It seems that this level three Magic practitioner is not much different from a struggling college student... Upon realizing this fact, Tiran's gaze towards young Pascal suddenly softened a lot. It must be that sitting here was not by choice, and working hard on research papers and lab reports definitely sets a great example for others.
"Chirp, just concentrate and proceed with the test directly," Tiran said.
Since there was no need to disturb them further, after all, Tiran had experienced similar struggles himself, he leisurely returned to Chirp's side and led her to the Magic crystal ball.
First up was elemental affinity. As Chirp's small hand touched the crystal ball, a warm red light radiated from inside, growing brighter and stronger, resembling flames.
"Great affinity for fire elements, first class. Go on and touch another crystal ball," Pascal judged the affinity from the red light projected onto the paper in front of him, while continuing to scribble rapidly. He was somewhat surprised despite his expertise.
Although being an above-average student at the Magic Academy himself and excelling in fire-based Magic, having a first-class fire elemental affinity, the natural talent of this girl who came to be tested was truly exceptional, wasn't it?
But before Chirp could move her hand away, the red light of the elemental crystal ball suddenly dimmed, followed by a clear blue light emanating.
"Dual elemental affinity? Also first class?" Pascal's pen paused briefly, but he resisted the urge to look up and continued working on his paper... No, no, the deadline was approaching, finish first, deal with this later.
For an average person, having an affinity level of three in one element was already considered satisfactory, qualifying them as a Magic practitioner. And having worked as a test examiner for a while now, he had seen around ten or so individuals with dual affinities, mostly wind and earth elements that didn't clash violently with others... It was quite rare for one to simultaneously achieve first-class in elements like water and fire, whose inherent natures were incompatible.
Then... the crystal ball changed color again.
"What in the world? Is this thing broken?" Pascal exclaimed.
For the next minute, except for Pascal who was engrossed in writing, the other three people in the room looked at Chirp holding the elemental crystal ball in a daze, as it radiated a colorful light like disco ball lights flashing in a dance hall: shades of green for wind, yellow-brown for earth, deep black for darkness, pure white for light, alternating with the initial red and blue lights.
Finally, Pascal couldn't take it anymore. With a firm strike of the quill pen on the table, he raised his head, snatched the crystal ball on the stand, and infused it with his magic to carefully inspect it.
No issues, right? The red light emitted when he held it was the normal single color.
Which meant... Pascal looked at Tiran with a look of extreme shock and involuntarily swallowed hard, "Excuse me, may I know your name?"
Wow, that look. Tiran clenched his fist tightly, nice. This was the effect he wanted.
After all, he was a genius in his own right, a reincarnator with a protagonist's halo! Shouldn't these kinds of pretentious scenes be the norm?
Even though this time it wasn't himself putting on the act...
Glancing at the equally astonished Nefer beside him, Tiran cleared his throat and picked up the somewhat puzzled Chirp, "Sorry, you got the wrong person, the one who touched the crystal ball just now was this child."
"Ahahaha, Miss, don't joke around. I remember your voice from earlier and besides, how old is this child...?"
Are you kidding me? Do you want me to accept the fact that an eleven or twelve-year-old girl surpasses me in all element affinities? Tiran didn't bother explaining and just had Chirp touch the crystal ball Pascal was holding again.
The disco ball came to life once more, casting colorful lights on Pascal's incredibly astonished face, making the atmosphere quite awkward. Pascal almost dropped the crystal ball in his hands.
"Umm..."
Rubbing his chin and pondering between Chirp and the crystal ball for a while, Pascal took a deep breath to calm himself down, then put the elemental affinity crystal ball back in its place and pushed the magical intensity testing crystal ball towards them.
"Anyway, let's try this one next," Pascal said.
With an inquiring look from Chirp, and encouraged by Tiran, she placed her little hand on it.
"...Huh?" Pascal rubbed his eyes, making sure he wasn't seeing things. What was up with that symbol? Was it a ④ right?
No, no, this was too much of a deviation from normalcy. Even if he collided with an unprecedented genius, surpassing everyone in all elemental affinities was one thing, but with such a young child... even if she had been training prior to this, reaching level four was out of line, right? Did she start training in the embryonic stage?
Elemental affinity may be pure innate talent, but magical power, being the overriding factor, was the accumulation of postnatal meditation and training. Pascal considered himself quite diligent, having entered the Magic Academy on a government scholarship at the age of twelve and almost ten years later had only just reached the threshold of intermediate level.
This level of skill was undoubtedly the template for a future legendary hero. At worst, she was reserved in the ranks of the top Magic elites. Was this what true genius looked like... although it had nothing to do with him, the sudden impact of witnessing such excellence destroyed a little smug pride Pascal had in himself.
"Hello, are you okay?" Tiran waved his hand in front of Pascal to snap him out of his trance.
"Sorry, I got a bit lost in thought. This child's talent... unheard of," Pascal quickly coughed a bit to cover up his slip, revealing a polite smile. "So, the test is over, and I will prepare an official evaluation report for this... uh, individual on behalf of the Magic Guild. If you are interested in joining the Magic practitioner guild or enrolling in the Magic Academy, I can provide the relevant channels directly."
"Hey, can't you just grant her a Magic practitioner level title? Come on, sir, you said Chirp's talent is rare, can't you make an exception?" Tiran teased with a smirk and Pascal became flustered, involuntarily taking two steps back – under normal circumstances, his work experience would have prevented this, but the blow to his self-assurance caused by Chirp's magical evaluation results made him a little tense.
"Don't be nervous, it was just a joke," Tiran shrugged and moved back to Chirp's side, realizing they couldn't just casually hand out certification of levels, even the Knight's Association, which was not so theory-oriented, still required a general knowledge exam.
In the end, she was merely curious about Chirp's current magical level - magical reserves were one thing, but spiritual strength intensity was another. Maybe it was just a small show of excitement?
Feeling satisfied inside, Tiran experienced a surge of parental pride upon seeing the reaction of the young man earlier.
"Well then, sorry for the interruption, we will take our leave now."
Waving her hand, Tiran held Chirp's hand to leave.
