Twelve Years Ago, at Minerva

After several months away, Kara Maxwell returned to Minerva. Without hesitation, she slipped in through the back gate and quickly hid in the bushes.

After checking that no one was nearby, she poked her head out and beckoned to her companion.

"Big bro. Over here."

"Why are we sneaking around like this? You're a researcher here, aren't you? Just come in through the front gate."

"There are... circumstances."

Though Kara was only twenty, she had already earned her Advanced Mage certification and been given the title of the Star Lance Witch.

Kara was a prodigy who could wield seven spells at once and had developed the light-attribute spell Star Lance.

The Minerva faculty disapproved of Kara, who was said to be destined to become one of the Seven Sages, traveling around the country to survey its magic density.

That was why, whenever they found her, they held her up and made things difficult.

"The old geezers keep pestering me to develop new magic formulas here instead of traveling around doing surveys."...