(Author's Note. In the future, I will start putting both the metric system nd the imperial system in parentheses.)
As the powerful voice left Anemone's head, she stepped back from the painting of the elderly man and sat at the desk, the chair creaking beneath her.
According to the voice that was speaking recently, she must fill out the papers that sat on the desk.
She stacked the papers neatly and began to read and answer each question.
Please answer each question truthfully.
Question 1. What is your name? Anemone.
Question 2. What is your age? 18.
Question 3. What is your height? 167 centimeters. (5'5" and 3/4)
Question 4. What is your species and sex? Human, Female.
Question 5. What are your magical affinities? Wind and fire.
Question 6. Are you affiliated with any noble house, guild, or group? No.
Question 7. Are you trained in any weapons? If so, which ones? No.
Question 8. Do you possess any formal magical training? Where? No, self-trained.
Question 9. Have you completed any bounty work or mercenary contracts? No.
Question 10. What's the largest creature you've fought (if any)? Lycanthrope
Question 11. Are you skilled in any non-combat trades (alchemy, tracking, healing, cooking, blacksmithing)? Cooking.
Question 12. Can you read, write, or speak multiple languages? No.
Question 13. Are you currently wanted by any city, kingdom, or empire? No.
Question 14. Would you kill for payment or only under threat? Yes, only wrongdoers.
Question 15. Do you have your own gear? A wand, no mage robes or armor.
Question 16. Is there anything you would like to state? No.
She leaned backward in the chair and wiped the sweat off her forehead.
'It's hot in here, but at last, I'm done.'
It may not have been many questions, but she let out a sigh of relief as she finished, then the voice entered her head once more.
"Open the chest, located by the door, retrieve the mana orb, and please imbue your mana into it to continue."
She walked to the chest, flipped the locks, and opened it, the chest slamming open and bouncing a few times. Inside sat a clear, purple-tinted orb that sat on a pillow that caved in beneath its weight. She picked up the orb, wanting to toss it in her hands, and rotated it a few times. The orb had no imperfections, and the prints she usually stuck on items didn't stick either. The orb continued to be a perfect, clear ball.
She sat down once more in the chair with the mana orb in hand and closed her eyes. She acted as if she were going to cast a spell from her hands, letting her internal mana flow into it.
Inside the mana orb, it began to crackle, and when she opened her eyes, what seemed like red lightning bounced off the walls, along with a deep crimson mist in the center. The outside of the orb began to become a more pronounced purple as the crimson took over internally.
She looked down at the paper, which she had swapped with the next one, and the quill with ink began to float down, marking one of the words
Which mana core color are you?
black
purple
red *
brown
orange
yellow
green
blue
pink
white
gold
"So, I am a red core mage? Is that good?"
The quill then sat back inside the ink cartridge with a small clank, and the voice entered her ears again.
"Please leave." It asked, though she could tell this was a demand.
She stood and left the room with her satchel. She left through the same door she entered through, but she didn't arrive at the place where she was previously. She was in a new room with four target dummies spaced out evenly, and a single lantern that hung in the middle of the room. There was also hay all over the floor, making her feel as if she was in a barn or some training grounds.
To the left of the dummies was a shield that hung off of something, along with a few swords ranging from a long sword to a small blade. Wooden swords were also scattered across the ground, which she assumed were used by previous applicants.
Behind the dummies was a single window that let in some sunlight, but when she looked out the window, which she had to climb up to see through, she recognized nothing. There was no landmark, just flat plains, as if it were a painting that emitted light.
"Please use your weakest spell on the first three dummies in quick succession." The voice instructed.
The startled Anemone stumbled off the window seal, falling down and almost hitting her head on the hard ground, though some hay softened the short fall.
She stood up and patted off all the hay, then sharpened her senses.
"Alright!"
She stood in front of each of the hay dummies and pulled out her maple wand that had a white topaz at the top.
Her simplest spell, that's what she was told to use, and it was wind arrow. It was extremely powerful, but also very simple, combining the powerful shape of an arrow with the rotational speed of an otherworldly object. She summoned the spell for a few moments, and a deafening, high-pitched whistle filled the room as she shot it toward the dummies one after another. Obliterating the first dummy completely, the straw seemed to cease from existence.
The second dummy was similar, but the third took longer; it took three seconds to conjure the spell, and she stood there waiting for new instructions for the fourth dummy as she began to pant from mana loss.
"Now use your most powerful spell on the last dummy." The voice announced.
She stood there and looked at the last dummy. Her most powerful spell, Wind Barrage, was similar to Wind Arrow, but it was a group of them with less force, though as more and more hit, the damage the target would sustain would be immense.
As she began to conjure the spell, many small orbs of condensed air began to form around her. The dummy she was glancing at seemed to glow with a slight tint of blue. After thirty seconds, fifteen small spinning orbs were created around her. They flew at the last dummy with incredible might. Bang after loud bang filled the room, echoing off the walls in quick succession, rattling her ears and the building.
Every single one connected with its target, and she expected the dummy to no longer exist, but she was wrong. The damage sustained within the target was minimal, except that the blue tint that coated the target seemed to lessen, and now it was almost completely normal.
Sweat poured down her face, and she began to breathe heavily as the voice spoke once more, though she anticipated it this time, allowing her not to be startled.
"How many times can you use Wind Arrow and Wind Barrage in a day?" It asked, as Anemone stood against a wall, grasping her knees as she held the wand as if it were a pen.
"Twenty times." She huffed out, inhaling deeply. "And two times respectively." She stood up and looked back toward the dummy, surprised by how much damage it had survived through.
"Pick up the papers and please exit through the door."
She grabbed the papers that she had set down on the floor, which were now on the opposite side of the room due to the gusts of wind she had produced.
The piece of paper that she first saw and grabbed seemed to have recorded everything. It had the time it took to create each attack, the velocity, the speed of rotation, and a few random numbers, which she didn't understand, along with how much mana she had used and how much air was condensed into each spell. Put simply, her later castings used more mana, took longer, had less rotational speed, and were less condensed; it was much worse.
As she walked through the door, she found herself back in the original place, the fourth floor of the Limitless Tower. She found herself on the opposite side she had entered, exiting through door ten. And where she looked, she saw the back of the tree, and it seemed to have a large opening, shaped like a scar.
"Slide your papers through the opening and leave." The voice commanded.
'So rude.' She thought as she put her papers inside.
'Now, how do I exit? There's not a door that just says "exit" after all. I just hope I get lucky.
She walked up to a random door, opened it, and walked through. The blinding light she had been through many times earlier once again filled her vision, numbing all of her senses.
'I hate this.' She thought, closing her eyes tightly. 'I got used to not having it.'
She found herself back in the library this time.
'I guess I should spend some time here. Maybe I will try to find a book on the Seven Savants.'
She began to walk around, passing by many others who were currently reading. Despite it being the middle of the afternoon at this point, it was quite busy. Many of the people who were studying here were scholars, many specialized in one of the seven base elements, while some studied forbidden magics, divinity, gravity magic, or a mix of one of the seven basics. After studying for years, a famous savant who goes by the name Myrrik put it simply in one of his tomes.
"All magics are connected; one who can control earth can control metals. One who can control metals can control molten liquid, and one who can control that can control liquids. Gravity magic, one of the most famous but unusable magics, is similar. If you can condense something, creating a gravitational pull to the object, you will then gain the sense for such forces and become able to use them."
Currently, the librarian Anemone was approaching and was reading the exact book that held such text. She slowly raised her head, marking the page with a thing folded up piece of paper, and smiled at the young lady before her.
"Hello ma'am, how may I help you?"
The young librarian was different than before; the one before her was wearing a short white dress adorned with sunflowers, and to her side flowed velvet red hair that cut off at her waist. On her face were also round spectacles on the bridge of her nose.
"I was wondering where a book on the Seven Savants may be? Or any similar topics." She asked respectfully.
"Of course, ma'am. As you may know, the Seven Savants are the most powerful and influential mages. There may live others with much more power, but not everyone can become a Savant. Despite a requirement to become one being being recognised for their good deeds, many Savants decide to hide their identity, for many reasons. Any book relating to the Seven Savants will be in aisle five, which will be the closest shelf to me. While a similar book, the Seven Bladewrights, which is about a similar group, but for swordmen, is on the shelf directly opposite." She explained enthusiastically.
"Thank you." She smiled.
The bookshelf she approached had many books. On the top shelf were many books back to back, with a word being spelled out 'NIHIL.' With each tome having the depiction of an open book with no writing on the spine.
Her eyes continued scanning the shelf, looking at many kinds of books, most seemed to be on the history of important people or events, such as The Unwritten War, but what actually interested her in this moment was The Seven Savants, and that's what she found.
'THE SEVEN SAVANTS 10-11TH CENTURY' The spine read. When she pulled it out, the depiction on the front captivated her. It was the silhouette of a mage firing many different elements at a swordman who stood in a fighting stance.
She made her way to the librarian, who was currently engrossed in reading, along with most who were in this magical space.
The librarian looked up quickly and said, "One gold!"
'Whoa. WHAT?' "This book is one gold?"
"Yes," she responded quickly.
She reluctantly handed over one gold, leaving her with just four, and she turned, sighing with a deep breath.
'I feel robbed." The librarian didn't even check the currency and just pocketed it and continued reading.
She left the store sighing once more, looking at the book, and hoped she was about to find more information on the one known as Malrek Thayne. She soon left the door she had originally come through, and through a bright light, she found herself back in a familiar city, facing away from the entrance to the Limitless Tower.