The exam location is set within an independent building deep in Zone 7.
It is a circular hall entirely built from gray-white stone, approximately one hundred ters in diater and over thirty ters tall.
The emblem of the Six-Ring Tower is engraved above the hall’s main entrance, and two guards wearing council uniforms stand at the door.
The trainees arrive one after another, forming a long queue at the entrance.
So speak in low voices, so close their eyes to rest, and so keep checking the ti on their pocket watches.
Duke stands midway in the queue, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding faces.
He can sense that the factional divide is becoming more pronounced here.
People from the Golden Continent gather together at the front of the line.
Their conversation is unrestrained, occasionally erupting into laughter, as if they are at so fun event.
People from the East Coast stand behind them silently, not engaging in those conversations.
Native trainees from the Central Islands are scattered around, neither close to the Golden Continent nor deliberately distancing themselves.
People from the West Coast, Vera, Edmond, they stand at the back of the queue.
It’s not that they want to stand at the back, but the people from the Golden Continent simply have no intention of giving up their position.
Duke lowers his gaze slightly.
This is why Raymond wants them to unite.
In places like this, without a background, power, or sufficiently strong individual capability, one gets pushed to the margins.
The queue slowly advances.
About a quarter of an hour later, Duke finally reaches the entrance.
A guard checks his badge information, nods, and steps aside.
"Inside, the third entrance on the left, find your examination room according to your badge number."
Duke steps into the hall.
The interior is much more spacious than he imagined, the do is very high, reaching thirty ters, with a massive alchemical chandelier hanging in the center, emitting a soft white glow.
The floor is smooth black stone, engraved with complex glyph patterns that slowly swirl.
The walls around are lined with nurous doors, each with a number above.
The trainees follow their badge guides, dispersing towards different entrances.
Duke finds his examination room, number seventeen.
He pushes open the door marked seventeen and steps in.
Then he stops.
Behind the door is not a test room as he expected, but a vast grassland.
Beneath his feet is soft grass reaching up to his ankles, the blades adorned with dense dewdrops, reflecting silver glimrs in so unknown light source.
Above is not a ceiling, but an expansive starry sky.
Countless stars are set into the deep blue vault, slowly swirling, occasionally with teors streaking across, trailing long tails disappearing at the horizon.
In the distance, vague outlines of rolling hills can be seen, and further away is a dense forest.
A gentle breeze brushes past, bringing the scent of grass and earth, along with an indescribable, invigorating feeling.
This is a spatial Witch Array, and an exceptionally sophisticated one at that.
Duke takes a deep breath, imdiately sensing the dense, almost overflowing energy in the surrounding air.
The concentration of free energy particles is at least five tis higher than outside.
Moreover, the six basic elents—light, dark, water, fire, wind, earth—here are distributed extrely evenly; each is distinctly recognizable, as if waiting for him to seize.
Duke steps forward, walks about a hundred steps, and an airborne stone platform appears ahead.
The platform is entirely made of gray-white stone, its surface engraved with complex glyph patterns, currently emitting a soft glow.
Neatly arranged on the platform are dozens of fist-sized blank Crystal Stones, each being purely transparent.
Beside them are six trays, marked "Light," "Dark," "Water," "Fire," "Wind," "Earth," for storing the absorbed stones.
Duke picks up a Crystal Stone, examining it in his palm.
Inside the stone, light faintly flows; he can sense that it is a container specially designed for storing Elental Particles.
High quality and large capacity.
Next to it lies a parchnt with several lines written:
Examination Content One: Within the stipulated ti, absorb the environnt’s Elental Particles into the blank Crystal Stone until saturation. Filling at least one stone is required for passing. Those filling multiple stones will be assessed based on quantity and quality. The stones are unlimited, freely available.
Examination Content Two: Upon the test beginning, a model of Elental Magic personally designed by Arthur will be distributed. You need to learn the model on-site while absorbing stones and successfully construct it within the stipulated ti, continuously injecting Elental Energy corresponding to the magic’s attributes into the model during construction.
Ti limit: Three hours.
Scoring Criteria:
-Quantity and purity of stone absorption (80%)
-Mastery speed and completion of the magic model (10%)
-Synchronization and coordination of absorption and construction (10%)
Duke’s gaze lingers on "unlimited" and "three hours."
Three hours, more generous than expected.
And unlimited ans, as long as one has the capability, they can absorb as many stones as they want.
But he quickly suppresses this thought.
He cannot reveal too much.
The simultaneous mastery of six elents is his greatest secret and his trump card.
In this current environnt of factional strife and continuous conflicts, revealing such a trump card would only invite trouble.
He has always been low-key, and no one has noticed him; such a situation is well-suited for gradual developnt.
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