Sylas and Fatty Ye had to walk extremely fast to even follow the headmistress. For some reason, her speed was extremely high even though she seemed to be walking extremely relaxed. It was probably due to the immense increase in physical strength that came with each realm increase.
After entering the main building, they had to walk up 4 flights of majestic, dark stairs. The interior of the academy still matched the exterior of the building, with dark walls lit by flames. Strangely, the flames seemed to exist without fuel, probably a byproduct of the magic.
Finally, they stood in front of a large wooden door that opened into a large room with huge windows. The walls were lined with ceiling-high bookshelves. All of them were filled to the brim, with some books spilling out onto the floor.
Since the room was a bit crowded, they had to move some books to sit across from the headmistress, who had already moved behind her large wooden desk, looking to be slightly embarrassed because of the chaos inside the room.
"So you want to join my academy? I assume you don't plan on staying long, though, right?" She threw a questioning look at Sylas, almost as if she wanted to pierce him, to look right into his soul.
This was very unnerving for him, as he felt like he was sitting in front of a psycho. "Y-yes, I would like to join the school to learn magic. But why do you say that I won't stay long?"
"Kihahaha." Margaret laughed like a madwoman, confirming how Sylas had seen her earlier.
"You don't seem to know, but certain affinities like Destruction, Creation, Time or Space never fall below the Earth level. The reason for this is unknown, but some Magi have hypothesized that they won't come to anyone unworthy of them. After all, they are extremely powerful and rare."
After the explanation, the mad woman looked at him again with a piercing stare. "Do you really think I would believe that someone with an affinity of Earth or higher would stay in a small town where the highest ranking magus is only an Acolyte?"
Sylas was sure she had seen through him. There was no way to make them believe that he wanted to stay here forever. Instead, he had to find a way to convince her to accept him into the Academy.
"As you said, I do indeed have an Earth-grade affinity for destruction. I only plan to stay in this city for about two weeks to learn more about the outside world. I was recommended to the Nightshade Tower by a strange old lady, but before I do that, I was hoping to gather some more information about them."
As soon as Sylas said the words 'Nightshade Tower,' he noticed that the headmistress seemed to lose her composure slightly. But it was only for a moment before she returned to her usual crazy expression. Maybe this is all just an act.
"It's true that I want to enter the Academy to learn the basics, since I've been living in the forest with my grandfather. In exchange for my staying here for two weeks, I would be willing to grant you a favor, which you can cash in anytime, as long as it doesn't put me in harm's way."
Sylas looked at the headmistress with expectation, but instead was faced with the sight of her mouth twisting into a huge, menacing grin. "Fuck, did I say something wrong?
"Kihahahihi." She burst into another psychopathic laugh, sending shivers down Sylas and Fatty Ye's spines. "I never thought that a brat at the beginning of the Initiate Realm would ask to pay me by doing me a favor. Very amusing. Kihahaha."
Suddenly, the woman seemed to snap back to reality, seemingly remembering that Sylas was still sitting in front of her. She also changed her expression completely, almost as if a completely different woman was sitting in front of them.
"Sorry for my outburst. It is sometimes caused by my affinity. Madness. This often happens to Magi who have an affinity for emotions or something like that. An affinity can affect a person's personality."
'Interesting, have I ever been affected by my affinity?' Sylas thought about her statement, but couldn't think of an example. Maybe when he fought the bear without losing his composure, or when he fired the Destruction Ball at Fatty Ye, even though he would have done it before, maybe he was a bit colder when he did those things.
'Well, at least it's not to the point where my personality has completely changed. Yet. However, it is interesting to know that people can have emotions as their affinity. Are there also people who have objects or maybe even certain plants as theirs?'
"Well, I will accept your offer." Margaret suddenly interrupted Sylas' thoughts. "I can also tell you about the Nightshade Tower, but I think it's best if your friend leaves my office for now. There are some things we need to discuss that I don't want a third party to hear."
Sylas agreed. After all, he wasn't that close to Fatty Ye. The guy seemed like someone who would easily reveal information under the slightest pressure.
"I'll wait for you outside the gates." Ye said before leaving the room. After he left, there was an awkward silence in the room.
"Ahem, about the Night Shadow Tower..." Sylas tried to break the silence by restarting the conversation, as Margaret seemed to be lost in thought.
"What? Oh, yeah... Sorry, I was just suppressing my madness. I kind of had the urge to rip your eyeballs out right now. You know, it kind of feels like a mosquito bite that I have to resist itching." She stared at Sylas, seemingly waiting for him to express his sympathy, but he just looked at her like a dead fish.
'Is she for real right now? Or is she just messing with me? I hope not all Magi are this crazy.'
"So, the Nightshade Tower, right?" She asked Sylas again. "Yes!"
"Well, it's the largest magic tower on the entire continent. If you don't know what Magic Towers are, they're basically like a community of magicians who live in the same place and sometimes work together. They benefit from each other and often take in students."
A bit like a sect from a cultivation world. Sylas thought, well, maybe it was a bit more focused on research, but the overall structure was probably similar.
"The Night Shadow Tower is special. In addition to researching magic, they also have a second function that is kind of an open secret. They are also an assassination organization. As long as you pay them enough, they will supposedly kill anyone you ask them to."
This revelation came as a shock to Sylas. He hadn't expected the old mummy to be an assassin. But it definitely made sense why she wanted someone with space affinity to join the tower. Because of his mobility, he is probably the perfect tool for any assassin.
"If you want to join them, you have to be prepared for a lot of hard training. I heard that their assassins have to go through a deadly training program before they can actually go out on missions. Other than that, I've heard that their pay is pretty decent, and that they don't have a lot of infighting, because it would hurt their business if they weren't united. So what do you say, do you still want to join them?"
From what he had heard so far, this tower actually sounded decent. He never had a problem with hard work, and the part about not fighting was especially attractive. Since he was recommended by a Supreme Elder, he would probably attract a lot of attention and envy. It would be nice to have at least some security. Besides, his Void element was probably even better than Space when it came to assassination. After all, it's just an upgraded, more lethal version of it.
"Okay, based on what you said, I will definitely join the Nightshade Tower. First, I want to stay here for 2 weeks and study at the academy. Otherwise, I might be too weak to enter or go through the training."
The main reason Sylas didn't tell Margaret about, was that he was afraid of his misfortune. If he was particularly unlucky, he might even attract the Tower Leader's wrath. No one could save him then. This city, on the other hand, where the strongest individual was only in the second great realm, seemed to be a much safer place for the current him.
"Then our deal is done. You will join the academy for two weeks, and in return, you will owe me a favor that I can call upon whenever I want. Kihahaha. This is an excellent deal for me." It seemed as if madness took over her mind again, but Sylas didn't care. He had already left the room.