Fish Takes the Bait (Please Vote!)

It was another sunny afternoon.

At Chaos City Magic Academy, Mason, an intermediate Earth Magic mage, finished his final lesson of the day. After packing up his teaching materials and saying goodbye to his students, he returned to his office.

As a dwarf, Mason was one of the rare mages among the Dwarf Race.

When he was young, he was found to have some talent for Earth Magic. Since there was no dedicated Magic Academy in the Dwarf Kingdom, his family sent him to Chaos City's Magic Academy to study.

Several decades had passed, and he had become a Tier Three mage. He was proficient in most basic Earth Magic spells and had also learned quite a few simple intermediate Earth Magic spells.

Although his talent at the Magic Academy was far inferior to that of many other mages, and it had taken him decades to reach Tier Three—

Among dwarves, his magical talent was already considered exceptional.

The Dwarf Race produced many warriors and blacksmiths, but had achieved little in the field of magic.

Most dwarves, even if they devoted their entire lives to studying magic, might not be able to condense a Magic Seed.

Therefore, among dwarves, Mason was undoubtedly a master of magic.

He had advanced to Tier Three more than ten years ago. After graduating from the Magic Academy, he became Professor Hicks's teaching assistant and was usually responsible for teaching Earth Magic classes for beginner students.

It could be said that he had reached the highest level dwarves had currently achieved in the field of magic.

But he had his own troubles as well.

Limited by his innate talent, he had begun attempting to advance to Tier Four more than a year ago—and had already failed four times!

Although his mana reserves had met the requirements for advancement, the bottleneck remained. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't overcome it.

To be honest, he had already begun to lose hope.

Perhaps he should resign, return to the Dwarf Kingdom, and—with royal support—establish a proper Magic Academy, devoting his energy to nurturing the next generation.

Yet a voice in his heart continued telling him:

"You are a genius the Dwarf Race sees only once in a century!"

"You are filled with passion and love for magic!"

"You will continue studying this field and delve into even greater heights!"

So after every failed advancement, Mason would silently tell himself, "One more try. If it still doesn't work next time, I'll give up."

Yet after every failure, he never chose to give up.

But now, he was truly tired.

So he went to Professor Hicks's office, knocked on the door, and entered.

Professor Hicks, who was actually younger than Mason but was already a Tier Six mage, looked at him and smiled gently. "Mason, what is it? Did today's lessons go smoothly?"

"The lessons went smoothly, Professor." Mason spoke somewhat heavily. "Tomorrow, I'd like to apply to enter the Magic Tower and attempt to advance to Tier Four."

Professor Hicks froze for a moment. "You can just apply directly to the Magic Tower Administration. There was no need to report something like this to me, was there?"

"Of course." Mason's expression darkened. "But if I fail to advance again this time, Professor, I intend to resign and return to my hometown. That's why I came to let you know in advance."

"I... understand." Professor Hicks sighed. "Perhaps that's for the best."

Hicks understood Mason's situation. After failing four times, there was basically no possibility of success on the fifth attempt.

So Mason was destined to resign and leave.

Although Mason wasn't the most talented person working under him, he was the most diligent.

Many teaching assistants merely occupied their positions and used the academy's resources for magical research. They rarely cared about the basic classes assigned to them, and when teaching those magic apprentices, they were always perfunctory.

Only Mason had consistently handled his responsibilities seriously.

So although they were of different races, Professor Hicks had always appreciated Mason as a person and admired his attitude.

But with things having reached this point, Hicks had nothing to persuade him to stay for.

Mason left the office, departed the Magic Academy, and headed home.

His expression remained gloomy the entire way, and he wasn't in high spirits.

It wasn't until he passed through the Ruby District on Eckley Street that he suddenly sensed an unusually dense concentration of elements around him, causing him to stop instinctively.

"This is..." Mason frowned as he sensed the surroundings, then looked toward a... flower shop by the roadside?

Ron's Wonderful Flower Shop.

What a strange name.

Mason looked over, glanced at the shop sign, and then noticed the commotion at the entrance.

A few people had gathered there in twos and threes, clustered together and seemingly watching something.

Driven by curiosity, Mason also approached the entrance and peered into the crowd.

An exceptionally handsome young man sat cross-legged at the entrance, his eyes tightly shut.

A pot of purple flowers sat before him. Its petals swayed in the wind, and a fresh floral fragrance drifted through the air.

The moment Mason approached, he immediately felt the surrounding elements grow even denser.

And based on the magical knowledge he had accumulated over decades, the young man before him appeared to be attempting to condense a Magic Seed!

What nonsense!

Mason instinctively frowned.

Who tried to condense a Magic Seed right out on the street?

That was far too reckless!

Mason silently blamed the rash young man. Judging from his appearance, he had probably only just come of age, barely older than the magic apprentices at the academy. Mason immediately felt the urge to protect him like a child.

"Friend, why is this young man sitting here? Condensing a Magic Seed in such a noisy environment is extremely dangerous!" Mason stopped a sturdy dwarf beside him and asked his fellow dwarf.

Lyle, the owner of the neighboring Barbecue Shop, looked at Mason in confusion. "Is Ron condensing a Magic Seed? I don't know."

Mason frowned. "Ron? Is that this young man's name? You know him? If you know him, how could you not know what's going on?"

Dazed by the string of questions, Lyle scratched his head. "Did you see the pot of flowers in front of him?"

"Uh..." Mason looked at the pot of flowers on the ground and asked doubtfully, "I saw it. What about it?"

"According to Ron, it's one of the flowers in his shop. It can attract elements and increase the elemental concentration in the surrounding environment. Its fragrance can also improve a mage's meditation efficiency. I don't know whether it's true or not." Lyle shrugged. "He's demonstrating it right now, showing everyone the effects."

"How could that be possible..." Mason immediately shook his head. "I've studied and worked at the Magic Academy for so many years, yet I've never heard of a plant with such effects."

"I'm just a barbecue cook. I don't understand any of this." Lyle smiled. "But the kid seems like a decent person. He probably wouldn't lie so casually, right?"

"That remains to be seen. Are you very familiar with him?" Mason eyed the young man at the entrance suspiciously, carefully examining the pot of flowers for any clues.

"Not really." Lyle shook his head. "I run the Barbecue Shop next door. Ron is a new neighbor, and this Flower Shop only opened a few days ago."

Please give me some votes??o·(????????????)?o·?

.