The Youngest Lower-Level Mage

The next day.

Zeliel got up early and headed straight to the Mages' Guild.

He was going to find Mentor Marvin to complete the Magic Apprentice reassessment.

Nearly half a month had passed since the first test. By that measure, learning two Tier 2 Magic spells was still plausible.

Besides, Mentor Marvin had given him special treatment. It would not do to drag things out for too long.

Upon arriving at the Comprehensive Affairs Office, Zeliel quickly found Mentor Marvin.

But to Zeliel's surprise, someone else he knew was also there.

Lant Taylor.

The shy young heir he had met at the training grounds.

"Hey, Lant. What a coincidence."

Zeliel waved in greeting. "Here for the mage assessment?"

"Y-yes."

Lant replied somewhat stiffly. "Are you too, Zeliel?"

"More or less," Zeliel said.

"You two know each other?" Mentor Marvin adjusted his monocle.

"We met at the training grounds," Zeliel answered.

Without any further small talk, Mentor Marvin went straight to the point and clapped his hands.

"Come on, Lant. You first."

"All right!"

Lant took off his mage robe and set it aside with his wand.

Then he walked over to the crystal pillar, pressed his palm against it, and began channeling magic power.

Blue light slowly spread upward from the bottom, but its momentum was unimpressive. It stopped at around one meter.

It was not only far below Zeliel's level; it was even noticeably worse than Bev's had been.

"Your magic power intensity doesn't meet the standard. You haven't reached the Magic Apprentice threshold."

Mentor Marvin gently shook his head. "You need to meditate and train more."

"Understood, Mentor Marvin." Lant's expression visibly darkened.

"Come on, let's see how your magic control is next." Marvin stepped to the side.

"All right!"

Lant took a deep breath, then began outlining the spell structure within his Sea of Consciousness.

Zeliel watched from the side with great interest, hoping Lant might show him something new.

But clearly, Lant's magic control was not much better.

The first spell was Illumination, the same one Bev had used before. Lant took more than eight full seconds to charge it, and the light it produced was weaker as well.

The second spell was Ice Spike, which Zeliel had never seen before.

Ice Spike was a spell that used magic power to drive ice crystals at an enemy. Like Fireball, it belonged to the Elemental School.

This time took even longer. Zeliel suspected Lant's charging time had exceeded ten seconds.

As for the third spell, Lant was too nervous to cast it at all.

The glow of magic power flickered in his palm several times before finally going out.

Zeliel shook his head regretfully.

He regretted Lant's failure, and regretted that he had not learned any new magic.

"I-I'm terribly sorry for wasting your time." Faced with such a dreadful performance, Lant nearly lowered his head to the ground.

"Go back and train properly. Your current level is still quite far from that of a Magic Apprentice."

Marvin sighed. "You need to polish your fundamentals. Don't skip your daily meditation."

"Understood, Mentor Marvin." Lant nodded vigorously.

"Zeliel, your turn." Mentor Marvin beckoned him over.

Zeliel pressed his palm to the crystal pillar and channeled in magic power, easily passing the magic power intensity test.

The blue light still stopped around the level of Zeliel's chest, nearly half again as high as Lant's.

Next came the magic control test.

For the first spell, he once again used the familiar Fireball.

From charging to release, it took only around four seconds.

And Marvin could keenly observe that while Zeliel's casting time was not much different from last time, the flow of magic power and the formation of the spell had become visibly smoother.

All these little details showed that he was steadily improving.

Marvin could not help but feel puzzled.

Even if Zeliel had spent the entire past half month meditating, such a rate of improvement was still terrifying.

Not to mention that he was an adventurer who had to take on missions to earn money for magic scrolls.

Had his talent truly reached such a level?

For the second spell, Zeliel chose Wind Blade.

Wind Blade was even faster to cast than Fireball.

For the final spell, Zeliel used Heavy Pressure.

Using Illumination or Water Ball again would have been somewhat suspicious... after all, they were both spells Bev had used.

Heavy Pressure differed from the first two spells in that its effects could not be directly seen with the naked eye.

But the crystal pillar was extremely sensitive to magic power. When the magical impact erupted from top to bottom, blue light sprang up and flickered within the pillar.

"Oh... quite impressive."

Mentor Marvin's tone was full of praise. "You've improved since last time."

Zeliel's excellence had somewhat exceeded Marvin's expectations.

Seeing Zeliel's outstanding performance, Lant's face showed envy as well.

He was no fool. Zeliel had no surname, and judging by his clothes, he was surely of common birth.

Lant's family had traded for generations and possessed quite a bit of land, making them wealthy.

He had received careful instruction from magic tutors since childhood, and his family had bought him no shortage of expensive magical items.

Yet even with so many advantages in resources, Lant still could not compare to Zeliel. This left him feeling even more ashamed.

"I wouldn't dare let Mentor Marvin's help go to waste, so I work hard day and night," Zeliel said respectfully.

"It seems that when you asked me about the assessment standards for a Lower-Level Mage before, you weren't merely asking in passing."

Mentor Marvin smiled.

"I'm looking forward to it. If the Blackstone Town branch produces a sixteen-year-old Lower-Level Mage, those people at the Imperial Capital headquarters will probably have their jaws drop."

"According to the records, how old was the youngest Lower-Level Mage?" Zeliel asked curiously.

"Also sixteen. Kane Rodri, born into a mage family in the Imperial Capital."

"Back then, he was hailed as Ser Kingdom's future star. Ten years have passed, so he's probably an Upper-Level Mage by now, right?"

Mentor Marvin thought for a moment. "I just don't know whether he went any further and completed a Class Change."

"I see..." Zeliel fell into thought.

By that reckoning, he really might become the next sixteen-year-old Lower-Level Mage.

Although he was still blocked by that invisible shackle, as long as he proceeded steadily and slowly gained experience—

Two levels... or perhaps three?

Zeliel would be able to break through naturally and become a Lower-Level Mage.

He just wondered what choices his next talent skill would offer.

"By the way... how did you get that injury on your face?" Marvin noticed the small scar on Zeliel's face.

"This? I got it during a mission. It's nothing." Zeliel scratched his head.

He was too embarrassed to say it had been left by a tavern brawl. It was a little undignified.