Wizards begin with Occlumency.

Chapter 57 Testing

There's a reason why these five gentlemen were able to form a group.

All of their behaviors had one thing in common: the five of them acted in a crazy, silly and foolish way.

They are easily driven by small gains, bully the weak and fear the strong, and readily admit defeat, seemingly heartless and brainless.

In short, he doesn't resemble a genuine fifth-grade genius at all.

Link, however, did not underestimate them because of this.

It's understandable for someone to act foolish; perhaps it's due to a poor family background that fostered this personality from a young age.

It's acceptable for the two people to act foolishly; such coincidences exist.

But it's unlikely that all five of them would act foolish together, unless one of them is faking it.

Throughout the entire story, the person who had direct verbal communication with Link was the same one.

What does this tell us?

This indicates that there is a clear division of labor or seating arrangement among the five people.

A truly simple-minded person will not easily acknowledge a senior brother, but once they do, they will remain loyal and devoted to him.

Whatever my elder brother says, that's what it is.

Even if they have opinions in their hearts, they will only express them in private.

When Link first met the five men, he discovered that the one who spoke out was not the real leader.

After all, a true leader usually means what he says, so why would he ask his underlings for their opinions when something happens?

Therefore, Link reasonably guessed that the five people were just sticking together for one reason or another.

There's no such thing as a "big brother" or "no big brother." We're all big brothers, and we're all equal.

We should discuss things together and unite against external threats.

However, when they confronted Link directly, they were instead taught a lesson and threatened.

If things end here, it's not a big deal.

We should avoid excessive contact in the future.

If you can't afford to offend them, you can at least avoid them.

However, under Link's threat, the five men managed to swindle Rivers Francis out of a magic stone.

Now that the mud has fallen onto his pants, even if it's not shit, it's still shit.

Now, not only has the incident come to light, but she has also been reported for being close to Link.

The president of the "New Blood Mutual Aid Association" will inevitably have to do something to assert his authority after one of his vice presidents and one of his key members has met a tragic end, one in confinement and the other dead.

The five guys were unlucky; they ran into trouble and got a good beating.

This undoubtedly greatly embarrasses the five gentlemen.

Given the usual behavior of these five gentlemen, they are capable of doing things that will leave people completely astonished.

For example, when someone approaches Link, they immediately bow down and call him "Big Brother," then wave flags and shout encouragement to their newly sworn brother to get revenge.

Based on many factors, Link judged that this was a multi-pronged test from multiple parties.

First is the president of the "New Blood Mutual Aid Association".

After enrolling in school, Link kept a low profile and focused on his studies.

Even after being threatened and intimidated by Rivers and Enrique, they did not retaliate.

This calm lasted for several weeks.

Suddenly, one day, the president was informed that his capable subordinates, Vice President Rivers and key member Enrique, had gotten into trouble due to Link's instigation.

The two had a falling out, broke off relations, and started fighting.

One student has been placed in solitary confinement by the academy; the subsequent punishment is unknown.

One was burned and crippled, suffering from severe injuries that were difficult to heal.

Not long after, the man who had been burned and crippled failed in his revenge and was killed by Link instead.

The chairman could not help but be suspicious.

He might suspect that Link has secretly joined the New Blood Mutual Aid Society's arch-rival organization, or he might suspect that Link will forcefully enter the New Blood Mutual Aid Society to seize power...

In short, whatever the chairman suspects, he needs to test the waters to see if he can find out Link's true feelings.

In this way, the chairman can decide on a strategy against Link: whether to attack, appease, or simply ignore him.

The martial arts world is not just about fighting and killing; it's about human relationships and social interactions.

Next are the five gentlemen.

Link has been very assertive in his encounters with them, and he is the third freshman to report his promotion to the academy, with outstanding academic performance.

Unlike the guy who was the first to report the college promotion, he later became arrogant amidst the flattery of others and failed to even make the top twenty in the midterm exams.

The five men were living a very comfortable life, waving the banner of the "New Blood Mutual Aid Association" and possessing excellent qualities.

Now that he's been given a good beating by the president, there's no hope of continuing to wave the "New Blood Mutual Aid Association" flag.

Even if they are highly qualified, they still have potential.

Potential that is not realized remains just potential, not actual ability.

With his current strength, he is not capable of running rampant among the new blood of his generation, doing whatever he wants without any restrictions.

So, after being reminded by a certain insightful person, the five brothers decided to take up Link's banner.

After all, in the eyes of outsiders, Link is a ruthless and fierce person.

They are capable of both scheming and killing.

Finally, there was the thoughtful person who gave the five gentlemen advice.

This person is secretive and acts suspiciously.

They hadn't taken any action against Link before, but suddenly, after the exam results were released, they seized the opportunity to plot against Link.

He instigated the five men to join Link, which was definitely a malicious act.

Whether Link agrees or not to take the five brothers as his underlings, the other party has already achieved its goal.

Link guessed that the other party was intentionally making him a target, so that more new blood would focus their attention on him.

As for what will happen next, there definitely will be.

After thinking it over, Link decided that it was best not to panic and to remain calm and observe.

He forced him to be strong, and the breeze was blowing on the hills.

Let him be as arrogant as he wants, the bright moon still shines over the great river.

As long as Link remains calm and composed and doesn't make any mistakes, his opponent will most likely try again if one move fails.

The more the other party does, the more clues they will reveal.

At that time, Link will be able to follow the clues and find out who might have been targeting him because of the competition between the two districts.

"It's settled then."

Link clapped his hands, having considered the matter of the five gentlemen coming to "seek refuge," and stopped dwelling on it.

He went straight into the study and took out all the notes he had taken since entering school.

After filtering through the information, Link selected all the content related to runes, sorcery models, long-term sorcery models, and pseudo-natal sorcery.

Link benefited greatly from the practical exercises, not only in terms of improving his proficiency in pseudo-natal sorcery.

This also made Link think about how to further develop the application of pseudo-natal magic in daily life, academic research, and combat.

He had a rather vague idea.

This idea came to me in a flash of inspiration, perhaps also due to Philius Flitwick's "talent in spellcasting".

That is, is it possible to nest one or more pseudo-natal spells when the normal spell is about to be completed, in order to achieve the effect of "double casting" or even "multiple casting"?

Take the Water Shield spell as an example.

Link is practicing "continuous casting" today, casting one water shield after another, without stopping.

What wasn't practiced was "parallel casting," where several water shields simultaneously surrounded the body, protecting it.

"Double casting" involves embedding one water shield into another to increase instantaneous defensive strength.

This idea is well worth exploring.

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(End of this chapter)