Chapter 70

"The first step of combat test is the time taken to attack."

"In your case it is going to be instantaneous with your gates if you are within range."

"The standard distance we use to measure the range test is 20 metres. Can you open you open your gates instantaneously at that distance? "

Aaron could use his instant gates at the maximum range of 10 metres. At 20 metres it took him about a second and a half. It was still impressive. The only thing which left Jeremiah dissapointed was that Aaron used a common weapon. A common weapon would hardly break a mages shield.

Next was the test regarding attack strength. Jeremiah didn't have much hopes regarding this test. It exposed the weak point of a space mage. They had no attack spells.

They could redirect the spells and use mortal weapons. But those were good against a group fight or against mortals. Not when facing against a strong mage.

Jeremiah still did what he was supposed to do. He too Aaron to a corner in the testing ground.

There was a human sized stone standing there.

"This is a special kind of stone produced by the mage association. The purpose of this stone is to measure the attack strength of a mage. This is one of the toughest material known to mages. An ordinary spell wouldnt even leave a scratch."

"An attack strength is rated by the degree of damage left upon it. You will get two chances to use your attacks. Remember you can't use a mage stone for this. "

"Begin when you are ready. "

Aaron had left his sword in the inn. He was carrying a dagger, but it had a mage stone on it. As per the rules, he couldn't use a mage stone. But could he use a dagger to attack?

"Can I use mortal weapons to attack?" he asked Jeremiah.

"There are no rules against using a mortal weapon without a mage stone. But let me tell you that weapons are useless against this stone, they wouldnt even scratch it. "

"I would still need a dagger or a sword. " Aaron replied.

Jeremiah arranged a sword for Aaron from one of the guards at the association.

Aaron observed the sword. It was made in a different style then he was used to. But it was of a good quality as far as Aaron could tell.

He slowly put an atomic edge on the sword.

He took a deep breath and used his telekinesis spell to take a swing at the stone with the sword.

The result dissapointed Aaron. The sword barely cut into the stone. It got stuck after penetrating just an inch.

Aaron never thought the stone would be so tough. Ordinary stones and materials didn't even slow down an atomic blade. Even the beast in the desolate area with the strongest defensive ability would have more damage from an atomic blade than this stone.

In terms of toughness alone, this stone surpassed whatever Aaron had seen or known. He wondered how the mages on this world made such a thing.

He pulled back the sword and began applying another edge on it. This time Aaron concentrated on making even a better edge than before.

While Aaron was busy applying his edge and pondering on the stone, Jeremiah was shocked.

This boy had suprised him over and over again.

It wasn't that he hadn't seen mages inflict more damage on the stone. He himself could do it. But those were really high tiered spells by experienced mages.

He had never seen such damage inflicted on the stone before by a mage this young. What sort of an enchantment was this which made a common weapon cut this way?

Most young mages would barely leave a few scars and chip off small pieces from the stone. But no one could inflict such precise damage. An inch wasn't a joke.

Aaron was ready with his second round of attack. The edge this time was the finest Aaron had ever produced. He took a swing at the stone again.

The result this time was better. The sword cut two and a half inches deep but stuck there. Aaron was still dissapointed though. Initially he had though that his spell was really good and could cleave through this stone easily. After the first try, he knew it wasn't possible.

He had still hoped for a better performance in his second attempt. But the failure really put a dent on his confidence.

Once again as he was feeling dejected, Jeremiah had his mouth hanging. Although he didnt leak out his expressions, he was flabbergasted at the result. If an extremely talented elementalist achieved this result, he would have excepted it. But this was true mage. Everyone knew true mages didn't excel in combat. There were exceptions of course, but they were what they were 'exceptions'. They weren't the common phenomenon.

"Alright I am done. And as for the last test regarding damage over an area, I don't have any spells for it. At most I could use three swords to attack in the similar way as before in an area, but I don't think that counts as an area of effect spell. "

Aaron's voice woke Jeremiah up from his thoughts.

Those three swords would take life of any one in that area if it connects. That's what Jeremiah thought. But he knew it still couldn't be counted as an area of effect spell. You needed constant damage over an area to consider it as one.

"Okay. I will pass on your evaluation to the Mage Association. You will get your final results tomorrow."

"You will get your badges tomorrow as well."

"As for today, you can take your time to explore this city. I heard it's your first time here. It's not too bad a place to explore. "

"Yes, I will do that."