Dimensional Descent

Leonel smiled and scratched his head awkwardly. 

"Now that you mention it, I'm not really sure what the purpose of this tower is. Could you explain it to me?"

Leonel and Lionus walked into the first floor of the tower. In truth, Leonel wanted to preface his question with a bit more, but he was a bit stunned by what he saw. 

The room follow the same rounded shape as the tower outside. It was quite spacious and quiet. Despite the large size, there were only a handful of people here, but they were all crowded around the same thing. 

In the center of the first floor, there was a large, floating crystal. It was easily three meters in diameter and seemed to slowly spin without any support. It hung perfectly in the air and radiated a dull light. 

"Ah, right, you're still unfamiliar with some things." Lionus didn't seem to mind. 

Though the small number of mages within the tower all looked toward the new arrivals and were stunned by their identities, seemingly used to this, Lionus continued to speak at a leisurely pace. 

"The Mage Art Tower is a place that houses all of the Magic Arts Camelot has accumulated. As long as it was once conceived by a mage of our Kingdom, then it will be here. However, the matters here aren't so simple either. 

"It's clear how valuable such a place is, so it's not a location that can be casually entered, nor is it possible to even if you were simply allowed to roam freely. 

"There are only three ways to be allowed to enter this tower. The first way is the typical single entry once a year. For each year you graduate or enter in the Academy, you're allowed one entry."

Leonel nodded. He realized now why the surrounding space was so empty. This wasn't normal enrollment times, so those who should have entered their first years along with him had already long since come. 

"The second way is by gaining Military Achievements and the last way is by becoming a Childe of the Elements. Should you accomplish the last one, you would be allowed unlimited entries to the Mage Art Tower and can travel up as far as your Spirit Pressure allows."

"Childe of the Elements?" Leonel asked in confusion. 

"Yes." Lionus nodded with a smile. "A Childe of the Elements has the same privileges as a Holy Son. In fact, you could say that a Childe is a Holy Son, just not of the Light Element.

"You see that crystal ball up there? It's able to test for Crystallization Affinity. When someone's affinity touches upon a certain standard, they will be designated a Childe. In fact, it could be said that the only advantage a Holy Son has over a Childe is that our affinities do not need to be checked. 

"Because the Light Element is so powerful, even a Holy Son with a low affinity will be more powerful than the usual high affinity mage."

"Ah, so it's like this…" 

Leonel suddenly understood many things now. In addition, he was quite curious. If the Light Element was so powerful with low affinity, what was it like with high affinity? And, what was his own affinity?

He assumed that compared to those of Camelot, his affinity was exceptionally high. After all, this was a Third Dimensional world while the Snowy Star Owl was an Elite Sixth Dimensional beast after maturing.

"Then what is so beneficial about the tower that Official Mage Theybul and Mary would come before their Magus Ascension?" 

Leonel directed a curious question toward the two mages.

"His Highness touched on it a bit." Mary responded. "How high one can climb the Mage Art Tower depends on what one's Spirit Pressure can take. Each successive floor comes with a stronger pressure. This pressure is good for weeding out impurities that might linger in our Spirit Pressure and gives us a good push toward the next boundary."

"I see, thank you." Leonel thanked them sincerely. 

Lionus smiled. "It's been a while since I've seen someone take the Crystallization Affinity trial, why don't you try it out, Leonel?"

"Sure!"

Leonel had been eager to do so since the beginning, so he had no reason to refuse. 

Lionus and Leonel walked toward the floating crystal. At that moment, there was another youth testing his affinity. 

Affinity wasn't set in stone according to Camelot's magic system. It was possible to increase affinity through meditation and comprehension. In addition, after having breakthroughs in Spirit Pressure, affinity naturally increases as well. However, the higher one's starting base affinity, the more potential for growth they had in the future. 

This was all to say that it wasn't a surprise to find a person testing themselves once again. This affinity test was actually also a good gauge of how far one could climb the tower. Though resisting the Spirit Pressure required one's own Spirit Pressure, it was also possible to get by with weaker Spirit Pressure if one's affinity was high enough. 

So, youths would sometimes test their affinities before they climbed the tower so that they didn't push themselves too hard and cause irreparable injury to their spirit. 

The young man who was about to place his hand on the crystal suddenly swayed nervously. When he had come here today, the last thing he had expected was to be observed by a Holy Son and the Crown Prince… Not to mention two other Childes in Mary and Theybul!

However, he could only press down his nervousness. Wouldn't he look too pathetic now if he backed away?

After taking a deep breath, he pressed his hand to the crystal. 

WENG! 

The crystal began to emit a lustrous glow. 

"The affinity scale of the crystal is dependent on the radiance of the light. It the light projects a foot out from the surface of the crystal, it meets the minimum requirement to enter the Mage Academy — this would be the One Star Affinity ranking. With it, one might be able to become an Official Mage with hard work."

Lionus patiently explained things to Leonel.

"The color is related to the element. This young mage's glow is a light green, so he's a wind affinity mage.

"The light needs to radiate out one meter to become a Two Star Affinity. Such a person can likely make a name for themselves within the world of Official Mages. At five meters, it reaches Three Star Affinity. Such a person has a sliver of a chance to become a Magus.

"At nine meters, this entered the Four Star Affinity realm. Such a person has a good chance of becoming a Magus and a slim chance of becoming a Two Star Magus. 

"Finally, at ten meters, the crystal will form a halo like the rings of a planet. This halo represents the realm of a Childe.

"Of course, it's possible to increase one's affinity through hard work and persistence. In addition, a higher tier Element like our Light Element makes it easier to breakthrough realms, so regardless of your results, hold your head high."

Leonel smiled lightly in response. In regards to his affinity, he wasn't too worried. Even if it really did turn out to be low, he would still find a way to use this magic system to form his Tenth Node. 

The young mage finally stepped down from the platform with a flushed face. He was a bit excited. He had actually managed to touch the barrier of the Fourth Star. His hard work had definitely paid off. After all, since he could be here, it meant he had rendered great service to Camelot's armies. 

Seeing that he was finished, Leonel took a step forward, seemingly not realizing the number of gazes that followed his back. 

He climbed the steps and stood on the platform, his expression calm as he stretched his hand forward. 

WENG! WENG! WENG!

A blinding light suddenly swept out in all directions.

Lionus raised his eyebrows up in shock. If it was just that Leonel had a high affinity, it would be easy to accept. But this... what was this?