The sudden appearance of an old man brought shock and astonishment to everyone in the area. After all, every resident of Lindhall City knew exactly who the old man was. Even the people passing them on the street were looking at the old man in surprise.

This old man was none other than the only 7th Circle Mage, the Great Sage Hellison Valestia. Just from the reactions of others, one could see how high and special his position was.

Right. Is this princess right over here the one who this brat Yulis has been praising so much?

Ah. My name is Winley ORowane. As someone who learns and studies magic, it is my honor to meet with the continents renowned Great Sage, said Winley nervously.

The old man burst into loud laughter. Hoho. What should I do with those compliments? This old man is nothing special.

N No! Great Sage! How can you lower yourself like that?! Collin the assistant mage exclaimed in shock.

Certainly, Hellison Valestia had the position with a privilege given by the Continental Alliance to not bow his head to the royal family or even the kings of nations.

Youre the one whose standards are weird. Usually, someone at the level of the Great Sage would be the object of everyones admiration.

Aside from his magic being at the 7th Circle, Hellison Valestia also had wisdom and insight. He was also well-known for having a big heart. All the more reason why he became everyones object of admiration.

The fact that a person like Hellison Valestia was greeting Davey and Winley, both of whom were not yet twenty years old, shocked all of the assistant mages.

Those stubborn and arrogant mages are the same everywhere.

Stubborn, eccentric, and one-track mindedwere traits that all mages had.

What do you mean by lowering myself? How can it be wrong for me to greet someone in person when they deserve such a treatment?

Collin frowned slightly. However

Stop. Are you still going to show more disrespect?

Imsorry.

Collins apology was insincere and done against his will, but Davey did not care about that. After all, the man had already paid the price for insulting him.

Thats right. Youre here for the board game.

Yes.

Hohohoho. A promise is a promise. Good, come. Ill guide you myself.

It seems like youll be having a private conversation. Then, I will guide Miss Winley separately.

Ahyes. Please take care of me, Yulis.

Following behind Great Sage Hellison Valestia, Davey could see the brief show of malice and anger in all of the participating mages faces. But what else could he say? He didnt really care about what would happen to them, since they did not even try to hide their malice toward him.

As Davey followed behind Great Sage Hellison Valestia, he could see the malice and anger that flashed in the faces of all of the participating mages. What else could Davey say? He did not really care about what would happen to them since they did not even cover their faces and concealed their emotions, attacking him directly with their malice.

***

This place is a bit shabby for the reception of the continents only Saint, but please have a seat.

To be frank, the Great Sages workshop was seriously cluttered and messy. It was surprising, because people generally associated the continents Great Sages workshop to be a room connected to a neatly organized library.

Davey had been led to a place within the Red Towers headquarters, but it wasnt inside the mage tower itself. He was in a huge garden on the outskirts of the territory. In this large garden was a small shack that did not even follow the architectural design that was prevalent in Lindhall.

It looks like you have been living here for a long time.

There is no other place that calms me as much as this place. How do you like the place?

While listening to Hellison Valestias question, Davey picked up one of the books that littered the ground. The room had not been cleaned, so a pile of dust was covering the book cover with a stale odor. It was obvious that the book had not been used for a long time.

[Theory of Mana Distribution Based on Rotational Dynamics]

To an ignorant person, this book would appear to be quite difficult to understand.

When Davey opened the stiff and crusty yellow cover of the book, he was met with the complete explanation of what seemed to be a plausible theory.

Hmm, right.

Hmm? Was there such a theory?

Its a rubbish theory. Davey dismissed the theory bluntly. He finished reading through it as he chuckled to himself.

Just by looking at the book's title, one could already tell what the theory was about. In fact, it was actually one of the cornerstone theories in the current mage academy and society. All of the mages considered this one theory to be one of the best theories in existence.

For Davey, however, the theory was just filled with contradictions.

This book is covered with dust.

Why do you think so?

You probably dont read it because its full of rubbish.

Hoho. The contents of the book and the theory were written by a well-known mage.

That doesnt matter. Besides, Sir Hellison, you neglected this book because you judged it to be a poor theory, no?

In the room were also books that did not even have a single speck of dust on them. Those books appeared to have been carefully and sincerely used. However, there were some books that were as dusty as the one in Daveys hand. It was clear they had never been touched.

The old man chuckled. Im not sure if I should consider you to be too quick-witted or not.

Raising his hand toward the fireplace that was on one side of the room, the old man said, Sing.

[Fire]

A fiery flash shot out from Hellison Valestias fingertips, bringing the fireplace to life and getting rid of the cold air in the room.

Then, staring at the crackling fire in the fireplace, Hellison shook his head at the book that Davey had handed over to him. He said, No matter how rubbish the theory is, you cant just burn a book like that.

After much consideration, Hellison Valestia did not burn the book. He stood up and placed the book on the appropriate shelf. Then, as he waved and murmured something, two chairs that had been buried deeply in a pile of books naturally and swiftly rose in the air before being set neatly side by side.

And with another order, the dust covering the ground rose in the air, gathered in a lump, and shot straight to the fireplace.

The mages would freak out if they find out that their revered Great Sage is living in such a small shack.

Hohohoho. Thats actually not the case. Those youngins think that the secret to my magic skills lie in this place. Thats why they are all prepared to pour their entire life savings just for a chance to be invited here.

Hellison Valestia seemed to be implying that human beings liked to be inefficient.

After spitting out his philosophies calmly, Hellison Valestia opened a cupboard and prepared tea with ease and familiarity. Then, he held out a cup to Davey and asked, Do you know why this old man invited you here, Prince?

Davey fell silent for a moment before saying, Who knows? I cant make a judgment that easily.

This punk. You like to tease this senile and slow-witted old man, huh?

It seems like you have already noticed that I did not come here just to get my board game.

The Great Sage would have a different view of the world, since a lot of information would come through him first. Because of that, Hellison Valestia could guess that Davey was not a person who would come all the way to this place for something so trivial.

Davey had come for something personal, so it was not the perfect timing for him to ask for it.

Noticing that Davey was slightly holding back, Hellison Valestia became more certain that the prince had some other business with him.

Only ones sense and wit would grow with age. Hmm. No one will listen to what you have to say in this place, Prince.

It did not matter whether this was in the mage tower or not.

I would like to commission you.

After pausing for a moment, Hellison Valestia said, A commission Are you telling me that you hold something so great and significant that you have to request something of me?

Unlike Yulis, who had stayed with Davey for quite a while, this was only Hellison Valestias second meeting with Davey. And even though this was only their second meeting, the old man was already certain that Davey was hiding something big behind his mask as the Saint.

Im sure you have made quite a lot of magic mediums during your stay in the Red Tower. I need at least two sealing stones that are at least fifty years old.

Those items were not enough to make a replica of an object that could interfere with the laws of this world. However, they were necessary ingredients.

I see, Hellison Valestia said with a nod. Fifty years The only thing that this old man has plenty of is time. I have tried many things in the past. So, I probably should have made a sealing stone of that size. To be honest, I think its stuck in one of the corners of my storage since I cant find any use for it.

As Davey remained silent, Hellison Valestia said, Two of them. Alright, Ill give them to you. However, theres a condition. How about it? Would you care to listen?

Davey nodded.

***

There were quite a lot of things that had to be made over a long period of time. Although Davey wished that he could use some time-acceleration magic, he was in the position of serving the Goddess which prevented him from doing such a thing. As someone who possessed great power, he also had to bear huge responsibilities. It was basically a field of magic that even Davey dared not use since he had great amounts of holy mana in his body.

Ah! Brother! Over here! Winley waved furiously when she saw Davey approaching. Then, pointing to the empty seat next to her, she added, I made sure to save a seat for you, Big Brother.

This was the sacred academy, so there were no designated seats for anybody here. After all, everyone here were mostly nobles or members of the Royal Families. Every mage towers goal was to get recognition from these people based on their skills.

However, even if the members of the Royal Families had come here with open minds, some would still be slightly uncomfortable with sitting together with the masses inside the sacred academys conference hall. Of course, those who felt uncomfortable had internalized the idea that they were a cut above the rest and were different from the masses since birth.

As for Winley, she had no problems with such a seating arrangement despite being born a royal. This just went to show how well she had been raised.

Its quite crowded and chaotic.

But Im really looking forward to the theoretical presentation.

Davey did not bring Rinne, who would only draw unnecessary attention with her wings and halo. In fact, she was probably suffering from Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbons uncontainable excitement right about now.

Brother, arent you interested in the conference?

Davey shook his head. Whats the point of watching a talent show?

Just because Hellison Valestia was hailed as the 7th Circle Great Sage did not mean that all of the mages present in this conference were worthy of respect. Most of the prominent mages who attended this conference were at the 4th to 5th Circle. Only a handful were about to step into the realms of the 6th Circle.

For mages, the 6th Circle was around a Masters level.

Not long after, the buzzing hall with everyone gathered together, instantly fell silent. A wave of silence magic had swept across the mage tower. Then, a man slowly walked toward the center of the now silent hall, and he was none other than Yulis.

Nice to meet you. I am the last elder of the Central Tower, 5th Class Yulis, and the host of this years Magical Theory Conference.

As the silence magic was gradually lifted, everyone once again began to discuss and talk amongst themselves. The quiet surroundings were soon buzzing with comments and conversations again.

We will begin right away. Now, I will hand over the stage to Blue Towers elder, 6th Class Bram, Yulis said as he handed over the cylindrical rod in his hands to the uptight old man who climbed up to the podium.

The old man quietly accepted the rod and bowed his head to the younger Yulis. Well, Yulis was powerful enough to receive such courtesy from others.

Nice to meet you. As usual, I welcome all of your questions However, if you want to criticize my work, then I implore that you provide us with reasonable grounds.

Criticizing and accusing someone without sufficient evidence was a ridiculous act and one that was a complete waste of energy.

The old man tapped the bundle of papers in his hand on the podium and said dryly, This is the research that we have been focusing on at Hex, a magical research institute affiliated with the Blue Tower.

Then, several letters began to rise and appear in the air behind Bram.

[The Dynamics of the Existence of the 8th Circle Ring and the Resulting Limits in Life.]

It sounded quite complicated, but it was nothing much to Davey. Basically, it was a theory that stated that 8th Circle magic or beyond could not exist in a human being. The theory stated that the 8th Circle was a level that no human could handle. In other words, humans could never reach such a level because of their species limitations.

Brother, youre a mage who is beyond the 8th Circle, no?

Thats right.

Then, that

The premise of the theory is wrong from the very beginning.

This was a standard problem and calculation that usually occurred if one was studying magic and had reached such a high level. However, the world was filled with variables that went beyond simple predictions and calculations.

Besides, there was a living and breathing example of a human who had more circles than the 8th Circle, a level that someone could not handle with a mere humans computational power and amount of mana. Simply put, the theory was mere nonsense.

Winley giggled at Daveys blunt statement.