“Um… What are we doing?” Elizabeth asked as the receptionist guided her out of the Guild and into the streets of Tyre.

“I’m taking you to Tyre Academy so we can evaluate your combat prowess. After all, bounties and missions are ranked by difficulty, with F being the easiest — typically completed by Mortal Stage Practitioners — and SSS being the hardest — missions this difficult can only be completed by those at the peak of the Mortal Realm — the majority of missions have a minimum rank requirement to attempt.”

“I see… And this Tyre Academy, what exactly is it that they teach there?” She already had a good enough guess in her mind formulated, but in the depths of her mind she was hoping for the answer to surprise her; in a good way, if possible.

“The Academy? It teaches practically anything, so long as you have the talent or resources. From combat and cultivation to the arts of the various secondary occupations, virtually all Guild Members come from an academy like Tyre Academy.” Taking a momentary pause as she turned back with a flushed face, she took an apologetic tone as she said, “B-but don't worry! Even if you don’t come from an Academy you can still be admitted!” Like everyone else, she couldn’t imagine Elizabeth’s power being anything greater than the Mortal Stage. Though she couldn’t be faulted as Elizabeth’s cultivation base was essentially a total void to all those who tried to probe without being in the Spirit Realm; it had been like that for the longest time.

“Mhmm...” Not really caring about the woman’s opinions of herself, Elizabeth was more amused at the prospect of passing by the academy to see how the practitioners of Tyre fared against the people of Earth; the Mages, anyway. She had already compared the Martial Practitioners and the cumulative battle prowess of the city to be countless times weaker than that of Earth’s Martial Society with the testament of the fact being that the Guild Master — one of the strongest, if not the strongest, person in the city — was a mere King Stage combatant.

Yet that fact didn’t really shake her perception of the Shadow Realm, as she knew full well that she had to actually escape out of the backwaters area of this world; she was still lurking in the dregs, where the strongest power didn’t even come close to the Spirit Realm.

Walking through the streets in awkward silence thereafter, it didn’t take long for the pair of women to reach the grand and majestic Tyre Academy. Just the southern entrance blew Elizabeth’s expectations out of the water as she walked through a gravel path, surrounded by flora and fountains, then up a couple steps to reach the titanic buildings hall-like entrance.

Following the receptionist, she saw many different classrooms and facilities which included but were not limited to a room full of cauldrons, another full of furnaces and smithing tools, another where the students looked to be practicing calligraphy, there was one where students had Monster Beasts by their side, and the last that she saw looked like some sort of cooking class. Exiting the main building, and taking a detour through the northern area of the Academy, Elizabeth saw a truly massive field that was lined with sparring rings, a different class of students working to inscribe the ground, and even a shooting gallery.

“Holy fuck… They really have everything, huh?” Elizabeth threw the comment out in the open as a form of praise. Though it was unfortunate that she had said it in the presence of one of the Academy executives as she had been practicing the unconscious release of her Translation Spell. “Of course my Academy has everything! All the courses a practitioner may want to delve into can be learned here and they’re taught by the best of the best.”

“Mhmm… Cool beans~” Elizabeth said, clearly not interested in the man or his opinions. She looked at the receptionist and was taken aback by the apprehension that had manifested in her expression. “Are you ok?” She asked.

“M-me? I’m fine. We’ve arrived at your testing site...”

“So, what is it that you want me to do?” Seeing the distant look in the receptionist’s eyes, Elizabeth edged her on, else she might be stuck there for a needlessly long period of time.

“...” Returning silence, the receptionist just looked at the executive that Elizabeth had just irritated. “You’re the new member of the Guild with no records, right?” the man said, with a weak yet evident tint of hostility in his eyes as he glared at Elizabeth.

“Yep. What of it?”

“Well… to start off, why don’t you pick what style of cultivation you want to follow.” Even though he had a bad impression of Elizabeth, it didn’t cloud his judgment and derail the nature of his work.

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“Huh? I’m a Mage.” Confused by the way the man spoke to her as if she hadn’t already cultivated her way through five of the six Stages in the Mortal Realm, Elizabeth responded candidly.

“You’re a Mage?” The man asked skeptically. His energy probed Elizabeth again and sure enough, the result was completely wrong. As a Peak Phase Mage Warrior, to him, it looked like she had never cultivated in her life…

“Yeah, a King-Stage Mage.” Elizabeth responded emotionlessly. She never would have expected her words to have infuriated both the executive and the receptionist as they both glared at her. “What?” She asked, confused as to why she was being given such dirty looks.

“Ms. Ultimatia… It's not in your best interest to taint the sanctity of the title King. Even if you want to boast, don’t do it around people who have actually gone through the ropes in hopes of one day reaching that legendary realm...” The executive was talking with gritting teeth, further disappointed with how this disrespectful girl behaved.

Chuckling at the irony of the situation, Elizabeth said, “But it’s true~” It was clear to everyone present that she was delighting in the anger the executive felt.

The executive sighed, “Alright then… Ms. King Mage, follow me to the target field. I’ll need you to show me some King Stage strength to register you as an A-Rank Member of the Guild.” With condescension almost overflowing from his words, the man began walking without turning back to look at Elizabeth; she was deemed as a lost cause.

Now smirking, Elizabeth followed the man without another word. To her side, the receptionist followed as it was a part of her job, but at the moment, she felt disinclined to help Elizabeth as a person. Thinking, ‘Those who boast tend to be the ones who die the quickest in the real world.’ She had already cursed Elizabeth as someone who’d probably die before she knew it and could already see herself forgetting the lass.

…

“Spirits of Fire, Guide my power! Flame Lance!” A boy could be seen gesticulating in a most unbecoming manner as he chanted. From his hand, a small red Magic Circle half the size of his palm manifested before it spat out what looked like a rod of flames.

“Almighty Water, pierce my foes! Water Shot!” A girl, right next to the boy could be seen doing her own set of gestures — gestures just as cringe-inducing as the boy’s — before a blue Magic Circle even smaller than that of the boy’s appeared on her hand and shot a blob of water.

“Tendrils of Darkness, erase!” A third man could be seen casting his own Magic Spell. Thankfully, it wasn’t as terrible to watch as the other two and he even manipulated Darkness, one of the higher-ranked elemental energies.

“...” Elizabeth who was brought alongside these “clowns” as she thought of them couldn't help but ask, “Please, tell me they’re not serious...” She was cringing harder than ever and felt nauseous just standing around these buffoons who cast Magic in such a disgusting light.

“Of course, they're serious! These are our newest first years at the academy and in just a couple days they’ve already learned how to manipulate their Magic and cast basic level spells.” The executive answered, apparently proud of the accomplishments of the Academy’s students.

“Mhmm… Why are they playing around and chanting like eight-grade mental cases?” She couldn’t fathom how these teenaged young adults could stomach how laughable they looked.

“Che! I knew you weren’t a Mage… Obviously, they are using incantations to stabilize and hasten the process of mastering their spells. It’s the fundamental way Mages improve and learn their spells. Tsk, tsk… And you call yourself a Mage King.” The man sighed as he condemned Elizabeth even more than before.

“Now, Ms. Mage King, if you will… Please show us the depths of your power…” Speaking with derision layer on top of contempt, the man spoke loud enough for those nearby to hear and within seconds a small audience had formed.

“Oh shit? A Mage King? Where, where?!”

“Is she really a Mage King? Mhmm...”

“I wonder how powerful a Mage King’s Spell is...”

All sorts of comments were thrown about and if anyone else was thrust into her position while also truly not being a Mage King, they most likely would have been crushed by the pressure. In any case, Elizabeth was a Mage King and she had a multitude of Spells. Alas, none of them were combat-oriented…

She only had auxiliary type Spells for Space, Time, and Neutral Magic. [Fast], [Slow], [Basic Translation], and [Target Homing] were all support type Spells, while [Spatial Contraction] was a movement or speed type Spell. Only her Cold Flames could count as an offensive type Spell on a technicality, but using even a minuscule amount would probably destroy the training field…

Replacing her smirk with that trademark schadenfreudian smile that hadn’t appeared in a while, Elizabeth mixed in giggles as she asked, “I only have one offensive Spell as I fight as primarily as a close-combat Mage. But I have to warn you… it’s pretty dangerous.”

“Well, go on then, show us your power.” The man shook his head all the while he spoke as the notion of a “close-combat mage” caused him to scoff. ‘Talk about an oxymoron… Why would a Mage ever resort to fighting in close combat? What would be the point when we command SPELLS?’ it seemed impossible to him just a couple moments prior, but Elizabeth had managed to further cast herself in an even more negative light before him…

“So, you don’t mind if I destroy this field?” Elizabeth asked clearly, as she too wanted to know how much her Cold Flames had advanced after reaching the King Stage and developing Good Tier Fire and Ice Affinities. She could confidently say she was planning on displaying an attack that could impact a battle between Spirit Realm combatants.

“Do as you wish~” The man jeered, completely unaware of the destruction his words would soon bring...