Kale's gaze landed on the massive rectangular tower that stood like a lonesome wolf; it was just as eye-catching as the flaming tower in the center of Emberheart, but just in its own unique way, filled with ancient sigils, magical marks, and formations.
If the flame tower was the symbol of the unmistakable fiery authority of the Ignis Dynasty, then this rectangular magical tower was perhaps the polar opposite.
It was the center of magic and wisdom, a coalition of all those passionate about humanity's progress in knowledge, hungry to decipher the secrets of nature and make them useful.
Kale could only think of that as his first impression, for he could barely discern the detailed intricacies of the structure from such a distance. Surrounding it was an extremely large area; an entire part of the capital city in the southern section was allocated solely to this organization.
As Kale approached the gate, the crowd of teenagers grew denser, and the number of participants was still swelling in waves, hoping to join this organization; most of their hopes were, unfortunately, bound to shatter.
Standing at the main gate, Kale could not help but think that, though that majestic tower was the very central hub of this organization, it was not the only thing; there were countless more ancient-looking buildings, structures that did not make sense, spiraling to the skies like a staircase.
'That thing should not even be able to stand like that, according to the laws of physics,' thought Kale in apprehension.
But then he chuckled, 'I guess the real physics of this world is magic, not Newton's three laws of motion or gravity.'
Right after crossing the main gateway, amid the crowd, there was a very large space at the front; a bit farther ahead, a few temporary tables were set up.
A lazy guard said to them all, in a bored tone, "Go to those tables, pay the necessary amount for the exam application. After that, you can go to the outer library to study the possible topics you will be tested on the day of the exam."
Looking at the man's face, Kale could tell that the guy was probably repeating the same thing endlessly to every batch of candidates that entered here.
So, he did exactly that. For the last two days, he had to work nonstop like a madman, just to scrape up the money he needed.
Which was 100 silver coins; he found it almost impossible to gather that amount in just two days without possessing any special skill. With no other choice, he had to take on some shady jobs to raise that amount.
A few times, he was even about to be robbed by those dark alley backstabbing bastards, and yet, those robbers who were just mundane humans ended up being robbed by him instead.
Kale also made sure to beat them up black and blue so bad that it was doubtful if those dogs would ever dare to attempt robbing people again in their entire lives.
Eventually, when he stood in front of a table, the tired-looking woman in magical clothes looked at him in annoyance, "Take off that stupid bandage on your head. Or do you not have common sense?"
Kale could only grimace. With some hesitation, he slowly peeled off the cloth that covered the soul sigil mark. Just as usual, the reaction of seeing his blackened sigil was two-fold worse in every way.
The woman looked at him with an almost disgusted look. She stated in a cold voice, "It seems you truly are lacking in intelligence. Not only are you cursed by the church, but you are also a Tamer and not an Artificer?"
She sneered, her voice growing a pitch higher, "This is the application center for the exam that will determine only the selected Artificers who are worthy to enter the prestigious Association. Not a place where a Cursed Tamer like you could come crawling to."
"Please get out of here immediately, otherwise things will turn quite ugly, for you that is…" added the female Apprentice Artificer in a threatening tone.
Almost every Artificer who managed to get into the Association always had a haughty attitude towards those whom they deemed as lesser. She was also using this chance to vent her accumulated frustration at the no-name cursed bastard who dared to enter here like a brainless idiot.
All around Kale, candidates suddenly had their attention drawn to him when they noticed the putrid black symbol on his forehead, as if it were dripping ink; most immediately took a few steps away from him, avoiding him as if he were a plague.
That black soul sigil was like a criminal stigma for those who sinned against the church, usually for a very serious crime, and from the mundane to the powerful, everyone knew of this fact within the Empire. However, these Curse-bearers faced no particular sanctions.
Because just the lifelong condemnation by everyone, as well as not being able to grow stronger, was in itself a punishment worse than death for any Awakened. If a mundane person or an awakened being saw a Curse-Bearer, they might only avoid the said person.
But if a fanatic devotee saw this, their reaction would be much, much more intense. Unfortunately, for Kale, the female Apprentice Artificer in front of him was indeed such a pious devotee of the Dragon Church.
Kale, on the other hand, did not care about the reaction of the public; he only gazed at the woman coldly for the continuous nonsense she had been spouting. He could only control his anger and say, "I have read the terms and conditions for those who are eligible to attend the test."
"There is not a single statement in the rules that says Psions and Tamers cannot participate, after all, those two types of Awakened have the Artificer path as their partial pathway," he explained in a firm tone.
For a moment, there was complete silence until all the crowd of participant Artificers exploded in fury, one after another, they began to shout,
"Who the hell does this bastard think he is?"
"He must truly be sick in the head."
"Getting cursed, perhaps, caused his intelligence to drop below zero."
"Even the purest of Artificers could only ever dream of getting into the Association, and this delusional fool thinks he can get into the Association to cultivate his partial pathway?"
"Get lost, Cursed bastard."
"Blasphemer, he must be a Blasphemer."
"How could they let such a wretch come onto the grounds of the Association?"
"I'm afraid he is only sullying the Association's name."
"He is wasting all of our time, damn it."
"That's right, we need to get into the Outer Library and study for the Exam."
"KICK OUT THIS STUPID CLOWN OUT OF HERE ALREADY, GODDAMN IT…."