Professor Nabler wiped the grease from the corner of his mouth and stared sternly at the mob of starving Academy sorcerers.
"What are you all looking at? Finished your coursework? Memorized your spell models? Completed today's meditation? You all seem to have plenty of free time, so what are you doing here?"
The Academy sorcerers stirred slightly.
The authority of a chief instructor wasn't enough to scare them away. Hunger had defeated fear.
They silently stared at Professor Nabler.
There was one major advantage to wearing a sorcerer's Glintstone Crown, it did an excellent job of hiding your identity. And once nobody could tell exactly who was who, there was safety in numbers.
Nabler's expression changed.
He publicly called out several names, some apprentices and some instructors.
The apprentices remained silent and pretended they hadn't heard him.
The instructors straightened their backs, removed their crowns, and made it perfectly clear that they weren't backing down.
"Nabler, you greedy bastard! You can't keep all the good food to yourself!"
"Yeah!"
"Exactly!"
With the instructors openly backing them, the surrounding sorcerers began looking increasingly eager to make a move.
Even Nabler started to panic.
Skyl finally stood up to defuse the situation.
"Friends, one meal isn't going to solve the tragic state of the Academy cafeteria. Besides, there isn't enough food here for everyone anyway. What I can do is tell you where these ingredients came from. Instead of crowding around here fighting over leftovers, why not obtain the ingredients yourselves and cook your own meals?"
That suggestion immediately struck a chord.
Academy sorcerers valued their dignity and considered themselves refined scholars. There was no way they could comfortably accept charity forever.
Someone immediately asked Skyl for details about where the ingredients had come from.
"Your suggestion sounds reasonable," one conspectus instructor said, "but it isn't as though the Academy lacks the ability to acquire food. If your solution is simply to tell us to leave the Academy and hunt for ourselves, then you can save your breath."
Strictly speaking, although the Academy was isolated, some sorcerers were still regularly dispatched on outside assignments.
Those field sorcerers ate perfectly normal meals.
They might have been far removed from the academic center of Raya Lucaria, but at least they never had to worry about food or drink.
Naturally, Skyl's solution was the Silver Tree Multiversal Interactive Entertainment Network.
Using Mora's Book as the spatial medium, the Grand Symphony to construct worldlines, and the Tower of Tomes' Celestial central brain as the monitoring system, Skyl had created numerous miniature worlds that users of the Silver Network could explore.
Together, these miniature worlds formed the Silver Entertainment Network's instanced-plane system.
Skyl gave them a simple explanation.
"I have a way to take all of you into miniature worlds. Inside those worlds, you'll have opportunities to obtain whatever ingredients you want. However, entering those worlds requires agreeing to a user service agreement, signing a contract with the Silver Tree, and accepting its Grace."
"The Silver Tree?"
"What is that?"
The natives of the Lands Between naturally thought of the Erdtree the moment they heard the words Silver Tree.
The mention of "Grace" only strengthened that association.
Skyl raised a hand toward the sky.
"All of you have heard the name of the Greater Will. It stands behind the Erdtree. The creator of the Silver Tree is an existence of a similar nature, and the beings who maintain the Silver system are no weaker than the Greater Will."
The room exploded into uproar.
Even Nabler, who had originally only come here to mooch a meal, was stunned.
He had never imagined that a simple dispute over food would suddenly produce such an earth-shattering revelation.
The foreign sorcerer extended a hand.
Grace of Silver danced across his palm, illuminating his flawless features. Beneath that light, his face resembled a classical marble sculpture, so perfect it seemed almost inhuman.
The noisy questions around him gradually quieted.
"The Grace of Silver asks for neither your soul nor your flesh. It asks only for a pure spark of wisdom."
"How are we supposed to know any of this isn't a scam?" Nabler asked instinctively.
Even he had been overwhelmed by Skyl's presence.
For a moment, he forgot entirely that he was supposed to be the professor here, and his tone became almost deferential without him realizing it.
"A competent spellcaster never blindly trusts the terms of a contract. That's a good habit. But a mature sorcerer shouldn't refuse to investigate something new either."
Skyl held out the silver light.
"The Grace is right here. Who wants to try?"
The crowd fell silent.
Academy sorcerers were deeply cautious.
Part of that came from the natural suspicion of intelligent people who didn't want to be deceived.
But more importantly, the Silver Tree reminded them of the Erdtree.
Ever since the Erdtree's radiance had dominated the heavens, the Astrologers had been unable to explore the mysteries of the stars as freely as before.
That had directly altered the course of magical theory throughout the Lands Between.
Without the Erdtree, glintstone sorcery might have developed far beyond its current state instead of becoming something increasingly similar to an exercise in magical archaeology.
The strongest spells were still the ancient primeval sorceries, while later generations of glintstone sorcery constantly sought inspiration from them.
It was the classic fantasy trope where older magic somehow always turned out to be stronger.
In most fantasy settings, ancient civilizations were stronger because they had access to resources that no longer existed.
In the Lands Between, ancient sorcery was stronger because the old Astrologers had access to first-hand astronomical observations.
Sorcerers of the Erdtree era had effectively become craftsmen trying to reconstruct lost knowledge from fragments.
The one thing they could be proud of was that relentless academic competition had dramatically improved their theoretical tools.
When it came to mathematics, modern sorcerers could wipe the floor with ancient Astrologers.
Now that the Erdtree had fallen, the glintstone sorcerers were thrilled.
They finally had access to direct observations of the stars again, while also possessing mathematical tools a hundred times more sophisticated than those available to their ancestors.
A new era of explosive magical advancement seemed inevitable.
They had only just escaped one age of hardship.
If the Silver Tree now appeared and covered the heavens just as the Erdtree once had, they'd have plenty of reason to panic.
"I'll try."
A bald head suddenly pushed through the crowd.
Skyl looked over.
The first volunteer was actually an old acquaintance.
Sorcerer Thops.
"It's him, Thops the Bluntstone."
"What's he doing here?"
"Shouldn't he be busy preparing his own conspectus?"
"A conspectus with one apprentice? Ha!"
Thops walked through the crowd and ignored the ridicule around him.
He stopped before Skyl, standing there neat and composed, then gave him a shy smile.
Skyl's expression remained unchanged.
He gently extended his hand and pushed the Grace toward Thops.
"What do I..."
Thops hesitated.
"Oh, I just put my hand into it? Like this?"
He slowly reached into the silver light.
"It's not hot at all..."
His eyes widened.
"Hmm. I can see something. This is..."
He stared in fascination.
"What a strange form of Grace. Level 7 Glintstone Sorcerer. Wow. Is that considered strong?"
"You'd be capable of serving as a city's champion and handling major threats on your own."
Skyl smiled and nodded.
Thops's expression shifted.
He spent a moment examining his status panel.
[Connected to the Silver Tree Multiversal Interactive Entertainment Network, Ver. 0.6 Closed Beta]
[...]
[This update is a major version upgrade.]
[Instanced-plane gameplay is now officially available.]
[Candle Coin currency system added.]
[Player Trading Market added.]
[Instanced-Plane Quest: Electric Sheep Roundup]
[Difficulty: Normal / Solo]
[World Scale: Miniature]
[Challenge Rating: Casual]
[Quest Details: A squad of exiled soldiers on the Altus Plateau is requesting an adventurer's help capturing lightning sheep.]
[Completion Rewards: 5 to 20 Candle Coins and one random Common-quality item.]
[Accept Quest: Yes / No]
Thops selected Yes with his thoughts.
The next instant, his vision blurred.
Once the sudden wave of dizziness faded, he found himself hundreds of miles away from the Academy, north of the lake country on the Altus Plateau.
The autumn air was crisp and pleasant.
Golden grass stretched across the plains.
A flock of plump sheep wandered lazily through the field.
Thops rubbed his bald head, completely unsure what he was supposed to do.
Then a cautious voice came from behind him.
"Hey. You. Over here. In the bushes."
Several skinny soldiers covered in dirt were crouching among the grass, waving at him.
"Hello."
Thops crouched beside them.
"Shh!"
The soldier at the front hurriedly gestured for silence.
"Keep your voice down. Don't spook the flock."
He nodded toward the sheep.
"You're the adventurer, right? Judging by those clothes, you're some kind of spellcaster from a magic school?"
The soldier pointed toward the flock.
"The boys and I need three sheep. Don't care how you get them, just don't poison them. Bring us three and we'll make sure you're paid properly."
He waved his hand.
"Go on."
Another soldier nervously added, "Hey, adventurer, be careful with those sheep. They'll ram the hell out of you, and some of them can do this Lightning Ram thing. Don't let the whole flock roll over you."
Thops nodded.
He raised his staff and fired several Glintstone Pebbles from a distance.
The projectiles looked barely larger than his thumb, but their penetrating power was impressive.
Each one punched directly through a sheep's skull.
The flock immediately erupted into chaos.
The lead ram bleated.
The aggressive rams lowered their heads, curled themselves into furry balls, and began rolling toward Thops.
Golden arcs of electricity burst across their wool.
They looked like electrified armored vehicles barreling across the grass.
Thops's expression changed.
He turned around and ran.
The flock chased after him.
The soldiers hiding in the grass immediately cheered, rushed forward, and dragged away the dead sheep.
There were exactly three.
[You have completed the soldiers' commission.]
[Instanced-Plane Quest Completed.]
[Rewards have been calculated.]
[You may return at any time.]
Thops glanced behind him.
The rolling sheep were starting to slow down.
He raised his staff again and began picking them off one by one with Glintstone Pebbles.
By the time he finished, he had killed ten sheep in total.
He hoisted one corpse over his shoulders and selected Return.
[Exiting instanced plane...]
[Quest Rewards: 6 Candle Coins.]
[Parrying Dagger acquired. Item has been transferred to Inventory Space.]
The world spun around Thops once again.
A moment later, he was back inside Raya Lucaria.
He bent forward and dropped the freshly killed sheep onto the floor.
"Whew..."
Thops looked around at everyone.
"So... whole roasted lamb?"
The surrounding sorcerers were even quieter than statues.
Eventually, someone broke the silence.
"I'm not hallucinating, am I? Thops disappeared for a second and came back with an entire sheep?"
The crowd instantly erupted.
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