Sword of Dawnbreaker

There were fewer pedestrians on the street than in her memory. They were still dressed in patched, drab-colored coarse linen clothing, walking quickly with numb expressions. Occasionally, someone would stop in a corner of the street, stretching their necks toward the Magic-guided Vehicles with their mouths agape for a couple of stunned glances, but quickly lowering their heads in reverence, as if not daring to make eye contact with these ”magical beasts” made of steel.

The streets in the residential area were narrow, and even with not many pedestrians, congestion would occur. The vehicle’s mechanic would occasionally honk the horn, and many pedestrians would hunch their shoulders and bow—bowing to the noisy steel machine, so much so that some even forgot they should make way, forcing the Soldier to lean out of the vehicle window and loudly remind passersby to avoid the vehicle.

To prevent injuring pedestrians, the vehicle moved slowly. Some children curiously approached the Magic-guided Vehicle, pointing and talking at the roadside, but were quickly slapped by adults and dragged home by their ears.

”Although we’ve been in the city for half a month, people still find these new things unsettling,” said a female Magic Combatant sitting next to Jenni, with a touch of awkwardness. She was one of the soldiers who came north with the First Legion and took over St. Soniel. At this moment, she was assigned to Jenni’s escort, both to protect Jenni and serve as a guide to other Soldiers. ”Things are much better now... on the first day, there were even civilians kneeling in front of the Magic-guided Vehicle, performing the benediction.”

Jenni sighed softly: ”This needs to change... We’ve all been through that period.”

”Yes, we’ve all been through it—when the first Magic-guided Water Pump was installed in the village, my father even forbade us from approaching the fields out of fear that it would eat people. But after just a year, he wanted to pool money with the neighbors to buy a thresher, as the farming equipment at the management station was never enough, the queues were always long, and the harvest this year was so big that it seemed impossible to manage by hand,” the Soldier smiled, looking at Jenni with great respect, ”All thanks to Masters like you.”

Jenni, being innately introverted and often absorbed in her laboratory, was not skilled at handling such direct praise and tributes. She could only lower her head and reply softly: ”Thank you... but there are many better than me.”

As they spoke, they had already passed through the outer city’s residential area and entered the more affluent and prosperous part of the inner city.

The narrow streets suddenly became wider, and the houses appeared neater and taller. Along the road, citizens dressed appropriately and walking with heads held high began to appear. At the end of this street, some tall spires and gleaming magic symbols floating overhead had already come into Jenni’s view.

She took a gentle breath.

St. Soniel’s Mage District had arrived.

The two vehicles traversed the streets of the wealthy area, heading straight into the Mage District, where the entire region was already under the control of the Cecil Legion. The Magic-guided Vehicles, with military markings, encountered no obstacles within the Mage District.

Under Jenni’s guidance, the vehicle eventually stopped in front of a Mage tower, with a light purple spire and gray-white walls, approximately four to five stories high.

This was a typical traditional Mage tower, the entire building standing on a solid stone foundation, with subtly shimmering magical symbols on the gray-white facade. The heavy and luxurious oak doors were sealed with a magic barrier, and above the spire were floating crystals and metal structures slowly revolving around the top—those crystals and structures were equipped with surveillance, alert, and combat functions. Jenni was very familiar with them.

A small group of soldiers disembarked, accompanying Jenni to the front of the Mage tower. The symbols sealing the surface of the oak doors flickered a few times, then dissipated, and the doors slowly opened.

No need to knock—the Tower Spirit controlling the Mage tower would discern visitors and alert the guardians.

After patiently waiting for a moment, Jenni saw a mage apprentice in a dark gray robe emerge from the dim doorway.

His name was Mark, one of the mentor’s apprentices.

Not a servile apprentice, a true apprentice.