Chapter 340: Assessment Begins

Ducheng City Center, Kensington District.

This is the most expensive area in the entire Ducheng, a residential area for nobles and the rich.

On both sides of the tree-lined avenue, one mansion after another stands, built with traditional red bricks and white stones.

There is a magic crystal lamp every ten steps on the street.

When night falls, the magic crystal lamps light up, and the lights on this street will wind into a galaxy.

In front of a townhouse, a carriage stops.

Then a young man dressed in luxurious clothes walks down, and three night owls perched on the iron gate seem to be disturbed, suddenly flapping their wings and flying up.

The heavy oak door is opened accordingly.

The young man walks in, and the carriage parked at the door leaves quickly.

On the streets of Kensington District, the carriage driver must not stay at the main entrance of the mansion for more than three minutes, this is the rule.

The butler has long been standing in the shadow of the porch, bowing.

The young man didn't look at the butler much, and the exquisite wave-patterned carpet swallowed his footsteps.

He walked through the seven-meter-high hall, and the giant whale oil chandelier hanging from the dome reflected his cold side face.

Along the stairs, he walked all the way to the room on the second floor, looking at the prosperous scene on the street through the painted glass window facing the street.

The eyes are looking, but in fact, the mind is not paying attention at all, and the fingertips are unconsciously rubbing the cufflinks.

This pair of supernatural cuffs made of cold iron from the depths of the sword sea is engraved with a miniature magic circle. It was the day he was promoted to a second-circle mage, and his father specially found one of the most powerful rune constructors in Ducheng to help engrave it.

I don't know when, a figure appeared at the door of the room.

"Young Master Zuowen." The figure called respectfully.

"You're here," Zuowen Burns turned around, looked at the mage standing at the door wearing a Sea Hai Shao Bing uniform, and said calmly: "How did your mission go?"

"With the help of the mages sent by the Burns family, the mission went very smoothly. This time there should be a second-class merit." Uer said with his head slightly lowered.

Although he is the same military rank as the other party in the Sea Sentinels, he dare not raise his head to look directly at the other party, and even in front of the other party, he even controls his breathing to be light.

Zuowen Burns is a figure as dazzling as the sun in Ducheng, and has been the focus of attention since birth.

The Burns family has always had few people, and to the current Earl Burns, there are two children in total.

The eldest son joined the Sea Sentinels and encountered a powerful sea beast while performing maritime patrol missions, unfortunately dying.

Since then, it took a full fifteen years for Earl Burns to give birth to the current Zuowen Burns.

Zuowen Burns was destined to be the only heir to the Burns family from birth and must inherit the title of Earl.

This status is in front, and at the same time, Zuowen Burns also has extremely strong mage talent, and he is already a second-circle mage at a young age.

If it weren't for Earl Burns, because of the eldest son's incident back then, he had not allowed Zuowen Burns to enter the Sea Sentinels for the past few years, until he relaxed in recent years, which caused him to delay a lot of time.

I am afraid that Zuowen Burns would be at least a Second Lieutenant rank by now.

"That's good." Zuowen Burns looked at the restrained Uer casually and said:

"With this second-class merit, you submit a promotion application again, and the family will help you a little bit. This time you should be able to successfully promote to Sergeant."

"Following me is the right choice, right?"

Uer's facial expression changed slightly, and his hanging hands clenched and relaxed.

He considered himself excellent, but after entering the Sea Sentinels, he suddenly found that there were too many excellent people, and he was not worth mentioning at all.

The first two years were even more because he refused the solicitation of nobles, and he was rated unqualified twice, almost being dismissed from the Sea Sentinels.

Later, he chose to accept the sponsorship of the Burns family and serve the Burns family. Then he was picked by Zuowen Burns, who had just joined the Sea Sentinels, and became his private attendant.

As a result, in just two years, he was promoted from an apprentice mage to a Corporal, and the rank of Sergeant was also within reach.

So, what's wrong with his choice?

Uer nodded, both answering Zuowen Burns's question and saying to himself: "Yes, following Young Master Zuowen is definitely the most correct choice I have ever made."

"But such a simple truth, why don't some people understand it?" Zuowen Burns asked again, his eyes narrowed.

"He is the first mage I actively solicited. If it fails, wouldn't it be very faceless to spread it out?"

Uer naturally knew who Zuowen Burns was referring to.

He had followed the other party for two years and knew the other party's personality well.

This is a person who does not easily show any emotions and does everything with so-called noble decency, but is actually very petty in private.

In fact, in his opinion, such a person is the most terrifying.

Instead, those who directly reflect their emotions on the surface are easier to get along with, at least you know what the other party is thinking.

And Zuowen Burns, who might still be kind to you on the surface, is actually planning how to kill you in private, which is impossible to guard against.

"Not everyone can make the right choice." Uer replied.

Zuowen Burns said calmly: "My father told me that a single tree is hard to support, and one must learn to reuse talent. A prosperous family must have enough branches to experience the destruction of wind and rain."

"So, even if he made the wrong choice, I am willing to give him another chance to correct his mistake."

He lowered his head, looked at the parchment on the table, and suddenly said: "Naxi has already reported his initial training assessment application."

"So fast?" Uer was surprised.

"Yes, just like the evaluation given to him at the beginning, his talent is very good."

Uer thought for a while and asked: "Young Master Zuowen, who is his assessment opponent?"

Zuowen Burns raised his head and looked at Uer with a trace of appreciation.

Uer is not the most talented among the commoner mages sponsored by the family, but he is the smartest, so he chose Uer.

"Among the First-Class Apprentice Mages of the Sea Sentinels, in terms of combat ability, Metis is the strongest." Zuowen said lightly.

"It's just that, be careful when doing things, and don't be too heavy-handed... You should teach Metis this degree well."

"I understand." Uer said.

Returning from the White Church District to the dormitory, Gao De found a letter that had just been delivered in the mailbox at the door.

The content is also very simple, that is, to inform him that the assessment application has been approved, scheduled for tomorrow, please make preparations and arrive on time.

Confirming the time and place, Gao De put the letter away.

Knowing the form, content, and standards of the assessment, he was confident that passing the assessment was not difficult, so he didn't have any nervous or worried emotions.

In fact, even after experiencing hundreds or thousands of exams, he had never had any negative emotions such as nervousness.

Exams can also be considered a field that Gao De is extremely familiar with.

So, he went about his normal rune practice, cultivation method practice, and then rested as usual.

One night passed.

The next day, Gao De got up full of energy, still as usual, went to the canteen to have a free breakfast before going to the "exam room" unhurriedly.

Very close.

Because the "exam room" is set up in the Collingwood Academy.

Although the destructive power that spells can cause is very amazing, as a place dedicated to mage training, the Collingwood Academy had already considered these problems during the construction process.

The materials selected are sturdy and durable, not to mention that the entire academy is full of various alchemical machines and magic arrays, which can well dissolve the aftermath impact caused by spells. As an "exam room" for a first-circle mage, it is naturally more than enough.

When he was about to reach the entrance of the Collingwood Academy, a tall female mage had already come towards him.

"Gao De," Mei Liya greeted: "I heard in the canteen broadcast that you are taking the assessment today, so I came to observe it specially."

The initial training assessment is in an open form.

In addition to examiners and guiding mages, interested Sea Hai Shao Bing mages can also come to watch on their own.

Relevant news, Gao De had already heard from the broadcast when he was eating in the canteen last night.

However, in his opinion, mages are generally very busy. Even if they don't go on missions, they have a lot of things to do, so there shouldn't be many people interested in a newcomer's assessment.

Mei Liya came to watch his assessment because she knew him to some extent, which belongs to a kind of "social behavior."

Besides that, there shouldn't be anyone else.

However, he soon realized that his thinking was wrong.

Because an extremely exquisite luxury carriage was driving over at a steady speed and also stopped at the entrance of the academy.

Zuowen Burns walked down from the carriage.

He looked at Gao De and said with a smile: "I heard you are taking the assessment today, so I came to see it specially. Since you have the confidence to refuse the Burns family's sponsorship, I hope you can show performance worthy of this confidence."

Gao De said "um."

He is not stupid.

So he is clear that although the other party looks kind, it is actually not as simple as what is said verbally.

If he thought correctly, then his assessment today might be a bit unusual.

But even so, he didn't feel very nervous.

This comes from confidence in his own strength.

After Zuowen Burns greeted him, he walked into the Collingwood Academy on his own.

"You go in first, I'll wait for the Naxi mage here." Gao De said to Mei Liya on the side.

Mei Liya looked at Gao De, wanting to say something but stopping, and finally just nodded and said: "Okay."

Gao De waited at the door for a while, and unexpectedly, several private carriages drove over one after another, stopped at the entrance of the academy, and then people wearing noble costumes got off the carriages and entered the academy.

At this time, Gao De heard a few bird calls.

Looking up, under the clear sky, a group of sparrows were circling above the clock tower.

Finally, the Naxi mage also came by carriage.

As soon as the Naxi mage got off the carriage, he looked at the luxury carriages parked in a row next to the entrance and subconsciously frowned.

Then he looked at the birds circling on the clock tower and said: "The weather is good today, the sparrows are all out to play, very noisy. Don't be affected."

Gao De smiled and said: "Naxi mage, rest assured, they call their own, I do my own thing. How can people be affected by some bird calls?"

"That's good, let's go in."

The Naxi mage took Gao De and walked into the academy.

Just after entering the door, a young female staff member walked over, "Lieutenant Naxi."

"Is there anything?"

"Captain Luo Er invites you to the VIP room for tea."

"Later, wait for me to send him to finish the assessment." The Naxi mage thought for a while and said.

"Naxi mage, if you have something to do, go first. It's just a training assessment. I can do it myself, so I won't bother you to send me."

The Naxi mage hesitated, "Are you really okay alone?"

"If even a training assessment requires you to send me, what should I do when performing missions in the future? It can't be that you have to send me then too." Gao De smiled.

The Naxi mage thought for a while and said: "Also."

He patted Gao De on the shoulder, "Perform well, I believe in your ability."

"I believe it too." Gao De said.

The female staff member signaled, "Lieutenant Naxi, please this way. Mage Gao De, your assessment field is this way."

The two went left and right, exactly in two directions.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 341 =====