Chapter Sixteen: Seven Knights and Five Mages

Now, let's start with the aura test. It was a simple test—Nevalis would inject some aura into their bodies. If they could sense it or feel heat and tingling within themselves, the test would be successful. However, if they only felt mild pain and nothing else, it meant they lacked the talent to use aura and would remain stuck in the warrior class. Of course, this wasn't an absolute rule; some had managed to awaken their aura even after failing the test, but such cases were rare.

This test took more than two and a half hours for everyone. Naturally, each individual took at most four minutes, but the issue lay with Nevalis himself. After all, he still couldn't fully use a real aura. He was merely imitating it with pure mana, and even that required a great deal of effort, energy, and mental focus.

After more than two and a half hours, the examination was finally over. Nevalis was slightly surprised—he had found seven individuals with potential to use aura.

"What the hell? Why are they rotting away in a place like this?" he muttered to himself. Any noble family would welcome this many potential knights with open arms. Even the dukes would desire such a number of knights.

A few minutes later, Nevalis got over his shock. After all, not everyone with the qualifications would necessarily become a knight.

Now came the more important and relatively easier part—the mana test.

"So, who wants to be the first to undergo the examination?"

Immediately, everyone wanted to step forward, but Evan was the first to move and said,

"I'll go first!"

He seemed extremely excited, and no one objected, so he stepped up with Nevalis and became the first to be tested.

Half an hour later, after examining everyone, Nevalis sat on a chair, looking astonished.

He muttered to himself in shock,

"Five... five mages."

The magic circle test revealed four mages, and with the addition of old Elias, Nevalis now had five mages. This exceeded his expectations. Even the most powerful baron families had at most three mages. Of course, there was a difference between mages; the strongest among them rarely surpassed the third circle.

Nevalis guessed that the reason for this limitation was either due to orders from the four duchies and the imperial family, the natural talent cap of these mages, or perhaps both. The constant wars between the baron families could also be a factor.

Even the highest-ranked mage in the imperial family was only a fifth-circle mage.

And now, in front of him, were five mages under his control. Of course, four of them had yet to begin their magical journey, but this was still remarkable!

Nevalis had already recovered from the shock of discovering seven potential knights, knowing that simply possessing aura potential didn't guarantee one would become a knight. Advancing in the path of a knight required experience, talent, and perseverance.

Similarly, the path of a mage had various conditions that distinguished mages of the same rank, such as their understanding of magic. Even if two mages were at the same rank and used the same type of magic, their power levels would differ based on their comprehension. There was also the matter of mana recovery talent.

Rubbing his forehead, Nevalis refocused on the situation before him.

Twelve people stood in front of him—five mages and seven potential knights.

He decided to deal with them one by one. First, he would start with the group that would take the least time—the seven knights.

Looking at them, Nevalis said,

"Congratulations. You are potential knights, which means you have three paths to choose from."

"First, you can join one of the barons under Duke Lankros. That family is known to be the strongest and best in training knights on the continent, and personally, I recommend this option."

"The second option is to join the army. This is also a good choice, as it provides training, experience, and money, along with opportunities for promotion within the military ranks."

"The third option, which I do not recommend, is joining an adventurer or mercenary guild. While this path will provide experience, it won't offer proper training, and for beginners like you, the chances of dying are high."

"So, what is your choice?"

After a few seconds, a boy around the same age as Ryan stepped forward. He had sharp features and a lean but well-defined physique. He stepped up and said,

"My name is Kailen, and I will join the army."

Behind him, two others stepped forward, seemingly making the same decision.

Nevalis nodded. "Good."

Then he turned to the remaining three. The eldest among them hesitated before stepping forward. After a few seconds of uncertainty, he finally said,

"Like Kailen, my name is Korin, and I wish to join a noble family."

He said this hesitantly, as if he didn't truly want to.

Nevalis could already guess the reason behind his hesitation but asked anyway,

"It's clear you don't want to join a noble family. So why did you choose this path?"

All eyes fell on Korin, waiting for his response. They all knew about his hatred for nobles, so his choice puzzled them.

Korin remained silent for a moment before raising his head with unwavering determination. He then said,

"I don't want to go. I don't want to associate with those scum. But in the end, we will have to bring them down, so I will go among them. When the opportunity arises, I will crush them all. I will kill them all without mercy. I will leave none alive."

As Korin spoke, hatred blazed in his eyes. If looks could kill, the nobles would have died a thousand times over.

Silence filled the room as everyone felt the sheer intensity of Korin's hatred toward the nobles.

Nevalis nodded, then looked at the two remaining knights.

After Korin's words, they made their decision and said,

"We will also go to noble families."

Their determination was evident, and Nevalis nodded in approval.

Now, only one remained, but Nevalis left him for the mage group. He was someone with a body like Nevalis—capable of using both aura and magic.

It was Ryan.

Nevalis said,

"So, it's settled. Three will go to the army, and three will join noble families. Now, let's move on to our second treasures—the ones who will walk the path of magic."

"First, let's start with you, old man Elias. Tell me, what is your magic?"

Old Elias hesitated briefly before saying,

"Don't get your hopes up. I don't have any useful or offensive magic."

Nevalis replied, "Just tell me, old man. No magic is useless."

Elias sighed and said,

"Wood magic and enhancement magic, but not general enhancement—only enhancement for my magic."

Silence filled the room. Truly, it didn't seem like anything special.

But as soon as Nevalis heard these words, he jumped up from his chair, eyes wide open.

Elias frowned. "Didn't I tell you not to get your hopes up? My magic isn't offensive, and my enhancement magic only strengthens my own spells."

But Nevalis was thinking about something completely different.

"What kind of madness is this? How incompetent is the imperial family to let such gems rot here?"

Nevalis grinned. "It seems my luck keeps getting better and better." He laughed.

Elias looked at him in confusion. This wasn't the reaction he expected.

Before Elias could speak, Nevalis said,

"How foolish must the family you served have been not to realize the importance of a unique magic enhancer like you? But lucky for me, you ended up here."

Elias didn't know whether to laugh or cry at those words, but he chose to ignore them and asked,

"How is my magic unique?"

Nevalis chuckled. "Do you know the types of magic enhancers?"

Elias raised an eyebrow and replied,

"Aren't there only two? Those like me who enhance their own magic, and those who use enhancement magic on their bodies."

Nevalis calmly said,

"This is simply vulgar talk."

The people in the room struggled to hold back their laughter.

Nevalis continued,

"Listen, old man. Enhancement magic is divided into two main categories: enhancing people and enhancing objects. The former, as its name suggests, strengthens members of one's group—this is the common type.

However, object enhancement is divided into two types: enhancing a mage's own magic or enhancing surrounding objects. This is the rare type and falls under special magic classification.

And that… is your magic."