Heir of Synthesis: The World Mage

After taking a deep breath, Priam concluded coldly:

”Think before you start spouting meaningless nonsense. There are countless wonders and miracles in this world. How can you say none of them will ever achieve greatness? Are you a god? How can you be so certain? The future is always a question mark. As for them... every single one of them proved they deserved to enter the sect by making it to the final trial and surviving on their own without anyone supporting them in the end.”

”What nonsense! Do you think I’m blind? You—”

”Enough. This is getting boring.” The Elder Leader’s voice rang out, cutting off the leader of the Law Elders without hesitation.

”Do you have anything relevant and even remotely logical to add?”

The old man froze, his face turning red with rage.

He bowed, swallowing all of his indignation.

”Reporting to the Elder Leader, this humble one simply feels—”

She raised a hand, cutting him off.

”My patience is limited. If you keep saying irrelevant things, don’t blame me for cutting your head off. If you have nothing else to add, we’ll continue with the welcoming ceremony.”

”Yes.” That old man had no choice but to back down helplessly.

She nodded, then turned toward the young mages.

”Good. I don’t need to explain everything right now. You’ll all understand your responsibilities in time. For now, after receiving the Sovereign’s blessing, you’ll have exactly thirty days to train and make use of everything the sect has to offer. After that, you’ll undergo the first Mage Disciple Rank faction trial.”

After saying that, she took a deep breath and looked upward.

High above, the enormous portal remained open, leading somewhere unknown where that colossal statue stood.

”It’s time. Just relax and let the Rune of Creation settle into your bodies.”

*BUZZ!*

With a powerful hum, the statue suddenly lit up as countless runes revolved around it. An incredibly brilliant white energy began descending upon the disciples.

Immediately, everyone felt their bodies grow lighter, and their pores opened, eagerly absorbing the runes.

The only thing they could hear was Mishnar’s calm voice.

”This is the Sovereign’s blessing. Only those who possess the Rune of Creation will be able to become Sages in the future. For now, it will remain dormant within your bodies, waiting for that day.”

At that moment, Priam’s eyes widened.

So that was the secret. To become a Sage, possessing that thing was mandatory. In other words, he had to join a sect like this and receive this rune, or he would never advance beyond being a Mage.

The disciples became ecstatic. Even though the Rune of Creation had only settled into their bodies, they could still feel their bodies undergoing a kind of metamorphosis. The men became more handsome, while the women became even more beautiful.

The whole process lasted only a few seconds.

Then, all the light vanished.

”That’s all. The welcoming ceremony has come to an end,” Mishnar announced.

***

After the ceremony ended, nearly all the weaker disciples from the various factions returned to their residences. For them, it was far more beneficial to spend the next few days absorbing Aether and growing stronger.

Those who had been born within the sect, however, didn’t need that as much, so they headed toward the central region, where countless useful sect facilities were located.

Dandara gave Priam a detailed explanation of everything.

The outer sect branch was basically divided into three major regions.

The largest of them all was a special, magical area where only those at the Elder level or above were allowed to stay.

The second-best region was an incredible place, accessible to every disciple who managed to become a Sage. Upon reaching that level, a disciple received a temporary pass granting them freedom within the outer sect.

They could live there, a place a thousand times better, and no longer had to belong to any faction. They also weren’t required to participate in trials or complete missions, and they received resources for free. Of course, they could still choose to work and earn additional resources. Many did—Uswyn was one example.

The reason was simple: only Sages were allowed to take the entrance test for the inner sect. These tests were held every five years, so every outer sect member who qualified was given that opportunity to prepare as thoroughly as possible.

However, they had at most ten years to succeed, and they could only fail the inner sect test once. If they failed a second time, they would never be allowed to try again and would be forced to become an Elder of the outer sect.

In short, every Elder in the outer sect was a disciple who had reached the Sage realm but failed the test to enter the inner sect. They were all merely low-level Sages.

There was only one exception.

If an Elder distinguished themselves greatly in battle and made enormous contributions to the sect, they would receive a second chance.

First, they would be promoted to the Elder Leader of one of the branches. Then, if they passed several other extremely difficult evaluations, they could one day officially join the inner sect. That was Mishnar’s case.

Finally, the third region of the outer sect was where all the disciples and their factions lived.

They were divided into two groups: Mage Disciple Rank and Mage Master Rank. That way, the competition remained fair, since each faction only competed against others of the same Rank.

If someone from a Mage Disciple Rank faction advanced to Mage Master, they could no longer remain in that faction.

That said, they would never be short on offers to join a higher-ranked faction. After all, deaths were incredibly common in the sect, and the higher-ranked factions fought desperately to maintain their numbers, fiercely competing to recruit new members.

As for the layout of the place, Dandara described it as an enormous circle stretching millions upon millions of miles across.

All the faction territories were located around the outer edge of that circle. At the very center stood the buildings that housed every kind of facility and resource for the disciples to enjoy.

After finishing her explanation, Dandara said she needed to visit the forests located within the outer sect. Several unique beast races protected by the sect lived there, and it was strictly forbidden for disciples to kill them.

Those beasts lived in tribes and hated getting close to Mages. But according to her, since she was half-beast herself, she might be able to build a friendly and mutually beneficial relationship with them.

Priam didn’t mind, so he headed to the central region alone to see what it had to offer.

...

The place really was enormous. Even using the wind element to run at high speed, it still took Priam nearly five hours to get there.

It was like a massive city. About a dozen gigantic buildings pierced the sky, surrounded by numerous smaller ones. There wasn’t much activity on the streets, but he could sense several hundred disciples scattered all over the area.

Priam walked toward the first large building he saw. At the top was a huge sign that read:

*Mission Distribution*

’Oh, this looks promising.’

Excited, he walked inside.