Chapter Fifteen: Magic Talent Test

A military alliance was swiftly formed under Hudson's guidance. His drinking buddies suddenly became "his people," and the banquet's atmosphere was once again pushed to a climax.

Watching everyone celebrate wildly, Hudson, with a smile on his face, secretly shook his head.

He estimated this to be the world's most hastily formed military alliance. No rights or obligations were agreed upon; they simply declared their alliance.

How effective it would be depended entirely on everyone's integrity. Hudson had no confidence in whether they could be relied upon on the battlefield.

Perhaps, as long as their interests aligned, it could barely be considered an alliance. If conflicts of interest arose, it would crumble in an instant.

Even so, Hudson still felt this alliance was valuable. If nothing else, it solved the problem of passive work and making up the numbers.

As long as Count Pierce wasn't foolish, he wouldn't probe too deeply. After all, rules were always meant to restrain the weak.

With over thirty knights and several thousand soldiers, they were not an insignificant force in the entire Southeast Province. If they continued the tradition of noble alliances, they could recruit more people along the way.

Although such a loose alliance lacked much combat power, it had the advantage of being intimidating! Especially for the upper rulers, they had to consider not only the alliance's theoretical strength but also the influence of the nobles' families.

Just as Hudson was contemplating his next move, Knight Chels approached him.

"Little Hudson, you seem to have something on your mind?"

It was evident that Knight Chels was in a good mood. He even had the leisure to care about these minor details.

"Uncle Chels, I also enjoy magic research, but I lack materials. So, I'd like to trade some magic cores or magic crystal stones with you."

Hudson seized the opportunity.

On the Aslant Continent, magic cores and magic crystal stones were hard currency, more useful than any gold or silver coins.

This was because the specifications of gold and silver coins varied between countries, and some powerful nobles even minted their own currency, whose value was often influenced by the minting party's conscience.

When settling international trade, currency conversion was very difficult. For many large-sum transactions, people preferred to use the more stable magic crystal stones or magic cores.

Coupled with the role of magic crystal stones and magic cores in warfare, and their special importance to professions like mages and alchemists, it meant that these items rarely circulated in the market.

Initially, Hudson thought money could buy them, but after understanding the real situation, he decisively gave up.

Affected by various factors, even if they occasionally appeared on the market, they were usually sold at exorbitant prices, making their cost-effectiveness extremely low. To acquire them in large quantities, one still had to rely on connections for covert transactions.

As far as Hudson knew, the Mage Association acquired these two strategic resources from the kingdom at only one-third of the market retail price.

Nobles also had quotas to exchange for them, but the prerequisite was to first become a mage. Under these circumstances, even ordinary minor nobles who had collections would not have many, and they wouldn't trade them unless absolutely necessary.

Knight Chels, who was engrossed in magic research every day and had developed so many niche magical technologies, must have these two items in abundance.

The most crucial point was that Knight Chels was currently short on money. Since he was selling his magical technologies, it was natural that the magic cores and crystals that powered them could also be traded.

"Hudson, you are still young. Listen to your uncle's advice and don't get involved in these messy things like I did.

Magic research is a bottomless pit; no amount of wealth is enough to fill it. Unless you have excellent magical talent, don't waste your time and money on it."

Chers said earnestly.

It was clear that these words were genuine. Having personally stumbled into the pitfall of magic research, Chels really didn't want to see Hudson follow in his footsteps.

Upon hearing "magical talent," Hudson had a flash of inspiration and secretly pondered: perhaps he should strive to become a mage.

It was still spending money, but while a knight engaging in magic research was considered neglecting his duties, a mage doing so was considered perfectly reasonable.

Unfortunately, Hudson had never been exposed to magic, let alone used it. Glancing at Chels, Hudson instantly had an idea.

Just because he didn't have a method for mage cultivation didn't mean the person in front of him didn't. Looking at the pile of magic items in the hall, Knight Chels definitely possessed ample theoretical knowledge in this area.

"Uncle Chels, you should know how to test magical talent. Could you test mine?"

Hudson said tentatively.

He was willing to go to great lengths to figure out how to use his golden finger. He had just done Knight Chels a big favor, and now was the best time to ask.

Perhaps seeing Hudson's firm resolve, or perhaps because testing talent wouldn't take much effort, Knight Chels nodded.

"Testing magical talent is very simple. You just need to hold a magic crystal stone with no obvious attributes in your hand, then mobilize your mental power to absorb its magic.

If you have magical talent, the magic within the crystal will slowly flow into your body, and the speed of this flow determines the quality of your talent.

Of course, this testing method is not entirely accurate and may have some errors. It also cannot detect specific talent attributes.

To accurately test a person's magical talent, one still needs to go to the Mage Association. The procedure is also simple; just pay a testing fee of one hundred gold coins.

If your talent is acceptable and you are accepted into the Mage Association, the testing fee can be waived. Of course, that only applies to children.

Mage training must start from a young age. Once you exceed fifteen years old, the Mage Association will no longer accept you unless you can become a mage through self-study, in which case you won't get certified."

After speaking, seeing that Hudson remained unfazed, Chels sighed deeply. In Hudson, he saw a reflection of his younger self, the same persistence and confidence.

However, magic cultivation ultimately depended on talent, and ninety-five percent of people did not possess the talent for magic cultivation.

In the entire Alpha Kingdom, there were fewer than five hundred registered mages, and that included half of them being magic apprentices.

Of course, this was also related to the talent selection model. The high testing fees directly barred the large number of commoners from entering.

If a universal talent test were conducted, it was estimated that within a decade, the number of mages in the kingdom would increase tenfold.

Of course, this was impossible. Neither the King nor the noble factions would allow extraordinary power to spread widely among the lower classes.

Moreover, with the current number of mages in the kingdom, even if they wanted to conduct a universal talent test, they wouldn't have enough time.