Mira’s face immediately turned ashen.

The "Grand Mage" Lance was referring to was none other than her mentor.

In her memories, Mira always thought of her mentor as a man of few words. To him, the most important thing was always improving his magical skills.

He was the most powerful mage in the Magic Energy Nexus and specialized in extremely powerful single-target spells.

Mira found it hard to reconcile the image of her quiet mentor, who spent most of his time in a magic laboratory surrounded by books and experiments, with that of a person commanding a small group of spellcasters to slaughter other intelligent species.

But Mira trusted Lance's words.

It was strange, yet true. She found her rational mind leaning more toward the unfamiliar person she had only known for a few days, rather than the mentor who had watched her grow.

Reflecting on the past, there were too many suspicious things.

She had never been able to advance in her training. For twelve long years, she had remained at the very bottom of the Magic Energy Nexus as an apprentice.

But her mentor had clearly said that she had good talent.

Every time she submitted her work, it was always returned with various excuses. For a long time, Mira lived the same monotonous life, and she even thought that she might spend her whole life doing menial tasks, never able to cast powerful, dazzling spells like a true spellcaster.

Since leaving the Magic Energy Nexus, she had seen many things she had never seen before. Her escape had not been smooth, and Mira had endured a great deal of hardship, but she still felt it had been worth it.

It wasn’t until she saw the world she had only read about in books that Mira truly realized that, for the past eighteen years, she hadn't been living in the Magic Energy Nexus—she had been trapped there.

Living in the Magic Energy Nexus, with no worries about food or clothing, learning magic, and receiving a stipend every month—that was a life many people would envy. If Mira had ever experienced hunger or cold, she might have thought of the Magic Energy Nexus as heaven.

But as the words and images slowly settled in her mind, she realized that the vibrant, colorful things written in books contrasted sharply with the colorless, lifeless stillness of her life there.

More and more clues pointed to the fact that she had been deliberately trapped in that place. It was only when she completely left that environment that she became aware of the subtle influences that had shaped her.

Every time her promotion applications were rejected, she never once suspected that someone might have tampered with them. She could only conclude that she simply wasn't good enough.

Unknowingly, she had become a prisoner.

And that realization made her feel sad.

Carl. Her mentor.

What she knew of him was just a small part of who he really was. Her affection for him had kept her from thinking more deeply about other aspects of his character.

After leaving the Magic Energy Nexus, she realized how shallow and ignorant her thinking had been, how one-sided and subjective her perspective was.

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Seeing Mira’s dejected expression, Lance wasn’t sure if he had said something wrong.

The story of the human spellcasters destroying the goblin stronghold was no secret among non-human races. However, most races didn’t really care about the goblins’ demise.

The goblins, with their miserly and eccentric ways, often committed shocking acts. They would deliberately sabotage magical tools meant for races they disliked, charging high repair fees. They would also delay deliveries after a transaction was confirmed, just to get more money.

Forced sales, malicious price hikes—these were all their common tactics. After all, at the time, no other race could produce the intricate tools that goblins made.

They weren’t liked, but their unique, irreplaceable skills forced various races to cooperate with them.

When the goblins met their disaster, more races simply stood by, watching with glee.

They had once worried about losing goblin technology, but that concern was quickly dispelled by the diverse offerings in the market.

Aside from the goblins, another highly creative race emerged in the world. Or rather, their talent was finally noticed.

Humans had an unparalleled gift for learning.

Although there were some crafty merchants among them, they were still far better than the goblins, who would deceive and swindle others with no regard for honesty.

The magical tools and weapons produced in the Magic Energy Nexus were of far better quality than the shoddy goblin-made goods, and they were more reasonably priced and more stable.

Soon, the goblins were forgotten.

However, not all races stood idly by in response to the actions of human mages.

The forest elves were furious and demanded an explanation from these annoying creatures, but the goblins were only one of the many small, weak races living on the continent.

And the elves weren’t much better. Their sense of justice and fairness never gained recognition from other races.

The council of the Seven Great Races, formed after this event, would never again see the beautiful creatures of the forest.

Lance observed Mira’s expression.

“Mira,” he called softly.

Mira looked up, her eyes slightly red, her nose feeling sore.

Her rational mind trusted Lance more, but emotionally, she still felt saddened by learning about her mentor’s past.

He had been such a good mentor.

Mira was only an apprentice. By the rules, she could only learn the most basic, rudimentary spells. It was her mentor who secretly placed magical books on her desk, carefully opening them to pages suitable for her to study, intentionally letting her see the ancient spells recorded on old parchment scrolls.

The pronunciation of those spells was vastly different from the common tongue. He would raise his voice and slow his speech, casting the spells that were trivial to him, again and again.

Mira had very vague memories of her life before she was six. She couldn’t recall the appearance of her parents. The person she was most familiar with in her memories was her mentor, the Grand Mage Carl.

It was truly a sad realization. Mira took out a medium crystal from her pocket.

In the dim candlelight, the crystal in her hand refracted light, giving off a mysterious, sacred aura.

This was the best medium crystal provided by the Magic Energy Nexus to registered mages. It was something far beyond what an apprentice like her should have been able to possess.

Her mentor had obtained it under the pretext of an experiment.

Mira held up the crystal. The medium crystal she carried with her had been used for some time. When she held it up to the light, she could clearly see the faint cracks inside the crystal.

These cracks were caused by the volatile magical energy. It was precisely because of this aggressive magic energy that human spellcasters needed a medium.

Lance’s gaze was drawn to the crystal in the girl’s hand.

Even dragons couldn’t withstand the crystal. But that wasn’t the real reason Lance was intrigued.

“Mira?” Lance raised an eyebrow slightly. “Could I see the stone you’re holding?”

Mira handed the crystal to him.

Lance took it carefully and observed it closely, even noticing the tiny cracks inside the crystal.

His expression grew increasingly serious.

Mira, however, shifted from sadness to confusion. She looked at Lance’s actions, “This is a medium crystal made by the Magic Energy Nexus. Registered mages at the Nexus can purchase them every month within a certain limit. Mages from other associations need to pay a fee to gain the right to purchase them…”

“This is goblin technology,” Lance looked up at her, “Although its exterior has been improved, the internal core is still the goblin’s invention: the filtering magical array.”

Lance pointed to the cracks inside the crystal.

“There’s also a simple self-destruction mechanism inside. If the magical array reaches its tolerance limit, the self-destruct mechanism will activate, turning it into dust.”