Not long after, a group of people including Richard and young men followed a witch named Peggy and two male wizards into a spacious courtyard.
The courtyard was over a hundred meters in length and width, with dozens of water-filled vats placed in the center, unsure of their purpose.
The group looked on curiously. Peggy stretched out her hand, pulling out a gray crystal ball from her sleeve. She offered it to the nearest wizard apprentice, succinctly saying, "Touch it."
The wizard apprentice glanced at the crystal ball, realizing it was a tool to test wizard levels, and asked, "Do I need to inject mana?"
"No need," Peggy replied, "Just touch it."
"Oh." The wizard apprentice nodded, cautiously touching it as if afraid of damaging the crystal ball.
As soon as his hand touched the crystal ball’s surface, it quickly lit up, with a faint red light flickering inside.
"Master Wizard, what does this mean?" the wizard apprentice quietly asked.
"Qualified," Peggy replied without further explanation, taking back the crystal ball and passing it to the next person, "Next."
The neighboring wizard apprentice, emboldened by the prior example, quickly touched the crystal ball, which immediately glowed a brighter red.
"Qualified," Peggy repeated, retrieving the crystal ball and handing it to the third person, fourth person...
Thus, the testing proceeded swiftly.
The final test results showed that two ordinary people disguised as wizard apprentices, looking to try their luck, were thrown out by a nearby warlock. Additionally, someone possessing first-level wizard strength, yet pretending to be a wizard apprentice, was politely asked to leave the courtyard by the warlock.
Richard wasn’t in any of these three categories. He successfully passed the test as a wizard apprentice and quietly awaited the next stage.
At that moment, the young man next to Richard spoke, with a tone of admiration, "Not bad, when you touched the crystal ball earlier, the generated red light was quite bright. Only slightly less than mine; it seems you have some skill. If that’s the case, the chances of being retained by the Pompo family are quite high."
Upon hearing this, Richard looked toward him and gave a courteous smile without saying much.
The young man, unwilling to let the topic drop, was about to continue speaking when he suddenly noticed Peggy the witch glancing at him intentionally or unintentionally, causing him to tense and shut his mouth obediently.
With an expressionless face, Peggy withdrew her gaze, walked to the center of the courtyard, and announced near the water-filled vats, "Alright, now the thirty-one of you can formally undergo the test. The testing content is simple: there are sixteen vats here, you are divided into two groups, and step forward to completely freeze the water in the vats. Achieve this, and you will pass the test. Now, who goes first?"
A group of wizard apprentices sized each other up and one by one, sixteen people stepped forward, each now standing before a vat. Dıscover more novels at 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡⁂𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⁂𝘯𝘦𝘵
Without further ado, lips parted and words were spoken as sixteen individuals simultaneously cast Shape-shifting Magic Water System Ice Branch Spells, causing the water in the vats to cool down gradually and freeze.
"Crack crack crack..."
Within mere seconds, thin ice appeared on the surface of the vat’s water, then spread to cover the entire surface, layer by layer extending downward.
Since ice volume after freezing is approximately ten percent greater than water, the ice layer can be visibly seen being lifted slowly.
As time passed, the ice rose higher and some wizard apprentices’ faces turned pale, indicating excessive mana depletion. After all, they were just wizard apprentices, mostly skilled only in Zero-Circle Magic, very different from First Circle Magic, able to freeze a small amount of water easily but facing a severe test when freezing a vat full.
More than ten minutes later, some skilled wizard apprentices completed the test, while others grit their teeth and persisted.
After twenty minutes, Peggy declared the test over, unceremoniously eliminating the five who hadn’t achieved the target.
Escorting the five out of the courtyard, Peggy glanced at the vats with varying degrees of freezing completion, then approached a vat, slowly extending a hand to grip tightly.
"Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz!"
In an instant, the ice in sixteen vats began vibrating with small amplitude and high frequency, within seconds shattering into fine powder. Then, absorbing sufficient heat through friction, the powder melted into water.
After completing this, Peggy released her hand and addressed the fifteen untested individuals: "Alright, your turn now."
"Whoosh," the remaining individuals, with expressions of either worry, excitement, or composure, stepped forward, with Richard among them.
Standing before a vat nearer to the end, Richard prepared to cast his spell when a familiar young man’s voice echoed from beside.
But this time, he wasn’t speaking to Richard, but to Peggy the witch.
"Um, Master Wizard, Master Wizard!" The young man touched the water in the vat, seeming to discover a significant flaw, repeatedly calling to Peggy, "Master Wizard, something’s wrong, the water in the vat is so cold."
"Why, is there a problem?" Peggy asked, frowning as she approached.
Feeling pressure as Peggy neared, the young man swallowed, curbing his excitement as he cautiously said, "I don’t think the water should be this cold, at least during the first batch’s test, the water wasn’t this cold.
We all know that colder water freezes more quickly, so I think it’s unfair to the first batch of testers, and it won’t show my ability well. Maybe... we should wait until the water’s temperature rises a bit before testing?"
Peggy’s eyebrows slowly rose upon hearing the young man’s words, she asked, "Do you think the water temperature is too low, so it can’t showcase your ability? Fine, I’ll accommodate you."
With that, Peggy moved beside the young man and reached into the vat.
A second later, Peggy withdrew her hand to see a surge of white steam rising from the water’s surface, followed by bubbling, leading to a frenzy of boiling.
"Alright, now you can showcase your ability, go ahead," Peggy said, looking at the young man.
"I..." The young man stared at the vat before him, opened his mouth, and turned to Peggy with a somewhat pained expression, "Master Wizard, that’s not what I meant. I just wanted the test to be fairer."
"Is it fair now?" The young man’s expression became even more bitter.
"Let me tell you, kid," Peggy said, eyeing the young man, "Here, I decide what’s fair. You can either choose to freeze the water in front of you or find another place."
"Does finding another place mean being kicked out?" The young man carefully asked.
Peggy did not reply this time, simply casting a meaningful glance at the young man, then strolled toward the side.
The young man looked at Peggy’s back with his face drooping, despairingly gazing at the boiling water before him.
By now, the other wizard apprentices had already frozen a layer of ice in their vats.
Amidst the wizard apprentices, Richard closely observed the progress of the other apprentices, constantly adjusting his casting intensity to avoid standing out too much, while also refraining from being too objectionable, striving to be an ordinary wizard apprentice.