The second layer of the tower belongs to a non-public area, which generally isn’t open to the public. Following the duty-bound apprentice up to the second floor, Ivan suddenly found the noise from outside completely gone, and it was utterly quiet.
There was also a hall on the second floor, where six stewards on duty sat, and these stewards were clearly Level 1 Sorcerers.
The apprentice brought Ivan to one of them and explained the situation.
“Where is your recommendation token?” the steward asked indifferently.
Every year, numerous people wish to join the Enchanters Guild in various ways, but very few ever see their wishes fulfilled. Whether Level 1 or Level 2 Sorcerers, if they do not meet the requirements, the guild will refuse them entry.
Ivan took out a square stone token, which had a pattern composed of rune lines on one side, and an odd mouse engraved on the other—it looked both ordinary and extraordinary.
Upon receiving the token, the steward’s expression brightened, and he spoke with a much more solemn tone, “This is the recommendation token of an Enchantment Master; we do not have the authority to deal with it. Take this gentleman to Elder Menda Nei of the School of Space.”
“Yes, Steward Lawson.”
The towers of Troika Tower were interconnected, offering a particularly spacious interior. Ivan followed the apprentice ahead toward the left high tower.
“What is this School of Space?” he asked.
“Within our Enchanters Guild, there are Four Major Schools: the School of Energy Shaping, the School of Life, the School of Protection, and the School of Space. The emblem of the School of Space is the void rat on the token. That’s all I know,” the apprentice respectfully replied.
Ivan didn’t press him further, as apprentices and sorcerers belonged to different worlds and had limited knowledge accordingly.
Soon, they found a senior with white hair and beard in a simple study. This serious-faced elderly man was the School of Space elder mentioned by the steward.
Ivan could sense this man was a veteran Level 2 Sorcerer, stronger than himself.
After the guiding apprentice asked for permission, he dared not stay any longer to avoid overhearing anything inappropriate.
Ivan passed the recommendation token to him.
“What is your relationship with Enchantment Master Nelson?” Menda Nei instantly recognized the source of the token and asked gruffly.
“This—” Upon hearing this, Ivan’s face showed a clear sign of embarrassment.
In fact, what could his relation with Master Nelson possibly be? If he had to guess, he presumed the other was also a member of the Five Leaves Spear, making them colleagues at best.
Of course, this wasn’t something he could openly say.
“Never mind, I was just asking casually.” Menda Nei waved it off, not intending to probe any deeper, “Actually, I once studied under Master Nelson for a time, and I have great admiration for the master’s erudition.”
He was distinctly a sorcerer who wasn’t good at flattering others, with not much admiration discernible in his voice.
Ivan responded with a faint smile, not intending to elaborate. Speaking less about things one wasn’t aware of was wise, and silence prevented Mendenez from inquiring further.
“Your request is to join the Enchanters Guild and become a direct member, correct?”
“That is my intention.”
“Regardless of whether you have a recommendation token, one thing you must understand is that to truly join the guild, Enchanters must be outstanding among their peers. We have certain requirements for Enchantment proficiency, age, and strength; those who do not meet them will not be admitted.”
“I am willing to take the test.”
Seeing his reasonable approach and not making unreasonable demands by leveraging his relation with the Enchantment Master, Menda Nei’s normally stern face softened a bit and briefly introduced him to the structure of the Enchanters Guild.
The guild’s direct members had a clear structure: the high level included the President and the Vice President, who were also Enchantment Masters and Level 3 Sorcerers. The middle level consisted of guild elders, served by Senior Enchanters who were also Level 2 Sorcerers.
Beneath them were stewards of the guild, occupied by Intermediate Enchanters who were also Level 1 Sorcerers.
At the bottom level, there were also junior Enchanters and apprentices.
The Nelson who had provided the recommendation token was once an elder of the Enchanters Guild. After becoming an Enchantment Master, he did not pursue a higher position, but instead left the direct membership of the guild and departed from Chanay Continent to Botta Blood Plain.
Given Ivan’s level of ability, if he wished to become a direct member of the guild, he could only hope to become an elder after passing the test in one go.
“Some people do not lack the ability to step back and become a steward of the guild, but as Level 2 Sorcerers, it is really unnecessary to fight with Level 1 Sorcerers for the same position,” Menda Nei emphasized in conclusion.
“I understand,” Ivan expressed his comprehension. Indeed, it was not necessary for a Level 2 Sorcerer to bow down in such a way, thereby lowering one’s own status.
He also realized another problem: the guild’s assessments for distinguishing between junior, intermediate, and senior Enchanters were stricter than he had anticipated. The guild aimed to select those Enchanters with spirituality and talent.
He was confident in his own standards and insight and did not fear any of the guild’s assessments.
Moreover, Chairman Narnya, who had arranged for him to be here, must be aware of the current situation and knew that he had the capability to become a guild elder. The test was merely a formality.
Ivan firmly believed this. Enjoy new tales from My Virtual Library Empire
“As long as you understand, we will arrange a test for you in the coming days.”
Apart from being an Enchanter, he was also a Level 2 Sorcerer. While the Enchanters Guild was influential, it had no reason to unnecessarily offend a Level 2 Sorcerer.
“Tell me about your basic background; have you created any outstanding high-level Enchantment works in the past?” Menda Nei continued to inquire.
“My name is ‘Ivan Marichardon,’ born in Mongna Ant Land Academy on Moon Pincer Peninsula, and I am not yet thirty years old.” Ivan did not hold back, promptly introducing his background.
“Not bad. If this information is true, your age, identity, and strength all meet the guild’s requirements,” Menda Nei nodded slightly.
“As for my creations, I have made the Multi-changing Star Spike and the Ant King Sky Shield, both high-level magicalized items,” Ivan pondered and said.
“Did you really make the Multi-changing Star Spike?” Hearing this, Menda Nei showed even greater interest, “How many rune bundles?”
“Twelve, including elements of plants, fire, water, earth, wind, thunder, light, shadow, poison, spirit, life, and space,” Ivan replied truthfully.
He thought to himself, could there possibly be an even higher quality Multi-changing Star Spike?
Yes, twelve rune bundles are just an elementary runes sorcery array. Above that, there are intermediate and advanced runes sorcery arrays; naturally, there would be higher quality Multi-changing Star Spikes.
However, the Multi-changing Star Spike involves too many elements; it’s not easy to increase the number of rune bundles on it.
“If I only give you one set of raw materials, are you confident you can refine it?”
“No problem whatsoever.”
“Good, managing to do this is quite impressive,” Menda Nei rarely praised, then he followed with another question, “Is the Ant King Sky Shield you mentioned based on the blueprints from the Moon Pincer Peninsula and involves space energy?”
“You could say that.”
“Could you elaborate?”
“The Mongna Ant Land Cottage has an intermediate defensive sorcery array called ‘Ant King Barrier Array,’ in which I have delved deeply. Combining knowledge of space, I developed the Ant King Sky Shield for defense purposes. In fact, it’s a unique creation of mine, so it’s normal that the elder hasn’t heard of it,” Ivan disclosed without hiding anything.
After speaking, he simply took out his own Ant King Sky Shield.
“Elder, please look,” a bracelet-like object floated up from his arm, moved between the two, and quickly enlarged, transforming into a large hoop that hovered in front of him in the blink of an eye.
An energy shield emerged in the middle of the hoop, its dark hue enshrouded by a layer of special white light.
The light was faint, yet it added a degree of majesty to the magicalized item, making its unusual nature palpable.
Menda Nei’s eyes sparkled with anticipation at the sight.
“Let me try,” Menda Nei stared intently at the white light on either side of the energy shield for a while, then suddenly stepped back and conjured a Fireball compressed three times, its power surpassing that of a common Level 2 Magic.
The densely packed Fireball slowly approached the Ant King Sky Shield, and the two collided violently.
Both of them could clearly see that a small portion of the Fireball’s force was absorbed by the shield, while half of it flowed outward along the white light, causing flames to blaze vigorously around the Ant King Sky Shield—a spectacular sight. The attack’s energy dispersed in this manner.
Throughout the process, the Ant King Sky Shield suffered no damage.
“Excellent, excellent,” Menda Nei repeatedly praised, then his expression towards Ivan changed from the initial one, “Sorcerer Ivan, how many rune bundles are in this Ant King Sky Shield?”
“Just twenty.” Ivan’s goal was at least twenty-four, but he was constrained by the materials and had to lower his expectations after weighing his options.
Now that he had arrived in East Capital on the Chanay Continent, he was determined to achieve his previous goal, but it would take some time.
“That’s quite good. Sorcerer Ivan, please wait a moment; I will find someone to test you, so you can join our Enchanters Guild as quickly as possible,” Menda Nei said warmly, a change from his previous seriousness.
He asked Ivan to wait and hurried out the door.
Soon, Menda Nei returned to the study. Seeing that Ivan was still there, he breathed a silent sigh of relief.
“I’ve notified them, but there will be a slight wait as Vice President Angus has some matters to attend to.”
“I’m not in a rush.”
Ivan replied, somewhat puzzled by the elder’s drastic change in demeanor.
“Such matters are better sooner than later.” Menda Nei’s face revealed a rare smile as he voiced his intentions, “Sorcerer Ivan, seeing how adept you are with Space-type enchanting methods, how about joining our School of Space? Would that be agreeable to you?”
“I know only of the Four Major Schools within the guild; what are the differences between them?” Ivan inquired.
“There’s no question of superiority; the focus is simply different. The School of Space, of course, specializes in space enchantments and also dedicates itself to researching various Space-type Arrays.
Our ultimate goal is to develop a teleportation array and thereby deduce the gateway for exploring the Star Realm, benefitting the entire sorcerer community.
——
Additionally, the master Nelson also belongs to our School of Space, and he has good relations with many in the School of Space, including Vice President Angus who leads our sect,” Menda Nei continued earnestly promoting his school, altogether suggesting that it was an ambitious sect and that joining it would certainly be the right decision.
As for the other three schools, what they researched was far less promising than that of the School of Space.
“Elder, I would like to think it over and discuss it after I pass the test,” Ivan was not immediately persuaded.
“You needn’t worry, there will definitely be no issue with the test,” Mendenez assured confidently.
Hearing him, Ivan was at a loss for words, not forgetting the elder’s previous dismissive attitude.