The figure, a minotaur holding a powerful bow, had an imposing presence that made everyone hesitate.
Suddenly, the sound of stone moving broke the silence.
"Crack~~"
The blocks began to twist and rearrange, and, to our astonishment, the Minotaur seemed to come to life. The stone gave way to skin and blood, and the creature looked at Marcelina with a mocking smile.
"Hello, Marcelina! Hot...Pussy"
The absurd statement made the tension in the air nearly break completely. I could see the lips of some acolytes trembling, clearly trying to stifle their laughter.
"Marcelina, the hottest mage in this tower!" the Minotaur continued in an exaggerated tone of provocation.
I held back, struggling to maintain my composure, but it was almost impossible. The other acolytes were equally pressured, their shoulders shaking.
Marcelina, however, remained still, but I could see the vein in her forehead pulsing. Her face was darker than ever, and her expression was that of someone on the verge of exploding.
"I should find the one who installed this statue and make them pay for these words!" she muttered between clenched teeth.
But the Minotaur didn't stop. "Marcelina, my loving pig!"
These words were the last straw. A boy in the middle of the group couldn't hold it in.
"Hahahaha!" he laughed loudly, doubling over while holding his belly from laughing so hard.
The laughter triggered the others, who almost succumbed as well. However, Marcelina turned to the boy and stared at him intensely. She didn't say a word, but the look was cold and cruel, filled with a silent threat.
The boy's laughter died instantly, and he gulped, realizing the mistake he had made. His eyes widened, and he raised his hands to his nose, where blood began to pour out.
Before anyone could react, he exploded.
"BOOM!"
The sound was muffled, but the impact was visceral. The boy literally dissolved into a blur of blood, chunks of flesh, and bones scattering across the floor and the group.
I felt something warm and metallic hit my face. It was blood. The bitter, rusty taste filled my mouth before I could avoid it. My stomach churned, but I forced myself to stand, swallowing the panic, after all, I had seen a worse slaughter previously on the airship.
The other acolytes were frozen, many with their faces smeared in red, trying to process what had just happened. No one dared to breathe loudly.
"What...?" I murmured, feeling the weight of the scene crushing me.
Marcelina seemed completely unfazed. Her cold gaze passed over the group, and she straightened her posture as if nothing had happened.
"Fools, those who provoke a mage," she said calmly, her voice sharp. "Follow me. And remember, laughter is a luxury you are not permitted while you're mere acolytes."
The echo of Marcelina's words still reverberated in my mind. "Mages are the same among themselves, so they can afford to joke with each other. However, Acolytes must always maintain their humility!"
Suddenly, an uncomfortable truth hit me like a lightning bolt. In the world of mages, strength wasn't just a privilege, but the very language of coexistence. Only those of equal power could treat each other as equals. For Acolytes, however, humility wasn't a virtue; it was a necessity to survive. We were nothing more than apprentices, pieces in a game where weakness had no place.
Marcelina approached the minotaur, her expression as cold as ice. "The brightest light is more terrible than the darkest darkness," she said, her voice cutting like a blade.
With those words, the minotaur stopped moving. Its skin began to harden, turning back into stone as it returned to the niche in the wall. In seconds, the path was clear, and the massive gate stood before us.
Marcelina raised her hand and touched the surface of the gate. A thread of light emerged from her finger, tracing the cracks and contours of the hidden mechanism inside the structure. The sound of ancient gears turning echoed, and the gate, trembling like a living creature, slowly began to open, revealing the interior of the tower.
As we crossed the entrance, my eyes widened at what I saw.
The inner corridor was vast, lit by floating orbs of magical light that danced in the air, casting soft shadows across the white stone walls. The ceiling was high, almost impossible to see, but the sound of magical birds singing somewhere above could be heard, their wings beating softly.
Acolytes were everywhere, constantly moving like ants in an ant hill. Some carried stacks of thick books, their covers white. Others had exotic birds perched on their shoulders, birds that shimmered with colors that defied logic and seemed to whisper words in unknown tongues.
There were acolytes stained with blood, their faces dark but determined. Some appeared wounded, but they walked as if the pain was not enough to stop them. Stranger still, I noticed several whose bodies were altered in unnatural ways. There was a young man with a second mouth sewn onto his arm, while another had extra eyes that moved constantly, analyzing everything around them.
The air was thick with the smell of old scrolls, burnt herbs, and something metallic — perhaps blood. Murmurs and laughter echoed, but there were also distant screams, as if someone was being tested beyond their limits somewhere in the tower.
Marcelina walked ahead of us, her elegant and imposing posture guiding us through this chaotic place.
The walk through the tower's facilities seemed endless, but Marcelina's explanation made the environment a little more understandable.
"Our Sunmount Tower was built in the Lucarian Year 698, and it has been almost a thousand years since then... As for the founder of the tower, it is Atreus Raven Darkin."
These words echoed in my mind. A thousand years...
Marcelina continued, not even looking back, yet her voice resonated with authority. "The door you all entered before is the main gate! And beyond that, there are many exits within the tower. Once you become proper Mages, you'll discover whether or not you want to stay here!"
Her words were clear. The tower was no simple place; it was a fortress of learning and power, where decisions to stay or leave wouldn't be made lightly.
She continued detailing the structure of the place. "Our Sunmount Tower is divided into several large areas: dormitories, classrooms, laboratories, gardening areas, a commercial post, mission areas, libraries, labyrinths, among other things."
I tried to mentally visualize each of these areas. But what caught my attention the most was the mention of the labyrinths. Could there be labyrinths with Minotaurs here in the tower?
"As for their exact locations, someone will take you for an induction later. For now, all of you must follow me to register in the administration area, and then we'll begin the selection of your teachers!"
Finally, we arrived at the administration area. Marcelina stopped in front of a glass door, her fingers gently touching the cold metal of the steel doorknobs. "This is the administration area, however, I believe none of you will be willing to come here again in the future!"
Her words sounded like a warning, but something told me this visit would be just the first of many.
When I looked at the symbols on the glass door, something bothered me. There was nothing familiar, nothing resembling what my database offered. Then, like a blade cutting through the air, Marcelina noticed my discomfort and turned around, saying, "Ah! I forgot that all of you still don't know the magical language!"
She let out a little laugh and continued, "Don't worry! This is one of the fundamentals of enchantment, you will learn it in the future!"
Suddenly, a deep, aged voice came from inside the room. "Marcelina, my daughter. Have you arrived?"
The doors opened automatically.
The presence of someone inside the room was unmistakable.
I entered the room behind Marcelina and found an elderly man, with a white beard and white eyebrows, sitting behind a vast black wooden desk. He was writing with a quill, almost as if he were immersed in deep thoughts, completely oblivious to everything around him. Next to him, stacks of scrolls were piled up, and crystal balls shimmered unsettlingly on the shelves behind him. It was like a living library, a mixture of mystical knowledge and ancient power.
The elderly man raised his eyes and, with a gentle smile, responded: "You're late!"
Marcelina broke the silence. "We encountered some issues along the way. While passing through the Storm Lord's territory, we were stopped by a group of elementals, and we were only released after I showed the pass letter."
But, looking at the acolytes behind Marcelina, his smile faded for a moment. He seemed to notice the blood on their clothes and the general state of some of them. His voice grew more serious. "Did you kill an acolyte?"
Marcelina spoke in a thin, almost childish voice. "The bastard dared laugh at me! How dare a damn acolyte laugh at a mage?"
The old man let out a soft laugh and shook his head before turning to Marcelina and saying, in a gentler tone: "Well... If that's all, there's no problem."
The situation was strange. The authority of this old man seemed absolute.
....
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