Sorcerer Azur was on the verge of ceasing to qualify as a carbon-based life-form. His body was gradually transforming into inorganic matter.
Although glintstone sorcery in the Lands Between couldn't turn people into sheep and lacked some of the more imaginative applications of magic, it was still formidable enough to transform living beings into far stranger forms.
Academy sorcerers generally revered the cuckoo, a brood-parasitic bird that laid its eggs in the nests of other birds. Powerful glintstone sorcerers could seal their souls inside a piece of primal glintstone, much like a Horcrux. By transplanting that glintstone into someone else's body, they could achieve a form of reincarnation.
Immortality was an enormous temptation in any world, and when it came to abandoning their humanity, spellcasters everywhere were remarkably inhuman.
Millicent remained alone at the edge of the cliff, facing Azur, who had been gradually abandoning his humanity for many years.
The ancient sorcerer sat motionless, resembling a monk older than time itself, deep in meditation beside the precipice. His thoughts seemed to wander through the boundless universe, having transcended the limitations of flesh and physical existence.
Millicent studied Azur, attempting to distinguish the structure of his body.
His withered frame was concealed beneath a cloak resembling the wings of an old raven, while his entire head had been replaced by an enormous cluster of blue-green glintstone, resembling tourmaline and emerald. Through the crystal's translucent shell, she could faintly make out a small mass of pink flesh deep inside.
Was that his brain?
Millicent couldn't help feeling a chill.
She had witnessed plenty of disturbing sights, but there was something indescribably horrifying about the ruthless rationality that drove someone to modify their body without the slightest restraint.
Azur's glintstone head had no facial features. He couldn't see, hear, speak, smell, or taste. None of the usual methods of communication could establish contact with him.
Yet when Millicent stared at the ancient sorcerer, it was like reading an inscription carved into a stone tablet. The meaning Azur wished to convey simply manifested through rhythmic flashes of light across the glintstone's surface.
These flashes weren't Morse code. They represented a far more sophisticated means of communication: telepathy.
Communication through written or spoken language transmitted relatively little information and frequently produced misunderstandings because different individuals interpreted the same words differently.
Direct mental communication, on the other hand, could convey enormous quantities of information in an extremely short time, including the sender's opinions and emotions regarding that information.
Written communication had a transmission speed of only a few hundred bytes per minute, whereas mental communication could reach hundreds of megabytes per second.
To put it in more familiar terms, written communication was like a first-generation cellular network, back when people carried bulky brick phones that could do little more than make calls.
Telepathy was at least equivalent to a 4G network, capable of transmitting not just text but videos as well. The difference was enormous.
Millicent had cultivated her Shehai and Spirit Sword, and her mental willpower had already surpassed that of ordinary people. Although she couldn't decipher the meaning of the flashing lights, she could attempt to communicate directly with Azur's mind.
Her Spirit Sword emerged from its sheath, its tip pointing toward the elderly sorcerer's head.
Her consciousness flowed from the sword's tip along an invisible current and penetrated the glintstone crystal. It was like a firefly returning to a vast meadow, and the flashes across Azur's crystal head immediately became more active.
They had established a temporary telepathic channel.
Millicent's vision went dark as she abruptly entered the sorcerer's mind.
It was as silent and lifeless as a dry well or a rotting tree, concealing within itself the darkness left behind by the death of the universe.
Was this really the mind of a mortal sorcerer?
She couldn't help wondering what Azur had witnessed during his pursuit of sorcery.
"Do not... be afraid... I already know why you have come... But do you understand the true purpose of your visit?"
Azur's voice within the telepathic transmission was deep, cold, and androgynous. Faint traces of the confidence and grand ambitions he had possessed as a young human a thousand years ago still lingered within it.
They were the fundamental colors of his soul, something that could never be completely erased.
"I accepted a commission to repair a staff. However, it seems there's another task involved, one I haven't been told about?"
"The staff you hold... was once my personal staff.
"Throughout my life, I possessed seventy-nine staffs. Only this one was truly special, for it was the graduation gift I gave Karolos.
"By wielding it, you have become Karolos. You are now the Chief Instructor of his Conspectus."
Millicent's mighty body... No, her delicate body trembled.
She couldn't help thinking, I've barely contributed anything to the Academy. All I've done is a little bit of work, namely beating the living daylights out of a professor. How did that suddenly qualify me to become Chief Instructor?
She explained, "You've misunderstood. The only reason I have this staff is that I broke it during my duel with Chief Instructor Botari."
Through their telepathic connection, she conveyed everything she had witnessed and experienced that day.
The ancient Azur gave a satisfied sigh.
"Precisely. In the Lands Between, the victor reigns supreme. Botari's weakness and incompetence brought about his defeat. As stipulated in the terms of the duel, by defeating the Chief Instructor, you have become the Chief Instructor yourself.
"You shall become my disciple and pass down the mysteries of the primeval comet to future generations."
Millicent had no such intention.
She didn't plan to remain at the Academy for very long. Whenever Skyl decided to leave, she would accompany him, like a lifeboat secured to the side of a ship, never straying from him for even a moment.
That being the case, she couldn't accept the responsibilities of an instructor. Doing so would only disappoint the apprentices of the Karolos Conspectus.
Before she could explain her predicament, however, an immense and powerful torrent of information suddenly surged into her mind from Azur.
Millicent stood within the ancient sorcerer's otherwise empty mental world.
The darkness enveloping the universe resembled the lifeless ruins left behind by a collapsed nebula. Suddenly, from the deepest reaches of that darkness, a tiny point of blue-green light appeared.
It took the shape of a dazzling hexagon, radiating an awe-inspiring presence across the depths of space.
BOOM!
The blue-green light abruptly rushed toward her.
It was an enormous comet stretching tens of millions of miles across the cosmos.
All primeval sorcery originated from sorcerers' understanding of the stars, and Azur's primeval sorcery had been born from the source of glintstone hidden within the depths of darkness.
He had glimpsed the origin of all glintstone.
Upon witnessing that comet, larger than an entire planet, his mind had been profoundly shaken. Drawing upon that revelation, he developed the ultimate comet sorcery and named it after himself.
[Comet Azur] was the closely guarded secret of the Karolos Conspectus, a sorcery taught only to archmages who had earned the ancient sorcerer's approval.
Throughout the entire Academy, the only sorcerers capable of casting Comet Azur were the arrogant Botari and Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon.
Now, Millicent had witnessed all the mysteries of its primeval origins.
It was like receiving a legendary martial arts manual that she couldn't yet understand. As long as she continued studying and practicing, she would eventually comprehend its teachings and master the technique.
Through this single act of telepathic instruction, the ancient sorcerer had poured the entire secret of his earth-shattering, five-hundred-thousand-horsepower comet sorcery directly into her mind.
It was truly an astonishing feat of wisdom.
Yet Millicent was hardly excited about receiving the secrets of the primeval current.
In fact, she almost wanted to laugh.
Comet Azur certainly had its unique qualities, but the Sword-Singer inheritance she had received was far broader and more profound.
Besides, with a godlike mage such as Skyl by her side, a couple of whispered requests in bed would be enough to acquire enough spells to fill an entire library.
Why would she be particularly impressed by a mere Legendary-tier spell?
She could only appreciate the kind gesture and hope that the old man would find someone else to inherit his teachings.
"Sorcerer Azur, I'm truly not qualified to serve as Chief Instructor."
The ancient sorcerer's mind fell silent.
His voice disappeared completely, almost as though he had died of old age immediately after passing on his secret technique.
In reality, the old man had simply decided to shut himself down.
Millicent withdrew her Spirit Sword and turned around.
Several Academy sorcerers had already assembled in a neat line behind her. They bowed respectfully.
"Chief Instructor Millicent."
Well, there it was. The old sorcerer had personally appointed her to the position.
Millicent didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Seriously? I haven't even gotten my staff repaired yet!
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