Searching for the entrance to the Magic Ring Tower in Kleitamm City was beyond Stu Ao's capabilities.
So Dago could only rely on himself to find the entrance. He assigned Stu Ao another task: to find Serena's fallen family in Kleitamm City.
The Magic Ring Tower was one of the four Wizard Towers Dago could see when he looked up, along with a small area surrounding the base of the tower.
Following the surge of energy in his spiritual vision, he continuously approached the Magic Ring Tower in the eastern part of the city.
Once the Wizard Tower completely obscured the outline of the sun in the sky, the energy surge reached its peak.
The rune array in the tower area was clearly much more advanced than the one he had seen in the passage when he first entered. Dense streams of energy wove into a water-like curtain, obscuring everything, making it impossible to see any scene within the array.
After searching for a long time, he finally found a five-story metal building standing outside the light curtain, with a giant Thorn Law Ring symbol on its exterior.
Dago strode in, stated his purpose, and was soon greeted by an Apprentice Wizard.
"Name?"
"Dago Heka."
"Age?"
"Eighteen."
"Strength?"
"Formal Wizard."
When Dago reported his age and strength, the middle-aged man responsible for registering him looked up at him in surprise.
"Who is your recommender? Did he come with you? A letter of recommendation is also acceptable."
The middle-aged man asked Dago, and Dago's mind instantly froze, looking bewildered.
"Recommender? Letter of recommendation? What are these things?!"
"You don't even know this, and you're here to apply to join the Magic Ring?"
The middle-aged man couldn't help but laugh, tapping his fingers lightly on the table.
"To apply to join the Magic Ring, you must first possess the strength of a Level 3 Apprentice Wizard. Secondly, you must have accumulated at least twenty years of residence in any Magic Ring city. Of course, if a Formal Wizard member of the Magic Ring is willing to recommend you, this requirement can be waived."
"If you have one, notify him to come over now, I can wait!"
Dago said nothing, standing in place, his eyes constantly darting around.
"Brother, please make an exception.", Dago shook a heavy bag of magic stones in front of the middle-aged man.
"Are you trying to bribe me? You're looking down on us Wizards of the Magic Ring a bit. This meager amount isn't even enough to fill a tooth gap; quickly move aside."
The middle-aged man lightly raised his hand, gesturing for him to leave.
Dago could only sit dejectedly in a chair outside the room, contemplating his options. It seemed that bribery wouldn't work; the people of the Thorn Law Ring had quite high incomes.
He could understand why the Thorn Law Ring had set this rule; the purpose should be to prevent infiltration by other forces.
It seemed that the Thorn Law Ring was not the absolute authority in this area either, having corresponding hostile forces.
"Twenty years, am I just going to let my progress system sit idle for a full twenty years?"
Dago couldn't help but shake his head. There was a possibility of loopholes in the Wizard groups' monopoly on knowledge, but could he stumble upon one?
It was like the national treasure enthusiasts of his previous life, who would casually claim to have Ru ware or Chenghua chicken-cup vases, saying, 'The Forbidden City has one, I have one' kind of artifacts, but upon appraisal, they were all brand new, undeniably new.
He could only come into contact with true Wizard inheritance by joining those who held knowledge.
Dago sighed softly, stood up from the chair, and walked to the window.
Looking at the distant, mysterious, and majestic Fourth Magic Ring Tower, his gaze gradually deepened.
"Then I can only find a Formal Wizard member of the Magic Ring to recommend me. This time, it's definitely going to cost me."
"This period is perfect for finding Serena, clearing the Tears of Hylam from my body, and practicing Basic Swordsmanship."
..........
.....
In the following days, Dago changed his previous habit of staying secluded in the Wizard Inn; he made time to go out every day to understand the city's structure.
To most ordinary people, the mayor and city council members were important figures in the city.
But in reality, based on Dago's observations over the past few days, the three most important institutions in Kleitamm City were the Wizard Hall, which managed Wizard professions, the Sanctuary of Wisdom, which controlled all rune technology, and the Wizard Alliance Bank, which held the economic lifeline.
As for the most important regional defense and combat matters, these were controlled by the local Wizard forces.
In fact, most Wizards and the mundane world were in a state of isolation; the secular belonged to the secular, and Wizards belonged to Wizards.
A very important reason was the risk of Formal Wizards falling into depravity; they basically stayed in the towers to study the Spirit World.
Therefore, Apprentice Wizards served as a buffer zone between the secular and Wizard classes, and were the level of Wizards most ordinary people could come into contact with.
Basically, the employees in the Wizard Hall, Sanctuary of Wisdom, and Wizard Alliance Bank were all Apprentice Wizards.
The higher the level, and the deeper the Spiritual Space delved into the Spirit World, the greater the possibility of being corrupted and falling into depravity.
Therefore, the higher the level of Wizard, the harder it was to find their traces in the mundane world!
Of course, rogue Wizards were an exception; they were the rats of the Wizard class, not accepted by most Wizard forces.
Not to mention loyalty, most rogue Wizards cultivated themselves using chaotic knowledge that had leaked from the Wizarding World, and there was a very high risk of corruption!
And they were also an important source of the Black Robe terrorist organization, so legitimate forces didn't even give them a proper look!
Dago recalled a line from a wandering swordsman, "Is the life of a fallen leaf just about finding its roots? Though I wander the world, I have not lost my original heart!"
In the meditation room of the Kleitamm City Wizard Hall, Dago meditated calmly.
Gugu in the Spiritual Space was spreading its mist wings beyond the Gray Sun, devouring the distant silver mist, and the inverted Silver Sea above the sky was breathing peacefully.
Dago's soul body, like a brilliant galaxy, sat cross-legged in the center of the Gray Sun, drawing the silver mist into the Gray Sun.
The Sphere of Despair, meanwhile, revolved around the Gray Sun, caught in a tug-of-war between the Gray Sun and the Sea of Despair.
Dago's Spiritual Space was too vast, making it impossible to sink into the Silver Sea; only half of his Spiritual Space bordered it.
This led to a much slower rate at which the silver mist filled Dago's Spiritual Space, and he didn't know who to ask about these cultivation problems.
He had anticipated that a rogue Wizard's path would be exceptionally difficult, but he hadn't expected it to be this difficult.
Exiting his Spiritual Space and returning to reality, he sat in a daze in the meditation room, with no clue about Serena's whereabouts.
Even though Dago's resolve was now firm, far exceeding before, encountering one bad, uncooperative thing after another, his mood couldn't help but sink.
Dago took a deep breath, walked out of the meditation room, and stood on the bustling street, like a street sign.
"The only thing I can think of now is the hollow goal of becoming stronger.", Dago looked at the hazy sky of Kleitamm City.
"Without family, without romance, without friendship, the only motivation pushing me forward now is the pure biological instinct to seek strength; there is no goal worth fighting for a lifetime."
A sense of nihilistic despair, like a tide, surged from his heart, and the colors of the world began to recede from Dago.
He recalled memories from his past life, recounting those lives he could never return to.
The more he recalled, the more he sank into despair; an invisible black mist enveloped him, causing his soul to be carried away by memories when he imagined.
Leaving his body, pierced and occupied by black and cold despair.
In the Spiritual Space, unseen by Dago, the Gray Sun was sinking into the Black Sea of Despair.