lucian and the magic apprentices up the grey stone steps before the tower: "You've just arrived today, so fatigue is certainly a problem—but you'll need to raise it yourselves with the gentleman or lady in charge of the assessment. They'll reschedule your examination. However, without passing the assessment, you won't be able to receive your magic and arcana badges, and quite a few things will become troublesome. Besides, the sooner you begin your arcana and magic studies, the sooner you'll become true mages."
He wasn't asking the apprentices to take the assessment while exhausted—he was reminding them not to keep procrastinating after a day's rest.
Before long, the group had arrived before the magic tower's silver-grey gate, inscribed with countless mysterious patterns.
Just as Lucian and the others were about to pass through the half-open doors, two large black eyes suddenly popped into view on their surface, blinking at the people opposite:
"Welcome to Allinger. On behalf of all arcanists and mages, I welcome you all."
A bright, cheerful voice emanated from the gate as the two metal panels swung back and forth, as though waving in greeting.
Lazar chuckled: "Prospero. You've never welcomed me like this before."
"Because I smell the scent of life brimming with vitality." Prospero paid no mind to Lazar's teasing.
Lazar turned to the dumbstruck apprentices and introduced: "Prospero—a powerful alchemical life-form fused with the magic tower. Several Grand Arcanists, including Lord Douglas, spent a great deal of time collecting specially prepared incomplete souls to craft him. Heh, Parliament headquarters has many alchemical life-forms; no place is more lavish in this regard."
Ever since Kalandria Castle, Lucian had been deeply curious and fascinated by alchemical life-forms. He couldn't help but ask: "Lazar—at what circle does knowledge of alchemical life-forms begin?"
"First you need the necromancy arcana knowledge tree concerning souls, then you must study the fundamentals of alchemical life harmonisation. Only after completing all of that—once you've become a high-level mage—can you create alchemical life-forms. Heh, which is why in the ancient magic empires, only high-level mages could possess their own magic towers." Lazar explained this offhandedly.
Prospero's voice suddenly dropped lower: "This gentleman—if you're interested in alchemical life-forms, please, when the time comes, do create a lady. Every magic tower around me is inhabited by insufferable males!"
In Lucian and the others' eyes, the image of this alchemical life-form instantly became synonymous with sleaziness.
Seeing that Lucian didn't respond, Prospero gave an awkward laugh: "Haha, just joking. Ahem. The 'Apprentice Assessment Department' is on the first floor, Section Three. The 'Mage Management Department' is first floor, Section Four. First floor, Section Five is the 'Mission Area'—you can accept and post missions there. First floor, Section Six is the 'Exchange Department,' which helps you convert your money, materials, items, and intelligence into arcana points, or vice versa. The 'General Arcana Library' is first floor, Section One. The 'Magic Exchange Room' is first floor, Section Two."
"If you wish to meditate or conduct experiments, you can go to floors two through nine. There you'll find meditation rooms, magic laboratories, binding chambers, energy chambers, magic gardens, and so on. Naturally, you'll need to pay money or arcana points to use them. The tenth floor is the headquarters of the Arcane and Magic journals. The remaining journals are either elsewhere in Allinger or in various cities across several kingdoms, hosted by different organisations or national branches of the Magic Parliament."
"Eleven through fifteen are the offices and private lounges for various committees and their members. Sixteen through twenty are available—free of charge—for 'Arcana and Magic Research Groups' that meet the qualifications. Twenty-one through twenty-five house the finest magic laboratories across different research fields. Twenty-six through thirty contain the 'Advanced Arcana and Magic Library,' material warehouses, high-level summoned creature binding chambers, and more. Thirty-one through thirty-five belong to the Honoured Members of the Supreme Council. However, I hear the Supreme Council is recently considering setting aside floors thirty-one and thirty-two as a trial academy for centrally instructing lower-level mages..."
Prospero rattled off word after word in rapid succession, leaving the apprentices utterly bewildered.
"All right, hurry inside." After finishing, Prospero broke into an off-key song:
"Don't touch things carelessly—that's my muscle."
"Don't grope the walls—you'll make me ticklish."
"Don't vandalise public property—my innards are always fragile."