The armor piece was a perfect fit for his left shoulder, and he could sense the surge of information being transmitted into his brain.
It was the information related to the magic circle inheritance.
"Can you feel that? That's the advantage of having a magic circle inheritance set. Dark Wizard Tower is one of the most powerful organizations, but even we can only build several of those sets. Can you imagine how many resources were allocated into this?" the old man whose name was Medisa chuckled as he explained.
"And this," he threw Angele a white ball, "this is the seed of the magic circle inheritance. Plant it in the location you have selected, and the only thing you need to do is to wait. Make sure you're the only one there when you plant the seed or there will be trouble."
"Got it." Angele carefully grasped the white ball. "Can you give me a durable and stable pouch? Mine was destroyed during the competition."
"No problem." Medisa fetched a small black pouch from the drawer. "This is something I used when I was young. Made out of dragon skin, I'm sure it won't break in a normal battle. I watched how you fought in that battle. I like your style. You know, the director has three students, but I like you the most. I'll give it to you for free just because of that." Medisa gave Angele a thumbs-up.
"Is it a tradition for a director to take the winner as their student?" Angele queried.
"It's a rule that a director of a department can take the winner in as their student, but it doesn't have to be the wizard department. Dark Wizard Tower does not host competitions often, you see. The director of the department of change invited you to hers, didn't she? She probably likes you, too," the old man explained, "I know what you're thinking. You're wondering about the benefits of becoming a student of the director, right? I can tell you one thing—you will be able to protect everything important to you in the chaotic times about to come…"
The old man showed a meaningful smile.
"Huh? So you will give me power? Or authority?" Green (Angele) remained calm for he knew he was getting closer to the secrets of Dark Wizard Tower.
"Authority and power come hand in hand. However, you can't protect anything with just mediocre authority and power. You need to maximize them. Something terrifying will soon come, but for a wizard like you to become stronger, you need at least hundreds of years," the old man shrugged, "We don't have much time left."
"Huh? Who exactly are you asking me to protect?" Angele's expression changed, and he took off the armor piece and kept the white ball in his pouch and attached it to his belt.
"Let me explain that to you, Green (Angele)." A voice sounding like it was from a middle-aged man came from near the door.
"Juventus, you again!" Medisa's face hardened, and he seemed to have lost interest in the topic. He returned to the table and took a seat. "Fine, I'll let you explain. Every time you're here, you just…" He did not finish his sentence, but the old man seemed to be annoyed and frustrated at the person named Juventus.
Angele turned around to see a bearded man in white outfit standing by the door. He looked just like an average human male. There was a stack of yellow-leather paper in his papers, which were covered with messy handwriting.
"Medisa, I wrote a few new poems today. Can you read and help me improve them? I assure you it's different this time! I've improved a lot! A lot!" The man smilingly barged into the study and approached Medisa's table.
"All right, all right, put them down first. Tell Green (Angele) about the truth of Dark Wizard Tower. I'll read your poems later." Juventus was giving Medisa a headache. "Green (Angele) is the only one who's normal between you three… He knows what he should do, and he works hard…" Medisa said as he picked up the stack of papers, but it looked like he wasn't at all impressed.
"Just explain the truth to Angele…." The old man waved his hand.
The bearded man turned to look at Angele but became irritated right after. It was because he was slightly shorter than Angele.
"Damn! You're taller than me? I hate people who are taller than me!" he muttered.
"All right. Angele, let me tell you the truth of the Dark Wizard Tower. You're now a core member of the organization."
"Huh?" Angele looked at Juventus—he had always wanted to know more about Dark Wizard Tower.
The bearded patted his own chest, "Let me introduce myself first. My name is Juventus. You can just call me Juven if you want."
"Okay." Angele nodded.
Juventus cleared his throat and finally started explaining, "Dark Wizard Tower isn't only a powerful organization in the central continent but also in other areas of the world. But, we have no relations with any of the three Wizard-lords." His expression became serious.
"Do you know the true identity of the two persons accompanying Director Sando at the ceremony?"
Before Angele could say anything, the man had already begun answering his own question.
"The woman with the emotionless face is Director Sando's student and also the winner of the previous competition. Count Hosla…" he stopped for a second, "is a noble of the Fairy Realm."
"Fairy Realm?" Angele narrowed his eyes. "Does Dark Wizard Tower have relations with the Fairy Realm? I thought everyone was trying to seal the portals. How did he come to our world?"
"Yeah, the relations between our world and the Fairy Realm is complicated, but the Count Hosla you saw was just a projection. Do you know why the majority of the portals were first discovered in the central continent instead of the other areas of the world?" Juventus grinned. "We spent more than 100 years to study and modify the magnetic field. Now, we finally have access."
"I was told that the Fairy Realm is extremely dangerous. As a member of Dark Wizard Tower, I don't think that's a good idea." Angele felt fearful once he recalled that day when he encountered the woman in black and the flying dragon.
"Not a good idea? Ha, that's the biggest problem." Juventus chuckled. "Dark Wizard Tower is equivalent to the First Empire in the Fairy Realm."
Angele was surprised, "That's impossible. It has been years since the last wizard discovered the means to travel to other realms. Don't tell me the fairies never left our world after the invasion."
"You're right. No one can travel to other realms. The truth is, the most prominent members of Dark Wizard Tower are those who entered the Fairy Realm during the ancient times. Almost the entire First Empire of the Fairy Realm is being controlled by our wizards. In other words, most 'fairies' you said are human beings." Juventus's words were hard to absorb.
Angele realized he was in the same boat as the organization after he learned the secret. If he decided to leave the heart of the three, he would be eliminated immediately.
"The most prominent members are trying so hard because they want to return to the Wizard World," Juventus smiled, "The balance formed by the three Wizard-lords shall soon be broken by the Empire. That moment shall be the moment when glory and honor return to us." He retrieved a flame-shaped platinum badge. "Take it. It will prove you're a student of the wizard department."
Angele received the badge and looked at it.
There were words engraved on its surface—
"The Suran Empire. The abyss that shall never be defeated. No one shall thwart the Empire from advancing."
It was written in the ancient language.
"Order shall be rebuilt when the Empire returns to this land," Medisa spoke in a low voice, with pride written all over his face.
"The three Lords will not let this happen so easily." Angele shook his head.
"The three Lords do indeed know of our existence. They are trying to hinder our most prominent members from entering this world, hence they formed the Central Council since no one wants to share their authority with a… stranger," Medisa chuckled, "Our return will aid the wizards in regaining the power of the ancient wizards; no one can stop us!"
"Is that what you were referring to when you mentioned having the power to protect? It solely depends on who we are?" Angele finally understood the situation.
"You're right. We are of the core members, so we're allowed to save our friends. As long as your relatives or friends in the Wizard World don't try to fight, the Imperial Army will not attack them," Juventus explained.
"That means if you're a core member, you and a strong being from the Fairy Realm will be given the authority to lead an army. You will be the one to decide who to attack, that is how you save the ones close to you in the chaos that is about to come," Medisa added, "But the problem is, since the Fairy Realm can approach our world during the coming of chaos, the other realms can, too."
Juventus nodded, "I have already visited the World Tree. Aside from the Fairy Realm, only an empty Sand Realm is approaching. It is one of the weakest realms, so there's nothing to worry about. Still, the other dangerous realms may also do the same. Chaos Realm, Oblivion Realm, and the most invasive realm... Nightmare Realm—those realms are relatively close to the Wizard World, but, if the Nightmare Realm arrives…"
They stopped after mentioned the name of that realm. Their faces turned grave.
"It can't be those horrifying monsters…" Medisa muttered.
"If what the historical records say is true, there should be a countless number of realms around our world. The Nightmare Realm is but one of them. We can't possibly be so unlucky." Juventus waved his hand in dismissal.
"You will also become a commander of an army. When will you learn taking things seriously?" Medisa's face loosened up, and he sat down.