“Elemental Affinity… Excellent Grade!”
With the trembling voice of the examiner before them, the entire hall erupted into a roar of excitement.
Elemental Affinity: Excellent Grade — what did that mean?
Among the Empire’s Six Great Ace Magicians today, only two had talents reaching that level.
If your Elemental Affinity was Good, you qualified to enter the Academy.
If it was Excellent, you were considered a genius.
Even if subsequent tests didn’t go smoothly, there was still a chance of special admission.
But even Excellent was still somewhat common — this time alone, three or four candidates had achieved that grade.
However, Elemental Affinity reaching the Excellent Grade was different.
Such a talent was so rare that the entire continent might not see one for several years.
So it was no surprise that the presence of someone with an Elemental Affinity of Excellent Grade caused such a commotion in the hall.
In fact, Academy staff at the back were already urgently notifying the higher-ups of this development.
Nearby, Ellie, who was also undergoing the test, heard the stir and instinctively turned her gaze in this direction.
An Excellent Grade Elemental Affinity — such a being was truly a genius among geniuses.
Naturally, Ellie was curious.
But soon, upon recognizing the so-called genius’s appearance, her expression quickly hardened.
‘That… wasn’t he the pervert they ran into when he went shopping for clothes with Karinya? That shameless, lewd guy was a genius with Elemental Affinity at the Excellent Grade?’
Ellie’s world seemed to crumble.
She had already been frustrated lately, unable to find any information about that lord, and now this situation just made her mood even gloomier.
And with this guy’s talent, he’d most likely be placed in the top class — meaning… there was a high chance he’d be in the same class as her!
The thought of the awkwardness when she and Karinya met him again drove Ellie nearly mad.
“Could I just secretly take him out? Would that be okay? It should be, right?”
Shock aside, the testing had to continue.
Soon after calming the scene, the examination proceeded smoothly.
Next up in Li Xian’s testing queue was Sara.
The girl looked at Li Xian with a face full of admiration and certainty — clearly, the test results were both a surprise and exactly what she had expected.
After all, she knew very well just how ridiculously powerful Li Xian was.
“Next…” The examiner still hadn’t fully recovered from the shock.
Looking at Li Xian standing next to Sara, the pressure on him was enormous.
A genius with Elemental Affinity at the Excellent Grade — he had actually thought the other was some clueless bumpkin with no affinity at all?
Luckily, his earlier attitude hadn’t been too bad, or else if the other held a grudge, he’d be doomed.
Upon hearing the examiner’s words, Sara glanced at Li Xian, then stepped forward, slowly placing her hand on the crystal.
The next moment, it was as if a roaring blaze suddenly ignited — the surrounding temperature spiked by more than ten degrees in an instant.
The scorching heat made those nearby instinctively step back two paces.
The examiner responsible for the test collapsed onto the ground, his mind completely fried.
‘Another one with Excellent Grade Elemental Affinity?’
What was going on with this batch of tests?
But it wasn’t over yet.
While the invisible blaze raged, a sudden chill cut through the air — “Whoosh” — an icy shadow formed, balancing the fire perfectly on the other side.
Anyone who understood this scene would know exactly what it meant.
“It’s that girl!”
In a corner, an old woman who had just arrived whispered in surprise.
“It really is her… such talent, even beyond previous expectations!” A nearby elderly man’s expression grew serious, then broke into a satisfied smile.
“Good, good… she just came to enroll at the Magic Academy. Along with that previous Excellent Grade genius, this intake’s harvest is quite rich!”
“The Empire’s future holds hope…” The old woman smiled softly, watching Sara’s utterly bewildered expression from afar, nodding repeatedly.
“Elvis, that old guy, came too…” Suddenly, the old man glanced toward the front of the testing line, stroking his beard as he said.
“M-Mr. Li Xian, I…” Sara’s face turned innocent as she looked at the gathering gazes around her, suddenly at a loss.
She clearly wasn’t used to such attention.
Though she had seen such scenes often with her parents before, after their passing, facing this alone made her anxious and miss them even more…
At that moment, a hand suddenly rested on her head.
Sara shuddered, turning to see Li Xian’s faint smile.
In that smile was subtle relief, encouragement, and comfort.
Leaning against Li Xian, Sara felt as if she had found her direction.
That sense of security instantly gave her courage — no longer timid, no longer shrinking back, she could calmly face the complex gazes directed at her.
“Is she Winniesa’s daughter?”
A slightly aged voice suddenly came from in front.
Looking up, a refined elder was slowly approaching, his face wearing a kindly smile — resembling a gentle, friendly neighborly grandpa.
But Li Xian could feel the immense power concealed beneath this seemingly ordinary old man.
To make a comparison, he was probably not much weaker than the Scarlet Flame Tempest Lion encountered earlier in the Northern Wildwood.
And that familiar feeling… the ice elemental used in the earlier test crystal must have come from this man’s hand.
Thus, this man’s identity was clear: he was Lord Elvis, the top of the Empire’s Six Great Ace Magicians, the pillar of the entire Roland Empire, a true legendary figure — the Archmage Elvis.
“Do you… know my mother?” Sara’s expression changed immediately upon hearing this.
Surprised and a little saddened, she looked at the old man before her.
“She was my disciple.”
Elvis’s voice was filled with sorrow, his face heavy with grief and remembrance.
It was obvious he had long learned about the tragic death of Sara’s parents, feeling deep pain and regret over it.
So when he saw Sara, who resembled his disciple so much, he stepped out from the shadows without hesitation.
He cared little about disrupting the Academy’s test — he had to meet her.
At this moment, Li Xian’s face showed understanding.
‘So this was what Sara meant — her mother’s teacher was this old man standing before them…’