Sarah and Emma exchanged a look, both seemingly weighing their words.
Sarah spoke first, her eyes sparkling with admiration and a touch of emotion. “Teacher Claire, although Iza’s elemental affinity is indeed unimpressive, his performance far exceeded my expectations. One could even say that in some respects, he was my greatest source of peace of mind during this trip.”
“First is his calm and power of observation.” She paused, organizing her thoughts before recounting the incident with the slum children in the Raymond Territory.
“If Iza hadn’t immediately noticed the issue with that group of children, I’m afraid I would have been trapped in a state of self-blame and guilt for a long time…”
Claire’s expression shifted.
She was not like these students who had been soaked in a gentle environment for a long time and had never experienced the dark side of human nature.
Regardless of whether those children were truly infected or not.
She hadn’t expected her seemingly ordinary fourth disciple to be so decisive in his killing.
No wonder he could complete academy commissions for six years without a single injury.
Sarah’s thoughts moved to the night of the goblin raid.
“As you know, the power of his magic is indeed limited. But during the goblin night raid, he always appeared exactly where interference or cover was needed most. That seemingly weak magic often happened to interrupt the goblins’ offensive rhythm or create crucial opportunities for Luke to deal damage.”
“Furthermore, when faced with a sneak attack by the Lord-level Goblin Chief, Iza remained completely unscathed. This can no longer be explained by mere ‘good luck.’ I am more inclined to believe he possesses a kind of extreme insight and evasion talent for danger that we do not yet fully understand.” Claire narrowed her eyes.
Iza having a talent for insight and danger avoidance… that might actually be possible.
Emma nodded vigorously from the side and took over, her tone filled with gratitude and trust.
“Teacher Claire, Sarah is right! Iza is truly incredible! Although he isn’t good at offensive magic, he knows so much! At Moon Dock, if he hadn’t helped me analyze the potion market and come up with such a clever method, I might still be…”
Claire interrupted Emma. “Alright, that’s enough.”
She naturally knew everything about Emma’s experiences.
Perhaps, just as Isa said, Emma’s character indeed needed more tempering.
Since her two prized students both held Iza in such high regard, Claire tapped her knuckles lightly against the desk, a deep and meaningful light flashing through her eyes.
She recalled Iza’s usual “hardworking but limited talent” appearance, then combined it with the vastly different traits he displayed during life-or-death crises as described by Sarah and Emma. A barely perceptible curve formed at the corner of her mouth.
“You might not know this, but your junior brother has a one hundred percent injury-free completion rate for academy commissions.”
The moment these words were spoken, shock appeared in Sarah’s and Emma’s eyes.
Sarah then added, “Teacher Claire, Iza actually has incredibly high magic control talent as well. He can cast spells of five different elements simultaneously.”
Now, it was Claire’s turn to be shocked.
Controlling five elemental spells at once… even she couldn’t do such a thing.
Just as Isa had predicted, her understanding of Iza was far too shallow. “I see…” she responded softly, her eyes full of surprise. “It seems my fourth disciple is hiding quite a few interesting secrets.”
In the future, she would have to pay much more attention to him.
—
Iza led the group of anxious children all the way to Starlight Academy’s Magic Talent Testing Room.
After explaining his purpose to the teacher on duty, the teacher took out the standard magic crystal ball used to test elemental affinity.
The children followed the order, one by one placing their small hands on the cold crystal ball.
The atmosphere was somewhat stagnant. Most of the children had vacant expressions mixed with a faint trace of hope.
However, the results were exactly as the testing teacher and Iza had predicted. After the first few children finished testing, the crystal ball remained dim and lifeless, without any elemental glow lighting up.
The testing teacher, accustomed to such things, shook her head and spoke to Iza in a flat tone. “Iza, once all the children are done testing, just put the crystal ball back in its place. I have some matters to attend to over there. If… well, I mean just in case there really is a little one with decent talent, go directly to report to Dean Claire.”
After saying that, she turned and left the testing room, clearly having no hope for this batch of children from the slums.
Iza motioned for the remaining children to continue.
To be honest, he didn’t expect a miracle to happen either.
Looking at these children’s nervous and disappointed little faces, Iza sighed quietly. “Perhaps being sent to Sarah’s family territory to grow up in a stable and prosperous environment is the best life path for them.”
This soft lament happened to be heard clearly by Link, who was at the end of the line.
An imperceptible glimmer flashed in Link’s lowered eyes, and her small hands unconsciously gripped the hem of her clothes.
‘So… only by showing magic talent can I stay by this special big brother’s side?’
A vague thought began to sprout in her heart.
Soon, it was the turn of the last person—Link.
Seeing her nervous look, Iza softened his tone and guided her gently. “Don’t be afraid, Link. Just like the other children, just place your hand gently on top of this crystal ball.”
Link looked up, her clear eyes gazing at Iza with pure curiosity. “Big brother, what counts as having magic talent?”
Iza smiled and explained in the simplest terms. “It’s simple. As long as this crystal ball lights up—even if it’s just a little bit of light—it means you have magic talent.”
“Oh…” Link nodded as if she understood, then followed his instructions by steadily pressing her hand onto the transparent crystal ball.
In the next moment—
*Whir—!*
A blinding white radiance instantly erupted from inside the crystal ball, swallowing the entire testing room in an instant!
“Ugh!” Caught off guard, Iza was blinded by the intense light, instinctively raising his hand to block his eyes.
He was completely stunned. Who was he?
Where was he?
The light lasted for several seconds before slowly receding.
Link was also startled by the scene. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the light and looked at Iza timidly and uncertainty. “Big brother… does… does this count as having magic talent?”
Iza lowered his hand, suppressing the shock in his heart as his gaze locked onto the value displayed inside the crystal ball—a value that almost broke past the limit of the scale.
Light Element Affinity: Ninety percent!
This number exploded in his mind like a bolt of lightning.
This could no longer be described with the simple word “genius.”
One must know that in the general understanding of the magic world, reaching an elemental affinity of sixty for a single element meant one could easily master spells of the fifth rank and below; it was enough to be called a genius.
Someone like Lean, whose affinity for all elements exceeded sixty, was already a rare prodigy seen only once in a century.
But Iza had never heard in any records or rumors of anyone whose elemental affinity could break the eighty percent threshold!
And Link, this little girl he had picked up from the ruins of the Raymond Territory, had actually reached a terrifying ninety percent!
And it was the extremely rare Light element!
‘Just… what kind of little monster did I bring back?’ Iza felt his scalp go numb.
Once this talent was exposed, it would surely cause a shock throughout the entire imperial magic world. Link would immediately become the focus of every power’s attention.
And Link had been brought back by him and had been clinging to him the whole way. Could Iza’s life ever be peaceful again?
Almost as an instinctive reaction, Iza reached out quickly and silently erased the test data recorded inside the magic crystal ball.
He took a deep breath, trying to make his expression look calm and rippleless, even wearing a trace of forced approval as he said to Link, “Hmm… your talent… is alright.”
This understated evaluation left Link, who was originally full of anticipation, stunned.
That dazzling light that nearly lit up the entire room… was only “alright”?
A look of obvious confusion appeared on her small face.
She gathered her courage and asked the question she cared about most. “Then… big brother, can I stay in this magic academy and study with you?”
Iza shook his head almost without hesitation, his tone firm. “I’m afraid not.”
This answer caused the light in Link’s eyes to dim instantly.
Looking at the little girl’s disappointed expression, a flicker of pity passed through Iza’s heart, but he had a reason for why he must do this.
Link’s talent was too incredible. Staying at the academy would definitely put her in the spotlight, and by extension, he would be dragged into unnecessary attention and trouble.
More importantly, he had no idea what role Link played in the original *Era* plot.
If she was some kind of key character, wouldn’t his interference be hand-crafting a massive plot whirlpool?
He just wanted to live a stable life; he didn’t want to provoke “trouble” of this caliber anymore.
He had to send her away!
This thought was incredibly clear in Iza’s mind.
Just then, the cold and familiar notification sound rang out at the right time:
[God-Level Choice System at your service. Please make an appropriate choice as soon as possible.]
[Option 1: Bring Link to Claire immediately and inform her of this world-shaking talent. Difficulty: S. Reward: Protagonist Points +10]
[Option 2: Send her back to where she came from. Return Link to the danger-ridden Raymond Territory. Difficulty: S. Reward: Villain Points +10]
[Option 3: Hide Link’s talent, treat her as an ordinary child, and build an orphanage near the academy to look after her. Difficulty: E. Reward: NPC Points +10]
Iza scanned the options and immediately made a decision.
But he still had one doubt: ‘System, if I send Link to Sarah’s family territory along with the other children, would that work?’
[Naturally, it would. However, the actual difficulty of that choice is S-rank, and there is a high probability that Link’s talent would be exposed later, leading to the same result as Option 1.]
Iza realized the truth. So that was it.
After the system upgrade, it had indeed become much smarter and could answer these kinds of derivative questions.
He followed up by asking in his mind: ‘Then System, is Link an important main storyline character in the original *Era* plot?’
[No authority to answer this question!]
‘Still no authority, huh.’ Iza felt slightly disappointed, but quickly came to terms with it. ‘Forget it, being able to answer the previous question is already pretty good. I can’t ask for too much.’
His gaze fell back onto Link, who had her head lowered and her small hands restlessly twisting her clothes.
Seeing her disappointed yet struggling appearance, Iza’s heart softened.
He sighed and switched to a relatively gentle tone, speaking up. “Link, are you willing to stay near me? Not inside the academy, but near it.”
Link snapped her head up, her dim eyes instantly lighting up. She nodded her small head vigorously, her voice carrying an irrepressible joy. “I’m willing! Big brother, I’m willing!”
Iza continued to explain, “Very well, then I won’t send you to Sarah’s family territory. I’ll find a place around the academy to build a small orphanage so you and the other children can live there. What do you think?”
Link’s main concern was still this: “Then… big brother, will you come to see us often?”
Iza nodded and promised, “Of course I will. I’ll also periodically teach you some basic magic knowledge so you have the ability to protect yourself and take care of the other children.”
This was a decision he had considered deeply.
On one hand, he really couldn’t bear to let Link’s incredible talent be completely buried due to his own selfishness.
On the other hand, letting Link master some basic self-defense skills would also prevent her from being bullied in the future.
As for higher-level magic—sorry, Iza didn’t know it himself. He could only look for opportunities to find some magic books for her to study on her own later.
After all, the master leads you to the door, but the practice is up to the individual!
Upon hearing this answer, Link’s face finally revealed a relieved and brilliant smile.
—
After leaving the testing room, Iza was summoned and asked to go to the Dean’s office immediately.
Claire sat behind her large desk, her gaze sweeping over the entering Iza as she asked seemingly casually, “What were the results of the talent testing for those children?”
Iza had long since prepared his story. With a face as calm as usual, he replied, “Teacher Claire, only one child has passable talent, but even that isn’t particularly outstanding. As for the rest of the children… none of them were found to have magic talent.”
He emphasized the word “passable” just enough so it wasn’t overly attention-grabbing, yet left room to explain just in case it was needed later.
Claire didn’t seem surprised at all by this result. She only gave a faint “Mhm” and asked instead, “How do you plan to arrange for these children?”
Sarah spoke up from the side. “Teacher, I originally intended to arrange for them to go to the Ulysses family territory to ensure they receive proper care.”
Iza spoke up at the right time, his tone natural. “Sarah, there’s no need to trouble you. I’ve already thought it through. I’ll find a suitable place near the academy to build a small orphanage to settle them. That way… I can easily go check on them during my daily routine to ensure they are living without worries.”
Hearing this, Sarah thought for a moment and felt it was indeed a good choice. She nodded in agreement. “That works too. Under our own eyes, we can better guarantee these children won’t be mistreated and can look after them often.”
Seeing that the disciples had made arrangements, Claire stopped asking about the matter.
She shifted the subject, her tone lightening slightly. “You worked hard on this trip to the Raymond Territory. Speaking of which, you fellow disciples haven’t gathered together in a long time. Dion’s special combat training just finished yesterday, and Sarah, you haven’t formally met your junior brother Swann yet.”
She paused and then announced, “Tomorrow, you fellow disciples will go to the commercial district for a good gathering to relax. All the costs for the meal will be reimbursed by me.”
As soon as he heard “gathering” and “crowded commercial district,” Iza’s brow immediately furrowed, his face written with reluctance. He tried to struggle a bit. “Teacher Claire, I’m truly exhausted mentally and physically from this mission. I feel I need to rest quietly for a while to recover…”
“No!” Claire cut him off irritably, glaring at him. “It’s just a meal; it won’t kill you! It’s good for fellow disciples to bond more!”
Sarah also laughed and patted Iza’s shoulder, her tone gentle yet brook no refusal. “That’s right, Iza. It’s rare for all of Teacher Claire’s direct disciples to be together. We’re all on the same side, so don’t decline. Isn’t it good for us to nurture our bond?”
Iza looked at Claire’s unquestionable gaze and Sarah’s gentle yet persistent smile, knowing he couldn’t escape this meal.
He could only sigh inwardly and nod in resignation, squeezing out a smile that looked worse than crying. “…Yes, Teacher, senior sister.”
“…This dinner, can I…”
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