Viktor looked over the sleepy elf in front of him, and her appearance gradually matched the person he remembered.
Cocotte Yard, a nature elf.
There were different races among elves as well. Nature elves, who were innately close to nature, were much more skilled at manipulating elemental power, and thus, far more suited to becoming mages.
And her identity wasn't ordinary either.
She was a shut-in elf, a queen who only wanted to sleep and had no desire to inherit the throne, who ran off alone to hide from her people's pursuit in the nearly unfindable City of Mages.
Quite interesting, actually.
"Councilor Yard, I didn't expect you'd be the one to welcome me."
The sleepy elf tiredly opened one eye, her dark circles heavy, and gave Viktor a glance.
"Huh?"
"How amusing. When Haim told me, I didn't really pay attention. But now it seems you really do know everyone in the council."
The fact that Viktor even knew about her surprised Cocotte a little.
As the most reclusive, least-present member of the council, she spent most of her days either sleeping in her garden or drooling in her sleep there.
Yet Viktor not only knew her name, but could even say her surname.
And that surname had quite a bit of weight to it.
The elf glanced briefly at the human princess hiding behind Viktor and squinted her sleepy eyes.
"Lord Viktor, you really are in good spirits. You didn't even forget to bring your lover to Endymion."
'A shut-in elf with a sharp tongue, too.'
Viktor straightened slightly. Though he didn't explain, his eyes grew noticeably more dangerous.
"I can burn Haim's letter," he said flatly. "Naturally, I can also burn your back garden."
"…"
Cocotte immediately sat upright, proper and tense. Though she still looked drowsy, she forced herself to squeeze out a smile for Aurelian.
Though, frankly, it looked awful.
"Welcome to the City of Mages, little sister…"
Viktor's cold voice cut in.
"Think about your own age before deciding how to address others."
"…How annoying."
The shut-in elf pouted. Was it really necessary to hold such a grudge over a single snide remark?
He was way too petty.
Still, she managed to put on a slightly friendlier expression than before, no more fake smiles, just a simple nod.
"Welcome to the City of Mages, Endymion, little girl. You can call me Cocotte. Today, I'll be guiding you two through the chaotic magical rifts of this place."
There was a reason Endymion was called the City of Mages. The concentration of magic in the air here was absurdly high.
The immense magical power was constantly being compressed within a certain range, leading to distortions and collapses of chaotic energy.
Those colorful floating bubbles in the air were the result of that magical disorder.
That's why new mages always needed a guide to walk the correct paths safely.
Just breathing the air, Aurelian could constantly feel endless magic wrapping around her body.
Her own body had to stop absorbing it, or she risked being overwhelmed and bursting from within.
She'd initially thought she could absorb some of Endymion's magic to increase her reserves…
But she quickly gave up on that idea.
Still, Aurelian bowed politely to Cocotte to show her gratitude.
Before this, she hadn't really known what the City of Mages truly was.
Strictly speaking, Aurelian wasn't a traditional mage, she had only become one because the emperor recognized her talent and guided her to that path.
Cocotte led the way ahead, talking non-stop.
She refused to walk herself, of course, sitting instead atop a floating cloud she used as her means of travel.
Aurelian watched the floating cloud, surprised.
"This thing can actually move?"
Cocotte just smiled faintly. For someone visiting Endymion for the first time, it was normal not to have seen such strange magical creations before.
Still, she didn't plan to explain all the odd magical creatures around them, merely saying casually, "The City of Mages is divided into seven layers. Each layer holds a completely different level of magical density."
"The higher you go, the stronger you must be. Weak mages who rashly enter levels too high for them, at best, lose an arm or leg. At worst, they're forever cut off from magic."
As she spoke, she secretly glanced at Aurelian again.
Cocotte's intuition told her something.
'This girl... isn't normal.'
'Not normal at all.'
This little one was only at first-tier strength. By all logic, even a typical second-tier mage would have trouble enduring the chaotic magic of Endymion's first layer.
Yet this girl was standing here, completely fine, as if the pressure didn't exist at all.
Cocotte's reaction didn't escape Viktor's notice.
And her astonishment was within his expectations.
After all, no one would have guessed that Aurelian possessed a magical talent bordering on the divine.
At this moment, Aurelian was like some exotic creature in a zoo, being curiously examined by Cocotte.
Aurelian, however, didn't mind.
Endymion, despite being called the City of Mages, wasn't really a city in the usual sense.
It was simply a collection of shattered rock structures clustered together.
The three of them walked for a while, seeing no other souls along the way, only bizarre magical lifeforms.
Even though they had been walking for some time, the scenery kept shifting. One moment it became a quiet, endless starry sky, and the next it turned into a dense forest.
Nothing seemed stable, each step changed lines and colors as if the world itself was reshaping.
After who knows how long, Aurelian looked ahead and fell into thought.
There was no path anymore. She stood on a lone chunk of rock, with nowhere to step next.
No one was beside her.
When had she gotten separated from her teacher?
Impossible.
She'd been following them the entire time.
After the last battle, Aurelian's courage had grown. She tentatively stretched one small foot forward toward the void ahead.
It looked empty, but her foot touched something solid.
Looking down, she saw endless, rotating stars beneath her feet. The island behind her was gone, leaving only specks of light on a dark backdrop.
It was like being wrapped within countless beautiful wishes. The scene before her was so silent, so mysterious.
Aurelian's heart trembled. She felt herself slipping into layers of hazy illusion, her vision turning dreamlike.
It was an indescribable, transcendent beauty that defied thought, just a single glance trapped her spirit in place.
But her consciousness told her not to linger. She forced her body to take another step, and the dreamy paradise shattered instantly.
Then, suddenly...
"We're here."
The haze before her cleared.
Crackling lightning split the air, and heavy clouds pressed low.
A single stone bridge hung suspended in midair, terrifying and narrow.
Cocotte began to explain, "This is the Mana Gorge. Of course, in some human tales, it's called the Rhea Canyon."
At those words, Aurelian's body trembled.
"Rhea Canyon… it's real?"
She looked at the perilous landscape before her in disbelief.
She had heard this story as a child, of the distant, legendary Rhea Canyon, where those who passed its trials earned the right to ascend to the Seventh Heaven.
Now, it seemed the truth of those tales lay before her.
This was the path every mage had to take when entering Endymion.
It wasn't merely a natural road, it was also Endymion's first trial for all who arrived.
Endymion, this City of Mages, wasn't just a floating island, it was a living city, a city with a will of its own.
Depending on the visitor, the trials here would differ in difficulty.
The stronger one's power, the greater the danger.
That meant every mage could technically enter Endymion, but the trials would decide which layer they were truly qualified to reach.
Viktor knew this place well.
In the game, he had been here too.
Though the Mana Gorge was part of Endymion's floating islands, it wasn't technically within the city proper.
To players, it was merely a monster-grinding area.
He gazed ahead again. The dangers that might appear here were already well-known to him.
Even the existence of the boss that ruled this area, he remembered it vividly.
Within the canyon, chaotic mana surged endlessly. Lightning and hurricanes coiled around the narrow path through the gorge.
No one knew if that bridge would collapse the next second under years of corrosion.
Cocotte followed close behind Aurelian and Viktor, ready to act if danger arose.
Though the Mana Gorge usually wasn't particularly dangerous, it was, after all, just a trial site, the unstable mana inside made it perilous for ordinary mages.
The chaotic flow could tear apart a mage's magical core, severing their connection to magic forever.
Even fourth-tier mages found their spells severely restricted here.
But in the game, the Mana Gorge had been a precious grinding zone.
The monsters here averaged level thirty-five and above, and having lived so long amidst magical turbulence, they had instinctively learned to wield elemental power, sometimes even using it to hunt prey.
Under the long influence of magic, their temperaments had grown far more violent.
Viktor had crossed this gorge hundreds of times in memory.
"Aurelian."
Aurelian blinked in confusion.
"Teacher, what is it?"
"From now on, follow me closely. Don't move on your own."
Cocotte glanced at Viktor lazily and said to Aurelian, "You'd better listen to him. Otherwise…"
"You've seen fireworks, right? If you move carelessly, in a bit, you might become one."
Hearing that, Aurelian shuddered.
Cocotte, lying on her cloud, watched Viktor closely, her thoughts unreadable.
"You just need to reach the end of this gorge," she said softly. "It'll take about two hours."
"If you're qualified enough, then by passing through here, you'll reach the legendary Seventh Layer, the Skylands."