It was beautiful.
Adam couldn't see the entire city, but the dock itself was amazing.
Magical technology had far exceeded the technology back on Earth -- thanks to magic, it was easy for technology to transform from mere theories to reality.
All the machinery on the pier was foreign to Adam -- he had no way of understanding the mechanism of how they operate.
The mechanical arm suspended itself on thin air and grasped the hull of the ship, firmly keeping it in place by the dock. Then, a magical platform appeared by the ship. The mages gestured for the apprentices to hop on the platform, and the platform brought them down the ship.
A torrent of silver flew past them. Adam used his mental strength to study them, and discovered that countless, tiny 'robots' were swarming over them. The robots wrapped around the ship in a quick sweep, and the wear and tear of the ship had been completely repaired.
The ship then melted into the pier, vanishing before their eyes.
In the other parts of the port, similar things were happening to greater and bigger ships. The ships weren't limited to the sea either, as they could see several flying ships being parked in airborne docks.
No runway, no noise, no turbulence. These hulking aircrafts just take off and land smoothly.
The mages were indifferent to the apprentices' awe, since they were already used to the scenes before them.
"The Mage Continent... it's simply too..." William muttered to himself. The southern port city where he hails from was already considered the most modern city, but they were still unable to escape the shackles of primitive productivity. He couldn't imagine that the humans who lived in the Mage Continent could live in such modernity.
"This is amazing! No wonder I've never seen any mages in the North before -- if I lived here, I wouldn't be able to return to my past life," Ophelia sighed.
Adam's heart soared. Coming into contact with such an advanced civilization was a dream come true.
They waited quietly at the port until a car-like vehicle stopped in front of them. It had no hubs or exhaust pipes, it suspended itself in the air.
The door opened, and the driver in a colourful uniform greeted the mages, "Respected Mages, welcome back! I have applied for permission to use the portal, and it will start in two hours."
The Black Mage nodded, then turned to the apprentices, "Unfortunately, there isn't any time for you to visit the Port of Karachi this time. The other apprentices have already arrived at the academy, and we need to hurry."
"Yes Respected Black Mage."
Everyone entered the car, and it seemed that the interior of the car didn't conform to Euclidean geometry. Adam was stunned -- the power of manipulating space was commercially used as well.
However, he couldn't believe that wars between mages could break out in such a modern and civilised world. He took note of his doubts, awaiting the day he could study the Mage Continent's cultures closely.
A very curious Crystal asked the driver, "Sir, may I ask... what vehicle is this?" Crystal, being a commoner, only knows of two methods of transportation -- animal-drawn carts and boats. She didn't know what to call this strange vehicle.
The driver answered softly, "This is a Universal Suspension Car, and it's created by the Great Mage!"
"This is amazing!" Crystal expressed her amazement.
The driver remained silent. Seeing that these apprentices were from a less advanced continent, he had a slight sense of superiority in his heart, and boasted in his heart, "Hah! Even though I'm not a mage, I can still enjoy their achievements."
Nobody can see in the interior of the car from the outside, but the people inside can clearly see the outside.
Adam carefully observed the outside world -- the buildings were all high-rise structures, each building towered into the sky. There were large open spaces within the buildings, and there were different public goods in them. Countless hovering cars drove through the middle and lower floors of these buildings, but the higher floors were empty. Adam predicts that this road was used only for emergencies.
There weren't many pedestrians, and their methods of walking were very unusual. After all, if you live in a huge, modern city like this, walking would get you nowhere. Most of them used magic to speed themselves up. Some ordinary people used blood energy to speed themselves up as well.
Sure enough, the ordinary people in the Mage Continent were all equal to knights.
Adam saw at least three fights along the way -- knights fighting against each other, magical duels, etc. Nobody ever stopped them, and law enforcers never appeared. It seemed like fighting was a norm here.
Adam pointed outside and asked the driver, "Does nobody stop these fights?"
The driver replied, "It's common to fight here -- at least a dozen people die in duels every day in the Port of Karachi. As long as you apply in advance and promise to compensate for public facilities damaged in your fight, the Magi Council allows fighting in order to resolve conflicts."
Adam could deduce that this Magi Council is probably the governing body of the Mage Continent. Laws are useless to mages.
Barbarism in civilization was foreign to Adam.
The driver asked curiously, "Don't duels happen from where all of you hail? How do you resolve conflicts, then?"
Quentin sneered, "Only nobles can initiate a duel."
The driver nodded, "There aren't any nobles on the Mage Continent. Only mortals and mages exist here. The only strict law is that mages cannot start duels against mortals," he continued. "Besides, offending a mage is a capital offence, but no mortal is that stupid."
The rest of the ride was silent, and they soon reached their destination.
The building in front of them was constantly changing and warping the space around it and Adam was baffled by it.
"A mirage... could this be the work of space-time interference?" Adam pondered.
The car left and Adam and the others walked into the building, trailing behind the mages. It was lively here and many people entered and exited the building. The apprentices felt uncomfortable -- the gap in between their powers was too large.
They didn't know what to do.
Mages exude an aura, which resembles a unique identity and class amongst mages.
The four mages who led the apprentices were also humbled upon entering this building. From time to time, they stopped and bowed their heads to high-level mages. The domineering aura caused the apprentices to tremble, lest any of their behaviour would offend the mages.
They walked further in the building, and the Black Mage warned, "All of the teleportation arrays belong to the Holy Tower and are the property of the Great Archmage Randolph. Be humble and don't talk unless you're asked to."
This was the first time they saw the Black Mage speak in such a hushed tone, and nobody dared to express their doubts. The consequence of disrespect in this world was death.
They walked around a corner, passing through a light curtain. Everyone finally saw the teleportation array -- it was a regular portal composed entirely of magical runes. The source of ether from the void is continuously powering the runes. Adam was sure that, if anything malfunctions, the energy here was enough to disintegrate a single apprentice a hundred times over.
The mage tending to the portal has his face obscured, and seems to be fading in and out of reality, "The Moldo Elemental Tower, I presume?"
The four mages bowed and nodded. "Yes, Respected Mage Santa," the Black Mage replied, taking out a pure ether crystal and handing it to Mage Santa.
