Throne of Magical Arcana
chapter-186

"Of course. And this way is much faster compared to submitting a paper. It usually only takes about twenty minutes to get the examination done," Lazar nodded.

Simeon, who was standing beside Lazar, added, "But Evans, you have to remember that, although you can activate your badge this time by doing this, if you want to make progress in your arcana level, every time when you want to upgrade, you need to have this one basic arcana point that Lazar just mentioned, since the congress wants to see all the sorcerers and arcanists with solid foundation of knowledge, and you can only choose your research interest after becoming a real arcanist."

"I will find some time to pass the arcana examination in the Sorcerer Administrative Department," answered Lucien in a casual tone, as if he was talking about what to have for dinner tonight. Both Simeon and Lazar thought that Lucien would take the test after spending some time on studying magic and arcana first to make up the gap between his existing knowledge and what was offered by the congress.

After saying goodbye to the apprentices, led by Lazar, Lucien headed for zone four.

"Mr. Simeon has just become a level two arcanist. Hopefully, he can soon make another breakthrough." As they were walking, Lazar said to Lucien, "I don't know when I will have thirty arcana points."

"How many arcana points do you need for each upgrade?" asked Lucien confusedly, "Thirty?"

"At first, in order to get to a higher level, ten times more of one’s last level arcana point was required, but it turned out to be quite impractical, since there were only ten to twenty thousand arcanists in total in this world. Later, a legendary archmage changed the rule, and now, you need ten arcana points to become a level one arcanist, thirty for level two, a hundred for level three, three hundred for level four, a thousand for level five, three thousand for level six, ten thousand for level seven, thirty thousand for level eight, and a hundred thousand for level nine," explained Lazar in detail. He enjoyed answering questions.

When they were walking across the hall, there were lights trying to approach them. The two badges that Lazar was wearing were glowing to prevent the lights from getting close to them.

...

There was an open hall in Sorcerer Administrative Department, where there were light yellow couches, coffee tables, wine cabinets and many other facilities for relaxing, making this place look more like a salon or a club than an administrative office.

There was a reception desk made of silver and gray metal beside the major corridor, behind which stood two lovely young girls. Many sorcerers, who were not as gloomy as most necromancers, liked to tease the girls a bit, and among them there were also some young men who were seriously pursuing them.

"Welcome back, Mr. Lazar," greeted the taller, flaxen-haired girl with a smile. Wearing a long yellow dress, she looked quite beautiful.

"Thank you, love." Lazar had a big smile on his face, and then he introduced, "Cindy, this is Mr. Evans, a twenty-year-old sorcerer. Evans, this are Cindy and Dona, two sweethearts in this department. Both of them are working on becoming real sorcerers as they are working here."

Knowing that Lazar was always like this, Cindy did not mind, but turned to Lucien, "Welcome, Mr. Evans. A twenty-year-old sorcerer following the ancient magic system… Wow… I have to say that you’re definitely a genius. If when you become a middle-rank sorcerer, I still haven’t make any breakthrough, can you have me to be your apprentice? A real apprentice?"

"Mr. Evans, can I as well?" Dona, the plump young girl, also asked while playing with her auburn-coloured hair.

The girls enthusiasm was beyond Lucien’s imagination. For a moment, Lucien was too shy to say anything.

"Haha… Evans… I can tell you’re quite inexperienced in talking with ladies." Lazar laughed. "It’s okay. This is just their way of welcoming newcomers. Cindy and Dona are quite talented as well. As they were already senior apprentices when they were only seventeen, many sorcerers would like to have them to be their students, besides, what they want to specialize in is different from what you’re good at, Evans."

"Ha, I thought somehow I suddenly became popular." Lucien joked.

"You are, Mr. Evans. You’re good-looking and you look quite reliable. Better than Mr. Lazar." Cindy looked at Lucien with her beautiful eyes.

"Oh… That hurts." Lazar made a sad look, and then tried to get a bit more serious, "Anyone’s available right now?"

"Only Mr. Eric is." Dona smiled and pointed at the corridor behind the reception desk, "He’s waiting for you two."

Complaining about the fact that he was becoming less attractive, Lazar led Lucien to the third office under the girls’ gaze. The sign hanging on the door read "Eric, director of Sorcerer Administrative Department".

Lazar gently knocked at the door. A commanding voice came from inside of the office, "Come in please, the door is unlocked."

When Lazar opened the door, Lucien saw rows of shelves in the office. On the shelves, there were no books, but pieces of silver-colored paper like sheets of metal glowing in a mysterious way. Many silver lines grew out of these sheets and extended themselves to build their connection to the light blue wall that shone all around them.

Besides the shelves, there was a black cabinet, an iron cage with a bell, and a metal shield.

In front of the shelves, there was a desk, behind which sat a bald man wearing black suit, and there was a top hat beside his right hand.

The average-looking, forty-something man raised his head. His light gray eyes were like crystal stones that could see through a person’s heart. He took a quick glance at Lucien, and then started writing something down.

"Mr. Eric. This is Evans." Lazar bowed to the man respectfully.

"Welcome, our new friend. Let's have your registration thing done and get your badges." Eric nodded, then he looked at Lazar and said, "You did your work, Lazar. Take this note with you to get your reward in Task Zone."

As he was saying, the small piece of paper Eric just wrote on flew toward Lazar.

After getting the note, Lazar said to Lucien cheerfully, "I like you, Evans. I wonder if we can have dinner later together. I think we can become friends."

Talented, reliable and easy-going, that was Lazar's impression on Lucien. He felt that Lucien was someone that he could get along very well.

"Of course." Lucien smiled, "I happen to have no idea where to eat this evening."

"Great." Lazar waved this piece of paper a bit in his hand, "I’ll see you later then. Good luck with your badges."

After Lazar left the office, Lucien sat down in front of Eric. Taking a closer look, Lucien noticed that there were three silver stars and four black circles on each of his badges.

"Level three arcanist, fourth circle sorcerer…" Lucien thought to himself.

As Lucien was thinking, Eric took out a piece of silver paper and handed it to Lucien, "Complete the form, so I can activate your magic badge."

Lucien quickly read the form. Only name, age, level, and the magic schools that one was good at were required to report, and nothing related to the sorcerer’s personal background was mentioned.

Seeing that Lucien did not start writing immediately, Eric said to Lucien with no emotion, "If you have more information to offer, you can ask for another piece of paper. The more information you provide, the easier for the congress to get ID for you in Holm or in other countries. By the way, if you want to get married in the future, please also register that with the Sorcerer Administrative Department."

Lucien nodded, and started filling in the form.

"Lucien Evans, twenty, interested in school of Astrology and Element, first circle sorcerer."

And then he made up some fake personal information on the paper.

Eric took up the silver sheet and read carefully, then there was a bit of a smile on his face,

"Lucien Evans… What a common name… There’s a famous musician in Aalto named Lucien Evans, and several days before, the name of a junior-rank elemental sorcerer who just made his breakthrough was also Lucien Evans. Why people like this name so much?"

"Honestly speaking, I never put much thought into it…" answered Lucien surprised, despite the fact that Natasha told him more than once how common his name was.

Eric did not stick to this topic, but pointed at the the metal shield on the other side of the office,

"Cast a first circle spell. I need to verify your level."

Lucien nodded and shot two black magic missiles at the shield. As the magic cover on the shield absorbed the power, there were light ripples spreading out.

Eric nodded, "The power is not from a magic item, but from your soul. You’re indeed a first circle sorcerer."

As he was saying, Eric turned around and took out two badges from the black cabinet. He put one of the badges together with the silver piece of paper into the cage, and then pulled the string of the bell.

The bell started ringing, and the cage started shining. One minute later, the light disappeared.

When Eric took the badge and the paper out, there was a black circle on the badge, and a shining silver line connecting the metal paper to the light of the wall.

"The magic badge records your name, age, level, your spiritual power mark and your arcana points. You need this badge either when you earn or pay the points. Except you, no one can use it." Eric handed two badges to Lucien, asking him to leave his spiritual power mark in them.

"All of the information, " said Eric, "is kept by both me and the document office of the highest council. Do not try to change your level and your points for any purposes on your own. With this badge, you can accept missions in Task Zone and receive the basic arcana and magic books, as well as meditation methods. Besides, as a first circle sorcerer, you can ask the congress for materials or potions worth a Thale every month, or you can use it to borrow books."

Lucien put the activated magic badge in front of his left chest, and then looked at the dim arcana badge, "Mr. Eric, what about this one? My arcana badge?"

"You write your unique magic down and give it to me, if you have any," answered Eric. "So I can send it to the Arcana Review Board. It’ll take around half an hour to know the result. No worries, I won’t read it."

Lucien smiled, "I see, thank you Eric. Then what about arcana papers? Besides submitting my paper to the board, shall I send it to the journals as well myself?"

"Your paper?" Eric raised his head, and looked at Lucien very surprised with his gray eyes.