The Divine Spirit Hall was on full alert. The upper echelon immediately evacuated everyone out of the tower; the unstable mana in the area could cause wide-scale destruction, causing mana explosions and even ruining the mana in spirits.
The tower master himself was at the scene attempting to figure out the issue. The exact age of the tower master was unknown but to a few people on Kallos. He brushed through his white, wizened beard; although he looked relaxed, the people around him were shivering. Currently a massive amount of mana exuded off the violet-robed tower master, physically dying the world around him in purple. Anywhere the purple mana existed was completely under the tower master's control, no longer unstable. It began to slowly envelop the entire tower, forcefully controlling the unstable mana. Once his mana reached Myrrin's room his eyes opened slightly wider.
"[Shadow Walk]"
Before the countless eyes in the crowd evacuated outside, the tower master vanished leaving only the purple mana that lingered around.
...
When Martin woke up he was in a sea of pain, an acute sensation had stirred him awake, as if a blade had gone through his stomach. Unable to keep his eyes open, the pain seemed to drown out all of his senses. Surprisingly, when Myrrin closed his eyes and focused on the pain, he saw a single silver sword quickly forming before him, the same sword he saw earlier in the prison. The pain slowly began to recede as the sword finished forming, and Myrrin once again opened his eyes.
Only when Myrrin looked around did he realize the blaring alarm and wildly swirling mana. Jumping up in surprise, He promptly left the room, going towards the platform he accessed earlier. The tower was eerily void of all sounds, with exception of the alarm. When he reached the entrance of the empty platform, he realized he didn't know how to call the platform to his floor. He placed his hands on the orb near the empty platform; however, despite trying different angles with his hands, there was no change to the platform.
'Well shit I'm back down to qi condensing stage, it really brings back some memories though.'
Antebellum voice rang in Myrrins head while Myrrin was in the process of putting his feet on the orb. Unlike Myrrin, Antebellum was completely oblivious to the situation, happily enjoying the new view.
'What the hell are you up to?'
Antebellum's obnoxious laughing was unappreciated by Myrrin, who had finally gotten his bare feet onto the orb.
'Hey I'm kind of in a hurry, how do I call this platform. If I die, you won't be on Kallos anymore!'
Myrrin started panicking when his feet didn't activate the platform, scared that the tower was going to fall apart.
'Don't worry, the mana instability was caused by me. It's the process of bringing my soul down to a level your pathetic body can hold. If you want to leave just imagine moving mana from the sword to your hands, then command the orb to move the platform. I'll do the rest.'
Myrrin put on his shoes and did as Antebellum instructed. As soon as he did, Myrrin's eyes glowed bright silver. The orb reacted, immediately sending over a platform. Myrrin stood on the platform and willed it to go down. The platform shot down to the lobby, piercing through a wall of purple mana along the way. Once the platform reached the lobby, the sudden stop nearly throwing Myrrin on the floor. Myrrin immediately exited the tower, uncomfortable with the sticky purple mana that lingered on more than half the tower. Unbeknownst to Myrrin, the orb that he had touched previously fell to pieces, each piece smoothly cut.
As Myrrin left the tower quickly, afraid that someone might detain him for questioning. He dived in the crowd that had formed from the spectacle and slowly made his way to the back. Unable to see Arwin nearby, he decided to go ahead to one of the recruitments held in The Capital. During the ride to The Capital, Arwin described The Capital's layout in finer detail; The Capital had four main districts surrounding an enclosed and tightly guarded royal district, the location of both the Mizen family and The Royal Academy. The four big districts were the magic district, academic district, market district, and the engineering district. The academic district's central square was where the recruitments were usually held. Although Myrrin originally planned to try and join The Royal Academy, the recruitments were annual, and Myrrin had just missed the previous recruitment. Rather than waiting almost another year, Myrrin decided to join the best school available to him at the moment. While varying schools had different levels of resources available, it ultimately came down to talent at the end of the day. The talented would obtain better resources and become stronger, creating a larger gap— the strong got stronger, and the weak got weaker. Myrrin began walking towards the next district, eager to take his next step in becoming an official [Magus], a fancy title for [Contractors] whom the state acknowledges as a trained combatant.
'Hmmmm..'
A voice grumbled from within Myrrin, Antebellum had finally finished forming his soul, residing inside Myrrin's dantian. His presence now easily noticeable to the host.
'What's wrong?'
Myrrin was sure that anything that could make Antebellum grumble was bound to be trouble.
'It's.. nothing.. I'm just getting nostalgia from returning to Kallos.'
Myrrin facepalmed, unable to comprehend the new entity living in his body. He made his way to the recruitment square uneventfully, making sure to sign in for the next round of testing. The queue wasn't long because the screenings done in the square were held daily; once a month, all those who passed the screening moved on to group testing, with a representative from each school in the district attending. Before long, his name was called and Myrrin was ushered by a stern-looking young man who was overseeing this round of recruitments. The name tag on his robe read "Ty Rogner"
"Place your hands on the orb, and please release your contract."
'release my contract?'
Myrrin walked up and did the same thing he did to the platform, moving his mana from the sword to the orb. His eyes seemed to glow as his pupils turned silver, and the hand that was holding the orb felt a strand of mana enter the orb. The symbol on the back of his hand began shining, a silver sword appearing in tandem. Subsequently, the orb glowed brightly, a phenomenon that never occurred with the other applicants. The orb started vibrating, rattling on its podium, before falling onto the floor. Shattered into cleanly cut slices before it even touched the ground.
"Y-you, what have you DONE?! I asked you to show me your contract, not to break the orb!!!"
Ty screamed at Myrrin who blankly stared back. A recruitment officer was a low ranking position at his academy, the orb in front of him was at least double his yearly salary. He still had to test many applicants today, and the orb was lended out in order to collect information on the applicant's [Ezark Contract] . His eyes began turned muddy hazel as the light in his eyes intensified. Myrrin saw a slight flow of mana enter the man's palm before Myrrin could explain. Unable to convince him, Myrrin began to brace for impact, ready to roll at a moments notice.
"[Earth Impale]"
"[Earth Shield]"
The ground under Ty rapidly formed an earthen spike and shot towards Myrrin. Before it could reach him, however, the ground under Myrrin likewise began to move, a large slab of earth lifted off the ground to form a wall. The two spells crashed into each other, producing a massive explosion of dust and debris that settled quickly with the help of mana.
"Ty, its good to see you again, HOHOHO!"
A familiar laugh echoed in the square, the dust settled revealing the large build of Arwin. Myrrin was shocked at Myrrin's impeccable timing, any later and he would have been impaled, regardless of his roll. Myrrin started sweating, deeply regretting the power of an official [Magus].
"Nghh Arwin, what are you doing here? You can't interrupt the recruitment going on here so blatantly, even you will face pressure from the academies."
"All I did was protect an a valuable citizen, am I wrong? Especially considering that you openly attacked a first-class citizen in front of so many witnesses."
Arwins eyes narrowed and the pressure he emitted was more than Myrrin could ever expect. Ty was shocked, but the shock was from the words that had trouble registering in Ty's head.
"F-First-class citizen?"
"Myrrin, show him your citizenship pass."
Myrrin hurriedly flipped open the citizenship pass, proving his identity as a first-class citizen. Nearby, various gasps could be heard among the applicants. Many of these applicants had never seen a first-class citizenship before.
"Why is a first-class citizen taking a screening test?!! Is he fucking with me??!! Wait, he broke the Testing Orb, he can pay for it right?"
Ty pointed his finger at Myrrin, grasping at whatever straws were left for him. Although Ty had completed his second circle, improving the spirit he had contracted, he, as a recruitment officer, was still in no position to harass a first-class citizen that ranked higher than most of the low-class [Magus].
"Ty, he hasn't even created his first circle. He doesn't have the ability to break that orb, hohoho! You have gone old."
Ty clicked his tongue, although he didn't want to admit it, Arwin was speaking the truth. It would take an all-out attack from himself, a second circle [Magus], to completely destroy the Testing Orb which was reinforced with a basic [Hardening] spell. Unable to contain his frustration, he decided to take it out on the applicants who had yet to go through the screening. He took out a talisman for Myrrin, a ticket to group examination that was occurring in a week.
"No way that street rat is a first-class citizen. If he's a first class citizen, than I am the emperor of The Capital of the World."
A voiced boomed from the applicants that had formed in the square. A large framed youth, around fifteen-years-old, walked out of the crowd with his posse surround him. The group of youths around him were laughing; they pointed fingers and mocked the dishevled appearance of Myrrin who, admittedly, did not seem even half as wealthy or well-off. The youth had a confident look on his face as he stepped forward, and his clothes suggested that his family was doing well in The Capital. He bowed to the recruitment officer, and shot a sneer at Myrrin. he couldn't accept a puny slum rat as someone with a higher status then himself.
"Quiet."
The wily crowd immediately went silent. A gloomy atmosphere descended upon the square as the once clear sky darkened before their eyes. A purple robe fluttered in the still wind— no one present was sure when the robed figure first appeared.