As Claude expected, Landes's diary might as well be called a memoir.
When he wrote the diary, he had already become a third-rank rune magus and stood out among the hundred or so low-ranked magi and apprentice magi in the tower that was destroyed by the explosion. That was when he finally got his own room in the basement.
It was also because he had his own personal space that he used the few shaliuns he received as a reward to buy the notebook made of rune parchment for his diary.
So, in the beginning of the diary, Landes patiently described his childhood experiences, his family's situation, his parents' hard work, his siblings' love and so on.
The first ten pages of the diary were filled with memories and nostalgia for the home he left behind.
However, Claude could tell from those pages that Landes was proud of himself for successfully becoming a third-rank rune magus. He only took four years to go from an illiterate fourteen-year-old to a third-rank rune magus. He believed that he didn't let down his parents' expectations and his talent in magic.
As Landes wrote in ancient Hez, Claude read the diary very slowly. Occasionally, he even had to look up some unfamiliar words in the dictionary.
But from the ten pages, Claude realized that magi weren't as evil as the legends on Freia made them out to be.
Landes wrote that his home was in Whitestag, by the picturesque lakeside of Lake Balinga.
Claude knew that it was where Whitestag used to be.
However, Landes also mentioned that the entire southwestern region, the three prefectures including Whitestag, was the domain of the master of Egret Magic Tower, Grand Magus Loenk.
However, Loenk was focused on exploring the mysteries of magic and didn't have the time to deal with such mundane matters. So, he left the management of his domain to the three magus families.
There were eight people in Landes's family. Aside from himself and his parents, there were two older brothers and two younger sisters. There was also a grandmother who didn't like Landes much, and Landes didn't like her either. She lived with them and their family.
Landes's father owned a small fishing boat. Every day, he would bring Landes's two brothers to Lake Balinga to fish.
The family also had five acres of land and a small vegetable garden, which were taken care of by her mother and a sister. They also had a cow and a pack horse. This was what Landes was responsible for when he was young. Every day, he had to cut a lot of grass to feed the two animals.
Landes' grandmother and sister had a lot of chores to do at home, and they also had to feed a dozen chickens.
The family was busy all day, but every year, they had to hand over half of their harvest to the housekeeper sent by the magic nobles to collect taxes. The rest of the harvest was barely enough for the family of eight.
Seeing that Landes' two brothers and sister were about to grow up and it was time for them to consider their marriage, Landes' parents began to worry and worry. They didn't know how to get a large sum of money so that their children could settle down and get married in style.
At this moment, the Magic Apprentice test that was held once every ten years began again.
The so-called Magic Apprentice Test was a test that the seventh-ring archmagus Loenk conducted on all the children in the southwest region. The children were tested from five to fifteen years old.
Children who were found to have magical talent would be brought to the magic tower to be trained as apprentices when they were above the age of twelve. Those below the age of twelve would be registered and tested again when they were twelve. Those whose magical talent didn't change would be brought to the magic tower to be trained as apprentices.
Magical talent can change?
Claude couldn't understand.
However, the diary entry that followed soon excited him. According to Landes, his hearing had always been sharp since he was young. Even when his grandmother complained to his parents that he was slacking off and didn't take care of the two big animals at home, he could still hear it clearly. That was why even though his grandmother treated him equally in front of his siblings, he still disliked her. In fact, he even felt a little annoyed …
Landes said that sometimes, he would let the cows and horses graze on the grass and he would lie down on it.
But even if he closed his eyes, the surroundings and the movements of the cows and horses would still appear in his mind as if he was seeing it with his own eyes.
Isn't he in the same situation as me? Magus Landes's mental power seems to be quite strong as well.
The one who came to Whitestag to test the children's magical talent was a bearded magus. He wore a black robe and had a stern expression on his face. In the eyes of the children, he was a terrifying person.
However, this terrifying magician was accompanied by the housekeeper who brought guards to the village every year to collect taxes. The villagers who received the notice obediently brought their children of suitable age to queue up for the magic talent test.
Landes' parents brought him and his sister to the back of the line. There were more than forty families in front of them and more than fifty children were to be tested.
Whitestag Village was probably the last stop for the magic aptitude test in the entire southwestern region. Beside the terrifying magus were a dozen or so children in gray robes of the same style. There were boys and girls among them. They stood there proudly and watched the children who were being tested without a word.
The test went quickly. However, none of the children in front of Landes were found to have magical talent.
Soon, it was Landes's family's turn. His parents had his sister take the test first. The test tool was a transparent crystal ball. The dark-faced magus had his sister stare at the crystal ball. Landes thought he saw the crystal ball flash with a green light, and then he heard the dark-faced magus announce that her wood element affinity level was three. She failed.
Finally, it was Landes' turn. He carefully looked at the crystal ball on the shelf in front of him and really wanted to touch it to see what it felt like.
However, the dark-faced magus didn't give him the chance. He pointed at the crystal ball and told him to stare at it to see what was inside.
Only then did Landes notice that there seemed to be something inside the crystal ball that he couldn't see clearly. It was colorless and transparent, as if liquid was flowing inside the crystal ball.
But the more it was like that, the more Landes tried to stare at it to see what it was.
Wizard Landes was not disappointed. He finally saw what was inside the crystal ball. It was a ball of fire that was burning brighter and brighter. Its color grew redder as the flames flickered and changed into various shapes, just like the clouds in the sky. Sometimes it looked like sheep, and sometimes it looked like a house …
When the flame in the crystal ball gradually dimmed and turned back into a transparent, colorless liquid, Landes finally snapped out of his daze. He lifted his head and saw that the sorcerer, who had been sullen all this while, had a surprised expression on his face. The sorcerer was almost shouting. Fire elemental affinity: 9, mental power: 8. You're outstanding. You've been chosen.
Landes wrote in his diary that after becoming an apprentice in the magic tower for a year, he learned how to read and had some basic knowledge of magic. Only then did he find out that the crystal ball was called the Magical Talent Test Ball. It was a magic tool personally crafted by the master of the magic tower, Archmagus Loenk. It was used to test one's talent in magic.
In the eyes of magi, everyone in the world had talent in magic, and mortals were no exception. It was just a matter of how much they had.
They called talent elemental affinity and it was divided into five levels: one to two, low, three to four, common, and five to six, average or passable.
If it was a mortal, however, they would have to spend a certain amount of magic resources to nurture it and it would be troublesome to advance it.
If it was a magus or a relative of a magus family, an elemental affinity level of five to six would still be possible.
For the magi who held the majority of the power to distribute magic resources, there was a saying that resonated deeply in their hearts: if you don't have enough talent, you can make up for it with resources.
Just like in the computer games of Claude's previous world, players with money were the gods the game companies paid the most attention to.
Even if a normal player spent a lot of time and effort to train their character to the highest level, they still wouldn't be able to win against players with money.
As long as they spent some money, they could equip their character with all sorts of high-grade equipment and beat you up in all sorts of ways.
Having an elemental affinity level of seven to eight meant that they had exceptional talent in magic. Even the children of mortals were worthy of being nurtured by magi.
They didn't need to spend much magic resources. The apprentices with an elemental affinity level of seven to eight only needed to learn the basics and with hard work and time, it wouldn't be surprising for them to become fifth-ring magi.
When that happened, they would have the right to become high-ranked magi's helpers and managers.
The highest level of talent was an elemental affinity level of nine to ten. That was already considered a genius.
If the children of magi families were found to have such high elemental affinity, the magi family would definitely hold a grand celebration and they wouldn't have to worry about it for at least the next two to three centuries.
It was a pity that the children of mortals wouldn't be of much help to their future. They would only end up as fifth-ring black-iron magi in the end.
In that regard, they wouldn't even be able to compare to the children of magi families with an elemental affinity level of five to six. Those people would have access to magic resources that the children of mortals would never be able to obtain in their entire lives.
Apart from elemental affinity, the magic talent could also check the size of the examinee's spiritual power.
Generally speaking, the examinee with a high elemental affinity would have a lot of spiritual power.
Take Landes's performance as an example. He had an affinity with the fire element, so when he stared at the crystal ball intently, the colorless magic liquid inside the crystal ball would turn into a flame that represented the fire element due to his concentration, and the light it reflected would increase according to his affinity level.
He might not have noticed the light because he was too focused, but the magi standing beside him could see it clearly.
The amount of spiritual power was reflected by the changes in the test liquid in the crystal ball. The higher the spiritual power of the testee, the more changes in the test liquid in the crystal ball would take place, and the longer the test would last.
For instance, Landes felt that the flames in the crystal ball were like clouds, constantly changing into various shapes and patterns. In reality, his spiritual power was being reflected in the crystal ball, and it was being observed by the magus beside him.
At that time, Landes didn't know what the dark-faced magus meant when he said that he was chosen. He was just afraid.
But soon enough, the butler in charge of collecting taxes walked to his parents and congratulated them on being chosen. At the same time, he announced that because Landes had become a magus apprentice, their family would be exempted from taxes in the future.
This news was a huge surprise to Landes' parents. They could finally confirm that it was a good thing that Landes had been chosen.
Therefore, when they returned home, they held a grand celebration party and invited their neighbors to celebrate. While they gulped down the cheap ale, they did not forget to talk about the future after they no longer had to pay taxes. They said that their family would quickly become rich, and in another two or three years, they would be able to build a new house for their grown up child …