Meditation Method Breakthrough, First Test

In the blink of an eye.

Twenty days later.

Inside the stone house, Ian slowly opened his eyes, unable to hide the joy in them.

"Finally broke through."

Ian opened his panel.

[Name: Ian Green]

[Age: 12]

[Strength: First-class Wizard Apprentice (3/100), Knight (30/100)]

[Talent: 119 (Fourth-grade Star)]

[Skills:

Cantrips: Light Spell (Master Level), Breeze Spell (Master Level), Dust Spell (Master Level)...

Zero-ring: Basic Meditation Method (Expert 1/400), Lionheart Knight Method (Knight Chapter—Expert 130/400), Mental Power Impact (Proficient 150/300), Magic Plant Identification (Beginner 20/100)]

His meditation method had broken through, reaching the Expert level.

With Expert-level proficiency, he had almost reached the level of a Third-grade Talent.

"It's just a pity that I'm still quite a ways off from condensing the second Mental Power Rune!"

Ian looked at the panel.

Only with sufficient mental power could one condense a Mental Power Rune.

Recently, members of the Mutual Aid Society had actually begun trying to condense their second Mental Power Runes.

But they had all failed.

Some had even suffered a degree of injury from the failed condensation.

Though it was not serious, they still needed a few days of rest.

According to his observations, the threshold for condensing the next Mental Power Rune should be five points.

He was still two points short.

On the other hand, the progress of the Wizardry Mental Power Impact was quite fast. He expected to reach Expert before the assessment.

"And Magic Plant Identification."

Ian lowered his head to look at the skill, which had only reached twenty proficiency, and fell into thought.

He did not know whether that counted as fast or slow.

"I'll wait until the first test."

Ian decided not to think about it.

In the blink of an eye.

Ten days later.

Night.

"Tomorrow is the first assessment. Everyone, do your best."

Ian encouraged the five members of the Mutual Aid Society: Logan, Emily, Coro, William, and Alfie.

"Do your best."

A flicker of anticipation passed through Logan and the others' eyes.

The next day.

In class.

The test began immediately.

For the meditation class, Instructor Joran placed a specially made crystal ball at the front, and everyone lined up.

The members of the Mutual Aid Society stood near the back.

Ian watched someone place a hand on the crystal ball, and the ball immediately gave off a faint glow.

"Lynn, 1."

Joran glanced at him and recorded it directly.

"Roz, 1."

"1."

With almost no exceptions, most were 1, until a familiar face appeared.

"Rune, 2."

Joran glanced at it and nodded. This was fairly decent among Third-grade Talents.

One after another, Third-grade Talents began to appear, and they all scored roughly two points.

Until.

"Lucy, 3."

Condensing two Mental Power Runes in a single month immediately drew everyone's attention.

Ian looked over and saw the cold girl with blue hair slowly withdrawing her hand.

"So this is a Second-class Talent?"

Ian pressed his lips together. His apprentice progress on the panel had already reached 4, but he was still a little short.

Yet a Second-class Talent had already condensed her third rune.

The gap was simply outrageous.

Fortunately, they were not being compared with them.

The other two Second-class Talents also had three runes each. They were called Levi and Beck.

Soon, it was Ian and the others' turn.

They all had one.

Though they had known the result already, they still felt somewhat disappointed.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Not good enough, everyone."

Mocking laughter came from nearby. Ian looked over and saw Halman, his hand resting on the crystal ball. The number displayed on it was 2.

"How is that possible?"

Logan's eyes widened in disbelief.

Halman had been worse than him back then.

The others also looked miserable. They could accept being surpassed by Second-class and Third-grade Talents, but Halman was also a Fourth-grade Talent.

Ian frowned as well.

"You took a potion, didn't you?"

Joran saw through it at a glance and asked.

"Yes, but it was only a recovery-type potion."

Joran nodded.

During the advancement learning phase, what they needed to assess was potential, so potions that increased mental power were absolutely forbidden. Recovery-type potions, however, were not prohibited.

Nor would they greatly affect the results, because such potions were expensive, far beyond what ordinary apprentices could afford.

A potion?

Ian and the others were stunned. Only the top three were supposed to receive extra potions.

Did Halman have some other backing?

Ignoring the mockery, everyone returned to their places.

Soon, the results of the first monthly assessment came out.

Unsurprisingly, the top three were Lucy, Levi, and Beck.

The next seven were all Third-grade Talents. Rune ranked seventh, while Halman ranked tenth.

"Boss Ian is ranked 47th, Logan is 57th..."

The members of the Mutual Aid Society all hung their heads in dejection.

They had been considered outstanding in their original class, but everything had changed now.

"Everything has returned."

Seeing the rankings from afar, Rune's face regained its confidence.

He had indeed encountered a few minor problems during the learning phase, but in the end, his talent would carry him through the encirclement.

The emotions in Halman's heart were satisfied.

Ian, on the other hand, was not dejected.

Failure was only temporary.

And it was not certain that he would fail every course.

Wizardry class.

"Energy Intensity is the unit used to describe the power of Wizardry. One point of Energy Intensity represents the power of a Pure Elemental Missile unleashed with one standard unit of mental power. It could probably smash your head apart with ease.

"Attack the Alchemy Puppets. I'll rank you according to Energy Intensity."

Inside the Training Ground, Charles looked at everyone present.

Before him stood a fixed puppet, wrapped in a layer of gray gelatinous material.

"First, Coro!"

Charles looked at the list.

Coro had not expected to be called first. He instinctively turned to glance at Ian.

"Good luck."

Ian encouraged him.

Coro took a deep breath and walked up to the puppet.

"Qilaso!"

As he shouted the three-second incantation, an arcing ripple shot through the air toward the puppet.

A slight dent appeared in the puppet, only to vanish completely in the blink of an eye.

"0.2."

The Alchemy Puppet announced.

Charles glanced at the result, unsurprised.

Both his incantation and use of mental power had considerable flaws, and he was not proficient in wizardry either.

That was the level of most people.

Very soon, the second person stepped up.

Still 0.2.

One person after another took the stage, but their scores all hovered around 0.3.

But before long, someone surpassed that mark.

As the first person who had condensed two runes stepped forward—

"0.6."

His proficiency was still mediocre, but he could rely on twice the mental power to amplify the wizardry's might.

This was actually unfair to those who had condensed only one Mental Power Rune.

But just as Victor had said before, fairness existed only on the foundation of equal strength.

Soon, Halman stepped up.

0.7.

He shot Ian a smug glance before leaving.

Rune scored 0.6.

"1."

A single number suddenly jolted everyone awake, and Ian swiftly looked over as well.

"Lucy, 1."

No surprise there. Only geniuses with Second-grade Star talent could reach that number.

Amid their numbness, everyone felt a faint sense that it was only reasonable.

Soon, Levi and Beck also scored 0.9 and 0.8.

The top three seemed all but decided.

"Next, Ian."

Ian's appearance did not draw much attention. Only the people from the Mutual Aid Society, Rune, and Halman looked over.

Even Charles merely raised his head for a glance and said, "Begin."

"Alright."

Ian nodded. His incantation was fast and precise, completely finished in less than a second.

"Qilaso!"

The next instant, the distant Alchemy Puppet let out a bang.

At the same time, its announcement exploded through the air.

"1.2."