In the next two months, the Northland was blanketed with snow and ice.
Adam had stopped hunting half a month ago -- there weren't any beasts left, so his hunt didn't bear any fruit. His mental power aided his hunt almost too efficiently. Now there weren't any small creatures left wandering the wilderness.
Adam also became a tyrant in the cafeteria. All the meals prepared were eaten by Adam alone. The other servants had no choice but to eat elsewhere.
The Earl seemed to have forgotten him, and never acknowledged his existence. However, his two sons kept pestering him. Marshall used his identity as the eldest son to order Adam to be loyal to him, promising riches in exchange ofAdam's breathing technique; Dennis slyly promised to provide Adam with everything he needed to improve himself, including a monthly supply of medicine and the position as the future Lead Knight.
Adam rejected them.He lost any interest in becoming a knight as soon as he had acquired the knowledge of the existence of mages. He trained hard, and had realised that being a knight was inferior.
He didn't know if Ophelia had pulled any strings, since he didn't encounter much trouble. However, both Marshall and Dennis were angry, but they held back their claws.
One evening, Adam saw Ophelia again. She looked happy, and said to Adam cheerfully, "The Grand Mage arrived today."
Adam exhaled heavily, and he was immediately surrounded by a red aura. The biting winds didn't seem to phase him either, despite him wearing only a single shirt.
Ophelia's eyes flashed with admiration. It had only been two months, and Adam had already grown incredibly strong.
"Pack your bags. We're leaving for Cold Maple City tomorrow for the Grand Mage's qualification test." Ophelia ordered.
A test? He couldn't believe that there would be a public examination as well.
Ophelia felt Adam's doubt, and explained, "For some reason, the Grand Mage was supposed to arrive two months ago, but he postponed his trip and changed his grand plans into smaller plans. So, I proudly announce that tomorrow, to avoid wasting time, you and I will be personally tested by the Grand Mage in advance after dinner!" In reality, only Ophelia was allowed this privilege, but she didn't care.
Adam nodded, and indicated that he had nothing to pack. Ophelia rode on her steed, and Adam ran behind her towards the City.
Cold Maple City was unimpressive to Adam. These cities aren't as good as the ones back on Earth.
After arriving at the Earl's mansion, Adam was arranged to stay in one of the rooms, and the servants prepared dinner for him while Ophelia went to the main hall to attend dinner.
Two hours later, Adam was notified to rush to the main hall. In the main hall was a man of ambiguous age. He wore clothes belonging to a noble and was talking to the Earl. Ophelia was nervous. Seeing Adam, she gestured to him to stand beside her.
Adam could feel strong energy fluctuations in the Earl, which is the peak of a Knight's power. However, he couldn't feel any energy from the strange man -- he looked too ordinary.
"The Grand Mage - Black Mage. Allow me to introduce you to my daughter, Ophelia Johnson."
The Black Mage nodded, then looked at Adam and Ophelia. Suddenly, violent mental power surged through the main hall.
[Huge energy invasion detected. Autonomous defence system activated.] Adam's systems responded instantly to deal with the surge in energy, but immediately crumbled.
[Failure. Developing response plan... no response plan found.]
Adam was frantic, but he could do nothing. Fortunately, the Black Mage withdrew his powers, "This boy -- your mental power is excellent. It's hard to imagine someone looking so ordinary like you would be so powerful. You would be a great addition to my apprentices."
Ophelia stood shaking with fear, and the Black Mage chuckled, "Don't be afraid, I heard the Earl said you had extraordinary talent. Show me."
Ophelia regained her senses and took violent breaths into her body. Her body was immediately soaked with sweat, her blonde hair plastered onto her back.
The Black Mage continued, "Becoming my apprentice requires two conditions -- first, extraordinary mental power. Second..." He then stretched out his finger to draw several strokes of light in the air, and bright runes were suspended in the air. "The base of learning spells is knowledge of the spells, and the base of applying these spells is also these runes. This is the easiest rune, so draw it out using your mental power, and embed it into your soul."
It may not be complicated, but it wasn't easy to copy. For Adam, the main difficulty was the amount of mental power needed to replicate it; for Ophelia, the difficulty was keeping it in her soul.
Adam stared at the rune, and memorised the symbol to keep within his database. Adam copied all the threads hundreds of times, at the same time, and his mental power was recharged. His fingers moved like light, and the amount of mental power contained in a single rune was too large.
The Black Mage stared at Adam with admiration. He may have broken away from society, but he admired how strong Adam's potential was. He could have given Adam a harder rune, but gatekeeping knowledge was important for mages, as it is one of their core values.
"If I was as talented as you, I wouldn't have wasted eighty years becoming an apprentice."
An hour later, Ophelia completed her rune and left it in her soul, "Grand Mage, I have finished."
The Black Mage smiled. His Mage Academy will be saved after all. "Your father was right, you do have talent. Keep it up and you'll become a mage in no time."
The Earl sighed in relief.
"Then, Grand Mage Black, what about..." the Earl glanced at Adam, secretly excited that Adam may not have the potential to become a mage.
The Black Mage understood his foul intentions and corrected, "He has greater talent. Do not be impatient. He is bound to succeed."
The Black Mage knew this as a fact. As Adam had such high mental power, it is harder for him to copy a simple rune. He needs to thin down his power outfit to form the rune. Thanks to his artificial intelligence, Adam found the exact value of mental power needed to draw the rune out perfectly.
Unlike Ophelia, he didn't feel a sense of accomplishment completing the rune.
The Earl was disappointed.
The Black Mage got up, "Congratulations on passing the test. From now on, you have become an apprentice. Tomorrow, come to the Moldo Mage Academy with me."
"Both of your aptitudes were excellent, but do not be obsessed with it. To truly become a Grand Mage, you have to seek out knowledge, and use it to change the world and discover hidden truths. Knowledge is the most valuable asset to a Wizard."
Adam and Ophelia bowed, "Yes, Grand Mage Black."
The Mage was about to leave, but Adam asked, "Excuse me, but what is this rune for?"
The Mage stopped, "Is this really the question you want to ask me?"
"Yes."