Chapter 9: Precise Talent Assessment

The journey to Lance Magic Academy was, for the most part, smooth and uneventful.

That was, aside from the moment when An Xia got off the carriage to take care of personal matters, came back with a bird egg, and ended up getting them chased for quite a while by a large bird that was also a fourth-level magical beast.

And aside from the moment when Anders threw some snack crumbs onto the head of a sleeping magical beast, causing them—after finally escaping the big bird—to be chased all over again by yet another beast.

As a result, by the time they arrived at Lance Magic Academy, the fourth-level magical beast pulling the carriage was utterly exhausted.

A journey that should have taken three hours had been forcefully shortened to just one hour under such relentless “encouragement.” The poor beast had practically given its all.

Because of this, An Xia had to pay an additional ten gold coins as compensation.

After all, the fourth-level magical beast had literally scratched words into the ground, threatening that if they did not pay, it would report them to their instructors at Lance Magic Academy.

Meanwhile…

Sezer, an instructor at the New Student Department, received a letter from the administrators of Leos City.

After reading it, he fell silent.

He opened the magic array used to track the location of new students and discovered that the three students he had assigned to Leos had already arrived at the academy.

What the hell?

Could these three fly or something?

Sezer immediately felt a headache coming on.

According to the contents of the letter, among the three, the one named An Xia was especially good at causing trouble.

Moreover, he was skilled at manipulating others with his words—so much so that even a secret cult could not resist his persuasion.

This was practically the making of a future cult leader.

Sezer already had a premonition that once An Xia officially enrolled, this batch of new students would far exceed everyone’s expectations.

But it was too late.

If it had been before registration, he could have recommended An Xia to another magic academy.

Now that the enrollment was complete and An Xia had officially become a student of Lance Magic Academy, there was no turning back.

No matter what, he would have to swallow this tough pill.

…

“Are you new students?”

A cheerful senior student waved at the three of them at the reception area.

An Xia walked at the front. When they approached her, each of them received a handbook.

“Alright, just follow the steps in the handbook. Once you complete everything, you will be officially enrolled,” she said.

An Xia looked puzzled. “Are there not supposed to be three stages for enrollment? We have only completed the Entrance Test. Shouldn’t there be one more?”

“Oh, that.” The senior blinked. “The third stage is actually the Precise Talent Assessment. The earlier test you took was just a rough evaluation of your aptitude.

The upcoming assessment will determine which type of magic you are best suited to learn.”

I see.

The three of them nodded.

Melva’s family had only told her the general steps for enrolling in Lance Magic Academy, not the specific details.

Anders felt a surge of excitement.

It seemed certain now that they would successfully join the academy.

An Xia, on the other hand, was curious. What kind of magic would he be suited for?

Fire magic seemed likely—after all, his Fireball Spell had already shocked everyone who had seen it.

Following the handbook, they first completed several procedures, including filling out information, collecting supplies, and being assigned dormitories.

The money and storage rings that had been temporarily taken during the Entrance Test were also returned to them.

An Xia and Anders were assigned to the same dormitory, while Melva naturally went to the female dormitories.

After that, they headed to a place called the Observation Room for the Precise Talent Assessment.

An Xia noticed that aside from the three of them, there were no other new students in the academy yet.

Everyone else was either senior students who had arrived early to help with welcoming duties or various instructors.

Following the map in the handbook, they quickly found the Observation Room.

The person in charge of the assessment was a refined-looking male instructor wearing square glasses and formal attire.

“Hello, I am Sezer.”

Sezer smiled, though inwardly he was thinking about sending these three away as quickly as possible—out of sight, out of mind.

“Hello, Instructor Sezer,” the three greeted obediently.

“Who will go first?” Sezer asked, placing his hand on the crystal ball in the center of the room.

An Xia curled his lips into a faint smile and confidently stepped back.

Melva did the same.

Anders suddenly felt two hands press against his back, pushing him forward.

Before he knew it, he was standing in front of Sezer.

Sezer narrowed his eyes slightly. This boy… Anders, right?

“Come, place your hand on it,” Sezer said.

Anders obediently raised his right hand and placed it on the crystal ball.

Immediately, the room lit up with dazzling colors—so bright that An Xia nearly went blind.

After a moment, the light settled into three colors.

The brightest was green, followed by white, and then blue.

“Tsk.” Sezer clicked his tongue, startling Anders.

“You should focus on wood-element magic as your primary study, light-element magic as your secondary, and you can also learn some water-element magic. As for the other elements, do not bother—they will take too much effort, and you will not excel in them.”

Hearing this evaluation, Anders let out a sigh of relief and quickly stepped aside.

“Next?”

Melva stepped forward calmly. “I will go.”

She repeated Anders’s action, placing her hand on the crystal ball.

The same phenomenon occurred.

This time, An Xia was prepared—he simply closed his eyes.

In the end, Melva’s colors were blue, red, and a pale gray-white.

Sezer looked slightly surprised.

“You are best suited for water-element magic as your primary, with fire-element magic as a secondary. As for spatial magic—that is quite rare. Later, I can recommend an instructor who specializes in it to guide you.”

“Thank you, Instructor Sezer,” Melva said politely.

Sezer felt much better.

It seemed that among the three, only An Xia was an unpredictable factor.

The other two were no different from ordinary new students.

But next, it was An Xia’s turn.

Sezer immediately grew wary, as if facing a formidable enemy.

After Melva stepped back, An Xia took a deep breath and walked forward.

He placed his hand on the crystal ball with a solemn, almost martyr-like expression.

Sezer’s lips twitched. What a drama queen.

Then he activated the crystal ball.

This time, the Observation Room was suddenly plunged into complete darkness.

Even the light from outside was swallowed by the blackness.

“…”

In the darkness, Sezer felt a headache coming on.

This did not mean An Xia was suited for dark-element magic—dark magic was not this dark.

He had seen a similar situation before: when someone with no magical talent at all underwent the test.

But even then, it had not been this extreme—at most, it resembled the dimness just after sunset.

The darkness before them now was the kind found only in places devoid of all light.

An Xia definitely possessed magical talent.

Otherwise, he would not have been able to enroll in Lance Magic Academy in the first place.

Moreover, the letter from the Leos administrators had described his unconventional Fireball Spell.

That alone proved he could use magic.

So why was this happening?

Sezer truly could not understand.

He felt as though his brain was about to overload.