Inferior Talent

In the yard enclosed by a fence, an elven girl in a light green dress was patiently teaching four half-grown children. Her smile was sweet and lovely, her figure nearly perfect. Especially those long, straight legs beneath her skirt—they were practically a gift from the Creator, firm and shapely, stirring an inexplicable impulse in Roland's heart.

Waist! Waist! Waist! Roland silently recited a calming mantra, suppressing that nameless flame before pushing open the yard gate and walking in.

When she saw Roland, Alice flashed him a dazzling smile, then slowly closed the Meditation Method in her hands and obediently waited for his instructions.

"How have things been lately?" For the sake of his own body, Roland decided to avoid Alice's gaze first and turned to ask the four half-grown children in the yard.

"Master, we have disappointed you. We still haven't managed to successfully practice the Meditation Method." A fourteen- or fifteen-year-old girl looked deeply ashamed and uneasy after hearing Roland's question.

"As a mage, the most important things are patience and confidence."

"I have the patience to wait for you to successfully practice the Meditation Method, and I have the confidence to see the day you become mages."

"Do you?"

Roland's question echoed through the wooden house's yard, and the four half-grown children were overwhelmed with emotion.

The four of them solemnly rose and knelt before Roland, shouting, "Master, we do! We will definitely become mages!"

"Good. Keep working hard." Roland raised a hand, signaling for them to stand.

He had spent over a hundred gold coins on these four half-grown children, so naturally he had plenty of patience. Besides, what he lacked now was not ordinary slaves, but mages who represented strength.

After hearing the commotion in the yard, Ryan and the other eight children came out of the house as well.

The moment they saw Roland, their eyes lit up, and they hurried over to bow before him.

"Greetings, Young Master."

The moment they became mages, Roland had directly torn up their slave purchase certificates. They were now free citizens, the first batch of free citizens on Rising Light Island.

"Rise."

At Roland's command, the eight of them stood, though their eyes remained filled with burning fervor as they looked at him.

Roland had not only given them freedom and dignity, but also the power to control their own fates.

Thus, from the moment they became mages, their reverence and loyalty toward Roland had reached their peak.

"Ryan, what spells have you learned recently?" The looks in the eight children's eyes greatly pleased Roland, and he asked with a smile.

"Reporting to Young Master, I have mastered Water Manipulation these past few days." Ryan answered excitedly and proudly.

Ryan's answer made a trace of envy appear on the faces of the surrounding half-grown children.

As the first to successfully practice the Meditation Method, Ryan had received Roland's support and was not only about to become a Level 2 Mage, but had also mastered two spells. Among the twelve, he was the strongest.

"Very good. It seems you have a great talent for elemental arrangement and combination." Roland rarely offered praise, clearly very satisfied with Ryan's performance.

Elemental arrangement and combination was the foundation of spells, as well as a mage's basic aptitude.

Every spell was made up of countless elements, and knowing how to combine those elements into a spell was knowledge every mage had to master when learning magic.

Ryan had mastered two spells in just over a month, which was enough to show that he possessed exceptional talent in elemental arrangement and combination. Though this talent was far less important than Mage Talent, it meant Ryan would learn spells more efficiently than others in the future. This advantage would not only save him much time, but also make the spells he cast more powerful.

Faced with Roland's praise, Ryan was delighted, his face full of smiles. Yet he did not become arrogant, and still said respectfully, "Young Master, everything Ryan has today was bestowed by you. Ryan will never forget it for the rest of his life."

"I hope you will not forget what you said today in the future." Roland patted Ryan on the shoulder and spoke meaningfully.

Roland's words made Ryan's smile vanish at once, and he hurriedly dropped to his knees.

"I swear by the great Lord of Dawn that I will remain forever loyal to you. Should I break this oath, my soul shall sink into the boundless hell and be burned by hellfire for all eternity."

Seeing this, Roland nodded lightly. On the Saint Nor Continent, gods were sacred and inviolable to every human, especially among the lower classes. Once they swore in a god's name, they rarely broke their word.

However, Ryan had now become a mage. As he continued exploring the path of truth, his faith in the gods would grow weaker and weaker. Roland did not know how much effect this oath would still have on him in the future.

Therefore, Roland could not place all his faith in it. He still needed to use various methods to deepen Ryan and the others' loyalty to him and ensure that betrayal would never occur.

"Get up. I believe in your loyalty." Roland said with an emotional expression, as though Ryan's oath had truly moved him.

This made the rising Ryan even more excited. His lips trembled, as though he wanted to continue expressing his loyalty.

Over the following period, Roland seemed to increasingly value Ryan and to neglect everyone else. He kept teaching Ryan spell knowledge and insights, benefiting Ryan greatly.

However, in the eyes of the other eleven children, this scene brought a hint of jealousy to their faces. Their somewhat gloomy gazes repeatedly swept over Ryan.

Roland seemed completely unaware of this situation. Instead, his attitude toward Ryan grew even more cordial.

Even after he finished teaching, Roland did not exchange more than a few words with the other eleven half-grown children before leaving directly under their disappointed gazes.

As Roland departed, the atmosphere in the yard gradually became strange. Roland's excessive favor toward Ryan greatly intensified the jealousy in the other eleven children's hearts, quietly creating a crack among children who had once gotten along well.

This result was clearly intentional on Roland's part. Under his training, these twelve half-grown children would inevitably become the territory's strongest force. If they were close and united, how could Roland possibly rest easy? Dividing them was something he had to do.

After returning to his wooden house, Roland began the day's potion brewing.

However, he stopped after brewing only one Tier 4 Spirit Agility Potion.

Eight of the twelve half-grown children, including Ryan, had successfully practiced the Meditation Method and become mages. Therefore, Roland still needed to brew three Tier 1 Spirit Agility Potions and three Tier 1 Element Resonance Potions every day.

Without potions, their Mage Talent made their cultivation speed incomparably slow.

After Ryan successfully practiced the Meditation Method, Roland had personally tested Ryan's meditation results without taking potions. The outcome had been utterly miserable.

Without taking potions, one meditation session increased Roland's Mental Power and Mana by 0.003 points. But Ryan's result was ten times worse. One session only increased his Mental Power and Mana by 0.0003 points.

To reach the Level 2 Mage standard of 2 points of Mental Power, Ryan would need ten years without potion support.

After obtaining this result, Roland finally understood why, in the ancient times of the Saint Nor Continent, Inferior Mage Talent had not been classified as Mage Talent.

There was basically no difference between having this kind of talent and not having it. Even if one became a mage, without potion assistance, one could never break through to an Intermediate Mage in an entire lifetime.

Spend thirty years training a Level 3 Mage?

So long as their brains had not been flooded, no noble would choose such a method to increase their strength.

Not to mention that they would need to hire a mage to conduct an aptitude test. Such an expensive cost was also why commoners with Inferior Mage Talent could hardly ever rise above their station.

However, this was no difficult matter for Roland. With his current near-perfect success rate in brewing Beginner Mage potions—

The cost of training a mage with Inferior Mage Talent to break through to an Intermediate Mage was far lower than it would be for anyone else.

Based on the effects Ryan had experienced from potions during this period, with an adequate supply of potions, Ryan would break through to Level 2 Mage within three months, Level 3 Mage within six months, and become an Intermediate Mage within two years.

Roland would need to provide sixty bottles of Tier 1 Spirit Agility and Element Resonance Potions, one hundred and twenty bottles of Tier 2 Potions, and three hundred bottles of Tier 3 Potions.

That number looked startling. Such a massive quantity of potions was worth nearly five to six thousand gold coins.

But for Roland, these potions cost only a little over a thousand gold coins—the cost of the materials.

Spending five or six thousand gold coins to train an Intermediate Mage would be an utterly ruinous investment for any noble. But if a little over a thousand gold coins could train an Intermediate Mage, many nobles would surely be willing to try it.

Even if an Intermediate Mage was only Level 4, there was a fundamental difference between one and a Beginner Mage. Not only were their spells several times more powerful, but many magical jobs required the strength of an Intermediate Mage.

The difference could also be seen in the income of mages. A Beginner Mage earned roughly eight to fifteen gold coins per month, while an Intermediate Mage earned at least more than three times as much.

Spending a little over a thousand gold coins to train an Intermediate Mage with an annual income of over three hundred gold coins was a calculation any noble could understand.

For Roland, it was an even more worthwhile deal. Not only could he use up potions he did not dare sell, but he could also train a powerful Mage Regiment.

In the laboratory, after brewing one Tier 4 Spirit Agility Potion, Roland still had eight points of Mental Power left—enough to brew six bottles of Tier 1 Potion.

Over the past two months, Roland had not made large-scale purchases of materials for brewing Level 5 Potions. He had merely bought twenty sets from Leslie during their two transactions, still using practice as his excuse.

He brewed seven bottles of Level 5 Spirit Agility Potion and six bottles of Level 5 Fire Element Resonance Potion.

After taking them, Roland's Mental Power and Mana had both reached 9.8. He was only one step away from the ten points of Mental Power required for a Level 6 Mage.

However, although Roland wanted to break through to Level 6 Mage quickly, only four months had passed since he became a Level 5 Mage.

That pace was too fast. Therefore, Roland had currently stopped taking potions and relied entirely on meditation to increase his Mental Power and Mana.