The enormous golden gates of the Heavenly Wizard Academy opened with a low groan, and Kent with his companions stepped inside.
The lavish hall beyond was not bustling as they had expected. No scholars hurrying with scrolls, no elders delivering lectures. Instead, an eerie hush reigned in the extraordinary chamber. Its ceilings stretched into the heavens, painted with constellations that seemed to breathe, its pillars carved with living dragons that slithered in and out of stone. But all this grandeur only made the silence more profound.
At the far end of the long, narrow hall sat a single old man at a wooden desk, hunched over a scroll, his brush scratching across paper.
Fatty Ben whispered, "Eh? This… this is it? No cheering crowds? Not even a tea stall? Brother Kent, this feels like a ghost hall!"
Tata Lan snorted. "Shut up, fatty uncle. Maybe this is a test."
