Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Talent and the Combat Exam

Not everyone had the ability to be called a mage—because not everyone could convert the aether within their body into magic power.

In this world, humans would be guided by the local Church or by their lords when they were very young to release aether externally, using this to determine their talents. Generally speaking, those who could release aether externally possessed the ticket to step into the mysteries of magic, while those who could only circulate aether inside their bodies could only become warriors.

Of course, not everyone chose these two most widespread professions. After all, the guidance was merely a census conducted because the empire wished to understand what talents its subjects possessed. Those with light-attribute aether would be invited by the Church, and the Chefs’ Association would also specially invite those with fire-attribute aether—no matter what sort of talent one possessed, there was always a place for them within the empire.

Theresia’s talent was the rare four attributes, but none of the four was particularly outstanding. Margaret, meanwhile, had been taken in by the local Church because of her talent for light-attribute aether. The former had been recommended directly into the Imperial Mage Academy after handing in excellent exam results, while the latter had been sent to the Mage Academy by the Church.

Of course, because tuition was so expensive, neither of them had the means to study those traditional spell professions that often required a great deal of money.

Even so, Theresia had still used her time in the library to learn many spells. These spells often did not require a medium, nor did they require the help of a high-grade wand. Margaret, on the other hand, could already use some fairly high-level divine spells. It was said that the Church had already internally decided to appoint her as the parish priest of a certain region after she graduated.

The work in the kitchen was still continuing.

Theresia carefully made temporary adjustments to the magic array she had already modified, and only after carefully running through the process several times in her mind did she begin again. The magic array Pulcheria had set up was drawn with a kind of low-grade mithril powder and fixed in place with magic power. This kind of magic array could be moved freely after being solidified, and such movable solidified magic arrays were also the foundation of spell structures. If magic arrays were merely stacked on a flat plane, compound magic arrays would very easily produce conflicts. But just as Margaret had reminded her earlier, even the compounding of a few low-level magic arrays was not a technique that low-year apprentices like them could master.

In other words, what Theresia was doing now was the most crucial part, and also the most dangerous.

Magic arrays were active. The aether in the air would be filtered or drawn in, converted into the magic power required by the magic array, and used to begin operation—which was also why the vast majority of magic arrays were circular. But circles were also the hardest shape to compound. Therefore, high-level and profound magic arrays were generally a type of compound magic array in themselves. Multiple magic arrays with different functions would each fulfill their own duties, ultimately forming a regular polygon that could compound with other magic arrays. In this way, they could unleash extraordinary power.

Theresia took a deep breath and used the array eye she had replaced to begin moving the magic array.

As she moved it, Theresia could not help thinking about one question: after spending every day soaking in the library and reading books, what level had her current ability actually reached?

Although Margaret was extremely worried, Theresia herself was very clear on one thing. Whether it was erasing Pulcheria’s magic-array signature or replacing the array eye, she had not felt the slightest bit of difficulty.

Theresia easily sensed the gaps in the flow of magic power through the magic array. The magic power extending from the tip of her wand gently embedded the subsequent magic array onto the previous one. After several magic arrays were integrated once more, Theresia performed one final check, then poured magic power into the array.

Crystalline light lit up across the magic array. Under Margaret’s tense gaze, the magic array began to operate—then came the first cycle. Magic power flowed into the array, and after flowing out from the other end, it was fed into another magic array.

The temperature at the center of the magic array was swiftly drawn away. Very soon, this compound magic array used to preserve food resumed operation once more.

After several cycles passed without any problems, Margaret finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Don’t casually do something this dangerous next time.” Margaret stuffed the butter, vegetables, and other things that had been taken out earlier back into the center of the magic array. The motion chilled her hand. “Huh? The temperature here has dropped...”

“Mm. I deleted some redundant parts and improved the efficiency of the magic power’s operation.” Theresia also breathed a sigh of relief and took a few steps back, leaving the kitchen. “It actually succeeded. To be honest, I’m a little surprised too.”

Feeling the chill inside the magic array, Margaret could not help asking, “What level of magic can you use now?”

“I don’t know. The History Department doesn’t measure magic intensity. But I’ve tried using some simple magic, and the strength hasn’t changed much from when I enrolled. So I guess my magic power is probably still as weak as it was when I entered the academy.”

“But when you first enrolled, you definitely couldn’t dismantle and assemble a compound magic array like this. Maybe your talent is better suited to this field?”

“Becoming an arcane technician? I still think the slow, leisurely pace of the History Department suits me better. As for that huge crowd in the Arcane Studies Department who have a special affection for explosions...” Theresia shrugged. “No, thank you.”

Margaret did not insist on the matter and instead brought up another topic. “But there’s still a combat-type assessment in the final exams, right? What do you plan to do when the time comes?”

“Can’t that assessment be done in a team format? You and I, and if we find another summoner who can summon elemental creatures, I think we can pass through the team assessment.”

Margaret immediately became awkward. “About that... I may have to form a team with several other clerics from our School of Theology.”

Theresia froze. “Then what about me?”

“I’m sorry! But this was my mentor’s arrangement, so I have to obey.” Margaret hurriedly apologized.

“All right... Then it looks like I can only think of a solution myself.” Theresia immediately wilted. “But at a time like this... where am I supposed to find someone strong enough to carry me?”

Margaret continued suggesting, “That’s why I said you should go look into arcane technology. The academy has still been encouraging mages to learn fringe technologies these past few years.”

“No. That stinky arcane technology keeps exploding from morning to night. I’m not learning it.”

“But if this goes on, you’ll really fail the combat exam.”

Theresia curled her lip. “If you helped me, the exam wouldn’t be a problem at all.”

“How was I supposed to know you still hadn’t prepared? You spend all day soaking in the library without stepping out the door. I think you completely forgot about this.”

Theresia guiltily turned her head away.

This time, you really hit the mark.