On March 1st, the Mage Tower was bustling with excitement.
The first day of the first month of spring was always the day of the apprentice assessment.
For the Apprentices who had been with the Mage Tower for three years, today was the final deadline.
If they couldn't become Mage Apprentices, they would have to leave the Mage Tower.
Li Wei was still an Apprentice and also had to participate in the final apprentice assessment.
Only after passing the apprentice assessment would he become a Mage Apprentice.
However, Li Wei planned to skip the Mage Apprentice stage and directly become an Apprentice Mage.
The Mage Tower had never seen such an exception before.
Before this, Li Wei had asked Gu Ze about the relevant procedures.
He only decided to do this after receiving a confirmation from him.
There was still a big difference between an Apprentice Mage and a Mage Apprentice.
Most importantly, Apprentice Mages could purchase Magic Potions and spend Contribution to learn Tier One Magic.
Li Wei, dressed in the robes of an Apprentice, walked toward the assessment location.
On the way, he saw that many carriages were parked in the Mage Tower's plaza.
Although the Mage Tower didn't actively invite various factions to observe the apprentice assessment, many people were still very interested and came to watch on their own initiative.
The Mage Tower, for its part, didn't stop them from watching the assessment process.
On one hand, it was for the sake of fairness and transparency; on the other, it was to promote the Mage Tower to the outside world.
The number of Apprentice Mages who became Official Mages and the number of Apprentices who became Apprentice Mages each year were important metrics.
If the local Mage Tower's graduation rate was too low, the nobles would rather send their descendants to study at more distant Mage Towers with higher rates.
Little John had just stepped off his carriage when he saw Li Wei. He quickly called out, "Li Wei."
Li Wei turned and saw Little John and Old John getting out of the carriage.
He waved and said, "The test is about to start. I'm heading in first. See you later."
Hearing this, Little John cheered him on. "Good luck!"
Old John got out of the carriage, watched Li Wei's retreating back, and asked with a chuckle, "Is that Reina's friend?"
Little John nodded quickly. "Yeah. It's a shame my sister couldn't make it. Li Wei would've been really happy to see her."
Old John just smiled and said nothing.
The two of them walked into the Mage Tower.
Li Wei arrived at the classroom where they usually had lessons. A test paper was laid out on every desk.
He found his seat and sat down.
For a Mage, theory and practice were equally important.
Before long, the classroom was full, and Gu Ze walked to the front.
He tapped the blackboard with his pointer and said, "The test begins now. You have one hour to complete all the questions."
An hour later, the test was over.
Li Wei walked out of the classroom, feeling he had done alright.
'Passing shouldn't be a problem.'
As long as he passed the theory portion, all that remained was the practical exam.
That wouldn't be a problem for him at all.
The standard to become a Mage Apprentice was to have cultivated Mana.
If one's theory score was too poor, they could still be promoted to Mage Apprentice as long as their Mana Strength was high enough.
With an excellent theory score, one only needed to have cultivated Mana to become a Mage Apprentice.
But without having cultivated Mana, no matter how good the theory score, one could not become a Mage Apprentice.
By the time Li Wei followed the group to the apprentice assessment area, the test had already been underway for some time.
The Mage Apprentices went up one by one to test their Mana Strength, followed by casting a spell from a stationary position to test their casting speed.
This determined their initial rankings.
However, this was not the final ranking.
What truly drew the crowds to watch the assessment every year was the final battle for rankings.
In the battle for rankings, those who had already been ranked could challenge any Mage Apprentice within ten spots of their own rank.
Each Mage Apprentice could issue a maximum of three challenges and be challenged a maximum of three times.
This meant that even if someone wanted to hide their strength, they couldn't hide too much.
Otherwise, if their initial rank was too low, they wouldn't be able to secure a good final position even after using all three of their challenges.
Li Wei stood in line, waiting for his turn to be tested.
He looked toward the front of the line, where a black Magic Stele stood on a stone platform.
Anyone could display their Mana Strength simply by infusing the Magic Stele with their Mana.
Currently, the top-ranked individual was Doug, with a Mana Strength of 79.
The higher the Mana Strength, the easier it was to cast magic.
Li Wei was also a little curious about how high his own Mana Strength was.
Soon, the Mage Apprentices finished their tests, and it was the Apprentices' turn to test their Mana Strength.
The first few all had single-digit scores, causing the Apprentice Mage in charge of the test to shake his head.
Delis stepped forward and achieved a good score of 12.
Neil and Land also achieved good scores of 11 and 10, respectively.
Li Wei glanced around and noticed that the descendants of noble families generally had higher Mana Strength.
It wasn't that nobles all had a talent for magic; it was purely because they were rich.
By burning Calming Incense every day, even a pig could cultivate Mana.
BANG!
The doors to the testing hall were suddenly thrown open.
Several people in Mage Robes appeared outside the entrance.
The Apprentice Mages at the door looked on, confused.
They didn't recognize any of these Mages.
They weren't Mages from the Mage Tower.
The spectators sitting to the side also looked on with curiosity.
From the crowd, Mage Aier stood up, his expression turning grave as he looked at the people at the door.
"Allen!" Mage Aier shouted.
At this, everyone showed their surprise; they hadn't expected Mage Aier to know the newcomer.
Allen, standing at the door, broke into a smile. He walked in with his arms outstretched and said, "Brother, I'm back!"
"What are you doing back here?" Aier stared at him, asking bluntly.
Allen smiled and said, "To see you, of course."
"Ten years have passed. How have you been? Don't tell me you're still a Tier Two Mage?" Allen's expression was mocking.
Aier's face darkened. "You're not welcome here! Get out!"
Allen chuckled. "Brother, you'll break my heart talking like that."
"Since you're going to be that way, I won't be polite either."
"On behalf of the Extreme Night City Mage Tower, I challenge the Maple City Mage Tower!"
The moment he said this, an uproar went through the crowd.
No one had expected something like this to happen. It looked like there was going to be a good show today.
Aier stared at him expressionlessly and said, "Are you trying to start a war between two Mage Towers?"
Allen laughed. "How could that be? I'm just here on behalf of the Extreme Night City Mage Tower for a friendly exchange. Don't tell me you don't even dare to accept a friendly challenge from another Mage Tower?"
"According to the Mage Association's regulations, if you refuse the challenge, then I have the right to choose any single item from the Mage Tower and take it with me."
Seeing this, Aier had no choice but to say, "The Maple City Mage Tower accepts the challenge from the Extreme Night City Mage Tower."
He glanced around, his gaze lingering deeply on his disciple, Doug.
He announced, "The rules of the challenge: Mage Apprentice battles! Unlimited matches, the last one standing wins!"
Upon hearing this, the crowd was once again surprised.
They hadn't expected Mage Aier to set rules so biased in favor of the Maple City Mage Tower.
It seemed rather unfair.
After all, how many Mage Apprentices did the Maple City Mage Tower have?
And how many did Allen have with him?
Allen, however, didn't seem surprised to hear this. He knew his brother's character better than anyone.
Aier always put the interests of the Mage Tower first.
It was for this very reason that the two brothers had a falling out and went their separate ways.
Allen smiled. "No problem. Lair! My apprentice, it's all up to you now."