First-tier Mage

The Mage Association had three floors.

It was also the landmark of this nameless frontier town.

An Kai arrived, went into the first floor with practiced ease, then climbed the stairs to the second.

The moment he entered, a wave of cool air washed over him.

In the sweltering summer heat, it felt even better than the air conditioning in his previous life.

A Lv5 spell, Frost.

An Kai recognized the spell being cast...

"Oh! An Kai, did you manage to learn a spell just before the deadline?"

Here, An Kai toned down some of the swagger he displayed outside...

He nodded rather shyly, offered his thanks, and headed toward the room where Apprentice Mages received their promotions.

There were not many people on the second floor-eleven in total.

They were all First-tier Mages. Some were only Lv1, like An Kai, while others were at the fifth level of the first tier, like the mage who had just cast a Lv5 spell.

In other words, a Lv5 mage.

At that thought, An Kai felt deeply disheartened.

Having his level locked, unable to increase it, came with another drawback.

He could not learn spells above Lv1.

Until his level was unlocked, he could only learn Lv1 spells and the legendary Unranked Spell.

Lost in his gloom, he reached the door to the Apprentice Mage promotion room and composed himself.

He pushed open the door to the Apprentice Mage promotion room. Inside, an elderly mage was waiting.

"Oh? An Kai, you're here."

"Hello, President!"

An Kai greeted him respectfully.

The person responsible for promoting Apprentice Mages was none other than the town's Mage Association President, also the only Second-tier Mage!

An Kai had been a member of the Mage Association for a year, so the president already knew him well.

Skipping the tedious introductions, the president said softly, "Boy, show me your spell."

As soon as the president finished speaking, An Kai willed his spell into existence.

A fist-sized fireball appeared in his right hand.

Its scorching heat raised the temperature of the otherwise cool room a little.

"Good! Very good!"

"Its power is around the second level of the first tier. Since you've only just formed it, that means your talent is quite good!"

The president did not hold back his praise.

"Dispel it..."

Hearing that, An Kai was about to release Fireball as he had before to get rid of it.

He looked around but could not find a suitable place.

Just as he was about to leave the room, the old president lightly tapped a finger, and a breeze swept over An Kai's palm...

When he looked again, the breeze had dispersed his Fireball...

The old president remained calm and showed no intention of explaining. Instead, he took a gold-colored badge from a compartment in his desk and tossed it to An Kai.

"First-tier Mage!"

The promotion he had longed for was over just like that.

The badge felt cool in his hand.

With everything done, the old president leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and began to rest...

Seeing this, An Kai thanked him and tactfully left the room.

As soon as he appeared, cheers rang out across the second floor.

"Our Mage Association has another First-tier Mage!"

"Well done, An Kai!"

"An Kai, you've got to treat us tonight!"

As the teasing calls came one after another, An Kai helplessly turned out his trouser pockets, revealing linings even cleaner than his face...

"You want me to treat you? You'll have to pay..."

"Hey! You little brat!"

"I've got no money! Just this one life..."

Chuckling, An Kai did not linger and headed straight down to the first floor.

Once there, An Kai made a beeline for the benefits office.

He proudly pushed open the door and slapped his badge onto the desk with a smack.

"Sister Wang! I'm here for my money!"

"Oh! Has our little rascal become a noble mage lord?"

The person responsible for handing out benefits was Widow Wang-the woman of Hanks's dreams, the man who bought all sorts of goods outside town.

Widow Wang's husband had been a First-tier Mage who had died in an accident.

Out of sympathy, the old president had taken Widow Wang in and given her a job at the Mage Association...

Widow Wang was thirty-five, and thanks to her position at the Mage Association, she still retained her charm.

At Widow Wang's teasing, An Kai simply chuckled without arguing. After promotion, a First-tier Mage in this frontier town really did deserve to be addressed as "lord"!

Despite her teasing, Widow Wang did not dawdle. She took out a fingernail-sized Lower-grade Magic Stone and handed it to An Kai...

An Kai put away the magic stone, turned, and left.

At the door, he remembered something and suddenly looked back. "Sister Wang, Hanks misses you so much he can't sleep at night. Make sure you keep your windows shut!"

Widow Wang planted both hands on her hips and declared fiercely, "He wouldn't dare, even if I lent him twice the courage!"

"But what about you, boy? Have you got the guts?" Widow Wang flirted with An Kai without the slightest restraint.

By the time she looked toward the door again, An Kai had already fled in defeat under Widow Wang's advances.

After hurrying back to his home in the northeastern corner, An Kai faced two choices.

He had already exchanged the Lower-grade Magic Stone for Skill Points. Now he had to decide which skill to put them into...

Meditation could provide him with attribute points. With his level locked, it was the foundation of his growth.

Attribute points affected An Kai's physical condition, the power of his spells, and more.

The place where An Kai lived was extremely dangerous. Despite his unlimited lifespan, he had not chosen to coast through life. Instead, he kept looking for ways to grow stronger!

Although Immortality gave him an unlimited lifespan, injuries could still kill him!

In this frontier town, the thing An Kai saw most often every day was death!

Revenge killings, accidents, robbery... the list went on.

People were killed for all sorts of reasons, which also made the inhabitants of this frontier town rather blunt and straightforward.

After all, they had known since childhood that few people living here would die a peaceful death.

Life would be too exhausting if they still bothered with schemes and mind games!

Only someone as powerful as the old president, a Second-tier Mage, could live safely even in old age...

Fireball, on the other hand, would only gain a small increase in spell power, without improving much else.

Comparing the two, the choice was easy.

An Kai decided to put the point into Meditation.

At present, Meditation took around thirty days to provide one attribute point. That was far too slow for An Kai!

[Meditation Lv1, proficiency +1]

[Meditation Lv1 "2/10"]

With the point allocated, An Kai clearly felt his mastery of Meditation improve a little.

Compared with the roughly thirty days it had previously taken to gain one attribute point, An Kai now estimated that he would only need about twenty-six days.

In his room, An Kai smiled in satisfaction and decided to try out Meditation after its one-point improvement...

The next day.

An Kai opened his eyes. He had not slept all night, but with Meditation running, he did not feel tired.

After washing up, An Kai ran toward the Mage Association.

Amid Widow Wang's teasing, he collected his Lower-grade Magic Stone for the new month.

After exchanging it for Skill Points, he put them into Meditation again.

[Meditation Lv1 "3/10"]

Nineteen days later.

In his room, An Kai stood and let out a long breath...

[Attribute points +1]

He added his newly acquired Attribute Points to stamina.

[Stamina: 4]

An Kai was not allocating his points at random. His talent, [Immortality], had a hidden requirement: he had to maintain balance...