World Is Cruel (1)

Robes were a type of gear that proved very useful for wizards. Although made of silk, they incorporated special materials and were usually tailored to perfectly fit the user, aiding in the cultivation of mana more easily. 

While not extremely rare, they still commanded a hefty price, typically ranging from twenty to forty middle-grade stones.

Aur walked out of his room to find Evelyn, Adam, and his little sister Ava all dressed up nicely and neatly.

"Is this your awakening ceremony or mine?" he muttered.

"Let's go then."

….

When someone turned eight, they had the opportunity to shape their mental space by tempering the essence of the world, and the larger the mental space, the better it was.

Mental space is divided into four sections: low grade, medium grade, large grade, and the supreme grade, depending on its size.

Basically, talent is measured by how high one's mental space can be.

The mage tier is divided into nine stages, starting from the first stage to the ninth stage. However, there is a stage that is not considered as a mage nor an ordinary man, and that is the mage apprentice stage.

Each of the tiers is divided into four sections: beginning, middle, high, and peak stage for each tier of mage, including mage apprentice.

You will instantly become a mage apprentice the moment you form your mental space.

A middle-aged man with neat black hair, a bow tie, a black suit, and goggles on, addressed everyone as he looked around at all the people present here.

Aur yawned as he listened to the words he already knew; he had received his education from his father, Adam. He looked around to see at least a hundred childrens all surrounding him as he blended in with the crowds of children. 

Even though his height was relatively higher, in the crowd of eight-year-olds, he looked rather ordinary as there were other childrens around his height and although the black robe was eye-catching there were childrens wearing better and fancier robes so Aur was barely noticed in the crowd.

"So, you may enter this room, and the further you can walk, the larger your mental space will be," the old gentleman said. A rumbling sound reverberated in the room as the ground shook, and a huge door opened, revealing a mist-filled room.

The surrounding kids' eyes lit up when they heard this, and they looked at the huge room covered by mist. The door was big enough to cover the entire side of the room, making it visible for everyone to look inside, and although the mist was there, it was very thin, making the place still visible even to untrained eyes through the mist.

Inside the room, everything was empty and shined with a metallic glint, with only the mist present.

"Remember not to push yourself in the room as it is useless, and if you faint in the room, no one will come to save you," suddenly the cold voice of the man resounded, shutting the murmurs of every child as their expressions turned serious. "Even if you die," he added, and the atmosphere became solemn.

"If you can take even one step in the room, automatically the world essence will temper your mind to form a mental space. If you can take 25 steps, you will have a middle-grade mental space. If you can take 50 steps, you will have a high-grade mental space, and if you can take 90 steps, you will have supreme-grade talent," the old man said with a glint in his eyes.

"But there has never been a supreme-grade talent in this village till now, not to mention that the village chief has the high-grade mental space and is a tier three mage, so don't get your hopes up. Am I clear to you?" his voice reverberated in the surroundings as his expression remained stern.

"Yes," the voices of all the children resounded in unison.

"Alright," the man nodded his head with a satisfied expression.

"We will call out numbers, and those who are assigned numbers, come forward to enter the room."

"Number 1."

"Yes," a rather fit child came forward, standing at the height of five feet—around the same height as Aur but with an even more robust physique. While Aur's physique was lean yet powerful and compact for bursts of strength, his was more like that of a bodybuilder, more showy and less strength.

Every child's eyes curiously looked at the child, and murmurs filled the air.

"Isn't that the child of the second village elder, Gertrude?"

"You are right; I heard he has been training his body since his childhood and is a genius in studies."

"I wonder how many steps he can take?"

"He will probably take at least 25 steps, right?"

"You are right."

Gertrude's ears twitched as he heard the murmurs, but his expression remained proud. He enjoyed the attention he was gaining, walking proudly into the room with an arrogant expression on his face.

"Let's see how many steps I can take," he stretched his body with an air of confidence and put his left foot forward.

Boom!

A terrifying pressure descended on him as he started to sweat, his body crackling with pressure, causing him to immediately kneel to the ground.

Seeing this, the old man shook his head, and the children were all in stunned silence as they looked at the kneeling hulking man.

"He can't even take one step?"

A hushed voice said, but no one spoke another word. Their expressions turned serious as they looked at the man, their eyes widened as if they couldn't believe reality.

The man in casual clothing was sitting on a sofa with distinctive purple hair above the children. His eyes glinted with a strange light as he observed Gertrude.

"Looks like the second eldest child is a disappointment."

He looked at the elderly man, whose fist tightened with anger. "Leader, I am sorry for the disappointment."

"It's nothing, Second Elder. Let's just watch for now," the man said as he joined his hands, carefully observing the situation.

The Second Elder was confused when he heard this, but he remained silent, and the others elders were also all silent.