Skyl had known Ranni for more than two years, but they still weren't particularly close.
They had first met after the Erdtree went dark. The Empyrean Ranni had sought Skyl out to confirm that he really was the Outsider who had seized the Golden Order.
Later, Ranni had been invited to join the Tower of Tomes. Whenever everyone gathered at the tavern for Christmas, she was usually there as well, and over time she had at least become casually acquainted with the other visitors from different worlds.
Yet no matter where she was, Ranni always seemed alone.
She kept everyone at a careful distance.
Skyl knew that she was a determined and calculating Empyrean. She wasn't quite as frightening as Miquella, but she certainly possessed both courage and intelligence. She wanted to become the new god of the Lands Between, and at present, the only thing she truly lacked was enough power.
Most likely, Ranni was deliberately creating an opportunity to do Skyl a favor. Once she had helped him, she would have a perfectly natural reason to ask him for help in return.
Those little schemes were hidden behind the cold, expressionless face of her blue doll body. Outwardly, she remained the dignified and aloof Carian princess.
In reality, she was the one who needed help.
Many of the sorcerers at the banquet were quietly watching them.
Naturally, Skyl wasn't going to embarrass a friend in front of her own people, so he smiled and offered an exaggerated compliment.
"Your arrival couldn't have come at a better time. You're practically a beacon in the dark. Whatever advice you have, I'm all ears."
Seeing the Outsider Skyl treating the Carian princess with such courtesy, speaking to her as an equal while also displaying obvious familiarity, caused the surrounding sorcerers' imaginations to run wild.
Because of their conflicting philosophies of sorcery, the Academy's star-worshiping sorcerers had never been particularly loyal to the moon-worshiping Carian Royal Family.
While Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon, had still been of sound mind, the Academy had at least acknowledged her authority. After the Queen lost herself to grief and madness, however, the Academy rebelled and joined forces with the Knights of the Cuckoo against the Carians.
Neither the Academy nor the royal family had ever completely dominated the other.
Now, however, the sorcerers couldn't help reevaluating exactly how much weight the Carian Royal Family still carried.
Ranni paused before speaking softly.
"Skyl, thou cunning traveler from beyond this world. Thou knowest perfectly well that it is not thee who truly requires aid, but me."
Skyl nodded.
"Whatever it is, we can talk after dinner. You're safe here. Whoever tries to threaten one of my friends won't get very far."
Ranni raised her head slightly.
The rigid lips of her doll face almost seemed to curl upward.
The spirit attached to the doll, however, was unmistakably smiling.
Nearly eighty percent of the Academy's sorcerers had attended the banquet. Once they began asking where the food had come from, word quickly spread about the existence of the Grace of Silver.
Most of them were conservative by nature, so rather than openly admitting that they wanted the Grace for themselves, they cautiously asked indirect questions and tried to learn more without committing to anything.
Ranni was clearly interested in the Silver Tree as well.
Skyl had yet to promote it throughout the Tower of Tomes, so she intended to take advantage of her early access and become one of the first players to try it.
Her doll body couldn't eat. Although Ranni had filled a plate with various dishes, she eventually gave all of it to the laborers who performed the Academy's menial work.
The Lands Between were filled with these elderly, weakened people whose lives had once been unnaturally prolonged.
During the Age of the Erdtree, they had lived beneath its blessing, and when age eventually left them frail, they could receive Erdtree burial, returning their bodies to the roots and becoming part of the Golden Order's cycle of life and death.
After the Elden Ring was shattered, those who lacked the strength to protect themselves sank to the very bottom of society. Even people who had once possessed wealth or status could end up as wretched servants.
That was simply what the Lands Between had become once the old social order collapsed.
Strength ruled everything.
After the Golden Order was extinguished, many of these long-lived people finally died naturally. Some continued to cling to life, but few had much time left.
The elderly laborers were like rusted machines, slow and clumsy, sometimes less useful than the Academy's Marionette Soldiers. The sorcerers barely spared them a glance and simply assigned a handful of soldiers to keep watch over them.
Ranni might have appeared cold, but she was the only person who brought them food.
She didn't make a show of it.
Instead, she quietly walked toward a sheltered corner beneath the corridor, where several thinly dressed old laborers huddled away from the night air, and handed them plates of hot food.
Someone of her status couldn't openly display too much charity without people accusing her of trying to buy loyalty. Worse, doing so publicly would embarrass all the respectable people who had done nothing at all.
Ranni stepped down from Skyl's floating platform.
Even with her small doll body standing before the hunched, decrepit laborers, they still seemed to be the ones looking up at her.
"Your Highness!"
Once they recognized her, the old men hurriedly greeted her with nervous reverence.
After Ranni left, they crowded around the plates. Withered fingers picked up pieces of food and pushed them eagerly into toothless mouths, licking every trace of sauce from their fingertips.
"Ah... that's the taste. Crayfish meat, and Runebear tenderloin. How many years has it been?"
"Reminds me of the days before Queen Marika committed her great sin."
"May fortune always favor the Lunar Princess."
Ranni did not return to the banquet.
Only after the guests in the plaza had dispersed and the tables and chairs had been cleared away did she appear again.
By then, Skyl and the others had gathered inside the Thops Conspectus classroom to discuss how they were going to deal with tomorrow's examination.
Thops sighed with emotion.
"I've never known this many sorcerers. I mean, I've never had this many sorcerers actually greet me before. Who would've imagined? These are the same people who used to call me a Bluntstone. It's really... hard to believe. Mage Skyl, thank you for everything you've done for me."
"You need to understand that all the praise you received today is just reputation. At the end of the day, what truly earns respect is power."
Skyl didn't sugarcoat it.
He had already passed the stage in his life where he obsessively pursued strength for its own sake, but he would never pretend that everything he possessed today had been won through clever words.
If he hadn't been powerful, he would probably still be at Hogwarts playing schoolyard games with Voldemort. If he were merely an ordinary wizard, he would have spent every waking moment figuring out how to survive once the Dark Lord returned.
Without power, Skyl never could have befriended beings like Eru Ilúvatar, Stan Lee, or Ao.
Thops understood that better than most.
The Lands Between was a world where strength commanded respect. If he possessed power comparable to one of the Primeval Sorcerers and decided to establish his own Conspectus, prospective apprentices would be fighting for the chance to study under him.
"I understand, Mage Skyl. I'll work even harder."
"Everyone has their own temperament. You don't need to force yourself into becoming someone you're not just to gain more power. As long as I'm around, and as long as you have the Tower of Tomes and the Silver Tree behind you, you can live your life in peace. If the Lands Between ever becomes impossible for you, come to Skylrael. I've built a home there for anyone who sincerely seeks the truth."
Thops scratched his bald head in embarrassment.
Doniel, meanwhile, immediately began asking questions about this so-called Tower of Tomes.
While they chatted, Melina was trying to tutor Moli.
She looked like the world's most awkward kindergarten teacher. Her expression never changed, and even her voice remained cool and flat.
"What are you supposed to do during tomorrow's exam?"
"Answer questions... use magic..." Moli replied in her soft, childish voice.
"Then memorize these questions and their answers."
"No."
"You have to."
"Don't wanna."
"Just memorize them."
"Mmm... I don't understand these."
"Then should I read them to you?"
"Okay!"
Melina actually began reading each question and answer aloud, word by word.
It didn't take long for her to realize that Moli's mind had already wandered somewhere else entirely. The little girl was practically falling asleep.
Millicent also held a scroll covered in answers.
She silently committed them to memory, but as she listened to the easygoing voices around her, she couldn't resist raising her head and studying everyone in the classroom.
Skyl, looking completely relaxed.
Doniel, stubbornly single-minded.
Thops, shy and awkward.
Melina, calm as ever.
And Moli, pretending she understood less than she actually did.
Millicent's gaze eventually settled on Skyl.
Without realizing it, she stared at him for a long time.
Every tiny change in his expression burned itself into her memory, something she knew she wouldn't forget even twenty years from now.
Within her Shehai, the shadows churned violently, sending sharp pain through her head.
Losing ground in her cultivation wasn't as simple as losing accumulated power. The regression was inflicting genuine physical damage on her as well.
Even so, Millicent didn't want to think about the problem looming directly in front of her.
She simply kept looking at Skyl until he finally glanced back at her in confusion.
His eyes seemed to ask, What's wrong?
Millicent understood immediately.
For some reason, she smiled and answered with a small blink.
Nothing. I'm just a little tired.
Skyl actually nodded.
He had understood her too.
"All right, let's talk about tomorrow's exam."
Skyl clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention toward him.
At that exact moment, a gust of wind suddenly blew open the classroom window.
The curtains swelled like sails before snapping apart, allowing moonlight to spill through the opening.
And with the moonlight came the Lunar Princess.
Ranni sat upon the windowsill, the full moon behind her tracing the outline of her small figure and casting a slender shadow across the floor.
Thops and Doniel immediately placed their hands over their chests and bowed.
"Your Highness."
Skyl simply waved.
"Quit sitting on the windowsill and come inside."
He gave Millicent a look.
She brought over a high-backed chair.
Skyl then stacked four books on the seat and draped a cloth over them.
There.
A throne fit for a princess.
Ranni stared at the stack of books Skyl had placed beneath her seat.
Her fists slowly clenched.
So being tall makes thee special?
Do short people have no rights?
Just who dost thou think thou art looking down on?!
Naturally, she still climbed onto the chair without complaint.
Once seated atop the four books, she could finally look everyone directly in the eye.
Her dignity as a princess was restored.
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