Above the mage!

Chapter 567 Nationwide Patrol
“Art Museum Challenge,” Gao De murmured.

“Yes.” Lieutenant Colonel Grayling nodded, pointing to the map of the Plantagenet Dynasty hanging behind him.

"The Golden Flower Dynasty has thirteen counties. Each county has a magic academy established by the county's military mages, which openly accepts magic challenges from all mages of the country who meet the age limit."

"Each gym's magic combat challenge consists of three rounds. If the challenger wins all three rounds, they pass the challenge and receive the gym's exclusive badge as a token."

"However, mages from this county are exempt from challenging the county's magic schools. Just like you are from Bairo County, you do not need to and cannot challenge the Bairo Magic School. Therefore, each mage can actually challenge a total of twelve magic schools."

"As long as you collect all twelve gym badges, you will automatically be awarded a substitute spot."

Upon hearing this, a glint of light flashed in Gao De's eyes.

The rule was even more straightforward than he had imagined.

From this perspective, the selection process is indeed very open and transparent.

"However, there are only two spots available."

Lieutenant Colonel Grayling then changed the subject: "So if more than two people collect all twelve gym badges in the end, the first two to collect them will be selected as substitutes."

"If no one can collect all twelve gym badges in the end, the top two players with the most gym badges will be selected as substitutes. If there is a tie, the top two players will still be selected in chronological order."

"The Art Museum Challenge will begin on January 1st of next year's Frost Moon (January) and end on November 30th, lasting eleven full months. In other words, if you are interested in this, you can start preparing now."

"This includes learning about the style of each county's magic school in advance, the types of spells they use, and even planning the challenge route to avoid wasting time on the way."

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly chuckled as if he remembered something: "Speaking of which, our Bairo Magic Academy is currently forming a guard team. According to the requirements, the age of the guardian mage of the academy must not exceed twenty-two years old."

I was originally planning to recommend you as the guardian mage of our Byro Magic Academy, but since you're determined to take the substitute spot, then forget it.

"This year's Military Mage Combat Competition has been effectively cancelled. The next Military Mage Combat Competition will not be held for another ten years. How to allocate resources during these ten years will become a problem."

"If the rankings from the previous Military Mage Combat Tournament are used to allocate the prizes, those at the top might have no objections, but those at the bottom will definitely disagree and cause a huge uproar."

"This gymnastics challenge is the new ranking method."

"After the Gym Challenge ends, the number of Gym Badges issued by each Gym will be tallied and ranked from lowest to highest. The Gym that issued the fewest badges will be ranked first."

"So, in fact, this spell hall challenge is not only for selecting the last two substitute mages, but also for ranking this year's military mages, which is a win-win situation."

"But precisely because of this, the military mages organizations in each prefecture attach great importance to guarding the headquarters. They will do everything in their power to secure the resources that the organization can allocate in the next ten years, and there is no possibility of them holding back."

"Similarly, as guardian monks, they will also receive corresponding military merit rewards based on their performance in guarding the temple."

“You’re aiming for a substitute spot, which is commendable, but I still hope you’ll reconsider.”

"After all, you have to understand that there are only two substitute spots, and you are only a mage at the early second ring."

To be honest, let alone securing a spot as a reserve contestant, even obtaining a gym badge is no easy feat.

"The level of the mage guarding all the magic halls should be far greater than yours in a single round."

"Of course, in order to achieve a higher ranking, the military mage organizations in each prefecture will also send their elite mages who meet the age limit to challenge other prefectures, thereby increasing the number of badges issued by other prefectures. Therefore, the mages who challenge other prefectures will also receive corresponding military merit rewards."

"Just by eliminating one art school, the military merit reward will be enough to rank you among the top in next year's sea sentry assessment."

"Thank you for the reminder, Lieutenant Colonel, but I still want to give it a try. Even if the final result is not good, it would be a rare opportunity to go out and see the world and experience the style and methods of military mages from various counties of the dynasty." Gao De said firmly after a moment of silence.

Lieutenant Colonel Grayling looked at the light in his eyes, paused for a moment, and then smiled: "Good, it's good to have this drive! Since you've made up your mind, I won't stop you. I'll help you collect information on the martial arts schools in each county, which will help you avoid some detours."

What kind of art museum challenge is this? This is clearly a nationwide tour!

Gao De grumbled inwardly. Moreover, the challenger had to be under twenty years old, while the guardian had to be under twenty-two.

Of course, this is easy to understand. If the age limit for guarding the academy is 20, those geniuses who can guard the academy would have already gone to compete for the substitute spot. Why would they stay in the academy as "gatekeepers"?
The age limit of 22 is just enough to select a group of mages who are "over the age limit but strong", which ensures the quality of the guards and does not conflict with the selection of substitutes.

There was an age limit of twenty, and the competition was held in the year 9660 of the Norlan calendar.

It is now the end of the year 9658 in the Nolan calendar, and there is still more than a year until the competition.

In other words, the mages who are actually eligible to participate must be under the age of 18.

Gao De subconsciously thought of Sunefa.

Given the age limit of twenty, even across the entire continent of Nolan, Sunafa, who has reached the peak of a fourth-circle mage, is undoubtedly one of a kind.

But that's also due to the special nature of the Zhenbing bloodline.

Under normal circumstances, it would be extremely incredible for a twenty-year-old mage to reach the peak of the third ring.

He is only sixteen years old this year, which means that even when the Unparalleled Fighting Tournament is held, Gao De will just be eighteen years old.

This is actually where he suffers the most.

For a fifty-year-old high-level mage, two years might just mean more time to master one or two spells.
But for a twenty-year-old mage, two years is enough for someone to break through from the second ring to the third ring, and even master a complete set of tactics.

However, if he really wants to compete, there are still ways he can do so.

With the help of the Zhenbing bloodline, Sunafa rose from the first ring to the fourth ring in just two years.

This means that, as the second Iceborn bloodline holder in the North, Gao De is almost certain to break through to the third ring in the Art Museum Challenge next year, provided he doesn't deliberately suppress it.

However, he is currently unsure whether to let the breakthrough and advancement happen naturally or to hold back and wait for the "Green Wood Longevity Scripture" to catch up and accumulate a deeper foundation before breaking through and obtaining a super specialty.

After all, while this spot is important, it's not as important as expertise.

A specialty can last a lifetime.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel!" The thought flashed through his mind, but on the surface, Gao De had already politely stood up to thank Lieutenant Colonel Grayling.

After checking the time, I realized it was almost time to leave.

After leaving Lieutenant Colonel Grayling's residence, God did not return home.

After thinking for a moment, he went to the commercial district and bought a batch of New Year's gifts, including some for Captain Merrick.

Visiting only Lieutenant Colonel Grayling while ignoring Captain Merrick is a major taboo in social etiquette.

Both men were his mentors at the Sea Sentinel. Although Captain Merrick's rank was not as high as Lieutenant Colonel Grayling's, he provided just as much help.

At times like these, we must not show favoritism.

Otherwise, it would not only cause Captain Merrick to develop a grudge against him, but also easily create a snobbish image.

The reason he was buying a batch of New Year's gifts was that he would also be visiting nobles in Auckland.

Unbeknownst to him, Gaode had not deliberately cultivated, nor had he tried to curry favor with the powerful or wealthy, and he had never even taken the initiative to engage in any "socializing." Yet, he had already woven a formidable network of connections within the Golden Flower Dynasty.

"This must be the reason why bees come naturally to the fragrant flowers," Gao De murmured to himself.

(End of this chapter)