Above the mage!

Chapter 317 Becoming a Genius
Amid the continued noise in the square, two mages dressed in Sea Sentinel uniforms walked out of the inner room.

As soon as the two of them appeared, the noisy crowd in the small square quieted down, but it was still unlikely to be completely quiet.

These two Sea Sentinel mages, one male and one female, are a very classic combination.

The man was tall and strong, exuding a calm and resolute aura.

The woman is also tall, with well-defined features and a heroic look.

Both of them have wheat-colored skin.

They looked to be in their early twenties, but they were all full of energy and vigor.

From the faint sounds coming from the surroundings, Gao De knew that the two Sea Sentinel mages in front of him were very famous among the Sea Sentinels of this generation.

The two of them had just joined the Sea Sentinels last year, and the merits they had achieved in just one year were enough for them to be promoted from trainee mage soldiers to sergeant-level mages.

"Everyone, welcome to sign up for the selection of our Sea Sentinels. Although only a few people will pass the assessment and join our Sea Sentinels, no matter what the result is, I hope you will not be discouraged. There are countless paths in the world, and there will always be a stage for you to shine in the future."

Just then, the male wizard took a step forward and spoke.

His voice was loud and powerful, instantly suppressing the whispers in the square.

Someone in the crowd next to Gao De, looking at the two high-spirited Sea Sentinel mages, whispered, "As long as we pass the selection and join the Sea Sentinel, we can be like them."

Many people have heard this sentence, and it is also the voice of everyone.

As long as you join the Sea Sentinel, you will be able to change your life and achieve class transition.

Everyone's heart couldn't help but feel even hotter at this moment.

"Now, applicants with number plates from one to ten, please come in first." Then, the female magician shouted.

Soon, ten mages stood up in the square and, led by the female mage, entered the inner room.

Not long after the ten mages went in, they all came out again, but each of them had an expression of disappointment and frustration that was hard to conceal.

Needless to say, the results are obvious.

This was like a blow to the head, making the other applicants who were still waiting there realize at once how high the threshold for becoming a Sea Sentinel was, and they began to get nervous.

"The passing rate of the initial test for sea sentinels is less than half," another "knowledgeable brother" nearby sighed at the right time.

Then more people were called in one after another, and ten numbers were called each time. Usually it would take about ten minutes before the next batch of numbers would be called.

Most of the mages who entered to take the test came out dejected.

This made the others who were still waiting look even more uneasy.

The wait was very torturous. Gao De could notice that many people began to feel uneasy while standing still, and some even started to pace to relieve their nervousness.

About an hour later, as the last batch of applicants came out, the female magician shouted again: "Applicants No. 71 to 80, please come in."

Gao De glanced at his license plate number "Number 77".

Finally it was his turn.

He straightened his spine slightly, took a deep breath, and stood out from the gradually thinning crowd with the other nine applicants. Under the burning gazes of the applicants on the field, they walked into the inner room together.

As the ten people walked side by side, Gao De could clearly hear the slightly heavy breathing of the other nine people.

The "examination room" is a hall-like room with excellent lighting. Several beams of bright light pour down from the high skylight.

There were two heavy wooden tables inside, and behind each table were two carved armchairs, on each of which sat a wizard wearing a sea sentinel uniform.

Gao De quickly glanced at the armbands on their uniforms and was shocked. These four people were actually warrant officer-level mages. They must be the "examiners" of this preliminary selection test.

On the table was the information form that Gao De and his friends had just filled out when they registered. The four warrant officer-level mages were flipping through it, occasionally exchanging a few words in a low voice.

In the middle of the hall, there are ten round tables.

The table is made of a dark metal, with many intricate and detailed runes engraved on its surface. Under the light, those runes emit a faint magical glow.

Behind the four examiners, there were several staff members.

"Don't waste time. There are still many people waiting behind you. Please go up to the platform in the order of your license plates."

Seeing ten applicants enter, one of the oldest examiners put down the information form in his hand and spoke lightly.

His voice was neither hurried nor slow, yet it carried an unquestionable majesty.

Those ten circular platforms are the so-called alchemy platforms, which are the alchemical machines used by the sea sentinels to conduct preliminary screening of applicants.

"Put all the things you carry with you over there. After you go on the stage, you have to rely on yourself for everything. You are not allowed to use any additional supernatural items or equipment, and you are not allowed to take potions in advance. If you violate these rules, you will be disqualified immediately and will never be allowed to participate in the selection of sea sentinels again. Do you understand?" Another examiner pointed to a table covered with a long cloth and said loudly.

His eyes were as sharp as an eagle's and full of intimidation.

"I understand!" Everyone responded in unison, their voices echoing in the empty hall with a hint of nervous tremor.

Afterwards, Gao De walked to the side, took off his Bei Feng and placed it on the long table. He then calmed his breath and, under the guidance of the staff, walked towards the fourth platform from the right.

The same is true for the other nine applicants.

Walking in such an empty and quiet place, being stared at with sharp scrutiny by four examiners, it was visibly that everyone else became more and more nervous, their bodies tense and their steps heavy.

Gao De was able to remain calm, raising his head slightly with a composed look.

After all, when he was in the North, he had experienced a bigger scene: tens of thousands of Iceborn mages knelt on one knee, cheering to support him as king, including many third-ring mages and fourth-ring mages.

Therefore, the current situation, in his eyes, was nothing but a drop in the ocean and nothing surprising.

Gao De's relaxed attitude actually attracted some attention from the examiner.

They had looked at the information sheets of the ten applicants present and had some understanding of Gao De's basic situation - he was a wizard from a foreign country who had been born a wandering beggar.

In the general perception, mages with this kind of background usually haven't seen much of the world, let alone being able to remain calm and composed in high-pressure situations like Gao De.

Just as the examiners were distracted by their thoughts, Gao De and others had already entered the judge's platform.

"Open the altar." Following the examiner's order, the staff standing by the wall immediately pressed the button to start the ten alchemy machines.

The next moment, magical fluctuations began to appear on the surface of the platform, and a faint blue halo spread out like a dream, covering the ten applicants standing on the platform.

Then the runes engraved on the surface of the altar began to glow, interweaving and converging, illuminating the altar brightly.

At this moment, in Gode's feeling, it was as if there were several invisible, cold and slippery ripples, carrying strands of magic power, sweeping back and forth over his body continuously.

Every time it swept over, my skin felt slightly numb, as if countless ants were nibbling at it. It was strange and a little unnerving.

The whole process lasted about two or three minutes.

But this is not the end yet. Although the ripples disappeared, they were followed by even more powerful magical waves surging from the altar.

Afterwards, Gao De felt a powerful oppressive force sweeping towards him, accompanied by slight sound wave vibrations, which made his head buzz a little, as if hundreds of flies were dancing around in his skull.

Gao De instantly understood that this was a test of his mental strength.

He quickly calmed his mind, closed his eyes, and concentrated on resisting this powerful oppressive force.

While the ten applicants were taking the initial test, the four examiners had already started chatting with them about their performance.

"This batch is not good either." The examiner on the far left was the first to shake his head. He swept his eyes across the judge's platform and was the first to make an evaluation.

"Indeed, there isn't even a single person in the middle stage of the first ring. One of them is even a mage apprentice. I don't know where they got the courage to sign up for the selection." The examiner beside him echoed, his tone revealing a hint of helplessness and ridicule.

“Maybe it’s because I’m still young, so I want to give it a try.”

"A fourteen-year-old wizard apprentice, how can you be considered young?" The examiner curled his lips and said disapprovingly, "You are just trying your luck. It's a sheer waste of money and our time."

"Among the second batch of applicants, there is a mid-level first-ring mage, but he is already in his mid-twenties. He is too old. At this age, not only is his potential not visible to the naked eye, but his plasticity is also greatly reduced."

The examiner revealed a little about the weight of the indicators, "When we recruit people for the Sea Sentinel, we still value plasticity. The younger the better."

"Hey, look at this Gao De, who was born a wandering beggar, but his magic power is actually 24 drops of liquid magic power. I see that he is only 15 years old. Considering his background, perhaps he has great potential?"

The other examiner seemed to have discovered something interesting and mentioned it casually, while pushing Gaode's information sheet forward.

15 years old, 24 drops of liquid mana, although the mage's level and age are good, it is far from the level that makes them shine.

But as Reed, a staff member in Holder Town, said, Gode's background as a "homeless beggar" can add a lot of points to his character.

Everyone knows that such a background means that Gaode’s current strength is likely just the tip of the iceberg of his potential. Once he gets sufficient resources, there is a chance that he will soar into the sky.

"It is possible," the older sea sentinel mage picked up the information form filled out by Gao De, examined it carefully, raised his eyebrows slightly, and sighed, "But he is not a native citizen of our country, but a naturalized person from another country, and he was just naturalized the day before yesterday."

As soon as he finished speaking, the examiner who had just mentioned "great potential" fell silent.

The foreign mage who had just become a naturalized citizen the day before was almost like a blank sheet of paper to the Sea Sentinel.

Past experiences are difficult to verify, and the character, background, and true practice path of the master are all vague.

Moreover, no one can be sure whether he is hiding some unspeakable secrets, or whether he can truly integrate into the dynasty and faithfully perform his duties as a sea sentinel.

Under such circumstances, it would undoubtedly be a great risk to easily recruit him into the sea sentinel.

If he is a spy with ulterior motives, or has a perverse personality that is difficult to control, the trouble that will be caused later will be immeasurable.

Therefore, unless the other party is so good that they cannot veto it, otherwise, even if it is within the fluctuation range where they can accept it or not, for the sake of safety, they will most likely choose to reject it.

"What a pity! If he had become a citizen a few years earlier, it would have been much easier." The older Sea Sentinel Mage shook his head and said with regret, then put the information sheet back on the table.

In just a few words, Gaode's fate seemed to have been determined and failure became inevitable.

"Look!" Suddenly, the examiner who had been silent and sitting on the far right and was also the youngest, spoke with a hint of surprise.

The other three people who were chatting casually immediately looked up and found that the person who caused the young examiner's surprise was the protagonist of their previous topic, Gao De, who was born a homeless beggar.

At this moment, the runes on the other altars have dimmed because the test has ended.

Only the altar where Gaode was located, the runes were still flashing, and the magic fluctuations continued to rise.

"What is this?" The examiner's pupils widened slightly.

"24 drops of liquid magic power, which is the early stage of the first ring. For a mage of this level, the mental power value is generally just over 100. For some outstanding ones, it will be higher, but it is impossible to exceed the threshold of 133. However, his mental power has exceeded this value and has not yet reached the limit!" The young examiner directly pointed out Gao De's extraordinaryness, with a hint of surprise in his tone.

Not only the examiner noticed this scene, but the other nine applicants who had finished the test one after another also noticed Gao De, the only one who had not finished the test, and subconsciously looked over at him.

Gao De closed his eyes tightly and concentrated on the test, naturally unaware that he had attracted the attention of everyone in the "examination room".

He just did the best he could and held on for as long as possible.

The pressure continued to grow, and the buzzing sound in the skull became more and more intense.

Finally, after reaching a certain limit, Gaode could no longer hold on and his defense line was broken.

But just when he could no longer hold on, the oppressive force disappeared instantly, and the runes on the altar dimmed.

Gao Dewei exhaled and opened his eyes.

The next thing he saw were dozens of burning gazes focused on him.

"He is in the early stage of the first ring, but his mental power is as high as 186, which is even better than many mages in the late stage of the first ring!" The elderly sea sentinel mage sitting in the middle of the long table read out Gao De's final mental power data displayed on the altar, and his tone was much higher.

"What a gift! Even though his mana is only 24 drops of liquid mana, it's obvious that his potential is being wasted due to lack of resources!"

"What a great talent! Such a talent should not be turned away just because he is not a native citizen of the country."

The older Sea Sentinel Mage had already made a decision. He took out Gode's information form, neatly ticked it, and signed his name.

"You passed the first test, so prepare well for the second test."

"With your spiritual power talent, combined with your background and current mage level, it can be basically confirmed that your mage talent is top-notch. As long as your performance in the re-examination is not too bad, you should be able to join our Sea Sentinel." He said to Gao De, with some encouragement and affirmation.

"Ah?! Top-level mage talent..." Hearing this, Gao De couldn't help but look at the Sea Sentinel Mage, and was very surprised. He pointed his index finger at his face:
"me?"

(End of this chapter)