Chapter 139: The Third-Rank Mage Examination

Even as a Tier 5 professional, equipped with a Tier 4 dragon mount and having ordered his knights to conduct a thorough search, Leotis could not find a single trace of Chu Yun.

In reality, Chu Yun had anticipated trouble the moment he was first summoned to meet the First Prince. He had simply used his flight wings to openly depart from the Mage Academy and Blackrock City, only entering the Mirror World to return once he was certain there were enough witnesses to his absence. Had there been no witnesses, those people might have forcibly broken into his home, which would have been disastrous if they had discovered the people hidden in his basement. At that moment, Chu Yun was still in his room, practicing the Ice Spike Storm.

Upon learning that Chu Yun had left the city, Leotis had no choice but to report the truth and instruct the city guards to notify them the moment Chu Yun returned. Compared to Chu Yun, he found those nobles far more troublesome. Before the King’s demise, the First Prince had represented the majesty of the royal family, and these nobles would not have dared to show him disrespect. Now that the Second Prince had ascended to the throne, the First Prince would likely soon be stripped of his power, reduced to a destitute prince, and confined to some remote territory for the rest of his life. Given the Second Prince's nature, it was highly probable that he would seek to eliminate the First Prince entirely. Fortunately, as the coronation had not yet taken place, the nobles were unlikely to risk skipping the banquet at the First Prince’s request.

Hearing the news, the First Prince’s suspicions about Chu Yun only deepened. To his surprise, his hunch had been correct: Chu Yun really did possess a fragment of a godhead.

"I heard he has his assessment tomorrow. If he doesn't show up, then it must be him!" the First Prince said, feeling a mix of excitement and anxiety. The capabilities of the Holy Spear were known to many on the continent. After the Stars Fell, the spear had become a hot potato, and he feared Chu Yun might "flee in fear of punishment," skipping the Tier 3 mage assessment altogether.

The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he became. However, considering that if Chu Yun truly possessed a godhead, his subordinates would likely be unable to defeat him, he decided to have Leotis hold off on the pursuit to avoid alerting the prey. He reasoned that it would be safer to confirm Chu Yun’s identity tomorrow and then have Leotis assist him in making the arrest.

Still uncertain if it was truly Chu Yun, the First Prince did not abandon other targets. He expanded the scope of his invitations, requiring every adventurer of any significance in Blackrock City to attend the banquet. He planned to check everyone present and note who had failed to appear—those would be his prime suspects.

Prince Mula’s actions caused dissatisfaction among the nobles of Blackrock City, though the adventurers were delighted to attend a banquet at the City Lord’s Mansion, a place they would normally never be qualified to enter. Count Monde, the City Lord, was furious upon hearing this. Although his daughter’s illness was a pretense, the fact that the Prince had made such a decision without notifying him was far too arrogant.

Monde had not wanted to prepare for the banquet, but rumors had already spread that he was the one hosting the First Prince, and the Prince's men had effectively seized control of the mansion. The City Lord felt deeply humiliated, yet as a royal appointee, he had no nominal authority to refuse the Prince’s orders.

By nightfall, the nobles arrived at the mansion, unwillingly, only to find it in a state of chaos, no different from a vegetable market. The number of people the Prince had invited was staggering, especially the adventurers, who had not only come themselves but brought their families along to witness the grandeur of Prince Mula. Had it not been for Leotis maintaining order, there would have been many accidents.

Breaking from his usual character, the First Prince appeared incredibly approachable, personally mingling with the groups of adventurers to offer his regards. In truth, his real goal was to use the Holy Spear, hidden behind his back in a semi-sealed state, to detect the presence of the godhead fragment. These adventurers spent their lives traveling and were more likely than the nobles to have encountered such a relic.

Regrettably, by the time the banquet concluded, Mula had found nothing. He ordered Leotis to have his men keep a close watch on the powerful adventurers who had not attended, intending to find other opportunities to probe them. The guests merely assumed the Prince was being humble and trying to win the favor of the adventurers—a move the nobles considered foolish. In this world, nothing was less trustworthy than a greedy adventurer; they had no loyalty and worked only for coin.

The next morning, Mula arrived at the Mage Guild with Leotis and his guards to wait for Chu Yun, but after waiting for a long time, he did not appear. It turned out that with the establishment of the Mage Academy, Nelson had designated the mage assessments as practical observation lessons to help students better learn and understand spells. Although today was supposed to be a holiday, someone had leaked the news that Chu Yun was being tested, and a large crowd of students had flocked to watch.

Chu Yun enjoyed great fame at the academy, especially among the female students, for whom he was something of an idol, with many fans among the student body. Prince Mula, having received the news, hurried over, but by the time he arrived, the assessment had already begun. He suppressed the urge to rush forward and test Chu Yun, choosing instead to observe him from below.

In addition to Nelson, three other Tier 3 mages were in charge of the assessment. One was Chu Yun’s "old friend" Hope, and the other two were individuals he had met a few times but did not know well. Seeing the First Prince arrive, Nelson frowned. He had already been generous enough to show his face at the tedious banquet the night before; he had no mood to entertain the Prince today. Fortunately, the Prince did not interrupt the test to cause trouble for Chu Yun; otherwise, with so many students watching, Nelson could not afford to let the Mage Association lose face.

"Chu Yun, we are about to begin your Tier 3 Mage advancement assessment. Are you ready?" Nelson asked solemnly.

Chu Yun nodded slightly. "I am ready."

Nelson performed a mage’s salute before stepping aside, leaving the spell-testing field to Chu Yun.

"The basic requirement for a Tier 3 mage is the ability to cast at least two Tier 3 spells and five Tier 2 spells. Since you already demonstrated the Tier 2 spell 'Monster Contract' during your previous assessment here in Blackrock City, you only need to perform four Tier 2 spells and two Tier 3 spells," Nelson explained, speaking mostly for the benefit of the students.

Chu Yun stepped forward and said, "Let’s start with the Tier 3 Meteor Strike."

Upon hearing this, the crowd couldn't help but gasp. Meteor Strike was an exceptionally difficult spell; if not mastered properly, one might accidentally crush someone. This was one of the reasons Nelson had to be present; as a master of earth magic, he could correct the trajectory of the meteor or provide defense if necessary.

There were two types of Meteor Strike. One involved guiding a meteor from outside the atmosphere, which was highly unpredictable and had a high failure rate if one’s luck was poor. The other was more stable but slightly less powerful; it worked by using an Earth Elemental Crystal to condense a man-made magical meteor high in the sky, then using gravity and mental guidance to launch the attack.

Chu Yun felt that his luck was likely at a "tribal chief" level, so he chose the safer second method, for which he had specifically purchased an Earth Elemental Crystal. As the incantation began, the crystal floated into the sky. Chu Yun constructed the spell model upon it, and as it reached the required altitude, a massive meteor began to form in the high air and plummeted toward the field.