Unable to Become a Mage

Hearing Mia say this, Matthews decided to find another place to continue.

After half a day, apart from the one fan Matthews had given to the noble lady Kelly Berna in Karim City, all the others had been sold at high prices to the nobles of the Imperial Capital who had come to the Imperial Capital Magic Academy.

"Hahaha, that's over a hundred gold coins in total."

Mia's eyes also lit up as she said to Matthews, "Brother, I want to buy a pretty dress."

"Alright, let's go deposit the money first."

"Aren't we going to the magic talent test first?"

"It's not convenient for us to carry these gold coins around. There's a place to deposit money nearby; let's deposit it first."

"Fine."

After walking into the bank, Matthews said, "I want to make a deposit."

"Do you have a card, sir?"

"No."

"There is a two silver coin processing fee to open a card."

Upon hearing this, Mia said, "Ah, that expensive?"

"Young lady, our cards are bound to you personally. The production cost is a bit high!"

"Fine, open two cards."

After coming out of the bank, Mia looked at the card in her hand and asked Matthews with dissatisfaction, "Brother, why do I only have ten gold coins?"

"You're still young, so the money is kept with your brother. I'll buy you delicious food in the future!"

"Fine."

Seeing that the little girl's ability to resist being fooled was growing, Matthews immediately said, "Let's go, let's head to the magic test first."

After Matthews and Mia returned to the testing grounds, some time had passed.

There were far fewer people now, and they began to line up.

"Next."

"Brother, I'm going first."

Mia placed her hand on the crystal ball, and suddenly a cyan light shone forth. The person in charge of testing talent was also excited: "Wind element talent, super grade."

Then he said, "Come into the magic circle quickly."

After a burst of mental pressure, Mia resisted for quite a while.

The tester said excitedly, "Mental talent, super grade."

As he spoke, the recruiters from various surrounding academies crowded around. They introduced their academies to Matthews in various ways, but in the end, only after the Imperial Capital Magic Academy extended an invitation did the other magic academies tactfully leave.

"Mia, welcome to the Imperial Capital Magic Academy."

Mia bowed gracefully and said, "Thank you, it is my honor to enter the Imperial Capital Magic Academy."

After the recruiting magic instructor nodded, he left. At this moment, the person testing magic talent continued to shout, "Next."

Matthews was about to step forward when the mage responsible for maintaining order blocked him directly and said, "Parents stay back; you are not allowed in here."

Matthews handed over the ten gold coin testing fee and said, "I want to test my magic talent too."

The mage maintaining order was confused by Matthews' actions and said in surprise, "Ah, but you're already over twenty years old. No magic academy will recruit you as a student."

"No, there's no rule saying you can't test magic talent at twenty, right!"

"This—"

At this moment, the person inside asked with dissatisfaction, "What's going on?"

The mage maintaining order said, "This twenty-year-old young man is causing trouble."

The person in charge of testing talent inside frowned and asked, "Are you the parent of the girl with super grade talent from just now?"

"Yes, Master. I am not causing trouble; I just want to test my magic talent. I am also willing to pay ten gold coins! Besides, the rules don't say you can't check magic talent at twenty."

"Fine, the rules really don't have that clause. Hurry up, we're in a rush."

Matthews placed his hand on the crystal ball, and suddenly a blinding purple and blue light shone out.

"Eh, I didn't expect you to actually have super grade lightning talent and high grade water talent!"

Then, looking at Matthews with a regretful expression, he said, "If you had come to test your magic talent at seven or eight years old, you would probably be a genius. It's too late now. Do you still want to test your mental power?"

Matthews thought to himself, I wasn't here when I was seven or eight, so how could I have come to test my magic talent?

"Let's test it."

After Matthews finished testing his mental talent, the person in charge asked, "Have you really never practiced magic before?"

"No."

Seeing Matthews' firm and decisive answer, the person in charge shook his head and said directly, "What a pity. You have super grade mental talent. It's a shame you're already over twenty; there's no possibility of you becoming a mage."

"Why?"

"The ocean of magic is vast and boundless. If you had started training at seven or eight, you would be at the level of a fifth or sixth-rank mage by now. But no Imperial Capital Magic Academy will accept you now. Because you started too late, your achievements in this life will be limited."

Matthews asked with uncertainty, "Is it really impossible?"

"I am sorry, but you have no possibility of becoming a mage."

Matthews looked somewhat dejected; it seemed he no longer had the chance to learn magic.

"Brother, don't worry. Mia will grow strong and protect you."

Matthews smiled and patted Mia on the head.

Mia took hold of Matthews' hand and comforted him, "Brother."

"It's fine, I can still train in Battle Qi. Now I just need to get my hands on a lightning-attribute or water-attribute Battle Qi manual!"

Mia nodded, then followed Matthews as they left.

Because Mia had the opportunity to study at the Imperial Capital Magic Academy, Matthews opened an iron-smelting workshop on the outskirts of the Imperial Capital. It cost him sixty gold coins; no matter the world, houses in the Imperial Capital are always exorbitantly expensive!

Now, two paths lay before Matthews. Once Mia learned meditation and how to absorb magic elements, he could learn magic, become a mage without offensive spells, accumulate magic until reaching the Saint Realm, and then proceed to develop warrior combat techniques and comprehend the Laws.

Or, he could acquire a Battle Qi manual and train in Battle Qi.

The second option seemed impossible to complete in Matthews' eyes. How precious were Battle Qi manuals on the Coiling Dragon Continent? In the original story, people from the protagonist's hometown could only obtain rudimentary Battle Qi by joining the army and earning military merit.

That stuff probably couldn't even train someone into a high-level warrior. Just think about it—what ruler would wantonly distribute cultivation techniques that could threaten their status? What they distributed were only those that ensured their subordinates had just enough Battle Qi strength to lay down their lives for them.

Even a magic talent test cost ten gold coins. The wolf-like beast skins Matthews had previously hunted only fetched one hundred and fifty copper coins. And that was only because he was a sixth-rank warrior capable of hunting them safely; if it were a commoner like the village chief, they could never obtain such skins. They mostly just caught wild rabbits and the like.

How could he easily obtain the ten gold coins for a magic talent test? Even if he did, he would still need a magic staff for cultivation, and gold coins to live in the Imperial Capital.

A mage is simply not something a commoner family can afford to cultivate, and a Battle Qi warrior is likely the same.