Arthur again led Silas through a corridor. Honestly, Silas couldn't tell where he was going at all throughout his tour of Keystone.

This time, the stone chamber he was led to belonged to the one and only True Mage - the Keeper of Secrets.

Arthur had already briefly introduced this being. It turns out that the three hidden magic schools are actually just entrances to the Keystone, led by the Keeper.

The full name of this school was the Keystone Sanctum, but everybody just called it Keystone.

In simple terms, the Keystone is in a dimension separate from the physical plane. And it 'connects' to earth in three locations.

The properties built on these three locations to hide and protect the Keystone are the three schools.

And the Keeper was sort of the principal of Keystone and the guardian of the solar system.

'Woah, ' Silas now definitely knew he was not supposed to know this information.

'It seems that either Arthur is a loudmouth or he has a way to erase my memories in case I am not accepted here, ' Silas guessed.

The Keeper is the strongest mage on the planet and is responsible for protecting the solar system from hidden threats.

Now standing in front of such a being, Silas was naturally a little intimidated.

Sensing his gaze, the Keeper gestured for him to sit in front. As soon as Silas sat down, his environment changed. He was now sitting on an elevated platform in the sky with tall mountains below.

Looking at the Keeper, Silas felt like her gaze was piercing through him, as if all his secrets were exposed.

After what felt like an eternity, she finally said, “You are not here to learn magic. You are here to become a question”.

Hearing her words, Silas just nodded humbly. He didn’t really understand what she said, but his guess is that she has high hopes.

And so, Silas and the Keeper spent the next ten minutes sitting in silence. After ten minutes, the Keeper finally gestured for him to leave.

Silas guessed that the keeper was either scanning him, which was why it took her so long, or she was just plain awkward and hoping Silas would leave.

Silas was willing to believe the former more.

He was glad the Keeper didn’t ask him any questions he couldn’t answer. Because he didn’t believe he could fool the Keeper.

Silas hoped that the Keeper was at the level of seeing the timeline or fate. That is why, he was nervous and excited about the questions she would ask.

As for why Silas hoped the Keeper was at such a level, it was naturally because the Keeper's level represented the level of power he could gain in this place.

Leaving the room, Silas saw Arthur standing at attention.

Seeing Silas come out, he again led him through the stone chambers.

As soon as Arthur was a distance away from the Keeper's chamber, his demeanor changed.

He said enthusiastically, "Congratulations, man! You passed. You are now officially a part of Keystone. You should feel very lucky, Keystone is the strongest organization in this star system. We are the guardians, the protectors. We..."

After a while, Silas had to tune out Arthur because he just wouldn't stop talking. Silas was all for collecting information, but there were limits. Even he couldn't listen to everything Arthur said.

Finally, after five minutes of rambling about Keystone's strength and its sacred duty, he asked Silas a question.

“So why did you come here?”.

To this, Silas simply replied, “I want to learn magic”.

Arthur asked again, clearly impatient, "Obviously, but why?"

To Arthur's question, Silas replied, "Because it's magic".

This response prompted a strange look from Arthur. What Silas didn't know was that magic was the most dangerous pathway in this world. And not many people preferred learning it.

As for the large number of magic universities, they were, for the most part, normal universities that taught little magic.

A graduate from these universities is at most capable of using magic as a utility in everyday life. The strongest spell they learn is just at the level of a fire spear that can destroy a half-foot deep wall.

And everyone who applied to Keystone was aware of the danger of magic. They knew that a slight misstep here meant certain death.

In the training ground, Silas met instructor Juno Rah. Instructor Juno was wearing the same uniform as Arthur. The only difference was that his shoulders carried three stripes instead of two.

Another thing Silas noticed was how Arthur greeted Instructor Juno. Arthur greeted Instructor Juno with an enthusiastic handshake and began talking his ear off, too.

This meant that either the seniority system in Keystone was very lax or Arthur was a good friend of Instructor Juno.

After ten minutes, Instructor Juno finally managed to send Arthur away.

Arthur left, but not before promising to visit them both tomorrow.

After he left, Instructor Juno sighed heavily and said, "What a handful". But this didn't stop a smile from forming on his lips.

Then, the instructor finally turned his attention to Silas. He gave Silas a foot-long staff and a page detailing the timetable for his training.

"The rest of the items should have reached your room for now. My name is Juno Rah. I am the instructor for Observer and Disciple stage mages. As the timetable dictates, there are only a few classes that have attendance requirements. The rest you can take at your own leisure."

"You will find a book introducing Keystone and various facilities here, in your room, but let me give you a brief introduction. This is the Keystone Sanctum. We are not a school, we are a research organization."

"As a new member, it is your privilege that senior mages are going to be teaching you. But that will all stop at the adept stage. So you should take full advantage of this time."