Chương 269: The Assembly Part 1

"The S Rank General Assembly is now called to order. Before we get to the matter at hand. Is there anyone who has another issue they wish to discuss?" said Donald Harris, the oldest of the S Rank mages in the world. How old he was no one really knew, given he had the near mythic affinity of Time, he could quite possibly be thousands of years old. As the leader of the S Rank assembly, he was addressing his fellow S Rank mages from around the world.

Most were not present at the meeting, but were connecting via communication tablet and he could see projections of each of them, just as each absent member had a full view of everyone else, whether actually in attendance or remotely. All said, there were fifteen members present and another twenty-two glowing projections in the assembly room. However, there was one seat, conspicuously vacant.

"Where is Helga Teft? She has earned the right to be here," Ingrid Fletcher, the world's only S Rank Spatial mage said.

"Teft is under investigation for murdering my grandson," Eddard Bianco said forcefully.

"Until she is cleared she has no right to…"

"I have left Mage Teft out of this meeting because the subject matter we will be discussing is quite close to her. Her guilt or innocence in any other matter is irrelevant to her presence in this assembly," Mage Harris' response left no room for Bianco to object, but the Holy mage and his daughter Tricia Bianco both looked triumphant.

"I am to understand the purpose of this meeting is to discuss something to do with young Mage Wells," Dominic Strand said, his greenish brown hair from his Wood affinity making him a standout among the other S Ranks gathered.

"That is correct," Mage Harris answered.

"Then why is this matter before our assembly? While Mage Wells sped through to the upper reaches of C Rank, according to Headmaster Sorin's reports, the young man has yet to reach B Rank. Even if he had, this would still be a matter for the Mage's Council of the Mage Association to review, not for us."

"Our Assembly is to protect the stability of our civilization. How do you think it would be viewed if they found out what the Mage Association has unknowingly done to them?" Mage Harris countered.

"Those decisions were made how many ages ago?" Kieran Moretti asked, his red hair seemed to glow brighter as he spoke.

"Why would it matter? The answer is as simple as saying, oh, we had no idea this was a side effect of the testing crystals and move on."

"Move on?" Victor Bishop questioned.

"How are we to move on? While they do have their drawbacks, the testing crystals make it easier for mages to learn spells of their affinity. If it was not for the testing crystals, we would have half the number of mages we do today, maybe only a third."

"I find that logic flawed," Mage Fletcher scoffed.

"The testing crystal may make things easier, but we all know it locks a person's growth. And it is rather frequent that the Green and Yellow Zone children are tested at younger and younger ages. Why, the former Dean of Silver Spire Magic Academy attempted to test young Mage Wells at six years old. The testing age used to be no younger than fourteen. This allowed for most children to reach a good development age to give them the greatest chance possible at being a mage.

I would like to know why the magic academies have been circumventing those guidelines."

"Our schools have been filling up more and more each year. We barely have enough space for the current students. If we tested the outer Zones later, it could very well result in a twenty or even thirty percent increase in enrollment. We simply don't have the room." Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"I would like to renew my objection to Mage Teft being left out of this assembly. She has always been an advocate for common born mages. To exclude her, simply because she is close to Damion Wells and his new artifact, is to say common born mages have no say in their own fates."

"Your objection is overruled," Mage Harris said.

"Until we can know for certain if Mage Teft assisted Mage Wells in the creation of his body scanner artifact, she will be excluded from these proceedings."

"It is my understanding that she destroyed the first artifact," Mage Strand said.

"Yes, but then the boy built a better one," Headmaster Colon of the Beryl School of the Mystic Arts piped in.

"And Mage Association representatives examined it at the Adventurer Association where he was scanning people and found that it was not capable of showing detailed information of magic cores," Mage Strand countered.

"I move that this matter be dismissed. Mage Wells did not appear to know what he was creating. He was trying to create a diagnostic artifact, which he did, but he inadvertently stumbled on the Mage Association's biggest secret. Yet, he abandoned the project, correct Headmaster Sorin?"

"Yes. The artifact he submitted schematics for turned out to be a long-range scanning and mapping artifact. Which should be quite valuable to the Crimson and Sentinel Orders," Headmaster Sorin informed them.

"As well as guilds like the Explorer Guild," Mage Fletcher added.

"I was actually rather impressed with the auto-mapper," the Lightning Mage Julia Levine said.

"It can actually map the inside of a dungeon and pinpoint the location of the core, showing you in real time where any Demonic Beasts are."

"Does it work in labyrinths as well?" questioned Marian Caplan.

"Yes, but the range is only 5 kilometers, so it does not always cover an entire labyrinth floor.

"Still, such an artifact…"

"Enough!" Bellowed Mage Harris.

"We are not here to discuss Mage Wells' other feats. Only his body scanner."

"I fail to see what there is to discuss," Mage Fletcher said.

"I second that," Mage Strand said.

"The boy clearly gave up on the endeavor and changed his focus to widespread mapping. He has not shared his original designs with anyone. So, I see no reason to worry with it. Any action on our part, might just spur him to figure out why we don't want him looking into magic cores."

"Headmaster Sorin," Mage Harris said, looking to the Wind mage.

"He is your student. What do you have to add?"

"The original has been confirmed destroyed and Mage Wells' second attempt was ineffective at what we feared it could do. From my knowledge of his activities, he has not pursued the original design of the artifact at all. And I would like to point out, that he freely shared his auto-mapper artifact design with several guilds and artificers to accelerate their disbursement. Mage Wells might be an idealistic fool, but he has shown a tendency to put the advancement of magic first."

"It is your assessment then that he will not pursue this matter?" Mage Harris asked directly.

"For the time being no. He may revisit it in the future, you would know that better than any of us, but I believe he will continue to make advances and with his potential, I think it would be short sighted of us to impede his progress."

"This from the man who tried to send two of his granddaughters into the boy's bed," laughed Phillip Spurlock.

"I did not do anything that any of you have not tried when presented with such a prodigy," Headmaster Sorin defended.

"Enough nonsense," Mage Harris said.

"Headmaster Sorin, what do you believe Mage Wells will do once he graduates?"

"I have been unable to discern his goals, but I believe he will follow the path that most eager young mages follow."

"Which is?"

"Whatever path lets him grow the fastest. If an organization was to offer him prime access to dungeons or materials that would help him grow quickly, he would likely follow that route. As long as there was no attempt to entrap him. As with most common born mages, he prioritizes his day-to-day freedom. He is not willing to sacrifice a few years of freedom for exponential growth."

"Judging by his current growth rate, I doubt he needs to worry," Mage Strand remarked.

"Very well, let us move on. Are there any other matters for this Assembly to discuss?" Mage Harris asked, looking from face to face and projection to projection.