Rising Evaluations

Aaron watched as Abei Accio around the room happily, and his mood lightened considerably.

He shrugged, took out his black magic Wand, and began to draw in the air.

A moment later, a red Magic Array appeared, and a ball of flame emerged from the center of the circle, shooting rapidly against the wall.

However, a Magic Array on the wall emitted a bright green light, and when the flames struck it, they instantly turned to ashes.

"Defense Magic Array? I didn't expect it to be able to activate!"

"Of course it can be activated. As long as there is a supply of magic power, these Magic Array can keep running."

"Let's not talk about that now." Aaron gave him a fawning smile. "Ancestor, how did I do just now?"

"Not very good. You're taking some time to even complete a basic Magic Array circle. That's quite different from what I expected!" Weihert patted Aaron on the shoulder and chuckled meaningfully. "Or do you think you can fool me with this level of skill?"

"You figured it out!" Aaron showed no embarrassment whatsoever, slowly extending his right hand towards the wall.

It was the same Magic Array, but this time it was cast instantly, and the power of the flames was several times greater than before.

How about this one?

"It's barely passable!" Weihert clicked his tongue. "Your talent in Magic Array is quite excellent. If you can't even cast a basic Magic Array instantly in a year, I'll be very disappointed."

Aaron's lips twitched; he hadn't expected this teacher to have such high standards.

"Well... I still have to attend classes, take exams, and do homework at Hogwarts. Especially this year, something big happened at the school. Salazar Slytherin's Basilisk was released by his heir, causing widespread panic."

So... it's not that I didn't try; achieving this much under these circumstances is already quite an accomplishment.

"Do you think I didn't take these things into account?"

"Besides," Weihert said dismissively, "You're the current heir to Gaius." He added, "A mere descendant of Salazar Slytherin isn't worth your time and energy."

"Ancestor, you may not know much about this, but actually that heir is particularly troublesome."

"It's understandable that you look down on him, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have the ability to threaten me." Aaron still felt lingering fear when he recalled the events of the secret Secret Chamber. "His descendants were sixteen years old, and I was only thirteen. It's already lucky I survived."

"Sigh!" Weihert sighed. "You didn't understand what I meant. I'm just annoyed by your meddling in other people's business."

"I didn't want to die either!" Aaron said with a wry smile. "The problem is... those teammates were just too terrifying. I could have easily taken them down myself."

Sensing the frustration in Aaron's voice, Weihert shook his head with a smile, "That's none of your business, excellent junior."

Keep going! Your presentation isn't finished yet!

Aaron nodded, gently waving his Wand and drawing a more complex green Magic Array.

A fierce gust of wind blew against the wall, but as expected, it was blocked by the Defense Magic Array within.

"Not bad." Weihert crossed his arms and gave an objective and positive evaluation, "However, being able to draw a mid-level Magic Array in ten seconds proves that you haven't been slacking off this past year, so you barely pass."

"Just passing!" Aaron said unhappily, feeling that his effort was beneath him.

"Otherwise what? In the Magic World today, spells are the mainstream."

Ten seconds is enough time Magic Array your enemy to kill you several times over.

Even if you can cast it instantly, an intermediate-level Magic Array won't help you much; at most, it will only give you a slight advantage in battles against opponents of higher levels.

Aaron rolled his eyes, speechless.

"Ancestor, don't speak so lightly!"

I'm confident I can easily defeat Warlock of the same level as me, but to fight someone of a higher level to a draw is already quite an achievement; to win would probably require paying a price.

Upon hearing this, Weihert frowned. "Isn't this basic procedure?"

"When I was alive, I loved challenging those stronger than me. My greatest pleasure before adulthood was slapping them in the face for looking down on me with Magic Array. I wouldn't even deign to bully those of my own level."

Aaron:...

I'm sorry, your descendants have disgraced you.

After a long silence, feeling devastated, Aaron squatted down and started drawing circles on the ground.

Abei flew over on its own initiative, first glaring at Weihert, then jumping in front of Aaron, trying its best to comfort its master's wounded heart.

Although Weihert was somewhat confused, he could sense the overwhelming negative energy surrounding Aaron.

"Cough cough! Cheer up, and don't think too much."

I've basically put all my talent points into Magic Array, making me a tiny bit stronger in combat than other characters of the same level.

But other aspects can't be compared; you should understand what I mean by that!

Upon hearing this, Aaron's eyes regained some light.

That seems to make sense; there's no need to compare someone who's well-rounded with someone who's severely unbalanced in their studies.

It's normal to lose when you try to use your weaknesses to attack the opponent's strengths!

Seeing this, Weihert breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

Even within the Gaius family, few can inherit Magic Array, and even fewer can reach Aaron's level within a year. He didn't want to see such a promising talent given up so carelessly.

"Ancestor, I actually have some experience with advanced Magic Array," Aaron suddenly said.

"Oh!" Weihert was somewhat surprised. "Why didn't you say so earlier? I thought you were still working on the instant casting of intermediate Magic Array! I didn't expect you to be involved in advanced Magic Array as well."

Aaron shrugged and drew a purple Magic Array in mid-air, with fine purple lightning flashing around the circle.

The moment the Magic Array was completed, a burst of lightning erupted, illuminating the entire Secret Chamber.

A blue Defense Magic Array appeared on the wall, blocking the raging lightning and lasting for several seconds before annihilating the power.

"Not bad, very impressive, extremely impressive." Weihert laughed loudly. "To be able to do this in half a minute, you truly are worthy of being my descendant."

"Didn't you pass this time?" Aaron said, pursing his lips.

"If we're talking about a perfect score for a week, you'd give yourself an 80," Weihert remarked. "Don't think that's a low rating; you'd be in the top ten among the people I know."

"Only in the top ten?" Aaron was somewhat unconvinced. "Who's number one?"

"Of course it's me," Weihert said matter-of-factly. "I'm not exaggerating; I'm at the forefront of Magic Array development to date."

"Um... I guessed so." Aaron thought to himself that the ancestors in the Secret Chamber were probably at least in the top three in their respective fields of expertise.

"Do you still have any left to use?"

Don't hold back from me. Only by truly understanding your progress can I provide you with professional guidance.

Aaron remained silent for a moment, then nodded slightly.

Weihert understood his meaning and his face was full of satisfaction. "I take back what I just said. At the age of thirteen, you can be ranked second only to me in being able to inscribe an ultimate Magic Array."

"Don't just stand there," Weihert quickly gestured, "I'm really looking forward to your performance!"

"But ancestor, the power of the ultimate Magic Array is too great. This Secret Chamber... can it withstand it?" Aaron said with some worry.

He had spent a great deal of effort in his battle with Tom Riddle to create an ultimate Magic Array, and had a deep understanding of its destructive power, which was akin to a natural disaster.

"Don't worry, the defense of this Secret Chamber is even stronger than the defensive array of Gaius Castle. It can even withstand the destruction of forbidden and even the Abyss magic. The ultimate Magic Array can't even make it shake."

Furthermore, Grand Archmage and above can truly unleash the power of ultimate Magic Array. You are currently only a mid-level Magus; even if you were to inscribe an ultimate Magic Array, its power would be greatly diminished.

Aaron frowned slightly. "Does it have to be Grand Archmage to unleash the power of the ultimate Magic Array? Aren't Archmage sufficient?"

"Of course not, unless the amount of Magical Energy reserves is close to that of Grand Archmage."

Let me give you a very simple example. If a magic apprentice were to inscribe Forbidden Magic Array or even the Abyss Magic Array, do you think he could unleash even one-tenth of its power?

"Even one-tenth is quite remarkable."

"What are you thinking about?" Weihert flicked Aaron's head. "This idea is dangerous. Different levels of Warlock consume different amounts of Magical Energy when inscribing Magic Array."

A magic apprentice attempting to activate these two Magic Array, which are only usable by Holy Magus and above, on his own would likely have his Magical Energy drained and pass out the moment he began.

Is it that serious?

"It's that serious. Last year, I came here to remind you to take things one step at a time before school started, but I never expected you to skip class." Weihert laughed with interest. "I bet Jeans ' face was so dark it could drip water. Why didn't I think of skipping class before!"

"Um...maybe you weren't forced to this extent," Aaron said.

"No, no, no, I was in a similar situation to you back then, surrounded by all sorts of courses."

Perhaps, just maybe, it's because I'm a rather honest person.

Aaron:...

The Gaius Family may have honest people, but their numbers are extremely small, and certainly not including the one in front of us.

"Enough talk, let's get started."

"Then prepare to be surprised!" Aaron's lips curled up slightly as he raised his Wand and focused intently on drawing a crimson Elemental Magic circle in mid-air.

About seven minutes later, the Magic Array was about to take shape, and fire elements quickly gathered, forming high-temperature flames around the Magic Array.

A ferocious Dragon suddenly lunged forward and crashed violently into the Defense Magic Array.

Rumble!

The Dragon knew no fear and kept pushing forward.

The area covered by the flames continued to increase, but more Magic Array were also activated to resist and extinguish the flames, making the Secret Chamber colorful for a time.

Soon, everything returned to normal.

The defending side won a complete victory; only the smell of burning in the air proved that a fierce collision had just taken place.

Aaron was breathing heavily, somewhat incredulous that his all-out attack had only produced a few Mars.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

"Not bad," Weihert clapped. "How does it feel?"

"I feel like you're not lying to me." Aaron silently compared the scene of his battle with Riddle in his mind. The power of the ultimate Magic Array drawn by the Magus was indeed somewhat inferior to that of the Archmage. "Using the ultimate Magic Array with my current Magic Power is a bit of a stretch."

"If you know this, then it's simple. All you need to do this holiday is keep it simple."

"Just focus on practicing intermediate and advanced Magic Array."