Boarding 2

The black-robed man and Nancy Aili's group looked at him with complicated expressions. Standing among the crowd, Anglie was deeply astonished as well. This boy was even a few months younger than him, yet he was already a Third-level Apprentice. It made Anglie hold this mysterious world in even greater awe.

"No problem. Good, very good. Jia De, was it? After the test is over, could you spare some time to speak with me alone?" There was even a trace of eagerness in the black-robed man's tone.

"Oh." Jia De nodded, showing no intention of refusing.

The black-robed man nodded, then looked at the remaining youths. "Those under eighteen who are Second-Rank Apprentices, step out. Stand to my left."

Another seven people stepped out and moved to the left. That left Anglie and four others.

The black-robed man nodded in satisfaction. "Very good. The four Third-level Apprentices behind me do not need to be tested now. The rest of you two groups, come with me."

He turned and headed first for a wooden door across the hall. Then he pushed it open and strode inside. "Come in one at a time. Second-Rank Apprentices first."

Through the open crack, the room beyond the wooden door was pitch-black, without the slightest trace of light.

The Second-Rank Apprentices went in one by one. Each stayed inside for only around ten seconds before quickly coming back out. Some looked disappointed, some delighted; their expressions varied.

Very soon, it was Anglie's group of First-Rank Apprentices' turn. Anglie himself had not even reached First-Rank Apprentice. But the black-robed man had not asked, so perhaps there was not much difference between reaching it and not reaching it.

Among the four First-Rank Apprentices, the first was a fair-skinned girl with black hair tied in a ponytail. She went in and came out quickly, her face full of disappointment and her eyes red. Of all those who had gone in before, only two had emerged beaming with joy. Everyone else wore looks of frustration and dejection. This made Anglie and the others among the First-Rank Apprentices exceptionally nervous as well. After the ponytailed girl went in, the other two beside Anglie looked at each other, both unwilling to take the initiative to enter. Their faces were full of tension.

"Hurry up! Next!" the black-robed man shouted from inside the room. When his Rudin grew impatient, it carried a slightly drawn-out ending that sounded rather strange.

Anglie glanced at the remaining two, then simply strode over to the wooden door. He paused, then stepped into the darkness.

He could see nothing in the darkness. It was as if he had entered a completely dark world, without a shred of light. Anglie caught a strong sandalwood fragrance tinged with a fishy smell.

It contained Volcano Grass. He immediately recalled having tried this grass when he had passed through the Anse Grasslands.

"Can you tell where I am?" The black-robed man's voice came from all directions.

Anglie listened carefully while activating the Chip's enhanced perception.

Perception analysis in progress... Sound waves transmitted from four directions. Number of sound sources: 4. Unable to specifically identify...

Anglie frowned. His own senses matched the Chip's exactly; the sound sources seemed to be in all four directions.

"So you really cannot identify it?" The black-robed man fell silent for a moment, then there came the rustling sound of writing, as if he were registering something. "From how many directions can you hear the sound?"

"All four directions," Anglie answered at once.

"What about above and below?"

"No."

"Very good. You did not lie. Your name?"

"Anglie Leo."

"Among the five total grades of aptitude, yours is Grade Two. It is somewhat better than the worst Grade One, barely counting as lower-middle. All right, you may leave."

Anglie felt slightly disappointed. He bowed toward the darkness before turning and leaving the room.

Back among his First-Rank Apprentice companions, the disappointment on Anglie's face was naturally noticed by the others. This made the remaining two even more nervous.

The following tests unfolded just as they expected. Both came out of the wooden door looking somewhat dejected.

The testing ended. The black-robed man came out of the wooden door and locked it behind him. Turning to face everyone, he said, "Third-level Apprentices will live on the first floor, Second-Rank Apprentices on the second floor, and Third-level Apprentices on the bottommost fifth floor. Choose your own rooms. Meals and washing facilities are on this floor, the fourth floor. The floors above the deck are already full; those people are from other countries and regions, so do not go up there unless necessary. Quite a few of them are troublemakers. As long as you do not go up, they will not take the initiative to come down into the lower cabins. I am responsible for keeping order on deck. If anything happens, run straight to the deck. That is all. Dismissed. I will post the list later, and you can check it yourselves."

After saying that, the black-robed man turned and left, leaving fifteen people standing in the hall.

"Should we find the dormitories first?" someone suggested. The suggestion was immediately accepted by everyone. The fifteen people from Maruya Port who had boarded the ship had already faintly divided into three groups. The four Third-level Apprentices formed one small circle, the Second-Rank Apprentices formed another, and lastly there were Anglie and the First-Rank Apprentices.

Since they were not living on the same floor, Anglie's group had to head down to the fifth floor, the very bottom of the ship. The three groups parted ways.

As they walked through the narrow, damp stairwell passage, their footsteps echoed endlessly across the wooden floorboards. It seemed the entire ship had no sailors or crew at all; apart from apprentices, there was no one else. Anglie automatically moved to the rear. Ahead of him was a handsome red-haired boy, while another blond boy walked second. The two of them had stood beside Anglie while on deck. Leading them was the black-haired ponytailed girl from before, dressed in a Swordsman's metal half-armor. Her expression was cold and her features beautiful. Beneath the armor, she wore a black undershirt and trousers, dressed much like the European Swordsman attire Anglie had seen in his previous life on Earth: armor on top, tight black trousers below, somewhat resembling leggings.

The close-fitting clothes perfectly displayed the girl's curving figure, especially the tight trousers clinging to her lower body. Compared to Nancy's fiery allure, this was another kind of style. At a glance, the outfit looked like nothing more than ordinary Swordsman attire, but the girl's perfect curves made the plain clothing seem exceptionally seductive. The boys following behind could not help letting their gazes drift below her waist.

They kept walking down the wooden stairs. None of the four spoke, merely counting the floors in silence.

After a while, the blond boy could not help speaking.

"I say, since we are all First-Rank Apprentices, we can count as companions. How about introducing ourselves?" He chuckled. "My name is Lü Lando, fifteen years old. Family background does not matter; where we are about to go, family background is completely useless. As for aptitude, mine is Grade Three."

Seeing his friend speak, the red-haired boy followed suit. "My name is Yuri, fifteen years old, Grade Two aptitude. I suppose among this entire ship, the four of us are the most miserable lot." He gave a bitter laugh.

"Anglie, fourteen years old, Grade Two aptitude. So what if our aptitude is poor, or our progress in training cannot compare with others? We are still young. Perhaps there will be opportunities in the future." He smiled encouragingly.

"If you understand nothing, do not spout nonsense!" The girl leading them turned back and said coldly. "Do you know how long it takes to go from a First-Rank Apprentice to a Second-Rank Apprentice? With our aptitude, even under the most normal circumstances, it takes at least two years or more! Those people who can reach Second Level or Third Rank at this age will probably advance to become Official Wizards several times over in those two years. And academies and organizations will certainly funnel resources toward them as well. What do we have to compete with them?"

Anglie frowned, feeling somewhat displeased. "You understand everything? Is becoming an Official Wizard really that easy?"

"Their aptitudes are better than ours, so their chances of advancing will naturally be much greater than ours." The girl's tone calmed. "I apologize for my tone just now. I was too agitated."

Anglie nodded. "Forget it. We are companions now. Perhaps we will need to look after one another in the future, so do not get so worked up."

"All right, all right. The one in front, introduce yourself. You are the only one left." The red-haired boy said with a familiar smile.

The girl turned back around. "Villet, sixteen years old, aptitude... Grade One." Her steps paused slightly before she continued onward.

The red-haired boy Yuri and the blond boy Lü Lando both fell silent. Their gazes, which had been fixed on the girl's Swordsman attire, now carried a trace of pity.

"Grade One aptitude, tsk tsk... No wonder she got so agitated." Lü Lando, walking ahead of Anglie, turned his head and whispered.

"I still do not really understand how great the difference of one aptitude grade is. Could you explain it to me?" Anglie asked quietly.

Lü Lando smiled. "According to some books recorded by Wizards, these grades are actually divided according to the speed of meditation progress. Grade Five is the fastest. It is said they can rush to Third-level Apprentice in a year, and their chances of becoming Official Wizards are extremely high. Very few fail to advance. Next is Grade Four, and perhaps half of them will fail to become Wizards. Then comes Grade Three, where the chance is only one in several dozen; Grade Two is one in a hundred. And Grade One... perhaps one in a thousand or one in ten thousand. Their meditation progress in a month is only equal to a day's progress for Grade Two or Grade Three. Would you say that gap is large enough?"

Anglie nodded, his expression growing somewhat heavy.

Lü Lando continued, "Actually, Wizards do not care much about so-called Grade One at all. They simply throw all those whose aptitude is terrible to the extreme into one category. So no matter how poor the aptitude is, there is no need to be surprised."

"Then this Villet basically has no hope, does she?" the blond boy Yuri interjected.

"More or less."

Anglie stopped speaking. He looked at the girl Swordsman ahead of them. Her shoulders were trembling faintly; clearly, she had heard the conversation behind her.

Lü Lando cast the girl a pitying glance. "For her to have the strength of a First-Rank Apprentice, who knows how many years she must have spent meditating. At least five years."