The administrative center's white spire wasn't the tallest building in the apprentice district, but its straight, upward-reaching lines and the silent shadow it cast under the sun gave off an oppressive feeling unique to institutions of power.
Allen crossed the square, which was planted with hardy ironleaf trees, and walked toward the ground-floor entrance of the administrative center.
Several Advanced Apprentices hurried past him, their robes embroidered with the emblems of different schools. They were engrossed in a discussion about a complex magic model and didn't give Allen a second glance. In his plain Apprentice Robe, he was completely inconspicuous here.
The Academic Affairs Office was on the third floor of the spire.
He pushed open a heavy oak door, its hinges letting out a faint CREAK.
Behind the sole desk sat a middle-aged Female Wizard.
She had her head down, focused on a translucent crystal slate in front of her, her fingers swiping rapidly across its surface.
"What do you need?"
She didn't even look up, her voice laced with impatience.
"I'd like to apply for the public course examinations," Allen said as he walked up to the desk.
The Female Wizard's hands paused. She finally looked up, sizing up Allen. "Name, student ID number."
"Allen Wesren, 322345."
The Female Wizard tapped her crystal slate a few times, and Allen's personal file materialized on it.
She glanced at his enrollment date, and her brows furrowed.
"A first-year? Which course are you applying for? *History of Magic*? *Introduction to Planar Studies*? A word of advice: don't bite off more than you can chew. Failing your first exam will leave a nasty mark on your record."
"I am applying for the final examinations for all public courses," Allen stated.
The office fell silent in an instant. The Female Wizard's hand froze in midair, and it took her a full three seconds to comprehend what he had just said.
"What did you just say?"
Her voice jumped several octaves, her eyes behind her lenses filled with disbelief. "All of them? Do you even know how many that is? Fourteen! Are you insane?"
"I'm aware."
Allen's expression remained unchanged. "According to the Apprentice Handbook, Chapter Seventeen, Article Three, an apprentice may apply for an examination for any open course at any time during their period of study."
The Female Wizard was struck speechless by his calm recitation of the rules.
"Listen here, kid. I don't care which family sent some gilded fool like you here for show, but this is the Seven Towers Alliance, not your family's garden."
The Female Wizard's tone turned caustic. "Do you know what happened to the last person who tried this? They were expelled from the academy on the spot!"
"I'll take full responsibility for my decision," Allen said.
The Female Wizard stared into his deep blue eyes. There was no sign of anxiety, only an unfathomable calm.
A nameless anger flared within her. She couldn't stand self-righteous young people like him.
"Fine. Very good."
She was so furious she laughed. "Since you insist, I'll accommodate you. However, this request is beyond my authority to process. It requires authorization from a faculty representative. Wait here."
With that, she picked up a brass speaking tube from the desk and whispered a few syllables.
The tube flashed once. She brought it to her lips and, in a voice simmering with suppressed rage, quickly reported the situation.
While they waited, another apprentice walked in.
He looked nervous, tightly clutching a piece of parchment covered in notes.
He saw Allen standing at the desk, glanced at the Female Wizard's foul expression, and had the good sense to wait at a distance, not daring to approach.
Less than five minutes later, an unseen force pushed the office door open.
A bone-chilling cold flooded the room before any figure appeared, causing the temperature to drop by several degrees.
Lecia Ellis appeared in the doorway. She was dressed in the same immaculate black professor's robe, her expression stern, her gaze sharp enough to pierce a person's soul.
Her gaze locked directly onto Allen.
"So it's you?" Lecia's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an oppressive Magic Power that struck straight at one's core.
The apprentice who had entered after Allen felt his knees buckle, and he nearly lost his footing. His face turned pale in an instant.
Allen bowed slightly, a standard apprentice's salute. "Professor Lecia."
"Allen Wesren."
Lecia walked to the desk, and the clerk immediately stepped aside respectfully.
She didn't look at the crystal slate, instead fixing her eyes directly on Allen. "Enrolled ten months and seven days. Applying to test out of all fourteen public courses. Give me a reason."
"I have completed my self-study of all the courses. I believe I possess the requisite knowledge to pass the examinations," Allen answered, his tone respectful but firm.
"Self-study?" A cold smirk formed on Lecia's lips. "You mean reading a few books in the library and scribbling a few Runes in a practice room? Your arrogance toward knowledge is astonishing."
She extended a finger and tapped lightly in the air.
A complex runic structure instantly materialized before Allen. It was composed of dozens of basic Runes, emitting a faint blue glow, its internal pathways of Magic Power clearly visible.
"This is a model from *Basic Runes and Linguistics*, Chapter Seven, 'Stable Structures of Compound Runes.' Name its three stabilization nodes and which energy path would collapse first in the event of a Magic Power overload."
This was a question on par with a final exam problem.
The other apprentice stared, his eyes wide. He couldn't even recognize the purpose of the runic structure.
Allen's gaze rested on the runic model for less than two seconds before he answered.
"The primary stabilization node is the 'Link' Rune. The two secondary stabilization nodes form an Energy Circuit composed of the 'Solidify' and 'Balance' Runes. If the Magic Power overload exceeds one hundred and thirty percent, the energy path of the 'Transmit' Rune at the base of the structure will collapse first, as it would be unable to bear the reverse flow of energy."
He spoke at a steady pace with perfect enunciation, as if reciting a passage he had long since memorized.
The cold look in Lecia's eyes hardened.
She silently waved her hand, dispelling the Rune, and turned to operate the crystal slate on the desk.
Streams of data flowed before her eyes as she pulled up Allen's talent assessment report from his enrollment and his library borrowing history.
"The last person to complete the entire preliminary curriculum in under a year at your age did so one hundred and seventeen years ago."
Lecia finally spoke again, her voice tinged with a probing quality. "His father was a member of the One Heart Association, an Advanced Wizard. He had custom-made an Alchemy Tool for his heir called the 'Crown of Wisdom.' It could increase learning and memory efficiency tenfold and ward off most forms of Spiritual Power backlash."
Her eyes scrutinized Allen, moving up and down as if trying to see straight through him, inside and out.
"Wesren... from the royalty of some Mortal Kingdom. You have no Wizard Clan backing you, no vast resources, and certainly no access to an Alchemy Creation on the level of the 'Crown of Wisdom.'"
Lecia articulated each word slowly. "Tell me, how did you do it?"
Allen had rehearsed the answer to this question in his mind countless times.
"Professor, you're overlooking another possibility."
Allen met her gaze. "Efficiency. I simply dedicated all of my time and resources to the most efficient learning path. I engaged in no useless socializing, accepted no time-consuming, low-level tasks, and wasted no energy on anything unrelated to my studies. By doing so, I fully capitalized on my natural talent for focus and memory to maximize the efficiency of my knowledge acquisition."
This explanation was half-truth, half-lie.
The core function of DSeek was the perfect embodiment of 'maximum efficiency.'
He was simply taking the credit for DSeek's work and attributing it to his own 'extraordinary learning ability.'
Lecia stared at him for a long time, so long that the very air in the office seemed to solidify.
She could see no sign of deception on Allen's face, only a calm that defied his age.
This trait was common enough among certain Wizards, but in a fifteen-year-old boy, it felt... jarring.
"Very well. 'Efficiency.'"
Lecia finally averted her gaze, her tone reverting to its initial iciness. "Since you're so confident, the academy has no reason to obstruct an apprentice who follows the rules. I approve your application."
She ordered the Female Wizard beside her, "Arrange separate exam papers for him. Starting tomorrow, he'll take five exams for the first two days, then four on the third day. The examination will be held in Isolation and Interrogation Room Three. I will personally proctor."
The Female Wizard's face paled, and she hastily nodded in assent.
Isolation and Interrogation Room Three was used for questioning spies and delinquent apprentices. The anti-magic fields and Spiritual Detection Array inside were powerful enough to expose any lie.
"Allen Wesren."
Before turning to leave, Lecia gave him one last look. "The rules protect geniuses, but they also weed out fools. I hope you belong to the former. If you attempt to cheat during your exams by any means outside the rules, the Disciplinary Committee will be more than happy to introduce you to their latest research."
As her words faded, she vanished through the doorway, and the chill in the air dissipated along with her.
The Female Wizard's expression as she looked at Allen had completely transformed, shifting from disdain to a complex mixture of awe and pity.
She quickly and efficiently processed Allen's paperwork.
Allen gave a slight bow and turned to leave.
From start to finish, his heartbeat hadn't wavered in the slightest.
After he left, Leo, the apprentice who had been cowering in the corner, finally shuffled timidly to the desk.
"Um... I... I'd like to apply for the *Magical Creatures* exam," he whispered.
The Female Wizard glanced at him, processed his request irritably, and said, "You'll have to wait. The exam will be held once ten people have registered."
Leo grabbed his examination permit and fled the Academic Affairs Office.
He sprinted the entire way, his heart still hammering in his chest.
He hadn't dared to breathe when Professor Lecia was in the room.
Back in his cramped dorm room, the first thing Leo did was lunge for his desk and activate his personal crystal terminal.
He took a few deep breaths, his trembling fingers flying across the virtual light screen as he logged into the academy's public forum.
He practically screamed as he typed out a title in the first-years' section:
[INSANE! TOTALLY INSANE! I JUST SAW A FIRST-YEAR APPLY TO TAKE ALL FOURTEEN PUBLIC COURSE FINALS AT ONCE!]
The body of the post was even more incoherent, filled with exclamations:
[YOU GUYS ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS! IT WAS ALLEN, ALLEN WESREN! HE APPLIED RIGHT IN FRONT OF PROFESSOR LECIA! AND PROFESSOR LECIA GRILLED HIM FOR AGES AND ACTUALLY APPROVED IT! SHE'S EVEN PUTTING HIM IN THE HIGHEST-SECURITY INTERROGATION ROOM! OH MY GOD! HOW LONG HAS HE BEEN HERE? TEN MONTHS! IS THAT EVEN HUMANLY POSSIBLE? I'VE SPENT FIVE MONTHS STUDYING FOR *MAGICAL CREATURES* ALONE AND I'M STILL NOT SURE I'LL PASS! IS THIS THE SAME APPRENTICE DISTRICT WE THOUGHT IT WAS?!]
Shortly after the post went live, the first-year student forum exploded.