Andar glanced around his position, he had teleported to the center of the arena giving him an uninterrupted field of view of his entire surroundings, he was in the middle of a large field surrounded by an arena that extended for more than 18,000 feet (5.49 kilometers) around each side, and could contain a total of two million people. Presently, all the seats are filled.
The arena was in the shape of a square, and floating around it were hundreds of puppets that resembled flies the size of horses with comically large compound eyes that covered the top half of their torso.
These eyes were windows to the Aethernet where trillions of people on a thousand worlds watched this event with bated breath, and Andar could almost feel the weight of their gaze. There was a dull buzzing sound coming from each of the flying puppets which he knew came from billions of people commenting on the Aethernet.
Depending on how much they paid for their Aethernet services, they could either be viewing this event from a two-dimensional perspective or a full immersion experience where it would feel as if they were inside this arena.
Andar had access to a high level of Aethernet services that he rarely used apart from communicating or the occasional gaming he did with Mira to brush up on certain spells she wanted to refine.
It was not difficult to spot Mira even in the midst of the crowd, she was surrounded by fifteen Limit Breakers, who were all Rank 1 Mages. The robes they wore were black and silver, the same as Andar's color, in commemoration of their leader. They were holding up a large banner titled– Limit Breakers.
Recently, the popularity of this group has soared, and countless endorsements and rewards have streamed into this elite group, boosting the strength of their members. Currently, it was the most sought-after student group in the Black Tower, but Andar had restricted the acceptance of new members until they were properly vetted.
So in the nearly two decades that the Limit Breaker group had existed, there were only fifteen new members added. All of them were premier geniuses with a bright future, plus they were all fiercely loyal to Andar and Mira.
Andar smiled at them as his gaze was blocked by dozens of flying puppets who sought to capture every expression he was making.
If he wanted he could try to isolate a single puppet in his consciousness and decipher the words and messages bouncing around inside the Aethernet they were hosting, but that would be foolhardy and a waste of his spiritual power with no benefit to him, he did not want to know about the latest gossip or what these trillions of people thought about him, he would rather be brushing up on his masteries.
Above the arena were sleek golden platforms that carried the fifteen Arch mages that were here for today's event.
All the Arch mages of the Black Tower were present including the Steward, the rest were Archmages of the various six Great Towers plus three Arch mages from the Alchemist Union and the CTB– Central Transportation Bureau.
The only missing representatives were Arch mages from the Great Tower of Fire. The only Supreme Tower that was situated in the Magus Supreme World. Members of this Tower were from the direct bloodline of Endirius the Supreme Arch mage and they rarely left their Tower, instead it was expected that whatever great event that occurred should be brought to their doorstep.
It was this reason why this ceremony was a great spectacle to the entire Magus civilization. Although it was not spoken loudly, everyone knew that Andar should have taken this ceremony in the Supreme Tower, but it would seem that past issues had caused a shift between the Great Towers and the Supreme Tower.
The most notable was the action of the Tower Master of the Supreme Tower that robbed Andar of the Supreme Meditation Art among many other grievances. Andar was aware that he was being used as a figurehead for the six Great Towers and he was not against it.
There were certain actions and resources he would be able to gain from this position, and he had not forgotten the pain of being stripped of the Meditation Art that he had earned. If not for the intervention of Rowan then he would most likely be healing from the injury inflicted upon him even until this day.
His presence was a challenge to the Supreme Tower by the Great Towers—Bring one of your geniuses who are equal to ours. It would appear that his presence had begun to unite the Great Towers.
The crowd roared, the sound amplified by the flying puppets as a trillion voices raised from them. He could not help it, even his heart skipped a beat.
Andar had no time for the spectacle to sink in before the host of this event, Barah, a Rank 9 Mage who specialized in Body Modification and resembled a gigantic squid floating on a green bubble.
From her small body as a human, she had slowly changed her form until she was a 30 meters Onyx Cepheid. A powerful creature that was famed for it control over darkness and poison.
She spread out her ten tentacles as a surprisingly loud and pleasant feminine voice came from her human mouth that was in place instead of a beak,
"Welcome all to the Ranking Upgrade test for the position of a master in a Magus Disciple, and for the bestowal of the Mithril Sigil to the Mage… if he is worthy. Yet what we are going to witness here today is different, far from the norm and something I fear would never occur again, not in my lifetime at least."
Barah went silent, letting the anticipation build and when it seemed it had reached the zenith, she smiled, her red lips vivid against the yellowish black of her skin,
"Before us is the Rank 1 Mage Andar Erikson, acclaimed Number One under Heaven by the Supreme Tower, he is the Seed of The Black Tower, the Lessor of the Endless Vault, the Maker of a Named Item, the holder of a Proto – Supreme Meditation Art, the titled most powerful Acolyte, …."
With every title representing his achievements and capabilities rolling out from the mouth of Barah, the hush that settled over the crowd began to deepen, this extended to the flying puppets as the unending buzzing coming from them finally went silent, and perhaps the full ramification of the individual they were watching began to settle into the collective consciousness.
There was something building inside the heart of everyone here, and for the first time Andar began to glimpse the edge of something great or something very terrible that could be associated with his name and rising influence.
He stilled the growing chaos in his heart and focused, there would be time for the glory and horror ahead. First, he needed to gain his Mithril Rank in all seven disciplines.
