It was another bright, sunny afternoon.
At the Chaos City Magic Academy, Mason, an intermediate earth-element mage, had just finished his final class of the day. After tidying up his teaching materials and saying goodbye to his students, he returned to his office.
As a dwarf, Mason was something of a rarity among his people—a mage.
When he was young, his aptitude test revealed a certain talent for earth magic. However, since the Dwarven Kingdom had no dedicated magic academies, his family sent him to the Chaos City Magic Academy to study.
Decades had passed, and he had now become a Tier 3 mage, proficient in most basic earth spells and capable of casting a fair number of simple intermediate ones.
Although his talent paled in comparison to many mages at the academy—and it had taken him decades to reach Tier 3—
Among dwarves, his magical talent was already considered exceptional.
The dwarven race produced warriors and smiths in abundance, but had little presence in the field of magic.
Most dwarves, even if they devoted their entire lives to studying magic, might never manage to condense a mana seed.
Thus, within dwarven society, Mason was undoubtedly regarded as a great mage.
More than ten years ago, after advancing to Tier 3 and graduating from the academy, he became Professor Hicks's assistant, usually responsible for teaching basic earth magic courses to entry-level classes.
It could be said that he had reached the highest level dwarves had currently achieved in magic.
Yet he had his own troubles.
Due to the limits of his innate talent, he had begun attempting to break through to Tier 4 over a year ago—and had already failed four times.
Although his mana reserves met the requirements, the bottleneck remained unbroken, no matter how hard he tried.
To be honest, he had already started to lose hope.
Perhaps he should resign, return to the Dwarven Kingdom, and—under royal support—found a proper magic academy, devoting himself to nurturing the next generation.
But deep down, there was still a voice whispering to him:
"You are a once-in-a-century genius among the dwarves!"
"You have boundless passion and love for magic!"
"You will continue down this path and reach even higher realms!"
So after every failed attempt at advancement, Mason would silently tell himself:
"Just try once more. If it still doesn't work next time… then I'll give up."
Yet every time, he never truly gave up.
But now, he was tired. Truly tired.
He came to Professor Hicks's office, knocked, and entered.
Professor Hicks, whose actual age was younger than Mason's despite already being a Tier 6 mage, looked up at him and smiled gently.
"Mason, what is it? Did today's classes go smoothly?"
"They went well, Professor," Mason replied heavily. "Tomorrow, I'd like to apply to enter the Magic Tower and attempt to advance to Tier 4."
Professor Hicks froze for a moment. "You can just submit that request directly to the Magic Tower administration. There's no need to report it to me, is there?"
"Of course," Mason said, his expression dim. "But if I fail again this time… Professor, I intend to resign and return to my homeland. That's why I came to inform you in advance."
"I see…" Professor Hicks sighed softly. "That may be for the best."
Hicks understood Mason's situation. After failing four times already, a fifth attempt was almost certainly doomed to fail.
Mason was destined to leave.
Though Mason wasn't the most talented assistant under him, he was the most diligent.
Many teaching assistants merely occupied their positions, using the academy's resources for personal research while neglecting the basic courses they were responsible for—teaching apprentices perfunctorily at best.
Only Mason had always taken his duties seriously.
So despite their different races, Professor Hicks had always admired Mason's character and attitude.
But at this point, there was nothing left to say to keep him.
Mason left the office, exited the academy, and began walking home.
All along the way, his expression was gloomy, his spirits low.
Then, as he passed through the Ruby District of Aikley Street, he suddenly sensed an unusually dense concentration of elements in the air, causing him to stop instinctively.
"This is…" Mason frowned, sensing carefully, before his gaze landed on a roadside… flower shop?
'Ron's Wonderful Flower Shop'.
A strange name.
Mason glanced at the sign, then noticed the activity at the shop entrance.
Several people had gathered there in small clusters, seemingly watching something.
Driven by curiosity, Mason walked over and peered into the crowd.
At the entrance sat a young man—handsome to an excessive degree—cross-legged on the ground, his eyes tightly closed.
In front of him was a pot containing a purple flower. Its petals swayed gently in the breeze, carrying with them a fresh, lingering fragrance.
The moment Mason stepped closer, he felt the elemental density grow even stronger.
And based on decades of magical experience, Mason could tell—
This young man was attempting to condense a mana seed!
How reckless!
Mason frowned instinctively.
Who in their right mind tries to condense a mana seed right out on the street?
This was far too dangerous!
He mentally scolded the reckless youth. Judging by his appearance, the young man had likely just come of age—barely older than the academy's apprentices. A feeling of concern rose in Mason's heart.
"Friend," Mason said, grabbing the arm of a sturdy dwarf beside him, "why is this young man sitting here? Trying to condense a mana seed in such a noisy environment is extremely dangerous!"
The dwarf—Lyle, the owner of the barbecue shop next door—looked at Mason in confusion.
"Is Ron condensing a mana seed? I don't know about that."
Mason frowned. "Ron? Is that his name? You know him? Then how could you not know what's going on?"
Bombarded with questions, Lyle scratched his head. "Did you see the flower in front of him?"
"Uh…" Mason glanced at the potted flower. "I did. What about it?"
"Ron says that's one of the flowers from his shop," Lyle shrugged. "He claims it can attract elemental energy and increase the elemental density of the surroundings. The fragrance is also supposed to boost a mage's meditation efficiency. I don't know if it's true or not."
"He's demonstrating it right now for everyone to see."
"That's impossible…" Mason immediately shook his head. "I've studied and worked at the Magic Academy for decades. I've never heard of a plant with such effects."
"I'm just a barbecue guy—I don't understand magic," Lyle chuckled. "But the kid seems like a decent person. I don't think he'd just make things up, right?"
"That's hard to say," Mason replied skeptically, studying the young man at the shop entrance and carefully examining the flower, trying to spot any clues. "Are you very familiar with him?"
"Not really," Lyle shook his head. "I run the barbecue place next door. Ron's a new neighbor—this flower shop only opened a few days ago."