Reality Check

After waiting in line for the clerk for a fifteen minutes in line they got to see the same clerk again.

The father and daughter duo could not conceal their happiness and excitement. Starting a mage bloodline was something Elen could only dream about. And now he could help his daughter to start a new chapter for their family. The clerk looked at them in a strange way. He could not really understand what's was going on with the duo.

Elly handed the clerk the token and stared at him expectantly.

"Oh, you have a low aptitude for the water element. Congratulations." The clerk said.

"Thank you!" Elly said. She was beaming like a second sun.

"Here is a token for you as a representation of you becoming a part of the mage association. Also here is a little booklet with the general data about the mage association with all you need to know. I wish you good luck on your way as mage." The clerk said in a mechanic voice. It looked like it was something he did on a regular base. Also Elly was handed a booklet and not a parchment like Leo because she had no magic power to use for now.

"Thank you!" Elly said, excited.

After Elly got all the items from the clerk she and her father went back to the carriage and drove back for the Shmidt residence. On the way both father and daughter looked at the booklet with interest.

There were facilities for mages, potions, spell models like earth bullet(skills), magic artifacts, different cultivation and mediation techniques to increase magic power and other things for sale they did not know how to use. There was only one problem. All of those could be only purchased only by magic crystals and the amount was not low.

The prices for the facilities for mages were from 10 magic crystals per hour, potions could cost from 10 magic crystals up to a few thousand. It depended on the level of the mage. Spell models started from 50 magic crystals. Near every spell there was a note with the magic power recommended to cast the selected spell. Also there was a brief explanation about the levels of the mage apprentice and how much magic power needed to get a first circle magic apprentice power. When the father and daughter duo saw that Elly needed one hundred magic power to get a level one circle of the mage apprentice class they were shocked. Elly was not even close. She was like blind infant with the possibility to grow but with no recourses to do so. She and her father saw that she needed cultivation technique of some sort to advance as a mage. When they saw the prices for those techniques they both lost color on their faces. It was five hundred magic crystals minimum for the cheapest meditation technique. There were also breathing techniques but they costed over a thousand magic crystals. There was another way to get those skills. By getting contribution points after finishing missions of the mage association. But there was a one big problem with the contribution points system. You needed to get to a level of a first circle mage apprentice before you could take any mission. That meant that all ways for outsiders to get any possibility to go a path of a mage was pretty much zero. Elen got gloomy and Elly started to cry silently. They understood that with no external help there is no chance for Elly to get anything done even with her low aptitude for magic.

The road back was made in silence. Elly looked in the distance. She was not focused and went into her own world, thinking about random things. That was her way to shake herself out of the stress she felt today. Elen was pondering on a way to somehow change the situation and find a way for his daughter to become a mage.

"Elly this little guy you met is from some mage bloodline. Is he a noble?" Elen asked.

Elly got out of her daze and after some deliberation answered: "I'm not sure but he looked more like a commoner and not a noble. He robed the people he killed. He even took their bags. This is not something that a noble will do generally."

Elen was elated and said: "This little brat is our chance! We need to contact him and try get some information from him. If he complies I will be glad to get him into our family!"

Elly was very surprised by this revelation. Her over protective father, just like her two older brothers will not generally like the youths that come and make any move on her. Her two older brothers even beaten couple of them pretty harshly because the way they treated Elly. In the question of her future husband there were no people she really liked. Because the current era represented a time where families decided on the future of their offsprings, sometimes even at their infancy, love or a really sincere relationships were a rare case. The Shmidt family was different in this case. The father and brothers really cared for Elly to find someone she really liked. Of course this candidate will need to pass their test and this challenge will won't be anything easy.

"We can try." Elly said.

She had a complicated expression in her face. She did not really like that little guy but he still saved her and her subordinates lives.

After some time of silence between the father daughter duo Elen finally spoke again: "Do you know where to find the little guy? What's his name once again?".

"His name is Leo. If he listened to my advice he should be at the Sun Shine inn." Elly said.

"Great! I have good connections with Miriam, the owner of this inn. I'm sure that I can ask her if he is really one of her residences. We need to act quickly. If this guy is as good as you told me many people will take notice of him and will try to recruite him in one way or another." Elen said.