Mana Flick had no penetration power.
It could only push or burn a little. Against the hard shell of the Skitterfang, he knew that it would not be a good idea to fight them with his current set of Spells.
"They must be tough… Do you know more about them?" Rayven asked.
"Not much… But I know that their movement is nearly silent since the scouts had a hard time sensing them at first. They also like to strike from above, using the ceiling of the cavern to launch themselves. The first scouting party lost two members before retreating."
Rayven absorbed the details and nodded.
"You actually know a lot about the new Dungeon, Sir Rennard."
Rennard shook his head at this.
"Not really… I just heard the conversations of our escort warriors. As you know, we do all kinds of trading. The dungeon is basically a source of money, so we also need some information about it. Well, Skitterfang's carapace could fetch a good price, especially for armorers." Rennard explained.
Rayven found that acceptable. They were indeed merchants, and all types of information could be valuable to them.
In any case, Rayven finally learned that the Dungeon was indeed dangerous, but also profitable with those shells.
"That's all I know for now," Rennard concluded. "The dungeon is still being surveyed, and the Adventurers Guild and Mage Association will likely compete for the right to claim its deeper reaches. Until then, entry is restricted to officially sanctioned teams."
"Which means," Rayven said slowly, "I'll need to join one of them to get inside."
"Exactly, young master."
Rayven gently nodded as he made his decision. "Then I suppose I should pay the Mage Association a visit first."
"Are you already a Mage, young master?" Rennard asked in surprise… He didn't expect that Rayven had actually learned some Spells already.
The Holt Family never had any mages in their family.
It was because they weren't blessed with the talent to feel the existence of Mana. There was only a small chance within their family that someone could become a Mage.
"I'm just lucky…" Rayven replied. Since this matter would be revealed soon, he might as well inform the steward now.
Hearing this, Rennard felt worried. After all, Rayven might've learned some defective Spell Runes within his Mana Heart.
After all, Spell Rune Models are all expensive, and many would try to create copies of them or modify them to a certain degree to create a "new Spell Rune".
Even if those spells might work, there could be a chance that it was consuming his life energy or causing strain to his heart with every use of the spell.
It wouldn't be surprising if it caused a slow death to such unlucky mages.
"Young Master… About the Spell Runes you used to learn your Spells…" Rennard muttered as he was unsure how to bring it up.
He didn't want to question Rayven's ability to assess Spell Runes after all.
"Ahhh… Don't worry about that… You heard that Thyruz is a Tier 3 Mage, right?" Rayven replied.
Rennard's eyes lit up after hearing this.
"Oh… So it was like that." Rennard gently nodded as he believed that it was Thyruz who had taught Rayven those Spell Runes. If Thyruz really had bad intentions, he wouldn't be following Rayven to this place at all.
***
The next morning, he made his way to the Mage Association's branch in the city.
The building was not magical or unique, which could be easily recognized as the territory of Mages. It was just a two-story building like most of the others in the commercial district.
At the very least, this made the place quite approachable.
There weren't even any guards blocking the gate, and anyone could just enter if they had a business.
Inside the building, Rayven approached the reception desk, where a woman in a blue robe greeted him.
"I'd like to register as a Tier 1 Mage…" He said softly since he was unsure if this was the right question.
The woman's quill then paused mid-scratch as she heard the young boy's words.
"Tier 1? Very well, sir. Please fill up this form… There's a 15 silver fee, and once you make the payment, you can proceed to the examination hall. You will be tested in three stages: a written theory examination, a mana capacity assessment, and a practical casting demonstration."
Rayven gave a small nod. "Sounds reasonable."
However, he was already thinking of backing out… After all, he would surely fail the written theory examination!
"Is there a refund if I fail?" Rayven asked.
"Ahhh… Five silver coins will be given back if you at least pass the first stage. This is to ensure that our Examiner's time wouldn't be wasted. You can even retry the examination every day." The woman replied.
"I guess the examination is reasonable."
It didn't take long for him to realize that reasonable was the wrong word.
The written test was a nightmare.
The exam paper was a hundred questions long, packed with obscure details about magical theory, ancient spellcraft traditions, and Velmoria's magic history. He knew some of the terms from the fantasy novels he'd read in his past life, but here the details actually mattered... mana flow mechanics, spirit resonance theory, historical spell classifications…
By the halfway mark, Rayven was guessing more than he was answering.
'This is for experience… At least I finally know what kind of things I should be learning…' Rayven thought as he comforted himself.
When the proctor finally collected his papers, he felt as though he had survived a siege.