(Zrudread University Hidden Location)

(Archmage Hollystorm's Mage Tower)

There are several achievements and requirements that any aspiring mage hoping to gain the coveted title of 'Archmage' has to acquire to reach the bare minimum to be considered.

One of these requirements was the ownership of a mage tower.

Mage towers were extremely expensive to construct as the material necessary for their creation could run upwards of the range of five hundred billion Enas.

Mage towers were not just the simple homes of mana wielders but rather it was both a place to rest and a living weapon enchanted by the owner's use of runes carved on its surface.

From the outside, Archmage Hollystorm's mage tower was a far stretch from an imposing or even impressive appearance.

It looked like a wooden shack only the size of one small bedroom apartment.

No expensive materials could be seen in its construction as it appeared that the tower was built out of ordinary hardwood.

But no one would dare to underestimate this humble abode as it was as simple as breathing to an archmage specializing in spatial magic to manipulate the actual dimensions inside of this seemingly ordinary shack.

It was in this tower that Astrid was currently pretending to study when her mentor flew into the room.

"Why are you getting so distracted during our lesson?" a stern voice whispered next to the Mendolesa girl currently drawing doodles instead of runes on parchment paper.

"It's just so boring," Astrid whined as her tail drooped down in frustration.

"Can't we just fight instead?"

Archmage Hollystorm had to resist the urge to beat this troublesome apprentice of his to death.

All Astrid wanted to do was duel him!

No matter how many times he would beat her down...

She would return a few minutes later after drinking a healing serum for yet another round with a confident grin on her face.

Astrid Lockhart was one of the most naturally gifted mages among the younger generations that the archmage had ever seen.

She would learn any spells he taught almost immediately with the impressive ability to cast them using less time than her peers.

But it was her dangerously high skill in combat that truly made the Archmage almost obsessed with the possibility of teaching student that would one day surpass him.

Spatial magic was one of the most difficult branches of magic to learn as it required both talent and the ability to perform complex series of calculations in microseconds with every spell.

If he had to name, the biggest flaw of his apprentice it would have to be that she got distracted too easily.

She could only manage to sit down and read spell scrolls for about thirty minutes before her mind started to wander around.

Archmage Hollystorm would often catch her gazing at the enormous oak tree in the garden of the magic tower with a silly grin on her face.

Maybe the traditional way of teaching magic would not work, most mages were content to stay indoors all day and read various ancient books and texts, but it was clear that Astrid was not going to learn that way.

Perhaps he could try a different approach instead.

"Alright you can take a break from reading," Archmage Hollystorm declared as he left the room to plan out a new training schedule.

"Hell yeah! Thanks, old man!" Astrid gleefully put down the pages of runes in her hand and got up to stretch.

She gave the air a few sniffs and sighed in contentment.

This was the personal mage tower of an archmage so naturally there was the slight musky smell of old books from the numerous libraries contained in its spacious rooms.

Honestly, her master treated her very well and generously allowed her to have five private rooms just for her own personal use.

It was quite the luxurious five-star treatment as the numerous golems walking around the halls were available to tend to any need or desire that she could possibly have.

Food, drinks, a back massage and basically any other relaxing service was provided.

"Hmm. I should check up on the girls," Astrid muttered as she pulled out her communicator.

"Maybe I should message Qiana first."

It was pretty lonely having to take separate classes from the rest of her friends, but the girls had made plans to meet every evening of the week and spend time hanging out on the weekends.

[Silly wolf: Hey Qiana!!]

[Silly wolf: Wait why the heck did you change my name?!]

[BL fan: Astrid... why would we keep your nickname as 'Astrid the great, might, powerful, awesome sorceress of magic'?]

[BL fan: It's way too long]

[BL fan: And aren't you having class now?]

[Silly wolf: I could ask you the same question :p because I'm on a break rn]

[BL fan: Don't get me started the teacher is apparently still trying to fix one damn spaceship for like thirty minutes now.]

[Silly wolf: And I thought that I had a rough morning trying to memorise all these bothersome runes]

[BL fan: Now why he doesn't just use another one of the hundreds of shuttles in the spaceport surrounding us is beyond me.]

[BL fan: Oh wait! Looks like he just fixed it]

[BL fan: Talk to you later]

[Silly wolf: Okay! I miss you :(]

[BL fan: ...]

[BL fan: I miss you too]

Astrid closed the chat window and sent a long message to Sophie as well as a significantly shorter one to Cleo but got no responses.

She figured that the class had probably resumed so both girls had their communicators on silent mode.

Browsing the virtual net for some new entertainment news provided a good distraction while she waited for her teacher to return.

"Damn," Astrid widened her eyes in shock at the trending news.

A colony of nomadic earthlings had been destroyed in the span of one single day.

These nomads were human settlers who had rejected the rule of the Earth Federation and spent their lifetimes travelling from planet to planet while trading and performing to survive.

Some saw them as a nuisance, others saw them as harmless and the government had yet to take an official stance on their existence, so they just kept on with their way of life.

The remains of a major clan of nomads called the 'Diyebs' with a population of two hundred thousand people were discovered by scavengers on a deserted planet in the Hydra Star Cluster.

The images from the incident had been banned on the virtual net for being too graphic, but the limited description provided by the article indicated that not a single corpse was in one piece.

The corpses were badly mutilated and torn apart with several bodies showing signs of being partially eaten.

No one knew why this group of people had chosen to visit this planet nor who exactly was responsible for the attack.

All electronics, surveillance and monitoring devices had been seized by the Earth Federation government.

There was one surviving audio footage from a tribe leader that a scavenger had managed to hide and upload to the virtual net, but it was taken down in mere seconds.

Astrid tried desperately for a few minutes to see if any sites dared to reupload the audio file, but it seemed that her quest was destined to be fruitless as all traces of it had been wiped clean.

(Planet [Data Encrypted] Base Camp Alpha- Storage Room)

(Classification Level: Maximum)

(Terynea sound capture device- Audio -Log # 45612- Last Entry)

"Mary take the kids and run!"

"They killed all of us!"

"What kind of monsters are they?"

"No! Get away from my son you filthy beasts!"

"Wait. why do they look like. human insectoi.... [Data Corrupted]"

Doctor Valenna's Notes:

The first trial run of the human insectoid hybrids has been an overwhelming success, but some concerns still remain when considering their long-term viability.

All recordings of the operation have been recovered and the rumors on the virtual net have been suppressed.

It was quite unfortunate that scavengers arrived just before the cleanup crew was sent over to wipe away the evidence.

Clearly better planning must be done for the second round of testing.

Bounty hunters from the grey market have already been hired to eliminate them swiftly.

It is important that no evidence linking the government to this project must be found.

The subjects show a marked increase in their physical characteristics, but their mental capabilities seem to have been directly reduced by fifty percent or more.

Another troubling issue that has emerged is the subjects' tendencies to go berserk and disobey orders when exposed to fresh blood or organs.

And the greatest flaw of these new modified soldiers is their extremely shortened life expectancy.

Human DNA can be forcibly mixed with low level Insectoid races, but the resulting hybrids do not live beyond thirty days before their bodies shut down and they expire.

Currently most subjects have a strength that can be estimated to be within the range of the qi body and spirit stage, but further modifications will be possible.

The lack of genetic samples from high level insectoid races will soon become a barrier to any further progress on our research.

My current speculation is that a perfect hybrid weapon could be created by mixing the DNA with fetuses rather than fully grown adults.

Tests of this nature should begin next month.

I can only hope that the higher ups will continue to provide us with appropriate materials on a regular basis.