This answer is perhaps something only a nine-year-old child could say, and Gaia had his reasons for saying it. First of all, he was born in such a remote mountain village that he hardly had any concept of gods in his mind. Then, when his magical talent was tested in the Magic Hall, he realized that limits could be broken. Just like Bruce thought he could only light up two magic orbs, but in fact, he lit up six, or even more. Because of this, Gaia felt it was wrong to jump to conclusions without trying. So, he thought, since I can't make a contract with a god, either I've been abandoned by the gods, or I am a god myself!

……

“Gaia can't make a contract with a god, and yet he claims to be a god himself!”

“Gaia can't make a contract with a god, and yet he claims to be a god himself!”

A few days later, this news spread throughout the entire Nick Magic Academy. The student who was recently hailed as the most talented mage in the history of Nick Magic Academy couldn't make a contract with a god, and even more ridiculously, this guy claimed, I am a god myself.

After the initial shock, a wave of ridicule followed like a tide. The former magical prodigy became, in just a few days, an arrogant fool, even a daydreaming good-for-nothing.

Gods are eternal beings on the continent of Eden, and no ordinary person can surpass or replace them. You have to know, there are only ten Saint Magisters in the entire Zachariah Empire, and a Saint Magister is already the pinnacle of human mages. To become a god, one must at least surpass the Saint Magister and become an Archmage, a being that exists only in legends. But even an Archmage is not a god; endless cultivation is still required to become a true god, and this cultivation time far exceeds a human lifespan... So, theoretically, it is completely impossible for a human to become a god in terms of time alone.

Not to mention the issue of time, even the bottleneck from Saint Magister to Archmage, the ultimate limit for humans, has hardly ever been broken in thousands of years on the continent of Eden, let alone the bottleneck from Archmage to god. Moreover, all mages on the continent must make contracts with gods; without a contract, a mage can hardly progress on the path of magic. Can humans use the power borrowed from gods to surpass the gods themselves? You have to know, gods have made contracts with countless people, and the power they grant you is only a tiny fraction, but even this tiny fraction can allow human mages to advance several levels.

In comparison, you can see just how ridiculous Gaia's claim of "I am a god" is. This incident swept through the entire Magic Academy just like when Gaia cultivated a cyclone in half a year, and Gaia went from magical prodigy to magical failure. His phrase "I am a god" became the biggest joke at Nick Academy.

Sometimes, when Gaia walked down the road, he would often hear students pointing at him and laughing with extreme sarcasm: "Oh, isn't that the god? God, please make a contract with me too."

This phrase also became a catchphrase for many students to mock others. Whenever they wanted to describe someone with poor magical ability, they would say, "Oh, you're the god Gaia, please make a contract with me."

Thus, "god Gaia" became a well-known term for a loser at Nick Academy, widely used among the students. Walking down the road, you could often hear students from other academies discussing Gaia. After all, he was once the number one magical prodigy at Nick Academy, but overnight he fell to a nobody who couldn't even make a contract with a god—something that had never happened before at Nick Academy...

Chapter 013: Abby's Ambush

Abby was overjoyed when he heard the news. He had never forgotten the humiliation and anger he suffered on the third floor of the cafeteria half a year ago. When he heard that Gaia had become a magical prodigy, he was going to let it go, but before long, Gaia fell from grace, and Abby finally let out a long sigh of relief and decided to find an opportunity to teach Gaia a lesson.

Now, Gaia was no longer under the protection of Teacher Mitchell. In fact, the Magic Academy was even considering expelling him. However, since they had already promised to provide four years of magical education, and to avoid such a disgraceful incident from spreading, the Magic Academy still allowed Gaia to stay until he graduated in four years, after which he would be made to leave and would not be recognized as a student of the academy.

One night, Gaia went to the library to study magic as usual. Although he still wore his simple, honest smile, he felt very gloomy inside. The reason he continued living like this was that he was unwilling to give up magic so easily, hoping to find another way to cultivate magic from books. But after reading all the mages' journals, they all stated that a mage must make a contract with a god. Teacher Mitchell also tried using contract scrolls from other gods, but Gaia still couldn't succeed... So he could only try to find a way to cultivate without making a contract with a god, but such a method was never mentioned in any book.

It was already very late at night. Gaia walked alone, dejected, down a somewhat dark path, reviewing the magical principles and knowledge from the books in his mind. He walked this road almost every night. Although it was very quiet and eerie at this hour, he was still used to walking at this unhurried pace...