Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Aldeon Magic Tower Evaluation
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After spending the past few days busy with bodyweight exercises and requests...
Finally, D-Day. The day of the Aldeon Magic Tower's disciple selection evaluation.
Having made full preparations, I headed to the Aldeon Magic Tower and couldn't hide my shock.
‘Just how many people is this...?’
Mages here, mages there.
I hadn't even arrived yet, but everywhere I looked was filled with mages.
I had expected a huge number of applicants since it was the tower opening after 100 years, and it was one of the five great schools, Aldeon...
But still, I never imagined it would be this many.
“Huh.”
It got even worse once I fully entered the tower.
The first floor lobby of the magic tower, expanded to a vast size with space expansion magic. It was swarming with all sorts of mages.
There had to be at least a thousand.
I had come here full of confidence, but now I was starting to worry.
‘...I might actually fail this.’
With this many people, there were surely exceptional talents mixed in.
There might even be mages at my level—third circle or higher.
Of course, unless they were geniuses, fourth circle and above required the tower's help, so there wouldn't be many such cases.
Most would already be affiliated with other towers anyway.
But there are always exceptions. I couldn't deny that possibility.
‘If I fail, what should I do first... No, what the hell am I even thinking?’
Shaking off the sudden wave of fear, I quickly pulled myself together.
‘...Stay calm.’
What a joke.
I had possessed a character created specifically to take down Baal, and here I was, worrying about failing this disciple selection.
I looked at the situation coldly.
Right now, I had a mythic trait that I had suffered to acquire even as a zombie swordsman character, and the top-tier soul imprint obtained by sacrificing that character.
And I had steadily trained my magic and body through crises where death loomed multiple times.
Me, failing the selection?
‘...Ridiculous.’
These guys gathered here had probably just read books or attended classes to learn magic comfortably.
There was no way I would lose to them.
No matter what genius mage showed up.
“Phew, now I'm calming down.”
Releasing the tension through mind control, I lifted my head to look at those on the second floor.
The examiners watching us like children.
My gaze went to the old man in the center.
‘Is that the tower lord?’
Just sitting there, he exuded an immense presence. Probably.
From what Lena told me, his name was Dershion... or something.
Just then, Dershion stood up and strode to the railing.
“Welcome, those who have come to become disciples of Aldeon. I am the lord of Aldeon Magic Tower, Dershion Pigme.”
A voice that pierced not the ears, but the mind.
With that one sentence, the noisy clamor died down instantly, and the wide-open doors of the magic tower closed slowly with an unpleasant metallic screech.
It seemed the evaluation was about to begin.
Dershion calmly accepted the focused gazes and slowly spoke.
“From now on, we will select the talents who will have the honor of becoming disciples of the Aldeon Magic Tower, opening after 100 years. Have you all steeled yourselves?”
Everyone, including me, nodded with resolute eyes.
Dershion, looking pleased at the sight, continued.
“Before that...”
The satisfied smile was gone.
“First, we must weed out the fakes.”
“...Fakes?”
“What's that?”
Surrounding applicants began murmuring at Dershion's cryptic words.
Dershion had no intention of resolving their doubts, extending his hand with a stern face.
And then.
Whoooong!
He instantly gathered mana and floated a sphere.
[Mana Compression].
The first skill I had tried after entering this world.
“This is [Mana Compression], something any first-circle mage can do. And...”
Fwoosh!
Flames suddenly bloomed on the sphere Dershion had floated.
“This is [Fireball], containing flames within the sphere. A magic only those who have awakened the fire attribute can perform.”
Dershion extinguished the fireball with a face that said, ‘This should be enough demonstration,’ and commanded.
“Fire, water, earth, electricity, wind—whatever. Right now, float a sphere containing an attribute on your palm.”
Out of nowhere, attribute spheres.
Applicants tilted their heads at the contextless demand, but the quick ones started floating attribute spheres as instructed.
Some with flames.
Some with water.
Some with wind.
I joined in, floating a sphere with the familiar electricity.
Crackle!
“Why attribute magic all of a sudden...!”
Not all applicants could produce attribute spheres.
Pffft—boom!
Mana scattered when they failed to contain the attribute due to insufficient skill.
Seeing their shabby appearances, they probably couldn't afford attribute magic books or lacked funds for academy tuition hosted by associations.
“Looks like we've weeded them out roughly.”
To them, Aldeon must have been a ray of hope.
Unlike other towers, Aldeon didn't require hefty entry fees or association recommendations.
Of course, Dershion wasn't showing mercy out of pure charity.
“Those who still can't float anything... leave. Now.”
Dershion crushed their hopes, pointing firmly at the exit with a resolute face.
A heartless decision.
“G-get out? Where's that fair...! We haven't even done the proper evaluation yet!”
Someone shouted in protest, but it couldn't sway Dershion's determination.
“Hmm, you look quite aggrieved. The notice clearly said only those confident in their skills should apply, didn't it?”
“That...!”
“Are you saying you were confident with that level of skill?”
“......”
The man who had cried out as if unjust couldn't respond, and Dershion clicked his tongue with a frown before speaking.
“Get out, fake. Aldeon has no need for the untalented.”
“Damn it!”
Starting with the man leaving, those who couldn't float attribute spheres began to turn away one by one.
And their number was not small.
Fully half. Half the applicants left the tower in droves.
All with shit-eating faces.
Boom!
With the doors firmly shut, Dershion looked around and spoke.
“Five hundred left...”
The fact that a thousand mages had really gathered here probably didn't matter.
What mattered was the old man frowning as if still unsatisfied.
As if there were still this many impurities.
‘...Damn, that old geezer has a foul temper.’
A sudden doubt crossed my mind.
If I had possessed with a rare or heroic trait instead of a mythic one.
Or before that, if the redhead hadn't thrown me that magic book.
...Would I even be here now?
I didn't know the answer, but one thing was certain.
“Then, we will now begin the proper selection evaluation.”
The Aldeon Magic Tower disciple selection wasn't going to be easy.
***
The evaluation proceeded quickly.
From checking how finely one could sense mana, to mana quantity, mana control, efficient mana circuit construction, and more...
They scored and ranked by category, and many applicants were eliminated in the process.
Then came the break time.
“Phew... this is killing me. Even if it's for selecting the talented, isn't this too harsh?”
“Screw the evaluation—if this keeps up, my mana will hit zero!”
“...I don't know if Aldeon is related to demons, but the tower lord sure acts like one.”
The surviving hundred mages were exhausted, scrambling for rest.
Of course, I was one of them.
‘...It's tough.’
Had it been about ten hours since the evaluation started?
I had never depleted mana for this long before.
Thanks to the [Prodigy of Magic] trait recovering mana faster than anyone, mana itself wasn't an issue—but this was about mental strength.
Handling mana required immense mental energy and focus, so my head was throbbing.
Well, this was nothing.
Others were probably suffering as much or more.
That was when I thought that.
“...Hey, number one guy. You holding up okay over there?”
Turning at the sudden voice, a burly man was looking my way.
His build didn't suit a mage at all...
Maybe he trained with dwarves like me?
No malice seemed present.
“...Still manageable so far.”
“Damn, you're a monster. What the hell is your mana circuit made of?”
“Thanks to diligent training, I guess.”
“Training my ass... If that worked, I'd be a grand mage by now.”
Grumbling, the man walked over and extended his right hand.
“Name's Thompson. Don't let the looks fool you—I'm a third-circle mage.”
“Yoo Han.”
“Oh, commoner origins too, huh?”
Accepting the handshake, Thompson naturally sat beside me.
With break time given, he seemed eager to chat.
I was bored too, so I didn't mind.
“With talent like that, I thought you were some noble.”
“You approached too friendly for that.”
“Haha, caught me? Don't take it bad. You don't look the noble type.”
“Well... true. If I were a spoiled rich kid, I'd be decked out in high-grade artifacts.”
“Spoiled rich kid? What's that?”
“...Nothing.”
“Hmm, you're an odd one.”
Thompson, looking puzzled but shrugging it off, scooted closer.
“Hey, you hear the rumor?”
“...What rumor?”
“That passing this evaluation doesn't just get you into Aldeon.”
“What else is there?”
Glancing around cautiously, Thompson continued, reassured.
“They say passers get the ‘Essence of Light.’”
“What?”
I doubted my ears.
Because the [Essence of Light] was Aldeon's one and only consumable artifact.
Its effect was simple.
Granting a growth-type ‘trait’ of the light attribute to the character.
In other words, an artifact that bestows a new trait.
“...Is that true? Aldeon hands over the essence?”
“I don't know for sure. Just a rumor. But...”
That was when Thompson tried to add more.
Step, step.
An applicant in a hooded robe was slowly approaching us.
As I and Thompson eyed him warily, the guy reached right in front of us and removed his hood.
Revealing unforgettable golden hair.
“You...”
Roan Bilgeff.
The chaebol heir who made my gear look shabby in the library.
“Ahem, I'll take my leave...”
Sensing the noble, Thompson tactfully withdrew, and I locked eyes with Roan, whose gaze burned with hostility for some reason.
“...Here for magic talk again?”
When I asked, Roan replied lowly.
“The Essence of Light... is mine.”
His voice held none of the smugness from our first meeting.