Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1166: Chapter 1165: Victoria Wilder’s Memories

Victoria first used a very impressionistic and general description to explain the Violet Kingdom’s method of selecting ”gifted ones,” thus giving Gawain a rough impression in his mind. Aunt Heidi, who was beside her, listened and then said, ”I have heard of this ’selection,’ and I also heard that this ’selection’ was not always in place. In more ancient times, the Violet Kingdom was even more closed off than it is today and did not have the tradition of selecting gifted apprentices from the Loren Continent for guidance—it was only about six hundred years ago that an enlightened Mystics Prince established this precedent...”

”Yes, that was six hundred years ago,” Victoria nodded, ”That was after the establishment of the Anzu Kingdom became stable, and the previously highly secluded Violet Kingdom suddenly announced its intention to open up their magical knowledge to the outside world—in their words, using ’the mages’ own way’. Subsequently, the Violet wanderers and ’guides’ began to appear publicly in the northern parts of the continent.

According to our family records, these masters, possessing profound magical skills, caused quite a stir in the northern regions at that time, especially among those transcendent groups who pursued the mysteries of magic and ancient knowledge. As we know, after the collapse of the Gondor Empire, human magical civilization suffered a tremendous blow. The Master Mage system, which was highly reliant on the Well of Deep Blue, vanished overnight. The surviving spellcasters urgently needed to establish a reliable magical system without the Well of Deep Blue. However, how difficult it was to construct such a system for the traditional mages who advanced their knowledge through trial and error and accumulation? Therefore, in the century following the establishment of Anzu, human mages were groping in the dark as if trying to climb stone walls everywhere...

Indeed so—Gawain thought in his heart. Although he only experienced the brief memories of the initial ten years of the establishment of Anzu, those ten years of observations and experiences were enough for him to understand the scene Victoria described. In fact, the ancestral teachings of the Cecil Clan, ’Knights are more formidable than mages,’ were spoken in such a historical context—because knights were indeed more formidable than mages back then...

After all, during those times, except for a few freaks like Snow Wielder, most mages were basically half-crippled.

Victoria did not know what thoughts were turning in Gawain’s mind; she simply continued speaking: ”... It was under such circumstances that the mages of the Violet Kingdom suddenly appeared in the northern parts of the continent. Their appearance showed the human mages six hundred years ago a brand new possibility—entirely new magical knowledge and the mysterious and ancient Violet secret arts system, with various self-powered arrays functioning without the Well of Deep Blue. For a human magical system that was still broken and fragmented after a hundred years of patchwork and repairs, the knowledge the Violet mages brought was nothing short of a... miracle.

”It was also from that time that the Violet Kingdom began its ’exchange’ with the Loren Continent. According to them, it was an ’exchange of mages’: obscure, secretive, abiding by ancient rules and traditions, passing knowledge like trickling streams, shaping new mage legacy systems. They selected talented apprentices from the northern parts of the continent—most were humans, but occasionally there were elves, dwarves, and other minority groups, bringing them back to the island for teaching, letting them leave with selected knowledge, and continually sending wanderers to the human world. Some of these wanderers became distinguished guests of various mage organizations in the northern regions of later generations, while the rest were mostly recruited by royal families and aristocrats, becoming ’external advisors’ to the Anzu Royal Mage Association...

”Whether willing to admit it or not, these envoys from the Violet Kingdom and the magical knowledge they brought greatly changed the landscape of spellcasters in the northern regions, having a long-term influence on the reconstruction process of the magical systems of the Anzu Kingdom and northern smaller countries. Over the following six centuries, this influence gradually spread to the entire human world and other nations closely linked with human countries.

”And this further established the influence of the ’Association of Mystics’ among the spellcaster community, giving such a mysterious mage organization, far removed from the Loren Continent, with almost no open presence in front of the Loren countries, a status as elevated as the Silver Empire Astronomer’s Association—even due to its more mysterious nature, the Association of Mystics’ ’charm’ was more significant in the eyes of spellcasters than the Association of Astrologers, your Majesty knows, mages... they just like this kind of mysterious feeling.”

Saying this, Victoria paused, as if organizing her thoughts, then continued: ”To this day, the traces of influence left by the ’Violet magical system’ from back then are still visible in the modern magical systems of Loren. For example, traditional communication spells, the anti-gravity spells before their improvements, the old-fashioned self-powered arrays, and so on—although most of them have been improved by the Rune Research Center and the Magic Guide Technology Research Institute, their original forms are actually closely related to the Violet Kingdom.”

Listening to Victoria’s depiction, Gawain subconsciously curled his fingers and rubbed his chin. He was summarizing this information in his mind, gradually abstracting it into a macro picture and gradually furrowing his brows: ”I always thought the Violet Kingdom was isolated from the world and had very distant connections with the Loren Continent. I didn’t expect that they would have such a profound impact on Loren... This sounds like a long-term and comprehensive infiltration; theoretically, the Violet Kingdom could even establish a force on the Loren Continent sufficient to rival the local authorities— even if they don’t do that, they are enough to choke the lifeblood of many local mage organizations.”

”You are right, in fact, not only you have worried about this. The Anzu era’s royal family, Typhon’s Mage Association, and some scholars in history who left their names have also expressed similar views, but the problem lies here: six hundred years have passed, and the Violet Kingdom has indeed remained secluded and aloof to this day. Besides small-scale coastal trade and those wandering mages, they have really... not crossed the line at all.”

Gawain’s brows instinctively lifted a bit; he did not speak, just listened as Victoria continued.

”Throughout six hundred years of activities, the northern states are not blind; many people are observing the every move of those Violet mages, including our family—but those mages seem to really just be here to travel and spread magic. Aside from academic exchanges and short-term employment acceptance, they do not participate in politics on the Loren Continent, do not intermarry, do not accept military employment, do not establish any organizations affiliated with the Violet Kingdom, do not develop any personal power, and once a stipulated travel period ends, they immediately withdraw. No matter how a royal family offered a lifetime title and a large piece of land could not retain any of them...”

”This... is indeed a bit remarkable...” Gawain couldn’t help but mutter, ”Instead, it makes one more interested...”

”Yes, but whether or not we pay attention, their style of conduct is just like that,” Victoria nodded, ”Of course, some speculate they are good at disguising and hiding their purpose... But a continuous six hundred years, watched by countless pairs of eyes, the mages from the Violet Kingdom never revealed any flaw, which in itself is equivalent to a kind of ’ironclad proof’.”

”This can only indicate that their goal is indeed not to meddle in the forces of the Loren Continent, but whether this goal is really limited to just travel and study is hard to say. This country is too mysterious... mysterious to the point of awe,” Gawain rubbed his chin and said with a serious expression, then suddenly looked up at Victoria, ”Can you speak specifically about your childhood experiences? How were you selected? What method did they use to guide the selected ’gifted ones’?”

”The selection process for seeds by the Violet Kingdom has always been a mystery; they have never publicly disclosed specific criteria,” Victoria shook her head, ”You know, the City of Thousand Towers holds an extraordinary status in the hearts of spellcasters akin to the kingdom in the hearts of believers or the royal temple of the Goddess of Magic, being selected is many mages’ lifelong dream—this means a path to high-level or even legendary realms.

”The mages returning from the City of Thousand Towers, no matter how mediocre they were before, start at high-level upon their return, so there have always been people wanting to find the selection criteria of the Violet Kingdom. Some clandestine organizations have even racked their brains trying to open a channel to send apprentices to the Violet Kingdom, but no one has ever successfully found this pattern. Their selection appears to prioritize spellcasting talent, yet there have also been instances where a talentless farmer encountered a ’guide’ in a field. Mostly they choose young people, but there have been older individuals entering their apprentice roster, and there’s even a rumor that they would take away gnolls and wild goblins from the wilderness... Of course, those rumors aren’t very credible.”

”In short, I don’t know why I was chosen—I only remember that one day, a mage suddenly visited Bitter Winter Castle. My father received him, and that mage presented the mark of the Violet Kingdom, along with an ’Great Library Admission Proof’ awaiting signature. My father and mother talked with the mage for a long time, discussing some enrollment details and contractual matters. In the end, they sought my opinion, and once I nodded, I became a preparatory apprentice.”

Gawain looked somewhat surprised at the holographic projection of the Grand Duchess: ”On one side is the heir to the Duke of the North, on the other is a foreigner suddenly coming to recruit. Moreover, the subsequent learning process requires traveling afar and undergoing closed management... And your parents just agreed? Doesn’t this seem a bit rash?”

”Because this kind of thing has happened more than once,” Victoria said lightly, ”In six hundred years, five members of the Wilder Clan have successively become apprentices in the City of Thousand Towers. Although the ’recruitment’ by the Violet Kingdom is a rare opportunity for the entire mage community, if you look at centuries of history and the entire northern region, such things actually have happened many times, and we are not unfamiliar with it.

”Secondly, the ’selection’ of the Violet Kingdom is not mandatory. In fact, compared to the traditional process of mages choosing apprentices, the invitation from the City of Thousand Towers is unbelievably gentle and loose—you can refuse, regret, and even if you’ve already arrived in the Violet Territory, if you want to go home, they will immediately send you back. Moreover, they have a very detailed... what we would now call an ’Enrollment Agreement,’ which specifies in detail the standards for food and lodging, health guarantees, travel time, and course content, just...”

Victoria thought carefully about how to put it, and finally shrugged: ”It’s very formal, very formal.”

”Formal... alright, I still think there’s something wrong, many issues,” Gawain sighed, ”but you can continue—what happened after ’admission’? How do they bring the apprentices to the City of Thousand Towers?”

”Rumor has it that Violet’s beckoners would use flying ships that traverse dreams and the starry sea to pick up the selected apprentices. While all the crew are dreaming, the ship navigates itself across an invisible sea line, falling into a cave shrouded by auroras, and arrives at the courtyard of the Mystics Prince by the next daybreak...” Victoria said, her lips curling slightly, ”A very romantic and ’magical’ fantasy, but unfortunately, the reality is much more mundane.

”They use ordinary passenger ships to pick people up, and those ships are much less advanced than our current magic warships. The apprentices usually gather in a small northern town, and after boarding, it takes less than half a day to cross the small strait between Violet and the Loren Continent—the food in the ship’s dining room is quite good, I do remember that.

”After crossing the strait, the apprentice-laden ship will dock in a coastal city, and the specific port differs each time—I remember that in my year, we arrived at a small city called ’Prandell.’ That place was always rainy, a weather not common in the north.

”After a short rest, we met the envoy from the City of Thousand Towers. I remember it was a very kind old lady, responsible for guiding the new apprentices to the heartland of the Violet Kingdom... I recall the old lady said that it was ’the real, eternal Violet Kingdom’...”

”The real, eternal Violet Kingdom?” Gawain immediately noticed the unusual wording, his eyes serious, ”Why did she put it that way?”

”She never explained, or perhaps she did later but I no longer remember,” Victoria shook her head, ”but I still remember the emotion when she said those words... It was a deep and nostalgic tone, as if she was referring not to a still-thriving kingdom, but a place destroyed, one that could only be eternally remembered...”

”... This is a very important clue, I’ll jot it down for now,” Gawain nodded, ”Then? You were taken to the City of Thousand Towers? How did you get there?”

”We were taken to outside the city. In the direction leading to the kingdom’s heartland, there were no roads at all, only endless dense forests and the mist that permeated them, and the old lady told us—the roads of Violet do not extend in reality, they connect the cities in a higher dimension, and if you wish to reach the City of Thousand Towers, the only way is to find those secret paths in the mist...”

Aunt Heidi, who had been silent all along, couldn’t help but speak: ”So, after arriving in the Violet Kingdom, the apprentices first have to face a certain test, and only those who pass can truly reach the City of Thousand Towers?”

”No, only local mage apprentices need to take the test, we were allowed direct entry because of the extra tuition fees—it was the old lady’s exact words.”

Gawain: ”...”

Next to him, Aunt Heidi couldn’t help but twitch the corners of her mouth: ”And then?”

”Then she led us through that thick fog—that’s all I can remember.”