As Gray finished speaking, a side door in the hall slid silently open.
Behind the door was a corridor. One by one, lights on the ceiling flickered on, illuminating the path.
"Follow."
Gray turned and stepped into the corridor first. At his side, a silent, dark figure had somehow appeared.
It was the black-robed guide from yesterday. He was like a living shadow; wherever he passed, the very light seemed to dim.
After a brief stir, the crowd had no choice but to brace themselves and follow.
At the end of the corridor was an even more spacious circular hall. Ten stone pedestals stood in the center. A fist-sized crystal, containing a trace of gentle Magic Power, floated above each one.
"The first test: Magic Power affinity," Gray said, his voice calm and steady. He pointed to the pedestals. "Ten people, step forward. Place your hands on the crystals."
The first one to step forward was a blond-haired boy.
He took a deep breath and placed his hand on the crystal.
One second.
Two seconds.
The crystal began to emit a faint glimmer. Beads of sweat formed on the boy's forehead.
"C-rank," Gray declared, sealing his fate. "Extremely low Magic Power affinity. Next."
"No! Sir, please give me another chance! I…"
Gray ignored him. The black-robed Wizard at his side merely lifted a hand, and the boy was thrown aside by an invisible force. He stumbled and fell, his face ashen.
The hall fell deathly silent.
Over the next few dozen people, some managed to make the crystals flicker erratically before quickly dying out. But most were judged C-rank.
The sense of unease in the air grew heavier.
Soon, it was Allen's turn.
He stepped forward and gently placed his right hand on the crystal's cool surface.
Instantly, a gentle, pure energy flowed up his arm and into his body. It wasn't violent; instead, it carried a tingling sensation, like a bio-electric current, that quickly spread through him.
Every cell in his body seemed to awaken, crying out with a thirsty hunger.
He made no attempt to control it. He simply treated his body as a vessel, allowing the energy to circulate freely.
The crystal beneath his hand began to emit a soft, steady glow. The light wasn't strong, but it wasn't weak either—like a silent star hanging steadily in the night sky.
A flicker of change crossed Gray's perpetually indifferent face. He exchanged a glance with the black-robed Wizard beside him and gave a slight nod.
"Magic Power affinity: A-rank. Not bad," Gray announced. "Go wait at the side."
The moment the assessment was given, dozens of gazes—a mixture of curiosity, envy, and jealousy—fell upon him.
After a dozen consecutive C-ranks, Allen was the first to receive a high assessment of A-rank.
Allen stepped aside, his expression maintaining a noble's composure, but his mind was already racing, analyzing the result.
'A-rank means I'm excellent, but not top-tier. So what's the difference? The intensity of the light, or the speed of the resonance?'
The test continued. After Allen, a few more people passed, but they were mostly C or B-rank, their crystals glowing weakly or flickering on and off.
When the first test concluded, out of the original group of several hundred, only seven people—including Allen—had received an A-rank. Not a single S-rank had appeared.
Reality was just as Gray had said: cruel and unforgiving.
"Very good. It seems the quality of this batch of prospects is acceptable," Gray said, scanning the room. "Next, the Meditation aptitude test."
He briefly taught them a convoluted and obscure "entry incantation," then had everyone sit cross-legged in groups of ten. They were to hold their dorm keys and attempt to enter a state of Meditation.
"Block out your five senses, focus your consciousness, and find the 'singularity' in your sea of spirit," the black-robed Wizard said, speaking for the first time. His voice was dry and raspy, like two pieces of sandpaper grinding together.
Allen closed his eyes and began to chant the incantation silently.
However, there was a problem.
As a modern soul from the information age, his mind was too active, making it difficult to focus.
'Why this specific incantation? Is there a link between the vibrational frequency of its syllables and brainwaves…?'
'That black-robed Wizard's vital signs are strange. He doesn't seem to be breathing, and I can't detect a heartbeat. Is he a cyborg? Or a non-human species?'
'The "singularity" of the sea of spirit… is that just borrowing a concept from physics, or is there a genuine spiritual core of infinite density?'
Countless stray thoughts surfaced one after another, flooding his mind like the scrolling comments on a video. Instead of focusing, his consciousness was scattering even faster.
[DSeek: Warning. Severe thought fragmentation. Unable to enter an ordered state. Recommend activating 'white noise' background for forced noise reduction.]
'Execute immediately. Dammit, my occupational hazard is kicking in,' Allen cursed to himself.
DSeek swiftly intervened, generating a pure 'zone of silence' in Allen's mind that helped him suppress the chaotic thoughts.
Even so, he had already missed the optimal window to enter the meditative state. By the time he finally managed to condense his consciousness into a single thread and delve into the depths of his mind, the test was nearly over.
In the end, the Runes on the silver metal plate in his hand only displayed a somewhat orderly ripple.
"Meditation adaptability: B-rank." Gray's assessment held a hint of subtle disappointment. "Mediocre aptitude. A waste of that A-rank affinity."
A few stifled snickers could be heard from the crowd.
Those who had just been jealous of Allen's A-rank affinity now wore expressions of pure schadenfreude.
Allen wasn't too bothered. 'B-rank. Not too high, not too low. It doesn't draw attention,' he thought. He just wondered what impact it would have on his future as a Wizard.
The laughter hadn't even died down when a commotion erupted from the front row.
Allen looked over to see a girl with frizzy, straw-colored hair and a few prominent freckles on her face at the center of the crowd's attention.
She had her head down, her hands clutching the silver metal plate so tightly her knuckles were turning white. She looked unassuming, even timid.
But the Runes inscribed on the metal plate in her hand seemed to have come to life, constantly twisting and re-forming.
Gray, who had been adjusting his cuffs, paused to study the unassuming girl.
The black-robed Wizard beside him strode forward, his dead-fish eyes fixed on the dancing Runes.
"S-rank."
A smile spread across Gray's face. "You might not find one person with such talent in a thousand apprentices."
Not even one in a thousand.
The same few who had just been mocking Allen's poor Meditation skills now stood with their jaws on the floor, their eyes practically popping out of their sockets.
"Your name?" The sandpaper-like rasp in the black-robed Wizard's voice had softened considerably.
The girl, startled by the sudden attention, shrank back. Her voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz. "Ve… Vera."
"Vera. A good name. Stand behind me. You'll form your own line."
The crowd erupted.
Envy, jealousy, curiosity—countless gazes fixed on the trembling girl. A moment ago, she was a weed in the mud; in the blink of an eye, she had become a priceless pearl.
Allen, standing at the edge of the crowd, didn't lose his composure like the others.
He stroked his chin, lost in thought.
'It seems that compared to a 'complex brain' like mine, riddled with holes from the modern information deluge and needing a chip for forced noise reduction, someone like Vera—with a mind so simple it borders on slow—is actually one of the chosen ones in the realm of Meditation.'
'Some people are just born with it. You can't be envious of that.'
Allen made a mental note to keep an eye on Vera.
"I'll have to pay more 'attention' to this Miss Vera from now on," he thought, moving with the crowd, his gaze profound.