Talent

Principal Tungus turned around and walked to a dead corner of the reception room. It was a gray brick wall; by all reason, there should have been nowhere left to go, nothing there at all.

But Principal Tungus softly recited a sentence, then reached his hand into one of the bricks and took out an emerald-green potion stored in a specially made glass bottle.

The potion's color was highly unusual. Its overall hue was emerald green, yet it contained countless glittering specks, breathtakingly beautiful.

Principal Tungus hesitated for a moment before carefully removing the wooden stopper from the bottle.

The Elemental Emerald Potion was exceedingly expensive and rare. Every bottle was precious, which was why Aurelian Academy had such rigorous selection procedures—to conserve the use of Elemental Emerald Potions.

Principal Tungus dripped the drop of blood he had previously taken from Locke's right index finger into it. Then he gently shook the bottle, silently counted seven breaths, and turned to hand it to Locke. "Drink it immediately. After two hundred breaths, the potion will have passed its optimal consumption period, and the testing accuracy will drop sharply."

"Also, this bottle of Elemental Emerald Potion is worth five Magic Stones."

"You must pay this testing fee yourself."

"You do not need to pay it now, but once you have Magic Stones in the future, you must repay it. In the Wizarding World, everything must be an equivalent exchange."

"Nothing is free."

Locke did not hesitate. He took the Elemental Emerald Potion and tipped his head back, draining it in one gulp.

Given his current circumstances, there was no need for Principal Tungus to deceive him.

The next moment, Locke felt an intense coolness in his eyes. It seemed as though something was constantly burrowing into his eye sockets, like countless worms scrambling to drill into his eyes.

He could not help letting out a muffled groan.

Just seconds after drinking the potion, the scene before Locke's eyes underwent a drastic transformation.

Principal Tungus's steady voice sounded in his ears, guiding him through what was happening. "Do not be nervous. Relax."

"The Elemental Emerald Potion will strengthen the fluctuations of your Mental Power. Put simply, it makes your Mental Power more active."

"Therefore, for a very brief time, the activity of your Mental Power will allow you to open [Elemental Vision], enabling you to see the elements in the air."

"Generally speaking, the more elements you can see in the air, and the more distinct they are, the higher your wizard talent is."

"Of course, your body will have trouble adapting to this change in vision at first. Tell me, Locke, what do you see right now?"

Locke raised his head and tried hard to distinguish the materialized elements before him. There were many points of light in different colors, unevenly scattered throughout the scene in his field of vision.

"There are many points of light. The most numerous are cyan, followed by golden ones."

"Then there are translucent points, blue points, red points, and yellow points. But those colors are weaker and fewer, barely there."

Principal Tungus nodded and recorded Locke's talent on a sheet of paper. "You do not see any patches of light?"

Locke shook his head.

Principal Tungus's quill paused over the paper, then he asked, "Do these points of light form any kind of shape, or even revolve around you?"

Locke still shook his head. In his eyes, the reception room was merely covered with points of light in varying colors and brightness. Nothing else was happening.

Principal Tungus nodded, a trace of disappointment in his eyes.

"Based on the current results, you indeed possess wizard talent, and it is not of the lowest grade."

"It is probably slightly below average."

"Wizard talent is divided into seven grades. The lowest, Grade 1 talents, can only see some halos after taking the Elemental Emerald Potion. Only those with Grade 3 talent or above can see points of light."

"Those points of light are actually elemental entities, seen after the Elemental Emerald Potion transforms your vision into [Spiritual Vision]."

Principal Tungus introduced the basics of mysticism. "This world is filled with four elements: Wind Element, Water Element, Fire Element, and Earth Element."

"And Wizard Seedlings who can see patches of light have at least Grade 4 wizard talent, because that means they can see a highly concentrated gathering of a certain element."

"Those with Grade 5 talent can even see an Elemental Vortex."

Principal Tungus said, "So your wizard talent should be around Grade 3."

"Mm, Grade 3 talent is considered decent on Corfu Island. Most apprentices on Corfu Island have talent grades of 1 or 2. Most Wizard Seedlings are also at Grades 3 or 4, which is considered average and ordinary."

"Those with Grade 6 or 7 talent can almost certainly become Formal Wizards through effort and time, as long as they do not take the wrong path. Those with Grade 5 talent also have great potential to become wizards."

"For Grade 3 or 4 wizards to become Formal Wizards is much harder. They need effort and a certain amount of luck, yet they may still never become Formal Wizards in their entire lives. Those with Grade 1 or 2 talent have almost no potential to become Formal Wizards and can only remain Wizard Apprentices for life."

"The colors you see represent your innate elemental affinity."

"Wind Element Particles are translucent, Water Element is blue, Fire Element is red, and Earth Element is dark yellow. The most common color you see is cyan, which means you are seeing a Composite Element."

Principal Tungus spoke softly to Locke. Ever since Locke had been confirmed to possess wizard talent, his attitude toward him had changed greatly, and his voice had become much kinder.

Locke asked in confusion, "Principal, what is a Composite Element?"

Principal Tungus explained, "The four great elements are merely four basic elements, but they naturally possess [intertwining properties]. When two or more basic elements intertwine, they become Composite Elements with unique properties."

"For example, the cyan points of light you see most often are Wood Element."

"In other words, you are closest to the Wood Element. To a certain extent, this represents your future direction of development."

"You may have a greater advantage in learning Plant Magic, because your soul is naturally more compatible with the Wood Element."

Principal Tungus said, "The second most common color you see is gold. That is Metal Element, a special Composite Element of Earth Element and Fire Element. This means you also have some talent for Golden Magic and alchemy."

"According to the experience of the Wizarding World, a soul will definitely have one primary compatible attribute, one secondary compatible attribute, and then general attributes."

"Therefore, your primary compatible attribute is Wood Element, your secondary compatible attribute is Metal Element, and your general attributes are wind, water, fire, and earth."

Principal Tungus smiled. "Although your wizard aptitude is only slightly below average, your compatibility with the elements is very good. Your Mental Power has some compatibility with all four basic elements, though it is not high. This means you can learn almost any kind of magic."

"This will make it easier for you to choose an Academy when you leave Aurelian Academy by ship for the Wizarding World in the future."

"Overall, your magical talents all lean toward White Magic. I recommend that you go to [Four Seasons Garden], [Holly High Tower], or [Alchemist's Cottage] in the future. These are all renowned White Magic academies in the Southeastern Corner Region of the Wizarding World."

"They are very suitable for you."

"Likewise, Verdantia University, Aurelian Academy's direct superior academy, is also an excellent choice. Verdantia University is a comprehensive magic academy, and it certainly has Botany wizards, alchemy wizards, and Golden Magic wizards."

"Of course, that is assuming you can get in."

"If you cannot get in, then none of this matters. In two years, the Wizard Ship will arrive at Corfu Island. Before then, you must join my society and study with us."

"If your progress is not ideal, then you can only go to some more obscure or niche small wizard organizations and become their student."

Get in?

Locke was about to ask what getting in meant. Did this require scores as well?

Suddenly, the scene before his eyes changed without warning. The elemental particles in front of him seemed to scream in alarm, as though they had been frightened away by something.

The Wood Element Particles and Metal Element Particles vanished. Then a large expanse of extremely dense black elemental particles appeared, followed by fairly dense Fire Element Particles. The other three basic particles were almost entirely absent.

Locke frowned. "Principal, is it possible for someone to have a second primary compatible attribute?"

Principal Tungus said, "Compatible attributes are merely the degree of compatibility between a person's soul and the elements at a given time."

"As people grow and their environments change, these can change as well. There are even specialized advanced potions that can strengthen your compatibility with a particular element."

Principal Tungus said, "So there is no need to dwell too much on this issue."

"But under normal circumstances, one person—one soul—is unlikely to have two primary compatible attributes."

Locke immediately understood. His soul had likely fused with that of the original owner, not only increasing his Mental Power but also granting him wizard aptitude.

At the same time, he had gained two primary compatible attributes.

Locke asked, "Then, Principal, what element do the black points of elemental light represent? They feel very negative."

Tungus said, "Oh, you also saw a tiny amount of Dark Element. That means you have some talent for necromancy or curse-type magic, but I imagine you did not see much of it, so it is not very important."

"I will not record it."

Tungus explained to Locke, "Those are all Black Wizard talents. If you intend to enter a wizard organization run by White Wizards in the future, then these minor talents will instead become an unnecessary obstacle."

"Since your primary attribute is Wood Element and your secondary attribute is Metal Element, there is no need to record your low soul compatibility with Dark Element."

"Conversely, if a student's future goal is a Black Wizard organization, I would also advise him not to record relatively low compatibility with Light Element."