Earth's Magical Civilization

"A Grand Mage might be powerful, but it’s still one person," Evans said. "Yes, they will change the status quo, but not to the extent you’re implying."

"Not necessarily."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I know from a reliable source that the tower will allow the construction of factions," Zane replied.

"Is that true?" Evelyn immediately asked.

"Yes. They will sell vouchers that give us full rights to use the knowledge we acquire from them—though they will purposely be ridiculously expensive to weed out most trainees. In my opinion, instead of binding yourself to the US or any government, it’s best to prepare yourself to build your own faction; to prepare for your ascension to an advanced transcendent."

"When will the vouchers be released?" Evelyn asked.

"And at what price?" Evans added.

"I have no idea. I only know they exist." Zane never stopped his exchange with Xi’Ke, but the latter was tight-lipped about anything truly crucial.

"If you ever learn more news, tell me."

"Me too," Evans said.

"I will."

"Khadijah said something similar," Ahmed stated. "She said that in a few years, a new Cold War will begin, but it won’t be about weapons and technology; it will be about which country will have an advanced transcendent first and, eventually, who has more."

Zane shook his head. "A few years? Try a few months."

"No way it’s that fast," Tom Nguyen interjected.

"For the next three months, we will have access to the academy; that’s three years of training — which is more than enough time to birth the first Tier 3 transcendent. Then, the race to Tier 4 will begin."

Everyone frowned. They all knew the first three tiers could be piled up with resources, but even so, three years sounded a bit steep. However, since the tower’s program is designed for fast growth through danger, and Earth has people with unimaginable wealth who are willing to spend it to train a transcendent, it might be possible.

"All this time, I knew the world was about to change rapidly; I didn’t expect the timetable to be this short," Tom Nguyen said.

Evelyn suddenly thought of something and looked at Zane. "Wait, you said for the next three months, as if that’s the only time we’ll have access to the academy."

"It might be. The professor hinted that after three months, there might be some changes."

Tom Nguyen squinted: "Now that you mention it, if we had unlimited access to the academy’s time acceleration, in five years, we could build a civilization capable of terrifying the entire Astral Cosmos."

"Any civilization — if given enough time and foreign aid — could reach the pinnacle," Ahmed continued. "When the Sages modified Dimension Law 9ZP3, the ones who opposed it would never leave such an easily exploited flaw. So, logically speaking, the tower would not give us such an overwhelming advantage; the time acceleration will eventually end."

Zane nodded. "My thought exactly. But there is even more to consider: biology. I don’t believe for a moment there isn’t some effect on our bodies and soul as we move back and forth from an environment with accelerated time to a normal one."

Tom Nguyen suddenly frowned. "You think there are negative effects from teleporting to Earth and the plaza? I mean, besides aging."

"Think about it: we know the environment can affect a mage. Instructor Seiya mentioned how a high-energy area can affect a transcendent’s DNA and change their hair color. Every time we move from Earth to the academy, we switch from one spatio-temporal field to another, and the second one is most likely highly active and high-energy. The tower might do its best to protect us, but we will still be subtly affected."

"No, not two — three," Tom Nguyen added. "Don’t forget the plaza."

Zane snapped his fingers. "That’s right, the plaza has its own field. And if we take things further, the hunting process takes effect on different floors of the tower, and they also have their own spatio-temporal field."

"But wouldn’t the tower ensure that the plaza and those floors matched Earth’s temporal field? Maybe reaching an equilibrium? That’s the best way to limit the effect. I mean, they —"

"Hey, guys, you’re going on a tangent," Evelyn said.

"Oh, right. My point is, from a business and biological standpoint, we might not have access to the time acceleration for too long," Zane concluded.

This information was useful because it let everyone plan their future accordingly; many of them had been operating under the assumption that things would proceed at a slower pace. However, now they realized time was not only of the essence, but also running out.

"So, I shouldn’t join BEAST?" Devonte asked again.

Zane looked at him. "The decision is yours, but if you ask my opinion, it’s not worth it. Not all money is good money."

Keesha slumped in her chair. "That’s a 100 bands."

"Look at it like that: 100k is just two to three Flame Wolves," Zane said.

Keesha straightened her back. "When you put it like that, it’s really not that much money." Hunting two to three wolves wouldn’t even take her an hour if they were right in front of her.

"By the way, did they contact you directly?"

"They did. They sent an email."

"Tom?"

"Same."

"What about you guys?"

"No," Evans and Evelyn replied.

Keesha looked at him, puzzled. "Why are you asking?"

"He thinks someone leaked our information," Tom explained.

"Leak? Yes, how did they know I was a transcendent? Who snitched?"

Evelyn squinted. "It’s probably the sergeant. His disappearance would have alarmed his superiors. And given how much money he’s been spending on spells, the army probably sponsored him, and in return, he served as an intermediary with the tower, including relaying information about potential recruits."

"So, I have another reason to hate that bastard? But why didn’t they contact you two?"

Evelyn and Evans looked away, but Zane said directly: "They’re rich, and Evelyn is out of their jurisdiction. However, they will probably still try to reach out, but the offer won’t just be a measly 100K signing bonus."

Evans frowned. "If BEAST offers a good enough deal, my father might force me to join."

Tom Nguyen sneered. "So what? You can probably negotiate a contract eliminating your involvement in any military deployment."

Evans was silent.

Zane turned to Evelyn. "What about you?"

"My family wouldn’t care even if the president himself asked. However, my brother might try to convince them; he’s always in favor of anything that puts my life in danger."

Zane nodded, not surprised by such an answer. The LeBlancs are the third-richest family in Canada, worth billions. More importantly, they are old money, with high prestige and influence in high society. Although Zane had never interacted with them, he had heard about them.

"Let’s not talk about this," Evelyn continued. "I need you guys to do me a major favor. My best friend is obsessed with anything related to the tower, and I’m throwing her a birthday party next month; I want you to come. It’s on September 18th, and you don’t have to worry about transportation; I can send my private jet."

"I’m down," Keesha replied. "But tell your ’best friend’ to prepare to fight me for the position."

"Where is it?"

"Quebec."

"I’m in Montreal, so it’s only a three-hour drive," Ahmed said, nodding. "Can I ask Khadijah?"

"I’m inviting her as well."

"Good."

"Evans?"

"Fine by me. I can also offer my private jet if anyone needs it," Evans said.

Tom looked at Zane. "Are you going?"

"I have to travel to Ghana next month for a ceremony; if the dates don’t conflict, I’ll be there."

"In that case, mark me down too."

"Excellent," Evelyn said, smiling. "What about you, Devonte?"

"I-I don’t have a passport."

"Ooh, I also don’t have one," Keesha said.

"It’s not too late. If you send it now, you can have it in two to three weeks," Evelyn reminded her before remembering something. "Evans, can you help them?"

"I’ll give you my number. File the application and call me; you’ll have it in two to three days."

"Wonderful," Evelyn said, a bright smile hanging on her face. "Now that everybody is settled, there is one last thing I must remind you: do not sleep with her — especially you, Zane."

"Hmm? Where is this coming from?"

She sighed. "I love Cassie, but she’s a bit loose, so I know she’ll throw herself at all of you — especially you, Zane. No matter what, don’t sleep with her."

"I won’t."

Evelyn turned to the other men.

"I only have one woman in my heart."

Tom raised his hand. "You don’t have to worry about me."

"I just ended a 5-year relationship and have no desire for a new one."

"I have a girl- I mean, a girlfriend and we’re about to marry, and she’s pregnant," Devonte added.

Evelyn glanced at them before focusing on Zane and Evans. "I’ll be watching the two of you."