Chapter 2105: Rank One Mage

In addition to everything else, Mel also informed Sein that his apprentice had already arrived at the Divine Tower of Ashes.

***

Before Catherine knew it, nearly thirty years had passed since she first came to the Divine Tower of Ashes.

The sense of wonder she had felt upon arriving had long since faded. By now, she had fully adapted to the environment and rhythm of life within the divine tower and was steadily advancing along her path as a full-fledged mage.

Catherine had successfully advanced seventy years ago. Now, at just 110 years old, she was already a Rank One mage.

Compared to the nearly thousand-year theoretical lifespan of a full-fledged mage, 110 was still incredibly young.

Catherine had also lived up to the expectations Sein had placed on her back then.

In terms of innate talent, she still could not compare with those extraordinary Despair Bearers who occasionally emerged among initiates.

Even so, her progress over the past few decades had been steady.

Not only had Catherine firmly established herself at Rank One, but she had already begun pushing toward the middle stage of Rank One.

That day, after finishing her classes at the Divine Tower Academy, the tall woman made her way back toward her residence with three spellbooks in her arms.

The arrangements Sein had casually mentioned before leaving had been carried out exactly as instructed by Dean Marie.

From the moment Catherine arrived at the Divine Tower of Ashes, she had received no special treatment for being the tower master’s chosen apprentice.

In fact, Catherine did not even know who her mentor was.

After her contract with the Divine Tower of Ashes was finalized, Dean Marie had summoned her only once.

Catherine had not seen that esteemed Rank Four mage again since.

That was hardly unusual. Why would a high-ranking Rank Four mage spend much time with ordinary Rank One mages?

Over the past few decades, the people Catherine interacted with most were Borren, the Rank Two pyromancer in charge of her cohort, and the other Rank One peers.

The initiates who had distinguished themselves during that academy war had each begun making names for themselves after advancing to Rank One.

The most gifted among them was undoubtedly Smark, the Ashen Hand.

He was around the same age as Catherine, yet had already reached the peak of Rank One. Rumor had it that he was preparing to attempt a breakthrough to Rank Two.

His talent was truly frightening.

Sophie, the Despair Bearer known as Faint Glow, was no less impressive. She had already reached the late stage of Rank One and was clearly far ahead of Catherine in terms of strength.

Catherine was not bothered. She had never been the competitive type.

Since they had all participated in the same academy war, the former initiates of that generation who had since advanced to Rank One would occasionally gather within the divine tower for social dances or academic salons.

Mages naturally had their own social circles, and gatherings like these were a good way to relax during breaks from experiments.

Academic salons, in particular, were quite popular among younger mages, since exchanging ideas with others often helped spark new inspiration.

Of course, in Magus World, it was usually only newly promoted Rank One mages who still found such activities fresh and interesting.

As for the “old-timers” who had lived for thousands of years, or even close to ten thousand like Sein, most had long since lost interest in such things. Instead, they devoted themselves to the endless pursuit of truth.

Catherine’s residence in the Divine Tower of Ashes was located on the seventy-seventh floor.

She shared that floor with no fewer than twenty-four other full-fledged mages, including several married couples who lived together.

The Divine Tower of Ashes had grown far too prosperous to continue its old practice of assigning an entire floor to every full-fledged mage who joined.

The neighboring Divine Tower of Green Flame and Divine Tower of Black Forest might still be able to afford such generosity.

But the Divine Tower of Ashes now stood out like a dazzling pearl in the region, and most newly arrived mages in Ashenreach naturally preferred to join this powerful and exceptionally generous divine tower.

Even with twenty-four mage households sharing a single floor, however, each residence remained extremely spacious.

Thanks to the profound principles of spatial magic, every full-fledged mage’s residence came with a complete set of spellcasting and experimental facilities.

Alchemy labs, potion labs, incubation rooms, collection rooms, and more were all fully equipped.

Catherine’s residence alone had twelve rooms. That was more than enough to meet all of her experimental needs.

Even the largest living room was spacious enough to host several dozen guests.

In fact, many full-fledged mages held their private gatherings right in their own homes.

Compared to their days as initiates, when several people often had to squeeze into a single dormitory, full-fledged mages had far more time, space, wealth, and resources to pursue whatever truths and mysteries interested them.

It was said that the residences assigned to Rank Two mages and above were even larger, with access to stronger elemental pools and various other benefits.

Borren, the cohort leader, had once invited Catherine to visit his home, but she politely declined.

Catherine was never particularly fond of socializing. She preferred conducting experiments alone in her laboratory.

If she had to spend time around others, she would rather teach. The initiates always brought a kind of lively energy that Catherine found refreshing.

As she made her way back toward her residence with several spellbooks in her arms, her thoughts remained occupied by the experimental project she had been working on recently.

Catherine had kept the book she received as a reward after the Regional Inter-Divine Tower Academy War all these years. Even now, she had only managed to unlock about a third of its contents.

That book had played an indispensable role in her steady progress over the decades since advancing to Rank One, and it had also helped bring her close to the middle stage of Rank One.

During that time, Catherine had searched through the libraries of both the Divine Tower of Radiant Sun and the Divine Tower of Ashes, hoping to find other works by the same author or more detailed explanations of the spell models recorded in the book.

Unfortunately, all of her efforts had come up empty.

She had even tried seeking answers from the Arcana Light in the divine tower’s library.

However, the number of Arcane Points required was enough to make a freshly promoted Rank One mage like her give up on the idea for the time being.

As Catherine approached her residence, a bouquet of crystal roses resting outside her door suddenly pulled her from her thoughts.

Catherine frowned the moment she saw them.

The planar node beneath the Divine Tower of Ashes was heavily aligned with the pyro element, so cryo-attributed materials like these crystal roses were quite rare in the surrounding region.

Unless they were purchased directly from one of the divine tower shops, anyone hoping to gather them personally would have to venture into the deepest parts of the seafloor beneath Crescent Bay, just outside the Divine Tower of Ashes.

Catherine did not even need to examine the bouquet closely to know who had sent it.

And that was precisely why a trace of displeasure appeared on her face.