Saga 1: The Fall of the Evening

Arc 1: The Maidens of Ashkera

Chapter 2: Talent Test

Allen eyed the other five. The four of them were man and there was a girl.

The bald man put a crystal orb on a table. “This is an item to test whether you have spiritual roots or not. Spiritual roots are veins that can absorb mana. Only people with spiritual roots can learn magic and become a magus.

“Of course there are grades and attributes in spiritual roots too. The impurity inside one’s spiritual roots determines the grade and the speed of absorbing natural energy, while the attributes are based on five elements of earth and four elements of the sky. My lord will choose one of you who has spiritual roots with less impurity.

“Take your hand on this orb.”

Allen lined up at the back so he could observe the others. The orb shone in red when a man put his hand on it. After a while, a black dot appeared in the middle of the orb and constantly spread out until it nearly covered the red color.

“Red light, you have fire attribute. The impurity reached 90%; this is the lowest grade spiritual roots.” explained the bald man. “Next.”

“Low grade spiritual roots with 75% impurity. Blue light of water element attributes. Next.”

“Normal spiritual roots with 50% impurity. Green light of nature element attributes. Next.”

“No light, damn, you are just a mortal. Get your ass out of the line!”

The only girl in the line stepped forward nervously. She was a petite girl with curly, brown hair. She put her tiny hand on the orb and it shone in purple.

“Oh, not bad!” The bald man exclaimed, even the magus stood and approached the girl.

“You have rare spiritual roots with 20% impurity and your attribute is light element. It’s slightly better than the mayor’s son, Ren. He has rare spiritual roots too but with 25% impurity and dark element attribute. What’s your name?”

“Vanilla, my name is Vanilla, sir….”

The magus nodded. Suddenly his eyes shone in purple and he glanced at Allen who stood behind her. He turned his attention at Vanilla again. “I have decided. I will take you as my disciple.”

Vanilla’s body shook slightly before he bowed. “Many thanks, lord magus.”

“Now that I have taken two disciples, you all can go to your homes.”

“Wait, lord magus, you haven’t tested me yet.” Allen called out the magus when he wanted to go.

“You? No need. I have tested you too. You have normal spiritual roots with 40% impurity and dark element attribute. If Vanilla isn’t around, I am forced to take you. Luckily I have found this girl. I am tired. Mayor, please orders everyone to leave.”

“You hear lord magus, gentlemen. Let’s leave this place.” After saying that, the mayor didn’t bother everyone. He approached Ren and pulled Vanilla, his face beaming.

When they got out of city hall, everyone sighed in relief. It was fine they didn’t get bonus. They have taken the payment. Some people that didn’t find any herb talked about how lucky the magus didn’t punish them.

Everyone was happy except for Allen. He watched as the others reuniting with their families. How lucky they were.

Suddenly Allen remembered people that appeared in his dream. They seemed to care for him. “Are they real? I want to meet them, but I feel I won’t reach them if I don’t become stronger.”

He silently walked to a narrow alley. He leaned against the wall and sat.

Allen sighed. “My hope to leave this city together with magus is gone. Oh, should I ask the magus to take me to the capital?” He shook his head. There wasn’t something free in this world. Maybe the magus would permit him, but obviously he would charge him.

“Plan B; I’ll buy a dark magic grimoire. Luckily I got tested for free. It saved my money too.”

Allen yawned and fell asleep, clutching his cloak. The next day, Allen stood in the front of magus tower. This was the only place that didn’t fall in the jurisdiction of the city mayor. While it had the name ‘magus’, this place was guarded by Acolyte, a term of newbie magus that was still in Mana Condensation Realm, so as he had heard.

Acolytes weren’t anything like an official magus, but they were still venerated by citizens. After all, their tasks were protecting the city from beasts and demons.

As he was entering the place, Allen approached a man at the reception table. “Excuse me; I want to buy a grimoire.”

The man seized up Allen and sneered.  Then, Allen showed a fat pouch behind his cloak. His eyes brightened. “It seems you have some fortunes with you, young man, but let me tell you something; the grimoire isn’t something a mortal can’t afford to buy. It’s expensive, expensive.” He shook his head.

“How much does it cost?”

The receptionist sighed. “It’s useless to tell you. Hear, it’s not that I underestimate you, even an acolyte like me can’t buy it.”

Allen’s face became gloomy. “I see. Thank you for your time.”

As Allen would leave, the receptionist called, “Wait, I don’t say you can’t learn them.”

Allen turned to the man. “What do you mean?”

“You can rent a room in here and learn magic by borrowing a grimoire. The first and second floors are open for mortals that want to learn magic. It’s still expensive, but rich people can afford it.”

Allen smiled. “I have my fortune. How much does it cost?”

“To rent a room for an hour, it costs one silver coin. To borrow a book on the first floor, it costs one gold coin. As for a book in the second floor, it costs two gold coins. You can bring the books you borrow to your rent room, but you can’t take it out of this place.”

Allen gasped when he heard the price. One gold coin was the same as ten silver coins. A silver coin was enough to feed him for a week. His income of hunting beasts was three silvers a week. That’s if he was diligent and had luck in hunting. The worst he could get one silver coin a week. It was lucky he had saved many gold coins. If just borrowing a grimoire was so expensive, he wondered the price of a grimoire.

“Can I take a look at the library?”

“Sure, entering the first-floor library costs one silver coin.”

“What?”

“Hey, a mighty acolyte like me won’t take advantage of a mere mortal.” The receptionist pointed at a paper behind him. “It’s written in the rule, hehe.”

Allen sighed and gave him a silver coin. He immediately headed to the first-floor library ahead of him. As he opened a door, he heard familiar voices from the stair beside him. The magus, the bald man, Vanilla, and Ren walked down of the stair. They noticed Allen and approached him.

“If I am not wrong, you were one of seven people who got high rewards from us, right? What’s your name again?” asked the magus.

We just met yesterday and you already forgot me. Am I that little in your eyes? Allen thought, but in front of the magus, he put a thin smile. “My name is Allen Vos, lord magus.”

“Oh, are you a noble too?”

“No, I don’t know my origin. I came from an orphanage in this city.”

“I see. So, are you planning to walk on the magus path?”

Allen nodded. “I hope lord magus can give me some pointers.”

“If you want my advice, all grimoire in the first and second floor are trash. Sadly, no one can enter the third floor beside acolyte and magus. I just went to the third floor to pick a grimoire for my disciples.”

“That’s enough for me, my lord. Well, of course, if you want to buy me a grimoire from the third floor, I would be grateful.”

The magus rubbed his chin. “Amusing, I don’t think you are the type of person who likes to joke around. I thought you as a cautious person.”

Allen bowed slightly and put his hand on the chest. “Forgive my rudeness, my lord. As I said, I don’t have parents to teach me manner.”

The magus laughed. His face twisted, making his wrinkles visible, even Vanilla who saw him trembled.

“Liar, your form in bowing is good. Well, I will give you other advice as a reward for my amusement. You have to pick a cultivation technique for the first time and focus on that until you reach level 3 of mana condensation realm. It will increase the energy inside your body enough to cast plenty of top-class spell. That’s it, farewell.”

With that, the magus left without sparing a single glance at Allen. The bald man and Ren followed behind, only Vanilla who was still standing before him. She took out some gold coins from a pouch and put it on his palm.

“Don’t refuse. I feel guilty for you. I am sorry.” Vanilla bowed. Before giving Allen a chance to talk, she ran.

Allen happily put the coins inside his pouch and entered the library with brightened expression.

When he was inside, Allen was amazed by many books in the bookcases. “All of these are grimoire, a book to learn magic. I don’t believe that old magus calls all of this trash. Well, I may as well be cautious and picked the best one.”

Allen picked some random books first. The title of the books was so cool, like Eight Strikes Shattering Boulder, Storm Chaser, Demonic Soul Flame, or Divine Metal Fist.

Allen wondered why each grimoire was so thick and opened one. It contained theory, meaning, requirement, practice, etc.

“There are so many topics and the grimoire says I have to read it all. I wonder if learning magic is difficult. Ugh, how am I supposed to pick the best one?”

Allen lied on the floor and caught a breath. “System on.” The blue tablet appeared before his face. He looked at one of the menus and suddenly got an idea. “I see. I can use this feature. Video recording!”

Allen laughed. “This will save me money. The old magus is wrong. This library is a gold mine!”