Chapter 460: Wings, Spell Reversal

His new subordinate, Aidi, had become an Intermediate Mage in just one year. Naturally, Aosike would test him, and what Xia Duo displayed was not the shortsightedness of one seeking only spellcasting levels, but the true potential of an Arcanist.

Over this past year, Aosike had called Xia Duo over from time to time to offer guidance, his attitude of showing favor and attempting to recruit him barely concealed. Hearing now that Xia Duo's goal was the Judgment Division, Aosike's smile became even more amiable:

"Very good, though you should know that the Judgment Division is not a place just anyone can join."

Xia Duo had been waiting for these words. "I ask for your instruction, my lord!"

When he first started the job, he had learned that Aosike had failed to advance to Advanced Arcanist and was recuperating; he had been preparing to take this path back then. Now it seemed Aosike's advancement this time must be secure.

Sure enough, a smug smile appeared on Aosike's face. "I have successfully advanced, though I have yet to report it to those above. I must say, your luck is truly quite good. I will need a Clerk in the Judgment Division in the future; are you interested in coming over?"

A Clerk? Xia Duo's eyes lit up, and he immediately agreed, "Yes!"

He knew this was a job similar to an assistant. After all, becoming an Arcanist largely meant one was reserved for the future position of a Great Arcanist. Even if they did not join the Research Institute, they did not wish to waste most of their time on administrative chores; finding an assistant was already the mainstream.

And it was not just Arcanists; even Archmages had the idea of becoming Legendary first and then advancing to Arcanist. Aside from research and unavoidable combat, outsourcing administrative chores was a good choice.

And since Xia Duo had shown the potential of an Arcanist, Aosike pulling him up now meant he might be a comrade who could save his life in the future.

The Arcane Empire did not have so-called families. Everyone was cultivated by the Empire, taking the state as their home. Many did not even think of their biological parents from beginning to end. Having no kin meant that wings—support—were hard to come by.

A subordinate like Xia Duo was simply like a treasure that had fallen from the sky.

"Good!" Aosike was in high spirits and laughed heartily. However, after laughing twice, he suddenly stopped, his expression turning somewhat serious. "Aidi, the fact that I have successfully advanced cannot be delayed for too long; it must be reported. You have at most one month to raise your rank to a Level 5 Adjudicator. I will maneuver for you to become a Jilan City Judge, and only then can I bring you into the Judgment Division. Do you understand?"

Even an Arcanist could not bring an ordinary "civil servant" into the Judgment Division. Xia Duo had indeed not thought of this point before. He had only recently been promoted to a Level 4 Adjudicator; relying on himself alone, it was impossible to rise another level within a month.

But since Aosike had brought it up, there must be a way to solve it, so he said directly, "I await your orders, my lord!"

Aosike turned, picked up a document from the table, and handed it to Xia Duo. "Take a look first!"

Xia Duo took the document and saw that the upper right corner of the cover was marked with 【Security Level 2】. This mark was not just ordinary text, but a spell imprint; a layer of Magic Aura extended from this mark and covered the entire document.

"My lord?" Xia Duo glanced at Aosike.

"It's fine, take a look."

Only then did Xia Duo open the document. The text inside was not ordinary ink, but magic text. If he guessed correctly, it should have been branded using 【Transcription】.

Not long ago, he had just applied for the spell data for 【Transcription】 and knew that this spell had two forms of manifestation. One used ink as a spellcasting material, leaving behind ordinary text; after 【Dispel Magic】, the text would not disappear.

The other was pure magic text; after casting 【Dispel Magic】, the text would disappear.

However, this document had likely been imbued with other spells as well. Once read incorrectly, the document might automatically destroy itself, or even leave some secret mark on the reader for the relevant departments to track.

Although this was the first time Xia Duo had seen such an encrypted document, with his attainments in Magic, he could still see the trick to it.

As for the content of the document, Xia Duo felt it was somewhat unworthy of such an encryption method. The gist was that the Supervision Division had discovered two demons hiding in a small town called "Little Goat" within the scope of Jilan City, and ordered the Jilan City authorities to implement judgment upon them as soon as possible.

"My lord, do demons often slip into the Empire's territory?"

Hearing this question, Aosike could not help but sigh. "The Empire's overall strength is still not as good as the demons. The Warning Barrier sometimes gives false alarms and sometimes suffers delays; it is not as sensitive as the Demon Barrier."

"However, you don't need to worry. I asked the people at the Supervision Division; these two demons are not those who carry out suicide attacks. They came from the front-line battlefield. After the demon troops were routed, they launched a Collective Teleportation to escape, but were countered by our side. Many demons landed within the Empire's territory, it's just that these two landed in the Jilan City area."

So that was it. Xia Duo was indeed worried about those who carried out suicide attacks. Over this past year, perhaps because of setbacks on the front line, the "demons'" suicide attacks had become more and more frequent, having already developed to places outside of academies, factories, and government offices. Those who attacked were at least at the level of High Mages.

It was just that no matter how many attacks they carried out, it was very difficult to escape the pursuit of the Supervision Division in the end, which was why there was the term "suicide attack."

If they were truly carrying out suicide attacks, Xia Duo would have to find a way to avoid them. He was here to learn Knowledge, not to fight for his life.

In order to learn the Empire's Knowledge, he was willing to pay a certain price, but this absolutely did not include fighting to the death with so-called "demons." In the end, he was not an Imperial Mage cultivated by the Empire; he was just an outsider wearing the skin of an Imperial Mage.

Estimating that he could complete the mission, Xia Duo immediately expressed his determination, "I will definitely complete the mission!"

"Determination alone is not enough."

As he spoke, Aosike took a Scroll Box down from the bookshelf behind his desk and handed it to Xia Duo. After hesitating for a moment, Aosike took a ring off his finger and handed it over as well.

Xia Duo subconsciously took the ring. When the ring had just left Aosike's hand, he hadn't felt anything, but when he saw Aosike's solemn appearance, he couldn't help but enter a state of focus, and a dazzling Magic Aura suddenly pressed into his field of vision.

Its intensity was almost no less than the 【Pioneer Scepter】 he possessed.

And at this moment, Aosike's cautious voice also came over, "Take this 【Spell Reversal Ring】 with you as well. Although eliminating demons is important, sometimes life is also important. Do not let me down."

Even though Xia Duo was accustomed to detaching himself from the identity of "Aidi," he could not help but feel a bit moved at this moment.

He nodded solemnly, performed a salute, and said once more, "I will definitely complete the mission!"

"Go!"

"Yes."

……