Grade Assessment

Aside from Fatty Baus, Saine had another close friend he knew inside and out, someone he could truly confide in—Meili.

She was a little girl who had arrived in the Underdark three years after Saine and Baus, and she was only fourteen this year.

Though she was only fourteen, Meili's luck and talent were enough to make Saine green with envy.

Aside from her initial Mental Strength being as high as 13 points, in her third year after arriving at the Black Wizard Academy, just after advancing to a low-level apprentice, she had been accepted as a disciple by a Formal Black Wizard.

The reason Saine was close to Meili traced back to an experimental anatomy class five years ago, when he had once saved her life.

Thanks to the flicker of compassion Saine had felt at the time, when he had braced himself and spoken up for her a few times, Meili had avoided the fate of being dissected by Master Ke Suo Long.

That experience was precisely what made Meili, who had arrived in the Underdark not long before and had no one to rely on, completely acknowledge Saine as her big brother.

Even after she became the disciple of Master Deers, a Formal Black Wizard, she had never broken contact with Saine. Instead, the two would discuss academics from time to time after Public Classroom ended.

Master Deers was a renowned pharmacist, though unfortunately, he rarely appeared in Public Classroom to impart knowledge.

Meili becoming his disciple had been purely a matter of luck.

The fact that she had rarely appeared over the past half year was most likely because she had been assisting Master Deers with some experiments or potion preparations.

The reason Meili and Baus could become friends Saine knew inside and out and could confide in, beyond the ties mentioned above, was also because Saine himself carefully maintained and cultivated those friendships.

Without a few helpers at the Black Wizard Academy, it was truly impossible to get by.

Though Meili and Baus were not particularly strong, the former had a Formal Black Wizard as her mentor and had also dabbled in potion-making.

The latter, meanwhile, possessed wide connections and a knack for business.

In many situations, they could watch out for one another and, through that, live quite well at the Black Wizard Academy.

Everything was simply for the sake of survival.

Saine was indeed immensely interested in the mysteries of magic and the Truth Arcana mastered by Black Magicians.

But he knew full well that his foremost goal was still to survive.

The Grade Assessment was held behind the largest teaching building of the Black Wizard Academy, where there was a fairly spacious training ground.

Whenever many apprentices mastered a new spell, they would come here to practice it.

Saine still remembered that this was where he had rubbed together his first tiny flame.

The Black Wizard Academy's Grade Assessment had no overly detailed procedures. Those lofty Black Magicians clearly had no energy to bother with such things.

Each year, fewer than four Formal Black Wizards attended the Grade Assessment. This year was still the same as last year, with only three present.

More than five hundred Magic Apprentices gradually entered the enormous training ground.

This was nearly eighty percent of the total apprentices at the City of Mozhsuobula Black Magic Academy, with Entry-Level Apprentices and Low-Level Apprentices making up the largest proportion.

There were roughly seventy Intermediate Apprentices, while only a dozen or so Advanced Apprentices had shown their faces.

This was certainly not the total number of apprentices at the Black Wizard Academy. For instance, Saine knew that although his Senior Sister Fei'er had also come to participate in this Grade Assessment, his Senior Brother Zorro had not.

Besides that, there were always apprentices unable to come for all kinds of reasons.

The Black Wizard Academy had never made it a hard requirement for all apprentices to take part in the assessment.

After all, assessments were a game for the strong. The weak... might already be eliminated in their everyday lives at the Black Wizard Academy.

The specific content of the Grade Assessment was, in truth, simply arena matches and duels.

As long as apprentices of each rank stepped into the arena, they could fight to their heart's content, with life and death left to fate.

Of course, they could also choose to challenge someone above their rank. If they won, not only would their ranking be directly locked into the top three, but there was also a high chance they would gain the recognition of the several Formal Black Wizards present.

Entry-Level Apprentices possessed too little magical knowledge, and their Mental Strength and magic power were too low. They might not even be able to cast a single spell.

Thus, among Entry-Level Apprentices, their rankings were determined either by whether they could defeat or even kill their opponents without relying on magic, or whether they could successfully cast a low-level spell.

Even after Saine and Baus had walked around the entire training ground, they had not seen Meili. Saine guessed that she probably would not come this time.

"Are you going to compete for a ranking this time as well?" Baus asked Saine in a low voice.

Saine had already put on the Pale Mask. Facing Baus's question, he nodded and said, "Senior Sister said there might be some pretty good prizes in this academy assessment. I should try to fight for one too."

Hearing this, Baus nodded in agreement.

From information he had obtained through other Magic Apprentices, Baus knew that aside from this Pale Mask, Saine also possessed an exceptionally powerful Magic Short Staff. It was a protective item his mentor, Moxidu, had given him.

With that short staff in hand, Saine even had the strength to venture into the circle of Intermediate Apprentices.

After the Grade Assessment officially began, the three Black Magicians seated in the highest stands of the training ground had also taken their places.

"There are quite a few promising seedlings this year," one of the Black Magicians remarked, as though sighing.

He first glanced at the dozen or so Advanced Apprentices, then looked toward the Intermediate Apprentices, and finally swept his eyes roughly over the Low-Level Apprentices.

As for the more numerous Entry-Level Apprentices, this Black Magician did not even spare them a glance.

It was worth mentioning that when he looked toward the Low-Level Magic Apprentices, this Black Magician lingered on Saine for half a second.

He knew Saine. Two months ago, Saine and Lina had caused such a huge commotion on Black Street. Of the two Formal Black Wizards present on Black Street at the time, he had been one of them.

There were neither too many nor too few Black Magicians in the City of Mozhsuobula. Nearly every Black Magician served as an academy patron or held corresponding duties.

From certain perspectives, the City of Mozhsuobula provided these Black Magicians with a sheltered place to settle down, while the academy gave them a place to exchange what they had for what they lacked.

Then, in return, these selfish, unruly Black Magicians, scattered like loose sand, had to do something for the academy and the City of Mozhsuobula.

A major secret unknown to the lower-ranking apprentices was that the lord of the City of Mozhsuobula was actually the mysterious and powerful principal dean of the Black Wizard Academy.

However, the dean almost never appeared before the apprentices. Even Formal Black Wizards found it difficult to meet him.

At present, the normal operation of the Black Wizard Academy was maintained by three Vice Deans, who also possessed a degree of authority to assign these Black Magicians.

Dadalong, whom Saine had encountered before, was one of them. He was also the one who handled the most affairs, including those Owl Academy Supervisors, who were under his responsibility.

The other two Vice Deans were equally elusive. The mentor of Lilianya, an Advanced Apprentice, was the only woman among the three Vice Deans.