“Quiet! Anyone who keeps making noise will be disqualified!” At that moment, a deep voice rang out. The voice wasn’t loud, but everyone heard it clearly.

As soon as the words fell, the noisy chatter died down, and the only sounds left were the magic teachers assessing the children’s magical talent.

Gaia didn’t feel much about others’ ridicule. He was just a country boy and didn’t understand these people’s complicated thoughts. But after hearing what the magician said just now, he restrained some of his wildness, afraid of being disqualified.

“Everyone here has lit at least three magic orbs. Lighting only two is already considered very few, so there’s nothing to be proud of.” The child from earlier whispered to Gaia.

Gaia nodded and said nothing more. At this moment, he seemed to understand something.

The Lyle father and son, after all, lived in town and were a bit more knowledgeable than Gaia, so they had sensibly kept quiet from the start. Now, seeing Gaia make a fool of himself, they were secretly pleased. If it weren’t for Shade’s earlier performance, they probably would have laughed along with the others.

The line was long, but each child’s assessment was quick. Just like the swordsman process, they re-evaluated magical talent, then checked age, and finally collected the fee...

Finally, it was Gaia’s turn. Facing the white-bearded magic teacher, little Gaia couldn’t help but get nervous, his gaze wandering. At this moment, some busybodies recognized the child who had embarrassed himself earlier and mocked him sarcastically: “Hey, isn’t this the kid who claimed to have lit two magic orbs?”

“Haha, yeah, yeah, lit two—so impressive, huh?” another person chimed in.

Although Gaia was young, he could still hear the mockery in their words. But the usually arrogant him didn’t retort, only shot them a cold glance.

“Put your hand out.” The old magician probably knew this child’s background and wasn’t very friendly, speaking indifferently.

Because of the others’ laughter, Gaia actually felt less nervous. He didn’t even wipe his hand, just placed his dirty hand right on the beautiful magic orb.

The old mage saw his greasy hand and looked even more disgusted, impatiently urging him to hurry up. In his mind, he thought: Only lit two, and looks so foolish—better just send this kind of student home!

The first magic orb lit up for Gaia. The magician’s gaze remained cold. In his view, anyone who couldn’t even light one orb had no right to be here.

“Oh, he lit one. This kid is really—something else.” The people nearby started with their sarcastic remarks again. Gaia didn’t care, but it made Jill feel very embarrassed.

“Hurry up. If you can only light two, then move aside and stop wasting our time.” A little noble in the line behind said rudely.

Being looked down on by so many people, Gaia felt bad inside, but he didn’t show his usual brashness. He quietly did his own thing, and in that moment, it seemed he understood something.

The second orb lit up as expected. At this point, more discordant voices arose, and the noble behind even turned half his body, signaling that they didn’t need to test anymore and should just move aside.

“This child’s talent is too low. Given his reckless nature, our academy will not admit him.” The old magician didn’t even glance at the second lit orb before speaking.

The old magician’s offhand response left Jill completely stunned! For a moment, the muscles on his face twisted together. After all, this child carried the hopes of hundreds in the village!

At this moment, Jill was still clutching the money the whole village had saved. Every coin had been gathered one copper and one silver at a time. Rather than saying it was the villagers’ kindness and goodwill, it was more like the last wish of their departed souls! But... but...

“Master Magician, please, take this child! We traveled thousands of miles to come here, just hoping this child could become a magician. He... he is the hope of our entire village!” Jill’s thin body dropped to his knees with a thud!

That night, he carried the hopes of the whole village, with pain and tears, and fled to town with the three children, all so that Shade and Gaia could one day become respected people and let the villagers rest in peace.

Shade’s admission to the Swordsman Academy had already fulfilled half of that wish, but Gaia...

“Get out of the way, get out of the way, stop pretending to be pitiful here. Go back to your village and hunt. Magic isn’t something country folk like you can learn. Don’t get in the way of my son’s test.” The little noble said impatiently, his luxurious clothes and dazzling ornaments forming a stark contrast to Jill’s disheveled and ragged appearance.

“Let’s just go back. It wouldn’t be good to offend these people.” Lyle also whispered to Jill. He said this mainly because he was afraid the little noble would take out his anger on him, since they had come in together.