This second examination tested willpower.
Edward brought all the people who passed the first examination, over a thousand candidates, into a spacious room.
Under everyone's puzzled and nervous gazes, he took out a bottle of deep purple potion and smashed it on the floor.
The bottle shattered. The liquid inside, under a spell's effect, rose as purple mist, rapidly filling the entire room.
Everyone was unprepared, enveloped by the purple mist. They inevitably inhaled the purple vapor.
Some reacted quickly, immediately covering their mouths and noses, but even without entering through the mouth and nose, the purple mist penetrated through exposed skin.
All examination personnel in the room quickly fell into illusions, forgetting they were being examined.
Everyone now felt completely immersed, seemingly arriving at the castle and entering the cauldron for wizard transformation.
That scalding lava-like blood-red potion made everyone feel excruciating, unbearable agony. The scalding potion not only seemed to melt their bodies but also drilled into them, burning their internal organs.
Such pain made countless people release screams. Even though the lord said as long as they persisted, they could transform into wizards.
Still, many people couldn't endure such suffering, struggling miserably to escape the cauldron, or directly losing consciousness.
The next second, the people who hadn't persisted regained consciousness.
Only then did they discover they were still in the examination room. That incredibly painful sensation instantly disappeared, like an extremely realistic dream.
"Examination failed. You may leave." Edward's cold, calm voice broke through these people, still recovering from the illusion.
Whether unwilling or confused, these examination failures could only dejectedly walk out of the room.
For a moment, fewer and fewer people remained in the room. Only a small portion still struggled in the illusion.
Steward Edward and Mayor Butch also stayed in the room, but they had used Shield Charms beforehand to block the mist, so they weren't affected by the potion.
Mayor Butch watched those with agonized expressions immersed in illusions. He asked with curiosity, "Mr. Edward, what potion did you just use? Did Lord Kael give it to you?"
Edward shook his head, his tone somewhat proud. "This is a Confusion Draught I made myself. Of course, Lord Kael also gave me considerable guidance, especially for this examination. It can make people feel immersed, personally experiencing the process when we became wizards."
Mayor Butch immediately gasped. He couldn't help sympathizing with these people for a few seconds.
The pain of transforming into a wizard back then, even recalling it now, left him with lingering fear. He didn't even have the courage to try a second time.
And these examination people had to personally experience this suffering now.
Wasn't this too harsh? Wasn't he afraid of leaving psychological trauma on these examination personnel?
As if knowing what Mayor Butch was thinking, Edward explained, "No need to worry for them. The Confusion Draught won't leave them with side effects. After awakening, it'll be like they had a dream. They'll quickly forget, not remembering the pain at all."
Hearing this, Mayor Butch breathed a sigh of relief.
Finally, after the Confusion Draught passed, only two hundred forty people successfully passed the examination.
Getting this result, Mayor Butch was obviously dissatisfied.
This was only the second round. Only two hundred forty people remained.
After the third round of elimination, how many would remain?
He wanted to increase his city's personnel quota, but the screening was being hosted by Steward Edward. He couldn't show favoritism even if he wanted to.
Edward didn't care about Mayor Butch's thoughts. He immediately opened the third round of examination.
Just as all who passed the first two examination rounds nervously waited for what the third round would be, Edward didn't make them undergo any more trials but took out a glass top. He slowly walked before the first row of examination personnel.
Just as everyone, including Mayor Butch, was puzzled, Edward paused before one man in the first row.
He looked at the top, faintly glowing in his hand, expressionlessly announcing, "You, eliminated!"
The eliminated person was shocked, then showed unwillingness. He wanted to say something, but fearing Edward's status, didn't dare argue. He could only dejectedly walk out of line toward the door.
Mayor Butch became anxious. Each Bree person eliminated was Hogsmeade's gain!
If Bree's wizard quota ended up less than Hogsmeade's, that old rival Luke would definitely mock him.
He hastily grabbed Edward. "Hey, hey, Mr. Edward, give me the inside story. What exactly is this third round examining? Nothing was done, so why eliminate Hal? He's a good lad in Bree, usually very excellent."
The young man, who had been eliminated at the door, paused and turned upon hearing the mayor's words. He also wanted an explanation.
Edward glanced at Mayor Butch, then swept his gaze over everyone present, calmly explaining, "This third round examines loyalty."
He raised the glass top in his hand. "This is a Sneakoscope Lord Kael made, able to discern people's hearts. Only those most loyal to the lord can pass the third round and gain wizard slots."
Hearing Edward's words, everyone stirred, looking at that glass top with various thoughts.
Mayor Butch now had no objections. Otherwise, would they select disloyal people to become wizards?
The person who had been eliminated at the door now looked guilty. He didn't dare protest further, hastily lowering his head and fleeing.
People's hearts varied. Even among Kael's subjects, not all were loyally devoted. At most, they were ordinary people seeking strong shelter.
If someday Weathertop faced an irresistible crisis, these people wouldn't have the determination to resist desperately but would flee when things fell apart.
Such people actually comprised a considerable proportion.
But you couldn't say they were wrong. After all, this was many ordinary people's survival instinct.
So even when Edward used Kael's specially-made Sneakoscope to detect that person's disloyalty, he didn't hold it against them.
After explaining, Edward continued using the Sneakoscope to detect each person.
Examination personnel all nervously and anxiously watched the Sneakoscope. They were deeply afraid of being detected as inwardly disloyal and eliminated.
Even the most loyal people felt unconfident, worried their loyalty wasn't enough.
Edward was like an emotionless elimination machine. Whenever the Sneakoscope in his hand lit up, he mercilessly eliminated someone.
Each person's Sneakoscope brightness differed. Some were quite bright, others only faintly glowed, unnoticeable without careful observation.
These all depended on their loyalty to the lord. The lower the loyalty, the greater the brightness.
But no matter how small the Sneakoscope's brightness, as long as it glowed, Edward unhesitatingly eliminated them directly.
As the numbers decreased, Mayor Butch's expression grew distressed.
Edward continued detecting. When reaching a middle-aged man, the Sneakoscope suddenly became very bright, automatically spinning and emitting sharp calls.
Seeing this scene, Edward's calm eyes instantly turned cold, revealing sharpness.