The sun slowly rose, and the white clouds cracked open slightly, allowing dazzling golden light to spill down.
The originally greyish-blue steel airship was now tinged with a hint of gleaming gold.
Colin continued to look around, and although there were many people gathered in the central square at the moment, they were not disorderly. If one looked carefully, it was apparent that they were divided into several distinct regions.
At this moment, those wizards near the airship were boarding in an orderly fashion. Given the current pace, it shouldn't be long before it would be their turn.
Not far away, Margaret was talking with the accompanying wizards from the other eight major schools of this Alus Association meeting.
Adjacent to them were the wizards of their subsidiary schools. In front of them, lined up into nine queues according to the Nine Major Schools, were the Wizard Apprentices.
The hierarchy was strict and clearly demarcated.
Those apprentices, having recovered from the shock of the events they had learned about the previous night, were now whispering to each other, chatting away... Those apprentices who had died seemed to have left no trace in their hearts, like shooting stars flashing by.
Meanwhile, Mayer and others were chatting with some acquainted wizards belonging to subsidiary schools of the other eight major schools—mainly wizards from the Silver Peace and Anmier Tower subsidiary schools.
He too mingled among them, occasionally chiming in with a comment or two.
"On this trip to the Southern Sea Domain, I hope to learn much from everyone," Mayer said with a smile, "I wish everyone in advance a very productive journey."
"Same wishes," someone replied.
"Definitely," another agreed.
Perhaps because the departure was imminent, there was an air of excitement among everyone, and smiles overflowed on their faces.
"I've heard that in addition to the rewards of Magic Stones, contributions made during this battle are also directly linked to contribution points of the Supreme Council, is this true?" a wizard suddenly asked.
"It should be true. I've heard our leader from the Silver Peace School mention this."
"Linked to contribution points..." Mayer mumbled under his breath, somewhat surprised.
Contribution points from the Supreme Council were extremely hard to come by, working similarly to academic points, but with an additional function—
That was to request assistance from the Councilmen of the Supreme Council for conducting an experimental research... And for them, the Low Rank wizards, this was obviously a rare opportunity!
Once the topic of contribution points was raised, the conversations among the wizards, which were about to end, reignited with renewed vigor.
"After the Alus Association meeting concludes, are you planning to return immediately, or do you intend to stay there and try to earn some contribution points from the Supreme Council?"
After exchanging a few words, Mayer casually brought up the question he had been pondering.
Even though he was currently only a First Rank Intermediate Wizard, contribution points were something nobody would ever have too many of.
Following his words, the wizards present fell into silence. After a moment, someone slowly began to speak:
"This time we've departed so abruptly, the war in the Southern Sea Domain likely won't end quickly. I plan to return here first after the Alus Association meeting, to make thorough preparations before heading out again."
With one person initiating the discussion, other wizards began to speak in turn.
"I also plan to come back first."
"I intend to stay there. The Alus Association meeting is just a secondary task for me... Anyone else joining?"
"I will."
"I will as well..."
Colin remained silent.
Even though his School had arranged for him, as someone who had just Advanced, to attend the Alus Association meeting, this did not mean that all the accompanying wizards for the Alus were of lesser strength.
For these wizards, the ultimate goal was to participate in the war in the Southern Sea Domain. The Alus Association meeting was more of a concurrent assignment.
"As for these contribution points..." He furrowed his brow slightly.
After all, he had only just advanced to a First Rank Wizard, and aside from his power, most of his information was still at the Apprentice level.
Though he had heard about the Supreme Council's contribution points, the exact specifics of their use were not clear to him.
'I wonder which airship Lillian ended up on...' With this thought, Colin subconsciously thought of academic points again... Last time he forgot to ask Lillian whether, apart from the Magic Stones, the School would provide academic points as a reward for those accompanying the Alus Association meeting.
If there were academic points, and if they were sufficient, then he could exchange them for some First Rank Witchcraft...
"All right, it's about time. It's our turn to board," Margaret approached and told the apprentices of the Nine Major Schools.
Although overall the Nine Major Schools were not too different in strength,
However, in terms of actual status, among the nine major schools, the Yista School is universally recognized as the top.
Therefore, Margaret unreservedly took the lead, guiding their group of wizards and the following apprentices toward the smaller grey-blue airship on the far left side of the central plaza.
Entering the airship, the soft white light emitted by the Bright Crystals replaced the original warm brilliant sunlight.
Unlike the airship they last boarded, which was full of cold steel corridors, this airship's passage was narrow, with numerous connections, but covered with a layer of creamy-white leather upholstery, giving off a much warmer and more noble air.
Margaret led them forward, towards the area for allocating accommodations.
This was a cabin near the center, outside of which there was a table and chairs.
An elderly wizard, his hair speckled with grey, sat at a chair by the door, distributing keys to the surrounding crowd of wizards.
Margaret led them to approach.
"Are you the accompanying wizards for the Alus Association?" the elderly wizard in charge of the keys asked Margaret.
"Yes, your excellency," Margaret replied with a hint of respect.
The airship is property of the Supreme Council, and despite his unimposing appearance, the elderly wizard was a Second Rank Wizard.
"Hmm... one by one, register your name and school, then you can have your key."
The elderly wizard handed over a white paper register to Margaret, already filled with information from several wizards.
Margaret took a pen from the container beside her, registered, received the key, and left them with a remark—
"Don't bother me unless it's necessary; I'll come to find you once we've arrived."
She then disappeared into the far end of the corridor.
Colin and the others continued waiting in line, and it was soon his turn.
He quickly wrote down his information on the white paper register handed to him by the elderly wizard and returned it.
As he handed it back, he glanced at the register out of habit, and his movements briefly hesitated.
"Your room is number 108 in section B on the second floor," the elderly wizard handed him a copper key, radiating fluctuations of magical power.
"Yes," Colin took the key and discreetly said to Mayer and the others, then headed to his room alone.
Navigating the seemingly endless white corridors, after some effort, he finally found his room.
Click.
Locking the steel cabin door, Colin turned and scanned the room assigned to him.
Like the corridor, the room's main tone was creamy white, with light brown accents, and was not very spacious—it seemed to be no more than eight or nine square meters, excluding a separate bathroom.
Yet, this size did not seem cramped at all... because aside from a white bed and a small square table, there were no other furnishings in the entire room.
'Not too bad,' Colin thought as he sat on the bed.
Although space on the airship was limited, it seemed this world placed a high value on personal privacy.
They, the Official Wizards, were still assigned private single rooms...
His chaotic thoughts gradually subsided.
Colin sat on the bed, his eyes beginning to lose focus as his Superbrain started to operate, the images in his mind freezing on the scene of him just returning the white paper register.
In the middle of the register, a familiar name was written—"Lillian Rudolph"—
The following words, "Tin Saint School," dispelled the possibility of her being someone with the same name.
'But that's also quite normal; senior Lillian mentioned before that she would be traveling on the same airship...'
Colin's gaze slowly returned to normal... it's just a pity that there were no room numbers on the white paper, otherwise, he could go and ask senior Lillian for some news now.
"Woo—"
The sound of the ship's whistle suddenly rang out, followed by a slight vibration of the airship and a feeling of mild weightlessness.
As if thinking of something, Colin steadied his balance, got up from the bed, and went to a small communal area connected to the corridor near his room.
Areas like this were situated every so often along the corridors.
No one was there at the moment.
Approaching the window, Colin looked through the round porthole and clearly saw everything outside starting to shrink.
He watched the ground move further away, watched as the originally vast central plaza slowly became as small as a coin... until a faint mist appeared at the edge of the window. As the airship passed through the mist, the grey-white endless clouds obscured the ground like an ocean,
Only then did Colin quietly exhale and return to his room... the airship had officially taken off.