Your Majesty is in danger!

"Very well. Gretel, from this moment on, you are my first disciple."

Aelian spoke in a tone as still as a deep, ancient well.

"Now, swear an oath here: from this day forward, you shall be forever loyal to me, loyal to Eldoren, and loyal to this land that belongs to humanity!"

"The Empire's direction shall be your direction; the Empire's enemies shall be your enemies. You will use all your strength to protect this land of Eldoren and its people, to guide the other sorcerers who will be born upon this soil in the future, and to provide them with the same proper guidance as I provide you now."

"I swear it," little Gretel said, raising his fist with excitement, imitating the heroes from the ballads of bards as he took his vow:

"I shall be forever loyal to His Majesty Aelian, loyal to Eldoren, and loyal to this land that belongs to humanity!"

"The Empire's direction shall be my direction; the Empire's enemies shall be my enemies. I will use all my strength to protect this land and its people, and to guide the other sorcerers who will be born upon the lands of Eldoren..."

The surrounding crowd—be they the mages or the villagers watching from further away—could not help but feel envious of little Gretel.

"Is little Gretel going to the kingdom in the sky? He’s even becoming His Majesty’s student!"

His sister, Silka, was filled with envy; this was something she would never have dared to dream of.

Gretel’s parents were equally thrilled, unable to imagine how much pride they would feel before their neighbors in the future.

Standing in the distance, Teacher Joseph adjusted his spectacles, which had been cracked earlier in the day. Watching the student who had been asking him questions just that afternoon now soaring to such heights, he felt a sense of detachment, as if the world he knew had suddenly shifted.

Aelian turned to his mage attendants to deliver his final instructions:

"The orc attack tonight caused some damage to the undead in Rolling Stone Village; you are responsible for coordinating the replacements..."

"By now, there should be no remnants of orc clans left on the Empire's lands, but it would be best to check once more..."

"Additionally, provide Gretel’s family with some wealth so that they may live a more prosperous life..."

Afterward, Aelian looked back at the child before him.

"Very well, Gretel."

"Soon, I will take you to the Floating City. You may not return to the surface for a very long time."

"Is there anything you wish to do on this final night?"

"I..." Gretel whimpered, as if not yet fully awake from a grand dream. "I would like to say goodbye to my mother, father, and sister first."

He ran back and threw himself into his family's arms, laughter and tears intermingling.

After the many trite words of parting, little Gretel dutifully returned to Aelian’s side.

"Do you have any other wishes, before you leave this land?" Aelian asked.

"Er..." Little Gretel paused, looking slightly bewildered.

"I..."

The boy stammered, seeming to want to say something, yet hesitating.

"Speak freely," Aelian said.

"I," little Gretel gathered his courage, "I want to see what this land called Eldoren is actually like!"

It was the land he had sworn to protect.

"I have never left the village in my whole life. I have never seen what the world beyond Rolling Stone Village is truly like!"

"In fact, I had never even heard the name Eldoren before."

"It wasn't until class that Teacher Joseph told us we were part of an Empire."

"The teacher taught us that this land is named Eldoren. He told us there are hundreds of villages just like Rolling Stone Village on this land..."

What Gretel spoke of was the common understanding held by most of the surface dwellers.

During the era of the Ancient Magic Empire, the mage nobility in the Floating Cities high above had unilaterally declared that they ruled over all humans on the land below, collectively referring to both the surface world and the cities in the sky as "Eldoren."

Most commoners on the surface lived their entire lives within their own tiny patches of earth, and from birth to death, they might never have heard the name "Eldoren."

It was only half a year ago that teachers from the sky came to the village to impart knowledge about Eldoren, telling them of the hundreds of villages across the land, the Elven Court to the west of the Empire, and the Green Dragon Lord's domain to the south, which gave the humans on this land their first sense of belonging.

—That concept which distinguished "them" from "us."

"Very well. That is a reasonable wish."

Aelian said.

"If you have never known the full scope of this land, how can you speak of protecting it?"

The Emperor extended a hand.

"Come, child, take my hand. I will take you to see the true Eldoren."

Little Gretel reached out tremblingly and grasped Aelian’s right hand.

*Bang!*

With a crisp crack and a flash of teleportation light, the figures of both vanished.

"Where did they go?"

Sister Silka widened her eyes in surprise and tugged on her mother’s sleeve.

"To the sky. They are in the sky!"

Teacher Joseph, who had drifted into the crowd of villagers at some point, arrived beside Silka and pointed toward the vast night sky.

Silka, her parents, and the many villagers all looked up simultaneously, following the teacher's finger toward the boundless, star-filled expanse.

They saw that against the night backdrop, amidst the countless stars, two tiny silhouettes were flying at immense speed, carving through the night.

The larger figure held the smaller one with one arm, while the other hand gestured toward the earth below, as if narrating the tales of the land.

"They are in the sky, surveying the land below!"

Under the gaze of the mages and villagers, Aelian carried little Gretel as they flew further and further away.

They soared over the quiet village, over the babbling brooks, and over the silent hills.

Finally, they drifted completely into the distance, vanishing into the night...

Watching them depart, General Thor felt a touch of sentiment reflecting on the night's events.

"[Sorcerers]—what a truly unique profession."

"Let us return and relay the emergence of the sorcerer and the events of this evening to the Floating City."

Thor, along with the several battle mages who had accompanied him, teleported back to the Floating City amidst a dazzling flash of light.

...

High above, in the Floating City shrouded in layers of clouds.

A howling night wind swept past, and drifting clouds floated by the railings and towers of the city in the sky.

"Summon the other Chiefs of the Imperial Council, excluding His Majesty, for a brief meeting," Thor instructed his subordinates.

He was not only a General of the Empire but also the Chief of the Conjuration School of the Imperial Magic Council, with the authority to convene the council.

"What happened tonight is too astonishing. I must inform the other Chiefs of the existence of sorcerers."

"Scrolls and knowledge are, it seems, not the only path for humans to master arcane magic."

"This is another power that could change the fate of the Empire!"

Thor waited patiently for a while.

Soon, he received a reply from his subordinate:

"Three of the Chiefs are currently not in the Floating City and cannot attend the meeting in time."

"What? Why are three of them away at once?"

Thor frowned.

But the next moment, the hairs on his body stood on end.

He felt a chill run straight up his spine, and his back tingled.

"That's right, it has been over half a year, causing me to forget..."

"Back then, I explicitly warned His Majesty Aelian..."

"He cannot leave the protection of the Imperial Mage Guard and act alone!"