Meanwhile, Abium nodded his head and immediately greeted him.
"Greetings, Mage Berold. I'm Abium."
"Oh? You know me?" The hooded figure paused in surprise and nodded.
"If you need any help, you can ask me."
Saying so, he stepped forward and started walking towards the gate.
Abium quietly followed Berold and soon arrived inside the tower. Both then moved towards the nearby straight staircase, reached the second floor in a few seconds, and soon arrived in front of a metallic door.
'This tower looks creepy as hell.'
Neither a single mage nor any soldiers were seen in the northern tower, and it looked abandoned. After glancing at the surrounding walls, Abium noticed many magic rune circles were carved around all over the place and looked more mystical.
'These are magic spell circles, kid. Well, it appears they only carved zero and first-tier spell circles inside this tower.'
Azolla's voice echoed inside his mind.
At that moment, Abium saw Berold opening the metallic gate and stepping into the room.
He also followed after him and soon saw a mysterious magic circle drawn at the center of the room. More than thousands of rune characters were scribbled all over the circle and emitted reddish light.
Before Abium could take a closer look at the magic circle, Berold walked towards the center and ordered.
"Put the academic ring on your finger and walk into this circle."
Abium didn't say a word, wore the academic ring on his finger, and walked in.
As soon as he walked inside the magic circle, Abium saw the ring flickered in yellowing light and released mysterious energy.
Abium noticed that the space around him distorted and pulled him somewhere.
Before he could even blink, Abium found himself standing in front of a ten-meter tall Iron Gate. He looked around and noticed that they were not in the capital but somewhere else.
Surrounding him was full of trees and vines.
"Welcome back, Mage Berold. Who is this brat?"
A chilling icy voice came out of nowhere and made Abium tremble slightly.
'Who is it?'
He glanced around and noticed a small humanoid figure standing on his left side. It had yellow eyes, green skin, pointy ears, and was about 110 to 120 cm tall. It wore a regular linen shirt and pants and even a unique golden necklace. As he saw that figure, Abium couldn't help but get shocked inside!
'A goblin?'
As he stared at the goblin in surprise, Berold raised his metal-covered hand and spoke.
"Don't say a word. That will make Mister Grold angry."
Abium narrowed his eyes at Berold's words and nodded.
'Who would make a goblin to be their gatekeeper?' Moreover, a first-tier mage spoke respectfully towards a goblin, which made him puzzled inside.
To his surprise, the goblin named Grold seemed to have seen through his thoughts and spoke coldly.
"Brat, don't look down on me. I am a second-tier shaman."
While saying, it licked its eerie black lips and released its spirit power.
A second later, Abium felt that a great sense of invisible force appeared out of nowhere and assaulted him, making his mind fuzzy!
Simultaneously, a dangerous killing aura appeared around the goblin, making Berold step back.
Noticing their pale faces, Grold gave a wicked, playful smile and retracted its spirit power.
"I am sorry, sir." Abium bowed his head and hurriedly apologized.
"It's alright." The goblin Grold revealed its ugly yellow teeth and waved its hand.
Meanwhile, Berold thought of something and spoke while taking out two reddish-black crystals from his space ring.
"If you want to go inside, you must pay one chaos stone as an entrance fees."
While speaking, he moved his right hand and gave the crystals to Grold.
'Chaos stones… It's the same crystal one would get by killing chaos creatures.' Abium muttered to himself.
Meanwhile, the goblin took the crystals from Berold and snapped its finger.
A second later, the ten-meter tall gate opened, revealing a large white tower to his eyes.
"This is the ten-layered Magic Tower built with the help of prince Huggin," Berold proudly stated as he pointed his finger at the tall tower and stepped forward.
Abium also followed his footsteps and then looked at the tall tower.
The White Magic Tower was nearly as tall as the Star Tower and looked like it was carved out of white marble. He also noticed ornamental plants, trees, and even a fountain placed in the surroundings and gave the tower a unique beauty.
As Abium was in deep thoughts, the green goblin suddenly muttered a few words, made a few hand signs, and secretly sent a small ball of a black orb towards him.
The ink-black orb entered his body in a blink and created a strange three-headed snake tattoo on his nape.
A second later, the three-headed snake tattoo shone in eerie reddish color and started to fade, leaving no trace behind.
After that, Gerold made an evil smirk and started to laugh before muttering.
"Kekeke, I didn't expect to see a unique half-elf joining this academy. I should inform my master."
As the goblin spoke those words, it turned into a cluster of shadows and merged with the tall gate.
Although Abium didn't notice that mark on his back, Azolla did. But she didn't alert him in order not to make any suspicious action.
Meanwhile, Mage Berold pointed his finger towards the red-bird symbol engraved ring and spoke,
"Without this ring, you won't be able to activate that long-range teleportation circle. The ring is your identity, so remember not to lose it. Otherwise, you won't be able to enter the Kaummiths institute anymore."
Abium nodded thoughtfully.
'It seems the ring was the key to enter into Kaummiths institute. It must be some kind of unique transportation method.'
'They just engraved the right coordinate within this ring along with the teleportation magic circle, lad. As long as you manage to get that coordinate, you can come and go whenever you want.' Azolla spoke in his head.
'That much easier? If so, why hadn't enemies deciphered this secret coordinate yet?' He couldn't help but ask.
'Well, the coordinate is protected by a Tier-2 Mage's imprint. So, it's not an easy task. You need to be a Rune Master for that.'
Although he didn't understand Azolla's words, he was sure of one thing.
'I need to learn more about magic.'
At that moment, Mage Berold lifted his finger gently and continued his explanation.
"Use your spirit power to stimulate the magic circle on the ring and then create your spiritual imprint on it. Then, use your thoughts to imbue your mana in it..."
Abium patiently listened to his words, did as he said, and connected his soul with the ring. At that moment, he noticed that a strange link appeared in his mind.
After that process, both walked towards the tower, walked past many robed mages, and arrived much closer to the white tower.
Then, Abium entered the tower's first layer through a large gate-like passage and arrived at the grand hall. Even the floor appeared white, making him feel like he was walking in the royal castle.
Once he gave an in-depth look, he noticed many rune magic circles carved on the walls, ceiling, and floor that seemed to be flickering from time to time.
He retracted his gaze a moment later and shifted his attention towards the surroundings.
However, there were not many people in the first layer hall. Only a dozen of mages in black robes appeared here and there. Some sat lazily on their chairs while a few gathered in groups and appeared to be chatting.
At that moment, one of the black-robed mages noticed Abium's arrival and stood up.
"Berold? Is he a new admission?" He asked in a cold tone.
At that moment, Berold nodded his head and muttered slowly.
"Go and greet them. They are Official mages like me."
Nodding, Abium walked forward, bowed his head slightly, and spoke.
"Greetings, My Lords. I'm Abium, a half elf." He paused for a moment and then added.
"I've just arrived at the Kaummiths institute-"
Before he could finish his words, another figure stood up from his seat and spoke.
"Another one? Does he have any speciality, Berold? Or, did your teacher pick him up without even checking his background?" The man who stepped forth was tall and gaunt, with light brown skin and a long white beard. He wore a jet black robe that contrasted sharply with his snow-white hair, and Abium could not help but think this was what a true mage would look like.
"No one has the right to ask a mage's spell names, Joseph." As Berold spoke, the man named Joseph arrived near Abium and took off his ring from his finger.
Then, he released his spirit power and caused the ring to flicker in red light.
A second later, rune letters became visibly apparent to his eyes.
Then, Joseph gently nodded his head and gave it back to Abium.
"Mage Abium, you are not a first-tier mage yet. If you want to be a permanent member of the Kaummith Institute, you must become an official mage within three years." He added coldly and turned around.
'Did he learn about my strength using this ring?' Abium was startled inside and nodded.
Meanwhile, Berold took out a sheepskin paper and placed it on the nearby table.
"I thought of doing the contract process later, but it can't be helped. Come here, Abium. If not, these guys might start troubling you in the name of ragging."
Although he was puzzled by his words, he didn't say anything and moved closer to the table. Then, he took the sheepskin paper and started reading the content.
He noticed that the paper was written in Easica's common language, which made him sigh in relief.
As he started reading, Berold also looked at the contract paper and explained.
"This is a contract for all the students who join the institute. Our institute will provide you with three years of lodging for free and even present you some basic mana cultivation techniques. But if you want to learn some information about the basic spiritual cultivation technique, you have to promote your tier and become an official mage. As for the classes and spell models, you must pay extra fees." He also talked about the contract's merits and demerits, but Abium didn't listen much.
Instead, he asked Azolla to do a quick scan and see if there were any loopholes.
After confirming no loopholes, he picked up the nearby quill pen, dipped it into the ink bottle, and signed the paper. A second later, he felt that a strange black mark appeared on his soul form and merged with him.
'Curse?' He raised his eyebrows in suspicion.
'Yes. To be exact, it's called soul curse, a Tier-3 dark-elemental magic spell. So, even if you become a Second-Tier Mage, you'll receive a severe backlash if you thought of betraying the academy. I advise you to do your betrayal after you entered the realm of Third-Tier Mage.' The corner of his lips twitched as he heard the ominous words from Azolla.
'I don't even think of betraying the Peral Kingdom.' He grumbled inwardly, folded the contract sheet, and gave it to Berold.
Meanwhile, Berold caught the contract paper and spoke while walking towards the left side staircase.
"Follow me. I will give you the key to your room. Professor Zivior will come back to the White Tower only two days later. Till then, stay here and take some rest."