Abel hadn’t seen a lot of advanced wizards before. He couldn’t tell if what Wizard Lorenzo was saying was true. Still, he decided to keep an open mind and accept this statistic.
Abel asked, “So, from what you’re saying, wizards get distracted from their training when they do something else?”
Wizard Lorenzo was about to give a dead set “yes” to that question, but Abel was a perfect example of a wizard who had been distracted to do something else. After becoming a grandmaster blacksmith, it took him little more than two years to become an official wizard.
“About that, I guess, um…” Wizard Lorenzo changed his mind after thinking, “It all depends on the person’s talent, Grandmaster Abel. You’re a special case. There’s no doubt about that, but for most people, it’s best if they don’t divert their efforts to something else other than magic.”
Wizard Lorenzo walked towards a scanning gate, “I don’t know how you are concealing your mana, Grandmaster Abel, but please, don’t hide when you pass through this gate. It is so the Wizard Union can get a correct assessment of your current level.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Abel quickly apologized and revealed his mana. Before, he appeared to be just another normal human being. Now, after switching off his concealment tools, he started emitting the aura of an official wizard.
“Uh, can I ask you something, Wizard Lorenzo?” Abel suddenly remembered something.
“What is it, Grandmaster Abel?”
“I, uh,” Abel said rather hesitantly, “I used to have a wizard’s badge when I was at the Keyen branch of the St. Ellis Wizard Union. Since that one is already terminated, is that going to affect my test today?”
A bizarre smile appeared on Wizard Lorenzo’s face. Abel certainly brought up an awkward topic. After all, the Keyen Magic Tower was what caused him to be a wanted man in the first place.
Wizard Lorenzo tried to keep a straight face, “It’s fine, Grandmaster Abel. The Liante Wizard Union is above the St. Ellis Wizard Union. Whatever you do here, you won’t have to worry about a thing that the St. Ellis Wizard Union says.”
“That’s great to hear. Thanks, Wizard Lorenzo!” Abel said in relief. It’d be a few years before he could head back to the St. Ellis Wizard Union, but as of now, he could at least attain his official status as a wizard. And if he wanted to build his own magic tower, he could always do it at where he came from, the duchy of Carmel.
“Just put your hand here for me, Grandmaster Abel,” Wizard Lorenzo instructed as he pointed towards a door, “You see this text on the door? Once you’ve activated it, it will start assessing your current level. Once you’ve passed the test, you’ll be allowed inside.”
Abel could read the text. It was written in the noble tongue of the elves. After placing his left hand on the text, instead of using his power of Will to activate it, he just read it out loud.
“Scan!” he said in the noble tongue of the elves.
Then, the part that said “scan” started flashing in white light. When the light vanished away, the door opened after a soft clicking noise.
Wizard Lorenzo heard it. He knew that Abel was speaking in the noble tongue of the elves. In fact, a lot of the magic circles here were created in the elven letters. They had invited masters all the way from the elven lands to make these.
“You know the language?” Wizard Lorenzo asked in a lighthearted manner as to not raise any suspicion.
The noble tongue of the elves was supposed to be top-secret. Now that Abel was speaking in this language, he just had to know what was going on here.
Abel replied, “You mean this text? Yeah, I’ve learned a bit of it.”
And that’s that. Since Abel was now a grandmaster blacksmith, no one was going to bother asking too many questions about him.
When they walked inside, they saw two intermediate wizards busy with their paperwork. When one of them saw Abel, they gestured to him to take a seat somewhere.
The wizard said to Abel, “Excuse me, sir. I’ll do your test after I’m done with these.”
“No need,” Wizard Lorenzo spoke as he was still thinking about what Abel did at the gate, “I’ll do the testing myself.”The two wizards quickly stood up as they saw Wizard Lorenzo, “Master Lorenzo? What happened, sir? What made you come all the way here?”
Wizard Lorenzo didn’t seem to focus too much on them, “It’s nothing big. Just carry on with whatever you’re doing.”
And off he went with Abel and Bartoli. The two intermediate wizards took a quick look at each other. They could tell that Abel was an official wizard, but he was just a newcomer that came to get his badge. What, then, could make Lorenzo, an advanced wizard, to go to such lengths for him?
The answer to that was quite simple, actually. After Abel became a grandmaster blacksmith, he basically became a VIP member of whatever place he went to. Whether it was to the humans, the dwarves, or the elves, if he wanted to get something done, he would always be welcomed by the highest associates of whichever organization he was in.
Why was that? Because, whether you’re a wizard, a blacksmith, a druid, a knight, or whatever, once you’ve reached the limit of your field, only a grandmaster like Abel could make equipment good enough for you.
And it’s not like Abel could be bought with money. He wasn’t short on money. If he wanted to get money, he could just make a request to any Blacksmith Union establishments. Thus, it became common practice for people to do favors for grandmasters with the hope of getting something in return.
It’s not like people were trying to lick his boots, obviously. It’s a fair exchange, especially for advanced wizards. They would give Abel the rarest materials they had, and Abel would make a good tool for them in return. On the side note, if it was someone that Abel was on bad terms with, he wouldn’t hesitate at all to turn down the offer.
After coming to a special room, Abel could see rune patterns all over the walls and ceiling. The walls themselves were made with element-resistant materials. Apart from a black dummy in the center of the room, there wasn’t any furniture lying about.
