The Cornflower Witch

Book 3: Chapter 67: Six-Sided Clock Tower

In the sky, an airship about two hundred meters long slowly descended.

The silver-blue propellers spun, and the airship's silver shell reflected flashes of light under the sunlight. Its aesthetically pleasing engineering lines and clean exterior filled the students below with admiration and envy.

This was a large airship carrying personnel from "Tetis College," and it also represented the most powerful school within the current Mage Alliance, the "Mithril Clock."

The airship landed in the center of the recruitment exhibition area, then anchored and lowered its steps, revealing the interior filled with exquisite instruments resembling a starry sky. These instruments could greatly enhance observation precision, used for researching various things, analyzing Spell Models, Alchemy creations, and so on.

Many of the Mage Alliance's instruments were produced by the "Mithril Clock" school. They had also established numerous guidelines, set industry standards, and built the most important foundational framework for the Mage Alliance.

On this day, besides "Tetis College" under the "Mithril Clock," representatives from colleges subordinate to the other two major schools also arrived in the Asra District.

The "Mithril Clock" school's exhibition hall was the descending airship, while the "Origin Hourglass" exhibition hall was a massive hourglass shaped like a volcano, divided into several levels arranged chronologically from bottom to top. The "Solar Furnace" exhibition hall, meanwhile, was a giant transparent sphere, at the center of which burned a magnificent golden flame that illuminated the darkness. Its surging heat gave every student who stepped inside a baptism of the "Scorching Sun," restoring their spirit and vitality.

If the "Mithril Clock" established the rules and direction for the entire Mage Alliance's development, then the "Solar Furnace" school provided the driving force for all its operations.

This school researched and produced various types of power furnaces and engines, used in countless airships, steam vehicles, ships, large machinery, and more. They also produced boiler equipment and lighting fixtures, igniting lamps and providing heat across all regions of the Mage Alliance.

Although it currently ranked only third, it was also the youngest of the three major factions, brimming with vigorous, untapped potential."Have you decided, Hedra?" the instructor asked once more, confirming whether this young girl intended to apply to "Tetis College."

"Yes, I'm ready." Sylutia nodded in response.

"In that case, go ahead." The instructor took out a seal, stamped it onto Sylutia's examination permission certificate, and handed it to her.

Picking up the certificate, along with the letter of recommendation specially prepared for her by the Asra District authorities earlier, Sylutia walked beneath the silver-blue airship.

There were no sightseers here, only examinees filled with ambition and eager anticipation. They lined up, waiting, praying to pass the assessment smoothly and enter this most prestigious college.

As Sylutia approached, many waiting students noticed her.

Silently and without a word, they made way for her to pass. Even those who hadn't noticed were pulled aside by their companions, clearing a path.

Her black hair brushed gently in the breeze. Wherever this young girl passed, the students quickly fell silent, then watched her walk by.

From a distance, students who didn't know the situation asked curiously.

"Who is that? Why is everyone making way for her? Is she someone special?"

"You don't know? That's the famous figure of our Asra District, the 'Untouchable Black Griffin,' Hedra. Her reputation and strength are recognized by everyone. Even if you ask an ordinary laborer on the street, they'll know that name."

"Is she that powerful?" The student covered her mouth, a bit incredulous.

"Yes." Surprisingly, those classmates who were usually arrogant and liked to disagree had nothing to say today. They just silently watched that figure walk through the crowd.

Soft black hair, a simple blue iris hair clip, the girl carried her books and certificate. Dressed in a quiet black dress, she walked lightly toward the airship. If it were their first meeting, no one would associate her with such a forceful nickname. In fact, it would be easy to overlook this quietly tempered girl.

But today, as her figure passed by, that quiet temperament struck like another kind of thunderbolt—it was the sole stillness amidst a thousand noises and distractions, so striking that it could not be ignored.

...

Crossing the short steps, Sylutia stepped into the spacious interior of the airship. A mage in a black formal suit with a monocle was already waiting there. He took the certificate and letter of recommendation from the girl, scanned them with an appraising gaze, and nodded slightly.

"Miss Hedra, please come in. You are the first examinee today. I wish you success."

He then lifted a black curtain, allowing the girl to enter the spacious area.

One by one, orange lamps lit up, illuminating the path before her until she reached the center of the vast circular hall. Then another set of lights came on, and on the spectator seats opposite her appeared a group of examining mages, seventeen in total, ranging from the Fifth to Sixth Tier.

"We will now begin questioning. We will score you based on your answers and performance."

"Yes."

After that, the examiners posed a series of difficult questions. The scope of the assessment ranged from basic knowledge of secret arts to the actual construction of Spell Models, from experiments requiring hands-on practice to on-the-spot solutions for entirely new problems, and from pure mathematical analysis to real combat against powerful enemies.

"This is the second-to-last assessment item. You will face a Third Tier 'Blood Frenzy Beast' alone. Defeat it within the allotted time."

As the words fell, a sealed metal cage rose from one side of the circular hall where the girl stood. Inside, a wolf-like beast nearly four meters tall was struggling and roaring.

The cage opened, the chains unlocked, and the blood-red beast burst out. It first threw its head back and howled, then opened its bloody maw with fangs dripping long strands of saliva. The creature's appearance was like a giant, enlarged Dire Wolf, but its muscles were far more powerful, and lacking skin, the muscle fibers were clearly visible.

[Blood Frenzy Beast] (Third Tier · Bloodline): An experimental product fused with the bloodlines of multiple ferocious beasts. It can erupt with astonishing combat power in a short time. As a minion, it might be too costly to keep, but as an enemy, it is a nightmare for peers of the same tier.

After emerging, this experimental beast didn't give Sylutia much time to prepare. Its bloodshot eyes locked onto the girl, and it let out a chilling hiss before charging at her ferociously.

Seeing this, Sylutia slightly widened her eyes but didn't dodge. A light flickered in her gaze as she analyzed the beast's condition in an extremely short time.

It was called "Third Tier," but the speed and power of its burst far exceeded that of ordinary knights. From its initial sprint to reaching Sylutia took only three seconds.

In that moment, Sylutia's mind raced at high speed. Everything before her seemed to slow down. The Blood Frenzy Beast raised its right claw, its sharp talons cutting through the air, leaving extremely fine trails of airflow. The tips emitted a faint red glow, sharp and dangerous, as they lunged toward Sylutia's face.

Dodge? There was no longer time for that. She could only withstand it head-on.

She raised a thick black hardcover book to block the incoming claws.

The book's cover split open, and countless pages flew into the air. Taking advantage of this brief visual obstruction, Sylutia abandoned the book and leaned back to evade.

It took two backflips in midair before Sylutia completely dodged the ambush. Then, her body rose, and black feathers materialized around her.

Soon, a pair of pure black wings formed on her back, lifting the girl into the air.

Her broad black wings flapped. When Sylutia reached a safe altitude in midair, she spread her hands, and swords formed from condensed Magnetite Sand materialized around her, circling her.

Then, these flying swords aimed at the leaping "Blood Frenzy Beast" below. The blades hummed, and streaks of cold light swept across the swords' surfaces, making them sharper and more durable.

After the seventh streak of cold light traced across the blade, these flying swords shot forward, emitting a sharp whistling sound as they charged at the enemy.

The silver-cold flying swords tore fine cuts into the Blood Frenzy Beast's body, snapping its tendons. Then they continued flying, turned around, and accelerated for another dive.

Considering the beast's body, which was as tough as steel, Sylutia didn't command the flying swords to attack directly. Instead, she tore open wound after wound until she finally severed the Blood Frenzy Beast completely.

The ferocious head flew into the air, rolling onto the ground still steaming. Soon after, the beast's running body also ceased movement and fell to the ground.

"Congratulations, Miss Hedra. You have passed this assessment. Next is the final item."

"Please use the raw materials on the table, in an environment without any reference system, to create a clock that displays the current accurate time with an error of less than two seconds."

As an assessment for the "Mithril Clock" school, the final item had to be clockmaking, and the difficulty this time had been raised to the maximum.

Perhaps all examinees present had prepared to make a clock, but how could they perfectly align their clock's time with the current standard time in an environment without any reference system?

What this question likely truly intended to test was whether she knew what the current "standard time" of the Mage Alliance was based on. And even if she knew, how could she use that source to calibrate her clock's time?

The complex knowledge and theories involved touched on over a dozen subjects and a vast array of mechanical craftsmanship—hard to imagine that a Mage Apprentice could solve it.

They posed this question also to find out where this girl's limits lay. For ordinary examinees, these examiners would never ask a question of this difficulty.

Faced with such a challenge, even Sylutia fell into brief contemplation, pondering a solution.

A few minutes later, the girl began to act. To the astonishment of all the examiners, she simultaneously manipulated six light blue magic hands to assist her. The tedious and trivial tasks that would have taken a lot of time were handled and completed with exceptional efficiency and speed under the aid of these magic hands.

Afterward, incredibly fine components took shape, then were assembled quickly and precisely.

Before everyone's eyes, an exquisitely beautiful rotating clock tower took form. It had six sides, each with a dial, displaying the current time of various regions within the Fourth Strike.

[Six-Sided Clock Tower] (Third Tier · Rare): A clock tower crafted with exquisite and superb skill. Its interior incorporates the lost arts of the "Star-Gazing School" to create an astrolabe, aligning with the positions of the stars to determine the current location and time.

When this beautiful and delicate Six-Sided Clock Tower was completed, all the examiners present began to applaud, praising this gratifying masterpiece.

"Now we can be certain, Miss Hedra, that you are the one we have always been waiting for—the one who will bring new changes to the Mithril Clock school."

"Congratulations, Miss Hedra. You have passed all the assessments."

"The gates of Tetis College will be opened for you."