Published at 21st of November 2020 09:28:37 PM
Translator: Seven
Editor: Ana_Banana
Nik, one of the receptionist wizards at the 3rd Magic Tower, stood at the front desk with a nervous expression .
Unable to contain his anxiety, he shifted his feet and let out a few coughs for no reason .
He had no choice but to be nervous because a group of guests were going to visit the tower today .
Reynols Great Forest!
Guests that hailed from the lands of the Elves . Those who came from the Great Forest were of course Elves .
And the Dark Elves were known to have the smallest population .
A long time ago, the Elves and the Kastkau Empire signed a mutual non-aggression agreement which later became an alliance .
Of course, there were some people who criticized this alliance . After all, it was not easy to tear down the racial wall .
Nevertheless, over time these stereotypes and prejudices began to fade away .
At least the humans living in the empire no longer considered elves to be strange or hostile . Nevertheless, there was still a sense of awe .
Their life spans, physical capabilities, breathtaking beauty and natural talent with spirits completely overwhelmed humans .
And recently, the Elves had grown interested in human magic . That was why they would sometimes send their people to human countries like this .
The group of elves would stay at their 3rd Magic Tower .
By order of the Imperial Family, they were to ensure that the Elves lacked nothing during their stay as they were here to learn magic .
“Ah!”
At that time he spotted a group of people wearing maroon robes in the distance .
Nik was able to realise right away that they were elves .
Firstly their average height was much taller than that of humans .
The men easily passed 2 meters and the women were only a head or so shorter than them .
“Are you the group from Reynols Great Forest?”
“…”
The Dark Elf at the front stared at Nik with cold eyes, causing him to sweat slightly .
His eyes were ferocious . Hidden by his robes were muscles that were lithe and firm .
He appeared to be nothing like a man from a race of gentle forest lovers but instead seemed to be a warrior who had seen many bloody battlefields .
‘I-, Is it true that Dark Elves are an arrogant and aggressive race?”
The gaze seemed to give his brain the same flight response that he would get when he encountered a monster .
At that time, a male elf, who appeared to be shorter than the others, stepped forward .
“That’s right . ”
His tone was a bit awkward and rough, which proved that he was not used to using the human language .
“We-, welcome to the 3rd Magic Tower . May I see your identification?”
The man took out a ruby from his breast pocket . After he received the ruby, Nik also took one from his breast pocket .
It was almost identical to the one that he’d received from the elves .
When the two gems faced each other, a small resonance occurred .
Woowoong .
Nik observed the lights coming from the gems for a moment before returning it to the elf .
“It has been confirmed . How many people are in your group?”
“11 people . ”
Nik counted the elves one by one before nodding .
“It has been confirmed . I will now show you to the rooms that you will be staying in in the tower . ”
Then the small elf at the front spoke once again .
“I heard that you have to do some tests before you can enter the Magic Tower . ”
He didn’t know where he had heard it, but Nik still nodded because it was true .
“In principle yes, but our Dark Elf guests do not need to do it . ”
“I would like to try . ”
“Yes?”
“I said I would like to try . Can I do it?”
“Uh…”
Nik rolled his eyes, not knowing what he should do in this type of situation .
At the same time he felt a little resentful to the short elf .
Why couldn’t he just stay still?
Of course, the ferocious eyes and aura around the Dark Elves made it so that he did not say these words out loud .
“Okay . Then I will carry out a simple and concise test . ”
“Liamson, why are you creating more trouble?”
A cold faced elf woman shot him a glance as she asked .
The short elf, Liamson, only responded with a smile .
“Aren’t you curious? How accurate the human tests are and what our current stages are . ”
“Our state is about 5 stars . That’s what the wizard from the empire told us last time . ”
“…!”
Nik was inwardly surprised by the conversation between the elves .
Were all of these elves 5 stars?
Even in the tower there were not many 5 star wizards .
‘Then there’s only one test . ’
He thought that he would just do something simple because they wanted it but now he realised that there wasn’t much that he could test them on .
With his innermost thoughts hidden, Nik guided the elves to the training ground on the first floor .
It was the sturdiest and most spacious room in the tower .
“The test is simple . Make an energy ball . ”
“…1 star spell energy ball? Is that a test? It’s too lame . ”
Liamson looked disappointed, but Nik shook his head slowly .
“If you were only making energy balls yes . This test is not just about the spell… . I’ll give an example . Energy Ball . ”
Woowoong .
An energy ball appeared about Nik’s right hand . It was about the size of a human head which was the normal size .
Nik narrowed his eyes .
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Tsutsu . (TL: I did the best I could *bows*)
The energy ball began to get smaller and smaller .
A drop of sweat rolled down Nik’s face .
By then the energy ball had been compressed to the size of an adult male’s fist .
“…Whoo! You have to compress the energy ball to at least this size before you would get accepted into the tower . ”
Nik raised his chin proudly, but Liamson let out a laugh .
“So it’s compressing the Energy Ball . The size decreases, but the power increases . It is not that difficult . ”
“T-, this is the historical test of the Magic Tower, it not only tests one’s understanding of mana, but also their sense of distribution and their ability to make adjustments . ”
Liamson ignored Nik’s words and instead made an energy ball .
His mouth didn’t even move which caused Nik to be surprised at the wordless casting which he did easily .
Tsutsu .
And he was even more surprised when he saw what happened to the energy ball .
“Huk…!”
The energy ball that Liamson had made had been compressed down to the size of a human’s eyeball!
Nik knew that there were probably no more than 10 people on this floor who could compress the energy ball so much .
‘Th-, there were rumors that Elves had a terrifying understanding of mana, it seems that they were true…’
The other elves also tried the test .
A feeling of emptiness seemed to flash within Nik as he witnessed this scene .
It was not only Liamson, but all the elves who were able to perfectly pass what he considered a challenging test .
“The human wizard’s test doesn’t seem to be much . ”
The tall elf spoke indifferent . There was no ridicule or amusement in his voice .
His voice was calm as though he was only stating a simple truth .
Still, his gaze was locked onto Nik .
Nik bit his lower lip but he couldn’t say anything .
‘I can’t believe that they came the day that I had to work . ”
He could tell just from looking at those eyes . The elves now looking down on him, no .
They were looking down on all humans .
He really wanted to tell them no . That he was the only one who was inferior and that they should not look down on humans .
However he couldn’t open his mouth .
Nik had never been so upset and helpless because of his timidity .
It was then .
“Is that the test?”
The pronunciation was fluid so it wasn’t an elf .
Nik raised his head and at the same time the elves turned to see who was talking .
Standing there was a man with white hair .
“You are?”
Frey spoke calmly .
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“I would like to join the tower . ”
* * *
“P-, please wait a moment . After I’m finished guiding them…”
“We are fine . We’ll wait . ”
“Yes?”
“Did you not understand? We’ll wait here . Until that man is tested . ”
Liamson said it one more time, slowly and carefully as though he thought his words were not clear enough .
Of course, it wasn’t that Nik didn’t understand what he was saying . It was that the statement was so unexpected that he had asked before he himself had realised .
“V-, very well . ”
They said that they would wait so there was nothing more that he could say .
Nik turned to look at the white haired man in front of him more carefully .
‘He’s young . ’
He was 20 years old at best .
His appearance was a bit strange for his age but for some reason it seemed to suit him .
“If you reduce your energy ball to the size of my fist, then you’ll pass . ”
Frey knew what the test was because he had been following the elves since the beginning .
‘It’s a simple and efficient test . ’
If a person with a good eye did the screening then they would be able to have a rough idea about the examinee’s capabilities .
Frey looked at the elves with an interested gaze .
Elves learning magic, that was quite unusual .
At least 4,000 years ago that was not something that he would have even been able to imagine .
Magic was exclusive to humans and the ancient, proud and noble elves had intentions of learning human skills .
And now even Dark Elves who preferred to fight with their bodies had decided to learn magic .
Frey shook his head slightly then muttered .
“Energy Ball . ”
Woowoong .
An energy ball appeared in front of him .
Frey immediately compressed it down to the size of a fist .
“It is stable . You’ve passed . ”
The energy ball disappeared faster than it appeared .
Nik was disappointed .
This was because he’d inwardly hoped that Frey was an excellent wizard .
‘If so it wouldn’t squashed those elves’ egos . ’
It was only his delusion .
He remembered from their previous conversation . All of the elves were around the 5 star level .
The young man in front of him wasn’t their match .
If he was truly talented then he would’ve gone to the 1st or 2nd Magic Towers instead of coming here .
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“You will need to fill out the paperwork . Please wait at the front desk . I need to guide these…”
“Hey . ”
It was Liamson’s voice .
Nik shuddered subconsciously because the voice was very sharp .
“Ye-, yes?”
“Not you, you . ”
He was pointing at Frey .
Only then did Frey turn to look at Liamson .
“Don’t you have the ability to compress it even more?”
Frey raised an eyebrow .
“Why do you think that?”
“Just a feeling . ”
The idiotic answer actually made him smile . It was actually the first time that he’d encountered a Dark Elf .
4,000 years ago, the ones that he dealt with were usually High Elves . These guys were more like warriors than people of the forest .
“Compressing an energy ball to the size of a fist is the condition to pass . ”
“Show me more . I want to see just how far you can compress the energy ball . ”
“Don’t bother me . I have to go do my paperwork, so get out of the way . ”
Frey frowned as he looked at Liamson sharply .
Liamson observed him for a moment before stepping aside .
Nik could only look at their conversation without being able to do anything about it .
Frey’s words seemed to have awakened his nerves although it seemed that he hadn’t realised that all his hairs were standing up .
“I-, I’ll guide them to their rooms before returning . Please wait at the front desk . ”
Frey nodded and Nik began leading the Dark Elves up the stairs .
“Hey, human . ”
Liamson called out again .
Frey responded without even turning his head .
“It’s Frey . ”
“Frey, are you staying in this tower too?”
“That’s right . ”
“…”
Liamson threw another weird glance at him before heading upstairs, leaving Frey alone in the training ground .
He made another energy ball .
“…smaller . ”
Shuk .
The size of the energy ball gradually reduced . The size of a head, the size of a fist, the size of an eye .
The energy ball continued to shrink until it was almost invisible to the human eye .
“It is pretty efficient . ”
Frey’s voice rang out in the quiet hall .