Time flew by. A year and a half later, Noren Academy No. 147 welcomed another recruitment of new students.
Benjamin still sat behind his deserted Alchemy Studies recruitment desk, and the result was as unsurprising as ever—zero recruits.
By now, he could take it in stride. He had even begun to feel that this "leisure" might be the greatest hidden benefit of serving as a mentor.
Another five years passed. Just as Benjamin was immersed in deductions concerning the stability of energy transmission networks and their compatibility with planar laws, the distinctive pulse of an encrypted communicator interrupted his thoughts.
The light screen unfolded, revealing Dean Avery Knight's imposing yet steady face.
"Benjamin," the Dean said bluntly, without the slightest small talk, "make your preparations. In half a year, the Academy's first class of apprentices will hold their Graduation Trial, and I need you involved in the preparations."
"A Graduation Trial?" Benjamin was slightly surprised. "Our new Academy is doing one too?"
As Benjamin knew, Noren Academy under the Noren Workshop had not originally had anything like the Graduation Trial. Wizard Apprentices who completed their ten years of study were generally sent straight to the front lines of the Plane Battlefield; if they survived, they were considered graduates.
It was only in Benjamin's own cohort, because screening had to be carried out, that the Graduation Trial had been introduced.
He immediately thought a step further. "After the trial, will those who qualify also take part in the Noren Workshop's 'elite screening,' like students from the other Noren Academies?"
"Of course." Dean Avery affirmed it. "The process and proportions are the same as customary. Only the top tenth will qualify to participate in the subsequent screening."
After years of evolution, the many Academies under the Noren Workshop had long