Gerard knew the other was examining him. Perhaps the sage could see things ordinary people couldn’t and use this to assess his aptitude. At that moment, he regretted not losing his composure, as that would have allowed him to return to a normal life; even a life as a despised failure would be fine…
An ethereal female voice sounded: “Raise your head, come in.”
Gerard was instantly drenched in fear: Could the sage truly have mind-reading abilities? He stood up straight as instructed and slowly walked towards the mysterious curtain.
As if not giving himself a chance to retreat, he walked faster and faster, almost crashing into the space behind the curtain.
Then Gerard witnessed an unprecedented wonderful scene. Colors and lines danced around in the most perfect manner, performing a wild yet restrained dance. But the most beautiful thing was the magic hidden behind it. Gerard immediately found the pattern and murmured, “How pure, how beautiful the magic is.”
“Is this what you see?”
Gerard then remembered to look at the sage. It was a veiled woman, sitting cross-legged on a large stone.
“Yes, it’s the most beautiful magic Gerard has ever seen. Is this your magic?” This was actually very impolite, but Gerard had forgotten this.
“This is the world in my eyes,” the sage’s fingers moved slightly, and the surrounding colors and lines changed. Her tone lacked any human quality, cold and detached, “You have good aptitude, but you don’t truly want to become a magician.”
Gerard trembled under her gaze, lowered his head, and after a long silence, timidly asked, “If I enter the Sage’s Tower, could I one day become a magician like you and see such a scene?”
The sage let out a strange laugh that sounded chilling.
This was the closest to human emotion she had shown so far, not hiding her mockery, and slowly lowered her veil to her cheek.
