Main Quest

Inside the barrier.

Lairn, clad in a spotless white robe, stood before the hall's entrance, silently watching the examinees gathered outside the barrier.

But when Lairn glanced to the side, he noticed his senior brother seemed distracted, his mind elsewhere. Curious, he asked.

"Senior brother? Something on your mind?"

"Huh?"

Called out, Guter froze for a moment before snapping back to reality and nodding in acknowledgment.

"Yeah, just thinking about some things."

Guter raised the unusually thick magic book in his hand toward Lairn. "After all, I already boasted to the teacher that I'd master all this knowledge within three years."

"I sounded all fired up back then, but now that I think about it, I'm a bit uncertain myself."

"It really is an extraordinarily tough task." Lairn affirmed.

Having once served as a [Court Mage], Lairn had personally participated in the deciphering and study of [Mythical Era Magic], so he knew full well how difficult it was.

Going by the thickness of that magic book, even by the standards of a modern genius mage, assuming [no language or comprehension barriers] and [full familiarity with all the magical theories mentioned in the book], it would still take two or three years to fully digest it.

But the book in his senior brother's hands wasn't one written in the current era—it was from the Mythical Era.

Over that vast span of time, how many shifts had occurred in language, vocabulary, and the symbols used to convey meaning? No one could say for sure.

Take, for example, the [Mythical Era Sage—Evisy]'s magic notes unearthed from a tomb decades ago. The information recorded there was already indecipherable to anyone—the language was even older than ancient Elvish.

And the content was almost entirely encoded in various diagrams and illustrations. Because people of that era loved to record magic in all sorts of ciphers, the difficulty of deciphering and learning from them was immense.

As far as Lairn knew, after decades of fruitless attempts, the Empire's relevant personnel had sent a handwritten copy to the [Holy Capital Hutrall] in the Southern Countries, hoping to enlist the help of Bishop Heiter for joint deciphering efforts.

And even that only covered the difficulty of [reading the magic book]. Learning the [magical theories] of the Mythical Era was no easy feat either.

Because before the Archmage Frieren established the foundation of human magic during the [Unified Empire period], the [magical theories] humans possessed were actually quite chaotic and disordered.

Though the core principles were the same, they were mixed with subjective and theoretical elements, making them exceptionally hard to learn.

"Senior brother, if you're troubled, why not go explain to the teacher and admit your mistake?"

"With your talent, plus Teacher Serie's guidance, around five years would be more reasonable."

"No."

Guter shook his head. "It's too late now. I have a reason I absolutely have to finish it on time."

"Let's drop this for now. Lairn, do you think the teacher will find a suitable disciple today?"

One hour earlier.

When Guter made his promise to Serie and accepted her request to assist with the examination, the system chimed twice.

[Ding!]

[Main Quest activated (Completing main quests may grant items and opportunities for Talent Draw, Deprivation, Grant, Copy, or Upgrade)]

[Main Quest: Three Year Period]

[Quest Requirement: Complete the initial study of the introduction to [Cursed Reversal Magic] within the agreed timeframe]

[Quest Rewards: System Probe Module, Talent Draw Chance X1, Talent Copy Chance X1]

[Main Quest: Maintain the Examination (Part 1)]

[Quest Requirement: Assist Teacher Serie in completing the [First Mage Examination] organized by the [Continental Magic Association] (Note: This main quest has two phases: the [Oysaster Branch Examination] and the [Holy Capital Hutrall Headquarters Examination])]

[Quest Rewards: Random Otherworldly Item X1, Talent Draw Chance X2]

If it were just ordinary system rewards, Guter might have let it go.

If he couldn't pull it off, he could just follow his junior brother's advice and apologize to Teacher Serie—no big deal.

But this promise had activated the system's main quest, and the [Three Year Period] reward was a system function module.

Though he didn't know exactly what the [System Probe Module] could detect, any chance to strengthen his golden finger was something Guter would never let slip by.

Besides, he wasn't entirely without confidence in the three-year promise.

Thanks to years of life in the monastery and the experience of copying countless ancient texts, Guter faced less of a language barrier when reading books from the [Mythical Era] than one might expect.

As for talent, his already decent mage aptitude, combined with the [Disciple of the Mythical Archmage] trait's boost to intelligence and comprehension, made him more than outstanding among human mages.

And most importantly, he had the "Magic Old Timer" Serie right there to answer his questions.

Stacking these advantages together, the [Three Year Period] quest was extraordinarily tough, but not impossible.

Moreover, the rewards from completing the [Main Quest] gave Guter plenty to dream about.

[Talent Trait Draw], [Talent Trait Upgrade], items from another world—any of them could provide a huge boost toward finishing the [Three Year Period].

Either way, he'd just give it his all until the very end.

"Senior brother, you're asking if any examinee will pass the teacher's interview today?"

"I think it's quite likely. Not only have almost all the talented mages nearby come here, but considering the association's early shortage of manpower, the teacher will probably be lenient and take in a few more."

Lairn answered Guter's question seriously, but his senior brother suddenly thought of something else.

Looking at the dozen or so mage candidates who had lined up early in the morning outside the barrier, Guter took the ring from his pocket and handed the Barrier Terminal to Lairn.

"Senior Brother, what are you—"

"Hold the barrier for me. I'm stepping out for about an hour."

"Ah... alright, then."

Although according to their teacher's instructions, the two of them should both stay here to maintain order at the examination site, Lairn, being somewhat timid by nature, didn't dare say much and simply took the [Barrier Terminal] from his senior brother's hand.

After leaving the Examination Hall, Guter didn't hesitate. He headed straight for the largest bakery in town, pulled several [Hutrall Silver Coins] from his pocket, handed them to the clerk, and bought two full baskets of freshly baked long loaves—estimated to be thirty or forty in total.

Having gotten up early without eating breakfast, Guter immediately grabbed one loaf and stuffed it into his mouth, eating as he carried the bread back toward the examination grounds.