Chapter 47: Unqualified?

A five-year-old Level 1 Magic Apprentice? Such news caused an immediate stir in the Mages Guild of Lons Pompey City. It wasn’t that they had never seen prodigies before — the Amelia Continent had tens of billions of people, and a few prodigies popped up every year. Even in the history of Lons Pompey City itself, there had once been a six-year-old Level 1 Magic Apprentice and a seven-year-old Level 2 Apprentice Wizard… But “hearing about it” and “seeing it with your own eyes” were two different things after all. Those two were legends from decades ago — how could they compare to this lively, bouncing kid right in front of them?

“What? You’re saying a five-year-old Level 1 Magic Apprentice showed up in the certification hall?” Wes Anseld, the Branch President of the Lons Pompey City Mages Guild and an Archmage, looked at his panting assistant with surprise, instinctively putting down the documents in his hand.

The assistant nodded breathlessly and said, “Yes, Branch President! Although the practical operation and theoretical exams haven’t been conducted yet, he already passed the Mana strength assessment. And apparently, this kid doesn’t even look like he’s from a noble family!”

Hearing that last sentence, Wes Anseld’s eyes lit up. He stroked his chin thoughtfully and said, “What an interesting fellow…” With that, he stood up to his full height, flicked his sleeve, and said with great enthusiasm, “…Come on, let’s go take a look!”

Back in the certification hall, Luo Yan had already returned to the waiting area. The practical operation exam took a long time, and there were still quite a few people waiting in line ahead of him…

His casual little “toss” just now had not only scared the fat guy half to death, but had even startled the examiner. Each of those testing crystals cost tens of thousands of Gold Plangs — it wasn’t something poor low-rank mages like them could afford to replace. As for someone as “carefree” as Luo Yan, not only had they never seen such behavior, they’d never even dreamed of it.

The fat guy fumbled around and barely managed to catch the crystal ball. He no longer had the face to get anywhere near Luo Yan, and could only slink away to the other side of the waiting area by himself. But his embarrassing performance had already been witnessed by everyone, and he quickly became the new target of everyone’s mockery.

“Hey hey~~ point out which one is him for me?!”

“Can’t you see for yourself? It’s that little squirt sitting over there~~”

“Hey~~ do you think he’ll pass the practical operation and theoretical exams?”

“Hmph~~ Mana strength can be crammed with talent, but practical operation and theoretical exams both require time and accumulation. What could a five-year-old brat possibly know!”

“Don’t say that — he’s a prodigy, after all~~ A prodigy!”

“Prodigy my ass! If he can’t do it, then we’ll just wait and see!!”

Whispers, whispers. Clearly, Luo Yan had become the hot topic at the Lons Pompey City Mages Guild. Everyone’s attention was fixed on him, so much so that nobody noticed a pair of cold, detached eyes that had quietly appeared in a hidden corner behind them…

Abraham had never encountered such an arrogant, obnoxious little brat in his life. He had been studying at the guild for a full twenty years since he was twelve, and had been working part-time as a certification examiner for over five years. But he had never seen a candidate as cocky and insufferable as this one — sure, he was in charge of practical operation today, but he had also witnessed Luo Yan “tossing” the crystal ball just now. It made him somewhat angry, and he found this so-called “prodigy” little squirt particularly hard to stomach.

【He was not one of those wishy-washy types who liked to smooth things over. A candidate who didn’t know the rules like this — he definitely needed to be taught a proper lesson!】

“Candidate No. 61, begin your assessment. Candidate No. 62, please get ready~~”

And so, under the crowd’s “expectant” gaze and the examiner’s “special” look, Luo Yan walked toward the examination area…

“You’re Luo Yan?” Looking down at Luo Yan with a scrutinizing gaze, Abraham’s eyes and tone both made Luo Yan feel somewhat uncomfortable.

“That’s right, examiner. Can we start now?” Luo Yan nodded lightly and put on a serious expression. If there was one part of the assessment he wasn’t entirely confident about, it was the “practical operation” section. As for the reason…

“Fine~~ Then go ahead and begin!”

Abraham’s voice came through with no warmth at all. Luo Yan didn’t understand why this examiner seemed to hold a grudge against him, but he didn’t pay it much mind. He simply reached out and snapped his fingers casually, without even chanting a spell. Everyone was stunned by his action, but in the next moment, a faint magical fluctuation suddenly appeared in the space around him, spreading out like ripples on water. Then, a gray-black skeleton abruptly materialized before everyone’s eyes. Its hollow eye sockets, full of deathly stillness, stared intently at Abraham, sending an inexplicable chill down his spine.

“Instant casting~~ That’s instant casting!!”

“What kind of crap eyesight do you have? That’s not instant casting — he didn’t even chant a spell at all!!”

“A prodigy~~ He really is a prodigy!!”

“Wait… why…”

“But why is there only one skeleton?!”

“Yeah~~ Why only one skeleton?”

“Haha~~ See, I told you… What prodigy, huh? When it comes to actual practice, he’s totally lost! Just one skeleton — even an ordinary person who just started learning magic could summon more than that.”

After the burst of commotion, the people who had been shocked by Luo Yan’s performance gradually quieted down, but their attention gradually shifted to something else!

— Why had Luo Yan only summoned one skeleton?

This was precisely the thing that Luo Yan was somewhat worried about. As mentioned before, skeletons were the lowest level of summon. Any random Magic Apprentice could summon a whole swarm of them, but no matter what, he could only summon one… Although the practical operation was only meant to test the candidate’s grasp of magic, and summoning one versus summoning a swarm made no difference in theory, if he ran into a rigid-minded examiner — or one with ulterior motives — they could use this very reason to judge Luo Yan as unqualified!!

Like right now, for instance…

“Why only one skeleton?” A cold sneer flashed in Abraham’s eyes, and he said nonchalantly, “Candidate Luo Yan, it seems you haven’t mastered the summon skeleton spell very well. You can’t even get a Level 1 spell down properly — this is definitely due to a lack of practice. Magical research is a field that requires extreme diligence. Relying purely on talent won’t cut it. Candidate Luo Yan… it seems you should go back and think things over carefully!”

Hearing this, a sharp glint flashed through Luo Yan’s eyes. What did this bastard examiner mean by saying that? Was he trying to fail him?!