Bai Qi walked toward the main road dividing the mage statue and the statue of the woman holding the orb. Looking closer, he noticed that the orb was actually floating in the air. He couldn't make out the features of the woman's face, he could tell that it was a woman, but for some reason he couldn't focus of the distinct features. She had a bag with her, by her foot, filled with books. There seemed to be some fog surrounding her, and only her.
"What's the orb statue for anyway?" he asked.
* 'Information sect, most likely. They deal with connections, setting up any organized event, all the official and unofficial businesses of a city.' *
"Why can't I focus on the face?"
* 'The best people to move information are those who remain in the dark, but operate in the light. The statue represents this delicate balance.' *
Bai Qi looked over to the statue of the mage. Greeted with a serious statue of a man that looked grand and majestic, awe inspiring. In front of the man was a spike jutting out from the ground, as the man was pointing his staff towards an invisible enemy, commanding the Earth to attack for him. Bai Qi could almost make out the battle in his head, the colors of the mage's robe from the white marble, the tension in the air, the courage of the mage as he stood alone with his own power.
"A lot of work for statues, isn't it? Quite a masterpiece."
* 'Eh, it's above average. I've seen better.' *
Bai Qi looked out from the city center. As far as his eye could see, the road stretched for a few miles. The sun was starting to set. "Let's get a move on, we don't want to be stranded out in the open once it starts to get dark."
With that said, he started to walk the road dividing the information and the mage sect.
The information sect was strangely quiet. Both the warrior sect and the Alchemist sect was filled with shops, and people everywhere. Yet the information sect looked deserted. The mage sect on the other side was filled with shops, mirroring the activity of the Warrior and Alchemist sects, but it felt strange having noise only come from one side of the road.
* 'Everyone in the information sect is always busy.' said the thing, answering Bai Qi's question before he asked.' *
"Ah, makes sense."
As Bai Qi walked down the road, he noticed signs for shops that sold a variety of magic items. Ranging from staffs, to articles of clothing, to even pets, there seemed to be a shop for almost anything that had to do with magic. As he was walking along, one of the signs caught his eyes.
"Disguised Magic Items, nonlethal, non practical. What an interesting name," Bai Qi mused. He walked toward the shop, and looked at some of the items that they had out for display. "Fake staffs, designed to melt when attempting to channel true energy. Boots, enchanted to squawk like blood phoenixes whenever they get wet. Drinking glass, casts an illusion that hides/magnifies the amount of drink inside the cup, random, in testing. Hammer, enchanted with the quality of heavy, designed to increase weight to twice the strength of the person attempting to pick it up, current status malfunctioning."
"A joke shop?" Bai Qi wondered? He looked at the price before putting on a shocked face, and slowly backed away from the shop. "3 gold for a malfunctioning hammer??"
* Now you understand why I was complaining. Those guys were broke.' The thing frowned. "We need more money, maybe find a few more people to rob.' *
" I'm not getting into another fight. "
* 'You're right, this is the mage sect, the people here are probably as strong as the current you. Plus you don't have any real connections yet, so you can't afford to get into a fight.' *
"That's not what I meant. I'm not going to rob people."
* The thing frowned. 'Taking the fun out of everything.' *
Bai Qi noticed a large building coming into view. It was a tower, jutting into the sky. "That should be the mage tower. Pretty big, I can see it from all the way here."
* 'About 2 miles away from here, you may want to get a move on. The sun is going to set soon, it's going to get substantially harder for you to find your way then' *
He walked in silence for the next 20 minutes, before he finally started to more of the Mage tower building. There seemed to be a small castle type academy at the Mage Tower, where there were more than one tower. The biggest one was large and imposing, while 4 others surrounded it in the cardinal directions.
Bai Qi noticed a large road separating from the main road just up ahead. He is surprised, as most of the roads that separated from the main road was side streets or alleys.
"That's probably the road leading to the mage tower. It looks pretty busy."
After following the road, for another 5 minutes, Bai Qi finally got a good look at the mage tower.
It was an more of an estate, than a tower. The whole area was fenced off, with two guards standing out at the entrance. Behind the fence was a large stone academy, with a rolling green meadow.
Bai QI stepped up to the fence and put his face along it. He could see students everywhere, in light blue clothes that seemed to be the uniform. Behind the open area were a few scattered buildings, with cobblestone paths leading up to them. The main path led up to the large tower, while the other paths seemed to branch off in different directions.
"Step away from the fence," One of the guards said, pointing his spear at Bai Qi. "Unless you have business here, I suggest you leave."
"Oh no, you misunderstood," said Bai Qi. "I was told to come here, I have to enroll in the academy."
"Enrollment competition is every six months, this month's competition was moved back 3 months from now. Unless you have any other business, I suggest you step away from the fence," the guard responded roughly.
"Yes I know. Can you let the head mage know that I'm here on behalf of a recommendation? I'm pretty sure the guy who sent me here already notified him."
The guard looked at Bai Qi coldly, before touching a jade necklace. The necklace was a rectangle shape, and had strange symbols carved into it. When the guard touched it, it lit up, in a light green shaded light.
* 'Communication trinket. Short distance, by the looks of it.' *
The guard gestured to his partner, and the partner raised his spear as well. "What did you say your name was?"
"Bai Qi. Could you put down the spears, making me nervous."
"Until we can verify your identity and reason for being here, we are not allowed to let you go. Please wait, this will only take a moment," The guard responded. "Lying to a guard is punishable for up to 6 months in a detainment cell, for contempt of the mage Sect. I advise you not to make any sudden moves."
* The thing grinned. 'They seem annoying, you should make an example of them. Maybe drown them this time.' *
"With what water?"
* 'The water in his body, it's quite gruesome, and quite a bit of fun to attack with.' *
"I understand." Bai Qi told the guards.
The guard's trinket light up again. The guard touched it, before looking at Bai Qi. "The third elder wishes to know what the name of your recommender is, as a final proof of identity."
"Da Lao."
The guard sent the message over. Soon after his trinket light up again.
"So?"
"Right this way." The guard said. The cold expression never left his face. "Welcome to the Mage tower.
The two guards lowered their spears, and stood aside to allow Bai Qi to pass.
"Thank you," Bai Qi said.
"Wait here," the guard said. "The third elder is coming to meet with you."
His partner looked at Bai Qi curiously, before turning around again, to face the road.
They blocked off the entrance once again, facing the road, paying Bai Qi no mind.
"What a curious way to greet people." Bai Qi said. "And if I was a powerful mage?"
* 'The guards are more powerful than you realize. Plus this whole place seems to be set up with various enchantment formations. There's a illusion formation spanning from here to the first building all the way over there, pretty powerful one at that for this small city.' *
"Illusion formation?"
* 'It makes you walk around in circles without realizing it. Makes you lose your sense of direction and where you are. Mainly used for defense, but if used effectively, can be for attack as well.' *
"Ah. Can't fight someone if you can't find them."
* 'Precisely.' The thing grinned. 'Illusion masters and poison masters are the most difficult to deal with.' *
"How do you know so much? If you're just a part of me?"
* 'That's a question for a different day. Look sharp, that person over there seems to be the third elder.' *
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hey guys, been a while :)). irl stuff catching up again. I'm halfway done with the next chapter, so expect that soon. probably. I hope.
Silverbro as the MVP, ty. how does the gap get bigger each time I look :/ it's my novel. this systems rigged.
SkylarWolfe about to catch up and bump the author down to third place in his own novel :/
We have a few new readers, really happy about that.
kzheng1531, irl friend of mine, glad you decided to continue reading
SomeRandy, Ventueag, and deadgarc, welcome to the novel.
lilseasalt, thanks for leaving a review, glad you like it.
Discord server will be up soon, hope to see you guys there. as always, leave a comment, point out any mistakes. ty