Sword of Dawnbreaker

This time, the door remained silent for a longer period, so long that Mary was starting to feel uneasy when she finally heard the incredulous magic door respond: ”You may enter.”

The heavy magic door slowly opened, and Mary, filled with curiosity and a hint of nervousness, stepped up to follow the old mage’s footsteps.

The gates of the headquarters of the Royal Mage Association closed behind them.

Following the remembered route, Daniel moved through this enormous and complex building. Corridor after corridor, and room after room, appeared just as they did in his memories. The dark red long carpets, the Magic crystal lamps embedded in the walls, the intricate decorative patterns on the columns, the bas-reliefs on the ceilings... these luxurious yet meaningless things flaunted the essence of this Mage Association and the tastelessness of the transcendents that hadn’t made any progress. Yet the faces of the people coming and going in these corridors, unchanged for many years, looked vastly different from those in the past.

There were many people in the Mage Association, but at least half of the faces were unfamiliar. They wore sumptuous magic robes, donned pointed hats or valuable circlets and coronets, and strode with heads held high in the brightly lit classical corridors, displaying a remarkable demeanor. While maintaining a certain aloofness, unavoidable glances were cast towards Daniel, who wandered the corridors nonchalantly in his black robe, accompanied by an unremarkable female apprentice.

Mary and Daniel’s ”humble” appearance did indeed stand out in this solemn and magnificent building, but even more notable was Daniel’s unselfconscious and confident demeanor. The old mage wore the same long robe he hadn’t changed in years, while artificial nerve cords twitched within, producing a hair-raising friction sound. These peculiar and terrifying constructs were uncommon even among the eccentrically tempered mages, naturally attracting everyone’s attention. Yet, amidst these attentions, the old mage just walked forward calmly, as if strolling in his own backyard.

Mary had never seen her mentor display such a demeanor.

Around her, the mages cast curious, attentive, questioning, and scrutinizing glances. These gazes made the young female mage somewhat nervous and uneasy. She knew who these people were, those having exceptional talent in Magic and holding high status within the mage community, representing the pinnacle of Typhon’s magical prowess, admirable figures. While she herself was just a low-ranked small mage from a small place in the countryside, under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t even have the qualification to walk alongside these prestigious figures...

”Lift your head,” her mentor’s voice suddenly reached her ears, snapping Mary back to her senses, ”if you walk with your head down again, I’ll turn your neck to stone so you can’t ever lower it again.”

Mary swallowed a mouthful of saliva and tried hard to lift her head, seeing that they finally reached the end of the long corridor.

A wooden door, etched with golden-red patterns and glowing with magic symbols, stood there.

Daniel stopped before the door, and Mary followed suit. The symbols on the door lit up, and a small crystal hovered out from a hole in the door, circling the two of them, before the door opened automatically.

Behind the door was a spacious and bright room, entirely different from the cramped, eerie, and oppressive mage laboratories in her impression. Illuminated by Magic crystal lamps, with a ring of bookshelves and large floor-to-ceiling windows, in the center of this room stood a semicircular large desk facing the door. A middle-aged woman in a blue skirt-style mage robe stood before it, seemingly having awaited there in that posture for a long time.