Chapter 186: Proposal

Hearing about the assessment, Betty suddenly thought: If I take first place, can I request guidance from His Excellency the Torch-Bearer on how to build a new Apprentice Model 1?

Her listless twin tails suddenly perked up with excitement. She flung them back, then cast Lesser Leap on herself, rushing to Ace in a single bound.

Because of her nervousness and excitement, her face was slightly flushed. She took a deep breath and said, “Respected Torch-Bearer, I would like to be the first to take the assessment!”

Daina had been standing behind Ace. As Ace spoke, she had forgotten about “Sharp” and was gazing at Ace, enraptured. Whenever Ace spoke those philosophical words, Daina would become flushed with excitement and tremble with emotion.

It wasn’t until Betty rushed forward that Daina suddenly snapped out of it. I should have been the first to apply for the assessment!

It was clearly me who studied with Lord Ace first. I was the first to become Lord Ace’s apprentice. Why did Bayen become the Emissary? Why is Betty the first to apply for the exam?

Steel Fist Daina fell into deep self-doubt at that moment. Meanwhile, with Ace’s consent, Betty had already begun her assessment.

Standing on the somewhat desolate clearing, Betty constructed the Spell Model for Magic Missile in less than half a second and fired it.

The spherical Mana Crystal missile shot rapidly from the Spell Model in Betty’s hand, tracing a thin parabolic arc in the sky.

Betty didn’t stop. She deliberately showed off her skills. Her petite body stood firm, and she shouted: “Multiple Magic Missiles!”

Spell Models appeared in front of her hands. As she pushed the Spell Models forward, two Magic Missiles were launched in less than half a second. Without pausing, her hands moved back and forth, pushing forward. In just ten seconds, she fired nearly thirty Magic Missiles!

Ace couldn’t help but admire. Although Betty was somewhat proud, she had the capital to be proud. This solid foundation couldn’t be explained by genius alone; there must be unseen hard work behind it.

The so-called genius is actually someone who is smarter than you and works harder than you!

Just then, the Magic Missiles Betty fired turned in an arc and flew back! Nearly thirty Magic Missiles rushed toward Betty standing in the clearing!

She did not panic. If she didn’t show off some different moves, how could she stand out among the apprentices? Betty stared at the returning arcing Magic Missiles. She waved her hands, boosting herself with the Lesser Spell Leap, and activated the Lesser Spell Mana-Crystal Shield.

Using her boosted legs, she moved agilely. The Mana-Crystal Shield activated in less than half a second, effortlessly neutralizing the incoming Magic Missiles.

In about fifteen seconds, Betty activated nearly twenty Mana-Crystal Shields of various sizes, successfully neutralizing all the Magic Missiles.

With a slight sense of triumph, Betty adjusted her expression, bowed respectfully to Ace, sat down near him, and entered a meditative state in less than a second to recover her consumed Mana.

“Sharp” recorded Betty’s performance in his Grimoire. After nodding to Ace, he signaled for the next volunteer apprentice to step forward.

As the apprentices completed their assessments one by one, those who passed stood excitedly beside Ace, while those who failed waited dejectedly for punishment.

The assessment finally reached Arno and Ancestar. To everyone’s great surprise, the two failed to cast a single spell and couldn’t even meditate.

Everyone knew that during the journey through the Larr Mountains, they had used Heart Force to help many people. Their badges also clearly told everyone that they had the Mana level of a Mid-level Wizard Apprentice. How could they be unable to even meditate?

Ace looked at the two, thinking that the opportunity for an experiment had arrived. He suppressed his desire for research and first announced the results to everyone.

“All Wizard Apprentices who passed the assessment, please stand to my right. My assistant, your Lesser Runology teacher, Mr. Sharp, will share all the runes in the Lesser Rune Library to your Grimoires.

Apprentices who did not pass the assessment, do not be discouraged. You will have another chance next month to take the assessment again. As long as you pass, you will also have the opportunity to share the Lesser Runes for free.

Since you failed, you must accept punishment.”

Ace looked around at the apprentices who had failed the assessment. He waited until they were anxious and bewildered before saying:

“First, I announce a matter. Starting today, the points in the Grimoire will be upgraded in three days to a new system of Social Practice Points and Combat Practice Points. Please be sure to use up your original points within three days.

The new point system will be linked to your advancement. The first year requires a minimum of 100 Social Practice Points and 100 Combat Practice Points, and passing exams in five subjects to qualify for promotion to the second year.

The points required for promotion from the second year to the third year will double, and passing the corresponding exams is required, and so on.

In the fifth year, you need to complete 1,600 points of each type and pass the corresponding completion exam to be awarded the Completion Badge.

Completion is different from Graduation. Completion means that after these five years, you have finished the corresponding studies.

Those who complete their studies will uniformly join the Magic Department of the High Tower Territory Administration Office, becoming public officials of the Magic Department and probationary members of the High Tower Magic Council.”

The apprentices pricked up their ears listening to Ace’s introduction. This concerned everyone’s future, so they cared very much. Ace changed the original term “Incompletion” to “Completion,” as Completion sounded better and was easier to accept.

He looked around at the apprentices and continued:

“Only those who earn the Graduation Badge can enter the High Tower for work and study and become formal members of the High Tower Magic Council. There are only two requirements for graduation: first, become a Mid-level Wizard Apprentice; second, publish a magic thesis in the future magic journal Spells.”

The apprentices looked confused. They knew what a Mid-level Wizard Apprentice was; several of them were already Mid-level Wizard Apprentices. But what did “magic journal” mean? And which word was “thesis”?

Warren stood up, bowed to Ace, and asked: “Respected Torch-Bearer, may I ask what a magic journal is and what a thesis is? We may not have encountered these two words and do not quite understand their meaning.”

Ace looked at the puzzled apprentices and said with a smile:

“It is normal for you not to understand these two words. These are new words I coined. The so-called ‘magic journal’ is a publication for publishing theses, and a ‘thesis’ is a stylistic format for elaborating on our Wizard research theories.”

He continued somewhat seriously to the apprentices:

“If our collective wants to progress, besides the spirit of questioning, we need the collision of ideas in academia. This requires us to exchange and share a portion of our knowledge and results.

Every Wizard’s unique research results are hard-won. We cannot share them unconditionally. Therefore, I propose that we share the research process and explored theories, while concealing the results. The author can choose to keep the results exclusive or charge for them. This is a magic thesis.”

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