Recruiting Talent (2)
I opened the list of fusion spells, but it was hard to find one suited to screening disciples.
There were spells like Eye of Truth, which could tell when people were lying, but it was a 5th-circle spell of no fewer than six attributes.
I couldn’t possibly attempt a six-attribute fusion just to take on disciples.
Creating the 4th-circle fusion spell Mana Amplification had already left me coughing up blood and teetering on the edge of death.
No matter how much my mana had increased now, if I tried to create a six-attribute spell, this time I really would die.
Besides, I still couldn’t even use 5th-circle magic yet.
Hmm... what should I do?
I kept searching through the list, and at last found a spell that looked promising.
Mana Affinity Measurement - Incomplete
Fire + Water + Earth
Circle: 2
Effect: Measures the target's pure mana affinity and potential
Required materials: flame stone powder, purifying water, essence of earth
A 2nd-circle spell with three attributes.
Couldn’t I use this to weed out spies and identify truly talented new disciples?
It was only a 2nd-circle spell, and as a three-attribute fusion, it was well within my ability to make. There was no burden to casting it.
Especially now, with my mana amplification in effect.
“Lia, could you get me some flame stone powder, purifying water, and essence of earth?”
“Pardon? What are they for?”
“I’m going to make a spell for selecting disciples. It measures mana affinity, and I think it’ll let me distinguish people who truly have talent from those who’ve already been trained as mages.”
“...Excuse me, mana affinity, Master?”
“Yes. Why?”
“No, if such a spell existed, the other magic towers wouldn’t go to such lengths to screen disciples. They can’t measure affinity, after all. That’s why they all do examinations and interviews, isn’t it? But you’re saying you can make that?”
Lia was right.
No magic tower on the continent could accurately measure mana affinity.
That was why most of them relied on long periods of observation and evaluation.
But I was different.
“That’s right. Other magic towers can’t make a spell like this. But I can.”
“Really? Then our magic tower will be able to select talent more efficiently than any other tower on the continent!”
Lia’s eyes sparkled.
“Exactly. And from now on, this will be our secret weapon. The other towers won’t know how we’re identifying gifted disciples so quickly.”
“Wow... Master, you’re amazing! I’ll go get the materials right away!”
“Ah, and Lia.”
I called after her just as she was about to leave my office.
“Yes?”
“You know this is a secret, right? That I can make spells like this?”
“Of course! Absolutely!”
Lia had remained steadfast even while the Fusion Magic Tower was on the verge of collapse.
She was the only disciple of the tower I could truly trust, and she was precious beyond measure.
***
After Lia brought back the materials, I went straight down to the basement laboratory and created the Mana Affinity Measurement spell.
For me, who had already created the 4-attribute Mana Amplification, this was hardly difficult.
I looked at the bead I had made.
Inside the bead, clear as crystal, red, blue, and brown light swirled softly together.
It looked like a tiny universe captured in the palm of my hand.
Fusion spell Mana Affinity Measurement created successfully
Circle: 2
Effect: Measures the target's pure mana affinity and potential
Duration: Instant
Mana cost: 5
The mana cost was only 5.
At this rate, I could use it dozens of times a day.
“It’s done, Lia.”
“Already? That was so fast!”
Lia marveled at the bead, studying it from every angle.
“Just a moment, Lia. Let me test it once.”
I set the Mana Affinity Measurement bead into my wand and cast the spell on Lia.
Transparent light enveloped her, and faint numbers rose above her head.
Mana Affinity: 12/100
Twelve out of one hundred.
As expected, her affinity was terrible.
Fifty would be average; anything above that was above par, anything below it, below par.
I’d found a rough baseline.
“Huh? Master, can you see something?”
“Yes. I can.”
“How is it? What’s my affinity?”
Lia asked with an expression that was equal parts hope and dread.
“Hmm... honestly, it’s low. Only 12.”
“Ah... I see.”
Lia’s face fell.
“But Lia, you’re the only precious disciple our tower has. Affinity isn’t everything.”
I smiled and tried to reassure her.
“Master...”
“Anyway, now that I can test people with this, I should let everyone outside know.”
“How should I announce it?”
“Tell them I’m starting disciple interviews right now. Ten people a day, in order of arrival.”
“Right now? Without any preparation period?”
Lia asked, startled.
“Yes. That’s actually better. If we give them time to prepare, spies may come up with countermeasures.”
“Understood. I’ll do that.”
“Then could you send them up to my office one by one?”
“Yes, of course.”
I went back up to my office, and Lia went outside the tower to make the announcement.
Before long, she knocked and said, “Master, I’ve brought the first interviewee.”
“Come in.”
The door opened, and Lia entered with a young man.
He looked to be in his early twenties, wearing an old but neatly kept robe. His face held tension and hope in equal measure.
“My name is Carlos. It’s an honor to meet the Tower Lord of the Fusion Magic Tower!”
Carlos bowed deeply.
“Sit down.”
At my gesture, Carlos carefully took a seat.
Every movement he made was taut with nerves.
“Where did you come from?”
“I came from a small village in the northern part of the empire. I studied magic on my own, but I’ve reached my limit working alone...”
As I listened to Carlos, I raised my wand.
The Mana Affinity Measurement bead began to glow softly.
“Hold still for a moment.”
When I cast the spell, transparent light wrapped around Carlos.
A faint wave of mana stirred within his body, resonating with the bead in my wand.
At that instant, information surfaced before my eyes.
Mana Affinity: 72/100
After confirming that Carlos’s affinity was 72, I sent a strand of mana toward him.
First-circle mage. If I convert his mana capacity into numbers, maybe around 60?
If he was already a trained mage... then with this level of affinity, being only 1st circle made no sense.
He seemed like a young man who sincerely wanted to come as a disciple.
“Hmm...”
I deliberately put on a serious expression and looked at Carlos.
I could feel his nerves tightening even further.
“Carlos, why do you want to join our magic tower?”
“Th-that is... I heard that the Tower Lord of the Fusion Magic Tower rose from a third-rate mage and amazed the entire continent, and I thought maybe someone like me could be given a chance too.”
It was an honest answer.
I felt no hint of deception, only pure longing.
“Good. I’ll let you know the result in a week. You can go.”
“Pardon? Ah, yes! Thank you very much!”
Carlos bowed deeply and left.
The moment the door closed, Lia asked, “Master, what do you think? That person?”
“Affinity of 72. He’s quite promising. And he seems pure. I don’t think he’s a spy.”
“Then does that mean he passed?”
“For now, he’s pending. We still need to see the others.”
I wrote Carlos’s name and numbers on a note.
Carlos - affinity 72, 1st circle, pure
“Send in the next one.”
“Yes!”
The second person to enter was a woman in her mid-thirties.
Her neat robe, carefully arranged hair, and sharp gaze made a striking impression.
“I’m Elina, Tower Lord.”
Her greeting was polite, but there was something calculating about her.
“Have a seat.”
When I cast Mana Affinity Measurement, information once again appeared before my eyes.
Mana Affinity: 58/100
Slightly above average. But the problem lay elsewhere.
When I sent mana toward her, her own mana reacted in a subtle, controlled way.
Third circle?
She was already a 3rd-circle mage with considerable training. Her mana capacity was substantial as well.
Considering her age, her mana affinity, and her circle, she looked almost certainly like a spy.
“Where did you come from?”
“A village near the border with the Eastern Alliance.”
“Near the Eastern Alliance... interesting. Why did you leave there?”
“To seek greater opportunities.”
Her answer was smooth, but her pupils flickered ever so slightly.
“I see. I’ll let you know the result in a week.”
“Thank you.”
After Elina left, I wrote in my notes.
Elina - affinity 58, 3rd circle, suspected spy
After that, seven more interviews followed, with mixed results.
The third applicant was a man in his forties. His affinity was a middling 45, but he was already a 2nd-circle mage.
His accent carried traces of the Northern Kingdoms, so I suspected he might be a spy.
From the fourth to the ninth, most were ordinary.
Average talents hovering between 40 and 60 in affinity.
Two of them seemed to be already trained mages.
And then came the last applicant, the tenth.
“Excuse me.”
The door opened, and a middle-aged gentleman in a shabby robe stepped inside.
“I’m Albert.”
He greeted me politely.
“Have a seat.”
As with the others, I seated the interviewee first and then cast Mana Affinity Measurement.
The result that appeared was astonishing.
Mana Affinity: 97/100
Ninety-seven.
It was the highest I had seen so far.
97? Is he a spy?
This time, I sent mana toward Albert as well.
Albert realized that I had done so, and accepted it without resistance.
Fourth circle? Mana capacity is... 50?
Something was strange about the numbers.
With affinity that high, he should have had the talent to reach at least 6th circle, maybe even 7th if things had gone well.
And yet he was only 4th circle, with pitifully little mana to boot.
“Albert, if I may ask, how old are you?”
“I am forty-seven this year.”
Forty-seven and only 4th circle? Considering that affinity, it made no sense.
“Did you perhaps begin your magical training late?”
“No. I started at fifteen, so it has been nearly thirty years.”
Thirty years of training, and still only 4th circle?
There had to be some special circumstance behind it.
“If you don’t mind my asking, what faction are you with? Or rather, what faction were you with?”
“I was with the Vilheim Magic Tower for a time. That was twenty years ago now. These days I’m just a wandering mage.”
Albert said it with a bitter smile.
“May I ask why? Why did you stop growing beyond 4th circle?”
I asked indirectly.
With talent like his, he should have been able to reach at least 6th circle, perhaps even 7th.
For a moment, Albert’s face twisted with loneliness.
“That is the regret of my life. In my youth, I was called a genius. I broke through to 3rd circle at the age of twenty, and entered 4th circle at twenty-four. But... there was an accident during a magic fusion. After that, my magic circuits were damaged, and no matter how hard I tried, I could never advance beyond 4th circle.”
Damage to the magic circuits. For a mage, it was a sentence no different from death.
“But when I saw your Mana Amplification spell, I felt hope. If one can increase total mana capacity, perhaps there might be a way to bypass damaged circuits.”
There was a desperate light in his eyes.
It held a dream he had never been able to give up for thirty years.
It’s real.
He wasn’t a spy.
On the contrary, he was the one with the purest longing of all.
“I understand. I’ll let you know the result in a week.”
“Thank you.”
After Albert left, I organized my notes.
Albert - affinity 97, 4th circle, mana leakage constitution, from Vilheim