"You'll be going out next week"
"Huh?" Max still in bad mood since his experiment that almost completely failed due to Uriel's interruption but he didn't dare overly show it to her for obvious reason.
"Seven days from now at the Dawn City's west gate when the sunrise. Don't be late." Uriel continues with the emotionless expression.
"Huh?"
"Here take this." Uriel threw a scroll to Max.
Max that still in confusion involuntary caught the scroll. He took a look at the scroll. It is a blue colored scroll and the surface is too smooth like a silk when Max holding the scroll.
"Leave!" Uriel said coldly.
"Wait for Master! Please explain properly. What happens next week?" Max try to ask for more information but Uriel ignored it.
"Leave!"
"Yes Master" Max left Uriel's office helplessly.
Max swiftly exited the room and went back to his room. Even though Max always strict on himself but today event left Max with no motivation to continue the experiments.
"My mental condition is not stable now. Continuing will only the result more worst." His mind still thinking about what Uriel said earlier.
"Just what she meant about next week? Am I going out somewhere?" Max in deep thought while walking toward the dining hall. He doesn't need to ponder long because almost everyone talked the same thing there.
"Max! Did you hear it?" Dorothy jumped off her chair looked excited.
"Yeah. Everyone talking about it" Max replied.
"Secret realm! It a secret realm you know?" Dorothy's face literally beaming with a smile like a kid finding their toy.
"Keep your excitement. It is impossible for you to get chosen to go there." Bucca calmly said.
"What do you mean by that?" Dorothy pouted.
"Listen" Bucca pointed to the surrounding. The dining hall is full of chattering and the main topic is about the secret realm.
"What? They have found the entrance to an unknown secret realm!"
"How big is the realm?"
"Has anyone entered yet?"
"Are there any restrictions placed"
"What? A mage cannot enter the secret realm? So only apprentice level can enter?"
….….
All the Mage Apprentices in the dining hall exclaimed in surprise after hearing the news. However, their excitement was with a hint of fear.
It was no wonder they were like this!
This so-called 'secret realm' actually was an undiscovered secret space. Portions of it were made from natural elements while the other portions were deliberately created by a person
Inside the realms created by nature, there might be a few magical ingredients and special type natural treasures. The danger would be comparatively less by a bit for these realms. The other realms that were man-made also probably have the same things and mostly consisted of a few treasures left by formidable ancient Mages. However, it was also extremely dangerous because it was unknown how many fearsome traps, that could obliterate someone into nothingness, were hidden in those realms.
No matter what kind of secret realm it was, if someone were to reap a majority of the rewards in the realm and managed to return, it would bring their entire force or faction to a new height. Once in the past, there was a small faction that managed to obtain an exceptionally nameless powerful Meditation Technique through luck. From there, its strength underwent rapid growth and after a few hundred years, it proclaimed itself a hegemony of few neighboring kingdoms and later became one of the five largest factions in the continents. That faction is the Knight of Runes.
Once they were atypical and common group of Mages and then they found a unique meditation technique of Magic Knight left by ancient Mage in a secret realm. Now they all become Magic Knights and brought a new trend to the world of magic.
Of course, luck and danger existed side by side. Another time, there was a large faction that tried monopolize a secret realm. They sent their entire force into the secret realm, but their entire army ultimately perished and they ceased to exist in this world.
Currently, the number of secret realms that have been discovered were extremely few; there were even few entrances to secret realms that appeared for a short while before disappearing without a trace. Some entrance were stringent in regards who can enter it and the length of time how long they could be open. Furthermore, some of the traps in the secret realm were exceptionally mysterious and were not something easy to break apart even for Mages, and some realms are empty, forcing people to feel hopeless.
However, even if this were the case, every time a new secret realm was discovered, it would bring about battle-storm of blood.
"Heard that? A mage cannot enter the realms so the only apprentice will enter and only those cream of the crops dare to join. You still rank 1 apprentice. Even if your instructor doted on you so much or you promoted to rank 2 before then, she still won't allow you. Don't be greedy"
No wonder Bucca was unusually calm despite his strong personality. Even he still a rank 1 apprentice too and going to secret realm just like committing suicide.
The temptation of the secret realm despite the danger is strong. Mage has a possibility to promoted to the higher grade and those peak Rank 2 Mage Apprentices surely want to try their luck to increase their chance to become Mage.
In the middle of the ocean. Waves coming strong and large whirlpools appeared and disappeared. At the sky, there were fissure-like cracks on the wall. Some were small but there a few are big. A group of Mages floated around there. The pressure emitted from their bodies distorted the space making them harmless even among the fissure.
"How long till it can open? "
"By calculation, it should open in more than a week."
"Do it quick! Before those side notice it"
"I think they already noticed it, this place is close to the border after all"
" Damm it! "
"This fissures was created during the skirmish. Luck already on our side that Atlantis detected near to their territory "