Chương 55: Will He Become A Mage?

Take the test to be promoted to E Rank? Damion really had not thought of doing this. Sure, he figured he would take the promotion test eventually, but Damion had only been a licensed adventurer for a short time. He had no idea how difficult the E Rank test would be or if there was a time restriction on how long he had to have his license before he could take the test. After confirming with Leland on when his armor would be ready, Damion set out to find his teacher, Ms. Teft.

He was sure she would test him herself or let him know the things he needed to know before letting him go and make a fool of himself at the Adventurer Association.

"You want to take the E Rank test?" Ms. Teft asked as she looked over Damion.

"Mr. Leland suggested it, but I don't really know if I'm ready." Damion confirmed.

"Well, you have been able to take out D Rank knights and Demonic Beasts, so with the help of your sword you are ready, but you have to remember, the quality of your artifacts subtracts from your overall score."

"You mean the test is the same?" Damion could not help but question.

"Mostly. For you to get your E Rank license, you will have to defeat an E Rank Ferocious Beast. And instead of just 100 total points, you must earn 500."

"500 points," Damion could hardly believe what he was hearing. Damion was sure he could defeat an E Rank Ferocious Beast but scoring 500 points, that he was not so sure about. It meant he would have to do very well on the first two stages of the test, attack power and agility. Last time, he had only successfully passed the test because Ms. Teft had given him a sword that did not really qualify as an artifact to take the test, so he did not lose any points when fighting the F Rank Ferocious Beast.

'I'm a lot stronger now though,' Damion thought.

'Especially, with a proper sword. I'll lose 15 points, but if I can score well in the first two… I think I can pass.'

"Can I take the training bracelets off for the test?" Damion asked.

"I'll allow it, but I want to train you for a few days before I allow you to take the test. Can't let you make a fool of yourself and reflect badly on me now can I?"

"That would be great, will we go outside the city to train?"

"Of course, can't have you making a mess of my garden now can I. Meet me at the east gate at our usual training time. We'll go find a nice, deserted hill to train on."

"Thank you, Ms. Teft. I really appreciate this." As Damion rushed out to prepare for his upcoming training, Ms. Teft just shook her head at the departing boy. He was so energetic and eager to learn. She just hoped he could stay that way forever. While Damion was preparing for his lessons from Ms. Teft, Arica had already returned to her master in Rubrum, Dorian Fletcher. Arica's master, while a researcher working on tracking and countering the expansion of magical zones on Nerotath, was also a B Rank spatial mage.

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"How was your first trip to Benault Forest?" Fletcher asked.

"It was rather illuminating, Master," Arica answered tactfully.

"The data you recorded on the expansion of the Benault Forest is astonishing. Have you looked at your numbers compared to those from the last few quarters?"

"I did compare them Master, but I was not sure what they meant."

"Well, for one thing it means the expansion of the Benault Forest has suddenly jumped up. It is very important that we discover what has caused this sudden increase in the forest's growth. If we can identify what has changed in the last quarter, then maybe we can discover a way to safely contain these magical zones."

"I think I know the answer," Arica said as she thought through everything she had seen and heard while she was in Saung and around the Benault Forest with Damion.

"Do tell?"

"There was a recent beast wave that emerged from the Benault Forest and hit the Yellow Zone fairly hard, but nothing moved towards the Green Zone evidently. Rumors that I heard indicate the beast wave might have been caused by a Realm Breach, but I don't know if anyone confirmed that or not."

"The theory has been explored before, that Realm Breaches empower the magical zones. I'll send an inquiry to the Association and the Crimson and Protector Orders. They have the most information on when and where Realm Breaches have been discovered. We'll need to look through the history of the forest and compare past Breaches to past growth of the forest."

"We should also look at the type of Breaches, Master. If only Unstable Breaches cause the faster growth, or maybe it is only Stable ones, then just looking at all Breaches will give us a skewed comparison."

"That is very true. Very true. It could also be that a Stable Breach occurred sometime ago in the Benault Forest and has yet to be discovered, but because no one cleared it the dungeon breached and caused the beast wave."

"That could be, Master. Remember how the Falks Guild was acting rashly? Perhaps they realized this already. It was, after all, their guild territory."

"Quite insightful of you. You ran into the Falks Guild while you were with the new student of Teft's. He is also an unusual case. You said he claims someone sealed his magic when he was young due to an injury."

"Yes, Master. He said his affinity would be unsealed when he turned eighteen. He was quite confident in that."

"It seems Teft believes him as well, otherwise why should she train him?" Arica did not have an answer for her master, so she remained silent, letting the man muse on his own.

"What was your impression of him, do you think he really will become a mage when he turns eighteen?"

"Master, what I could tell from interacting with him, is that while only fifteen, he has more mana than anyone his age should. He practiced with a D Rank artifact launching fire attack spells for an entire afternoon without getting tired. It was not until I questioned his stamina that he realized he was overdoing it."

"Hmmmm… so he is a bit naïve. But learns quickly. Has either an unusually large mana capacity or a naturally high mana regeneration rate. But Teft could not have known these things before she started training him. There must be something else that caught her eye."

"You aren't going to do anything to him are you?" Arica quietly asked.

"Oh, do you like the boy then?"

"He's… I mean, he's just a nice person." Arica said trying to keep her face from turning red.

"No, I have no interest in harming the boy. I would like to know his secrets, and why Teft is so invested in him. But she knows I know about him, so I'd be one of the first people she comes searching for if something happened to him."

"She wouldn't do anything to you though, right? I mean, Master you are a B Rank spatial mage."

"Teft was on the verge of becoming S Rank when she was injured and ousted from her position at Silver Spire. Assuming that she's managed to heal in the last twenty years, she is likely back on the cusp of breaking through and just needs to flex her magic a bit to take that last step. For that she needs an S Rank dungeon to go all out in. Which means, she needs to get back into Silver Spire."

"If Damion is as talented as I think, or perhaps more than I think, and Ms. Teft knows that. Wouldn't revealing him to the world after he unlocks his magic be her ticket back in?"

"What a clever girl you are." Fletcher said with a smile.

"That has got to be her plan. And since it has nothing to do with Rubrum or the Erythraean Academy, she can do as she pleases. Though, I do hope you will be up for a trip to Saung again in a few years. I'm absolutely dying to know if this boy knight will really become a mage."