My inventory is full of monster materials.

Bruno reacted quickly, raising his hand to slam down the button next to the table, instantly stopping the shrill ringing.

Mark was still reeling from the series of events.

Bruno squeezed out of his seat, his bloated, greasy hands groping Mark's body, his eyes shining as if he had discovered some rare treasure, muttering to himself.

"Not a formal mage, without a class, truly an unranked individual, yet possessing 20 points in Intelligence—what a genius..."

Being touched so closely by a chubby man gave Mark goosebumps all over. He jerked his hand away from Bruno's and said warily.

What are you doing?!

Bruno was stunned for a moment, his expression freezing instantly.

Although Bruno was not a formal mage, his title in the association was "Senior Apprentice". He could practically walk around the first floor of the association with impunity. Other association employees had to be very polite to him. When had he ever been scolded like this?

But at this moment, Bruno showed none of his usual airs, instead bowing his head and apologizing repeatedly.

"I'm so sorry, I was too excited and startled you! How about this, I'll stamp your seal right now, and you can go straight to the training ground for your spell test, okay?"

After saying that, Bruno deftly took out another stamp from the drawer, stamped it heavily on Mark's evaluation card, and then respectfully handed the card over with both hands.

"Well?"

Mark took the card, still looking somewhat confused.

Mark knew that revealing his intelligence of 20 points would attract attention, but he didn't expect it to be so damaging, making the other party so obsequious and ingratiating.

However, Mark only wanted to register as a mage apprentice as soon as possible and then buy a holy symbol to advance to a professional. He had no time to delve into Bruno's thoughts, so he took the card and gave a brief thank you.

Thanks.

"It's alright, take care!"

Bruno personally escorted Mark to the door, his face beaming with smiles, until Mark's figure completely disappeared at the end of the corridor.

Bruno's smile vanished instantly, his eyes darted around, and he turned and locked the door to the testing room.

Just as I locked the door, a boy holding an evaluation card ran over and asked in a low voice.

"Excuse me, is this the attribute identification room? I'm here to..."

"Get out of here!!"

Bruno suddenly turned his head, his face contorted with anger, and roared at the boy as if venting his frustration.

The boy was so frightened that he trembled all over and froze on the spot, but Bruno didn't bother to look at him again and turned around and quickly went up the stairs to the second floor.

……

……

Mark finally arrived at the training ground after a long and winding journey.

Unlike the battlefields of warriors, the training grounds of mages are clean and tidy, divided into several independent testing areas with various testing tools, creating a tranquil and orderly atmosphere.

Upon Mark's entrance, a female employee in uniform approached him and asked him in a low voice.

Hello! How can I help you?

Mark took out his evaluation card and waved it.

"I'm here for the mage apprentice assessment."

"Okay, please follow me."

The staff led Mark to a spell testing area.

Mark spotted Anna on the field immediately. Next to her stood a blond young man in a gray robe. In the waiting area were Anna's two best friends and a few onlookers making comments.

At this moment, Anna was ten meters away, holding a weight marked 5kg in her hands. A pair of pale blue, illusory hands appeared faintly, supporting the weight and lifting it up little by little.

Anna's forehead was covered in sweat, and her face was flushed red, clearly indicating that she had expended a lot of magic. But in the end, she gritted her teeth and did her best to place the weight steadily on the one-meter-high wooden stake.

A burst of enthusiastic cheers immediately erupted from the crowd.

Helena was overjoyed and went to hug Anna, while Dorothy stood there in a daze, muttering to herself.

"How is this possible... When did she learn two level 0 spells? Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

At that moment, the young examiner, Pierce, walked over and nodded approvingly at Anna.

"Excellent. For your first time participating in the mage apprentice assessment, you successfully demonstrated two level 0 spells, 'Fire Arrow' and 'Hand of the Mage.' You have great magical talent."

Anna blushed slightly and lowered her head, speaking softly.

"My lord, my intelligence attribute is only 9 points, which is not yet up to the standard."

Unexpectedly, Pierce smiled smugly.

"It's alright. Intelligence is not the same as wisdom. Your understanding of magic is enough to prove that you have reached the apprentice standard, and you may even have the opportunity to become a full-fledged mage."

Anna's eyes instantly lit up, and a faint mist of tears welled up in them. Years of hard work had finally paid off, and her voice choked with emotion.

"thank you..."

Pierce picked up the evaluation card, stamped it, and then signed his name to mark it before handing the card back to Anna.

"Congratulations, you have passed the apprentice test."

Anna took the card and bowed deeply to Pierce.

But just then, a discordant voice suddenly rang out.

"That's against the rules!"

The one who spoke was none other than Dorothy.

Dorothy and Anna are from the same hometown, and their fathers both work in the Adventurers' Guild, except that the former is a full-time employee and the latter is just an adventurer.

The two daughters became close because of this relationship, but also grew apart because of it.

In Dorothy's eyes, Anna passing the test meant that she could be her equal from now on, which was absolutely unacceptable.

Dorothy pointed at Anna and shouted.

"Her intelligence is clearly... umm..."

Upon seeing this, Helena rushed over, covered Dorothy's mouth, and whispered a threat in her ear.

"Little Dorothy, don't forget, your 'fire control' was still two seconds short of the required time. If I hadn't pleaded with my cousin, you wouldn't have passed the test at all."

At the same time, Pierce looked over with icy eyes.

Dorothy suddenly realized what was happening and nodded in horror.

The three girls' spell test was over, and the onlookers were preparing to leave one after another, but just then, a clear voice rang out.

"Um, I also want to take a spell test."

Everyone turned to look.

Mark was dressed in scratched leather armor and carried a bulging travel backpack, looking every bit the adventurer.

In the eyes of the people of Sergei, adventurers were never a prestigious profession; they were almost synonymous with low-level laborers and odd jobs.

But Mark's outstanding appearance drew everyone's attention—white hair, blue eyes, and a handsome face; even in ordinary leather armor, his exceptional charisma was undeniable.

Helena, in particular, had stars in her eyes when she looked at Mark.

Pierce nodded upon hearing this and asked.

"Let me see your evaluation card."

Mark stepped forward and handed over his evaluation card.

"what?"

Pierce looked puzzled when he saw the card.

The intelligence assessment stamp on the card is the old version and does not indicate the specific intelligence value.

However, Pierce didn't pay much attention, assuming that the fat pig was just being lazy and negligent, and said directly.

"Let's begin."

As soon as he finished speaking, Mark snapped his fingers.

despair!

The next second, a crystal-clear ice arrow appeared out of thin air.

Mark flicked his wrist, and the ice arrow shot out like an arrow released from a bow, heading straight for the straw dummy not far away.

Bang!

With a muffled thud, the straw dummy was pierced by the ice arrow. Thick frost quickly condensed on the gap, and with a "crack," it shattered in half, with ice shards scattering all over the ground.

The entire room fell silent instantly, everyone staring in disbelief at the scene before them.

Mark's entire spellcasting process took only five or six seconds, which was incredibly fast. Moreover, most of the people present had never seen the spell he used before, but they knew that its power was definitely far beyond the scope of a level 0 spell.

Pierce's expression turned serious, and he stared at Mark, speaking in a deep voice.

"It was 'Frostbolt,' you used a level 1 spell."

These words caused an uproar, with everyone exclaiming in surprise and discussing the matter.

"What? A first-level spell? Wasn't he here to register as a mage apprentice? How can he be tested with a first-level spell?"

"Did you see him chanting just now?"

"This guy must be an 'advanced apprentice' too."

...

Anna, Helena, and Dorothy were so shocked they were speechless.

Mark, however, paid no attention to the stares of the crowd and walked straight up to Pierce, getting straight to the point.

"Did I pass the test?"

Pierce gave Mark a deep look, then nodded.

"No problem, it's perfectly acceptable."

Mark took the assessment card, flicked it with his fingertip, a faint smile playing on his lips, and thought to himself—for him, the most difficult part of the mage apprentice assessment was asking for directions and finding the place.