"Sir, I've been appointed to show you around the Magic Tower."

Deborah gave a slight bow, still unsure how the situation had changed so drastically in such a short time.

Her father had just told her to treat this young man as she would treat him. She had no idea what had transpired between her father and this person, but although she had many questions in her heart, she wasn't entirely against it, after all, this man had stepped up for her earlier in the great hall.

Nova said thoughtfully, "You already have full access to the tower at your age?"

Despite being the last person who should ask such a question, considering all his own accomplishments, he couldn't help himself.

Age, in a world where only strength mattered, was merely an indicator of one's potential accomplishments and never told the full tale. A middle-aged man claiming to be the strongest would seem more believable due to his appearance compared to a younger one who had had less time to train, but that didn't account for anomalies.

Deborah nodded wryly. "Once a mage reaches the eighth rank, they're free to enter every area of the tower to try and break through to the ninth rank. And I'm a rank eight water mage."

"Impressive," Nova said, surprised by this information, while his opinion of Garran dropped lower than rock bottom.

Forcing his daughter into marriage against her will was already bad enough, driving away a genius mage of a daughter was even worse.

Compared to Avaro, who kept geniuses close and nurtured them, Garran fell far short. Even if Deborah weren't a princess, her status in the empire should have been higher than Melissa's, the rank seven wind mage from Blackridge, whose influence as a genius mage allowed her to walk sideways through the kingdom.

Deborah's lips curved gently upward at the compliment.

The two soon left the royal palace, making their way toward the Magic Tower. Even as passersby who recognized her called out, "Your Highness," Deborah waved lightly, sneaking glances at Nova and wondering who this young man was, someone who had even made her father take a step back.

Her thoughts were soon interrupted by Nova, who asked her about the Magic Tower.

It turned out that the Magic Tower wasn't far from the royal palace, and there were no records of when it had been founded.

At least, from what she knew, the best of the best mages always came from there, thanks to the vast magical knowledge it contained, which was why everyone, including her, enrolled.

Contrary to its name, it wasn't just a tower. The campus was as large as the army camp where Nova had previously trained and, apart from the workers, everyone else was a mage, making it the noblest place in the world.

When the two reached the gate, Nova finally took in the sight. A silvery gate, spread wide open and flanked by walls several meters tall, stood in the middle of the street, sticking out like a sore thumb. A small booth and several people in mage robes were stationed outside.

On the other side of the gates, the road stretched on normally, with houses built along its sides, as if it were just another part of the city.

Seeing Nova's surprised expression, Deborah spoke up beside him.

"It's stunning, isn't it? Looks like a city within a city." She pointed. "Those houses are used as students' lodgings, while further in, there are the faculties. Next to them is what gave this place its name, a Magic Tower, but that area can only be accessed by rank eight mages."

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A thought suddenly popped into Nova's head.

'With so many high-ranking mages, if I can get a rank nine mage of each element to explain magic, it would hasten the process severalfold.'

He nodded and turned to her. "How many rank nine mages are there inside?"

Deborah sighed dejectively. "One."

"One?" Nova repeated, subconsciously echoing her words in astonishment.

"Mhm. The Tower Master is the only rank nine mage in the Magic Tower. My father doesn't count as, after becoming an Emperor, he can't stand on the Tower's side but needs to keep himself neutral."

His dream, which had just started sprouting, was suddenly nipped in the bud.

"Then… how many rank eights are there?" he asked.

Deborah had to think for a moment before she said, "Around two hundred? No more than three hundred, that's for sure."

'At least two hundred rank eight mages, but if we don't count Garran… only one rank nine mage…The disparity is a vast.' Nova thought.

"Hey, you two! Are you going to enter or not? If so, show us your badge, you're blocking the way for the others."

By now, the two had stood there long enough to catch the attention of the mages at the gate.

Deborah smiled apologetically. "We're entering. Here." She handed over her badge.

The guard who had just spoken took it nonchalantly but when he looked down, he froze.

Purple…

A purple badge.

Apart from the never-before-seen gold one, which only one person possessed, purple was the highest level badge anyone could have. Some had glimpsed it before, but none had ever held one themselves.

It was obvious why.

Which rank eight mage would be bored enough to show their badge to a random guard? The most they would do was glance at them as if looking through air before strolling inside, the mana around them being the best badge there was.

Envious glances landed on the guard holding the badge, each wishing it had been them to receive such an important visitor. Some might have even tried to strike it rich by making a good impression.

"Is everything alright?" Deborah asked, noticing the guard's hands trembling. This was her first time showing her badge, she usually entered in one of the many royal carriages, so no one had ever asked for it before. She didn't even know if there was a problem.

Nova observed the scene and noticed how genuinely puzzled Deborah looked. He couldn't help but shake his head. 'Someone who could decimate a city with their magic is so clueless about the world. It makes one wonder whether allowing people this level of power is right or wrong. But who am I to judge? The same way I want freedom, many others might wish for the same or have a different one, and it's their right to pursue it.'

He chuckled inwardly, his eyes glinting. 'That is, as long as they don't hinder my freedom.'

"No, no, there's no problem. Please, enter."

The guard snapped back to his senses, bowed deeply, and hurriedly returned the badge.

Deborah nodded and entered alongside Nova.

As they walked deeper into the grounds, Nova remarked, "They didn't recognize a princess. How strange."

"Mhm, that's normal here. This place gathers mages from all over the world, rich and poor alike. As long as they're talented, they can enroll. Most of them never leave the tower and dedicate their lives to studying magic. Coupled with the absence of outside status, nobody would even know if they interacted with a king or a peasant," Deborah explained calmly.

Nova gave her a look. "So status is based on strength here?"

The princess chuckled softly. "Mages call it knowledge instead of strength," she said with a smile.

"Stuck-ups," Nova muttered, earning another chuckle from Deborah.

If any mage had overheard him, they would probably have pointed and shouted angrily but nobody heard, and even if someone had, Nova wouldn't have cared.

Deborah calmly wiped a tear at the corner of her eye before asking, "Now that we're here, where would you like to go first?"

Nova pondered quietly.

There weren't many choices in his mind, mainly two. He could enter the library to deepen his understanding of magic, or he could absorb light mana particles to study them calmly.

He had yet to give up on understanding each element's nature so that he could convert base mana into elemental mana with a single thought. The elemental cores were only a step in that direction, essentially a more refined way of storing elemental mana rather than particles, though still inferior to the first method.

The elemental cores weren't as effective as the best method written on the booklet for a simple reason: to use the latter, one needed a deep understanding of mana. It was a very steep entry point, but once reached, it allowed the practitioner almost infinite access to mana. And that's only considering quantity, quality increased as well.

With enough understanding of an element, one could gradually strengthen it, but that process was still far beyond Nova's current ability.

"I want to visit the place with light elemental mana first," Nova decided.

"We're going to the tower, then," Deborah said, nodding. She led him to a shimmering grey-white tower, dozens of meters tall, standing slightly off to the side of the faculties.

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