Chapter 154: Permission Level Elevation

On the other side, after Xia Duo returned to the Mage Tower, he immediately went to the Task Management Office, handed in his task, and successfully received 400 Gold Coins.

At this point, the task quota was almost half completed, though it was a pity that since Lady Patti had arrived at the Mage Tower, it was likely impossible for her to grant him further task remuneration.

Of course, Xia Duo hadn't actually investigated much, and having completed a 400 Gold Coin task in less than half a day, he had already made a huge profit.

He had nothing to complain about; life had to go on, and if he could complete the task quota before his Permission Level was raised, he could focus on doing what an Official Mage should do in the future.

While complaining about the Mage Tower's task promotion system, he continued to pick tasks; the feeling of being forced to eat humble pie really wasn't pleasant!

It was already late today, the tasks wouldn't be updated, and the few remaining tasks were mostly ones he had already picked over. Xia Duo just scanned through them, gave up, and prepared to come back the next day.

If he could encounter another task with such an extremely high cost-performance ratio like today's, that would simply be amazing!

After dinner, Xia Duo was preparing to spend some time in the Library when he suddenly received a notification from the Tower Spirit on the way—

"Apprentice Xia Duo, the Permission Level elevation process has been initiated. Please go to the Examination Room as soon as possible to await examination."

Xia Duo's heart jolted; it was finally here! The Lord had finally appeared!

If he had chosen the management-type Permission Level, or had already completed the promotion task quota for the apprentice-type Permission Level, he could have raised his Permission Level long ago.

It was precisely because he hadn't completed the quota while needing to raise his Permission Level that the situation required the Lord's intervention, which was why he had been stuck here. Under normal circumstances, apprentices would not encounter this situation after becoming an Official Mage.

Xia Duo was also looking forward to it—would he get to see the Lord? When the time came, should he show his brilliance or hide his light a little?

First of all, the previous similar case was Aidelian, who eventually became the Lord's student, which made Xia Duo very expectant.

And if he could also become the Lord's student, his future would be well-guaranteed; at least until now, he hadn't heard of anything happening to the Lord's students.

Thinking this way, Xia Duo's steps toward the Public Level Examination Room were much lighter. While walking, he envisioned the days of being the Lord's student, while simultaneously distracted by the issue of 【Steam Ray】.

If he had to be examined later, it would inevitably be this 【Steam Ray】. When he first created this Spell, Xia Duo had only considered the problem of breaking through the First Layer of the Weave and hadn't given much thought to the Spell's practicality.

Of course, this didn't mean 【Steam Ray】 was useless; it was just that Xia Duo felt it could be further improved to make it more practical.

He already had some ideas now, but these ideas might be considered heterodox in the Mage Tower, so Xia Duo was not prepared to demonstrate them in front of outsiders for the time being.

……

The Mage on duty in the Examination Room today was still the Mage Depake from last time. Xia Duo hadn't finished reading the Magic Book that he had borrowed from him, and he hadn't expected them to meet again in just a few days.

"Lord Depake, I just received a notification from the Tower Spirit saying I should come over for an examination—"

Xia Duo unobtrusively scanned the room. It wasn't large and couldn't hide anyone; he was a bit disappointed that the Lord hadn't come.

He didn't suspect that the Lord was using Magic to turn invisible; after all, he wasn't some special person, so what qualifications did he have to make the Lord observe him while invisible?

And the words of Mage Depake that followed made him even more certain of this.

"Xia Duo, the examination is just a formality. The Lord has already agreed to raise your Permission Level; calling you over is mainly to arrange a mentor for you."

As soon as he heard "arrange," Xia Duo understood that he wouldn't be able to become the Lord's student!

Xia Duo felt extremely agitated inside. Such a great opportunity had actually been missed. He believed that whether it was his upgrade speed or his understanding of Magic, he surpassed Aidelian, so how could the Lord let him go!

But on the surface, he still had to maintain a polite attitude and said respectfully, "Yes!"

Depake was very satisfied with Xia Duo's attitude. "Cast the Spell you mentioned last time here; it's called 【Steam Ray】, right?"

"Yes, but here?" Xia Duo asked in confusion. He didn't doubt the strength of the Mage Depake before him, but was an examination like this a bit too hasty?

"Yes, right here, hurry up! I have to take you to see your mentor in a while!"

As he spoke, Mage Depake cast a Protection Spell, which appeared externally as a translucent red shield, and he signaled to Xia Duo, "Aim at this!"

Xia Duo nodded and instantly entered a state of Spellcasting Focus. In his field of vision, that shield emitted a bright Magic Aura, and Xia Duo could vaguely discern the general Spell structure.

But as for its specific magic elements, he could only see the most superficial part.

Although Xia Duo was very curious about the other party's Spell, the other party wasn't casting it for him to study, and of course, it wasn't to test Xia Duo's 【Steam Ray】 either.

It was to prevent Xia Duo's Spell from damaging other things.

Sure enough, after Xia Duo fired the 【Steam Ray】, the ray, which originally wasn't aimed at the center of the shield, automatically took a turn and flew toward the center.

And once it touched the center of Mage Depake's magic shield, the Steam Ray instantly vanished, without even a trace leaking out, which greatly surprised Xia Duo.

This kind of hard "consumption" of Magic without the slightest hint of fireworks was something even Xia Duo himself couldn't do. He could counter his own 【Steam Ray】, but it would be impossible to do so without a ripple.

After all, the key to countering lies in completely reversing the other party's Spellcasting details. Even if the same person did it, the details would differ due to the different states during Spellcasting.

In essence, any Spell, as long as it is cast by a person, will be different; the difference lies in whether some Mages can control the variables with extreme precision.

Of course, Xia Duo felt more that Mage Depake had taken advantage of an unknown Spell; having this kind of Spell that specifically counters rays was the key to completely neutralizing Xia Duo's Spell.

Although Xia Duo was amazed, surprised, and even in awe, he was not discouraged in the slightest. He knew that one day, he would also be able to do all of this, and he would do it even better than the other party.

Having cast 【Steam Ray】 only once, Xia Duo stopped and waited for Mage Depake's judgment.

"Not bad, it is indeed a 1st Circle Spell, and it is also a brand-new Spell that has not been recorded, and its power is quite considerable."

After speaking, Mage Depake cast a Spell to leave a mark on a piece of Parchment on the table and transmitted it away. Immediately after, Xia Duo heard the familiar Tower Spirit notification sound again—

"Mage Xia Duo, congratulations on being promoted to an apprentice-type Official Mage Permission Level. Current Permission Level: 1."

Permission Level 1, it sounded like the very bottom again. The gap between this and what Xia Duo had originally expected—becoming the Lord's student—was just too big!

Even with a good mindset, he couldn't quite take it, and he subconsciously asked, "How many Permission Levels does the Mage Tower have?!"

"Hehe, Xia Duo, no need to be anxious. After I take you to see your mentor, your mentor will raise your Permission Level for you."

It would have been better if he hadn't said that; as soon as he did, Xia Duo felt a chill in his heart. The channels for raising Permission Levels in the future would all be in the hands of the mentor; this was too miserable!

Could it be another kind of alternative indentured labor?

Then Depake handed Xia Duo a Time Tower Badge and said, "This Badge allows you to contact the Tower Spirit outside the Mage Tower. Take it!"

Xia Duo took the Badge numbly. Wasn't this thing essentially the same one he had received at the Award Ceremony before? The only difference was that the back of the Badge he had just received didn't have any inscriptions.

"Sigh—"

With a long sigh in his heart, he followed Mage Depake to see his so-called "mentor"!