Early morning.
The square beneath the Gray Tower.
Sunlight fell upon the face of every Wizard as Master Level Wizard Anton swept his gaze across the assembled group and announced the rules.
"Within the square, an energy orb exists in each zone. You must extract the energy from within it within fifteen minutes, and then spend another fifteen minutes constructing a complete energy structure using only that energy, supplemented by a mental capacity of ten. Finally, I will release an energy field, and score you based on how long your structure holds out."
Three stages?
A wave of commotion broke out among the Wizards present.
Ian also scrutinized these rules.
This test was interlocking. The first stage tested a Wizard's ability to analyze and decompose energy, the second tested construction and control capabilities along with partial mental manipulation, and the third stage went without saying—it was primarily about control.
Every stage was actually quite comprehensive.
It truly aligned with what Ian had studied over the past year, which was mastering respective types of energy, whether magical energy, elemental energy, or mental energy.
Soon.
Everyone arrived at the competition grounds.
Only then did Ian have the opportunity to observe the energy orb before him.
He observed at least dozens of types of energy within the film-like energy orb.
Aside from common elemental energy, life energy, and mental energy, there were also numerous strange energies Ian had never seen before.
Yet quite cleverly.
Though these energies were entangled together, they remained quite peaceful.
But so much energy won't be easy.
Ian couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
The difficulty of mixing and separating energy grew exponentially rather than linearly, and there were a full dozen or so here.
Even for a Wizard skilled in energy decomposition.
It was exceedingly difficult.
Sure enough, looking