Reforeged Chapter 26 Promotion Exam

"Wow!" All the people present, whether they were venerable old mages or young, inexperienced mage apprentices, were astonished with their mouths wide open, big enough to fit a fist.

What just happened?

Did I hear that correctly?

That arrogant, inexperienced mage apprentice actually demanded to take the promotion trial on his first day at the Stormwind Academy of Magic?

Even the most arrogant and flamboyant person would have some sense of propriety!

But Duke dared to do it!

It was said that Duke only discovered his magical talent a few days ago. If he were to succeed, Khadgar would die of shame. He himself had been studying for eight years and was still not an official mage, while someone else was attempting to become one in just three days.

Regardless of Duke's success or failure, this would undoubtedly leave a profound mark on his time at the Stormwind Royal Academy of Magic.

Success - he would become famous throughout the academy, and all the mages of Stormwind would know that a prodigy had emerged.

Failure - he would still become famous, but as a synonym for 'overestimating oneself.' Duke would be forever nailed to a pillar of shame.

For a moment, everyone's breaths grew heavier.

Medivh asked gently, "You know the requirements for passing. So, Duke * Marcus, apprentice mage, are you sure you want to take the test now?"

"I'm sure!" Duke said with unwavering determination.

"Very well." Medivh opened his right hand, and with a soft incantation, a strange blue light illuminated his palm. Like a flame being fanned by a fierce wind, the blue light began to drift from Medivh's hand.

The dazzling light transformed into fluttering ribbons, effortlessly separating the circular space within a radius of more than ten meters centered around Duke.

From the inside looking out, or from the outside looking in, the scenery remained unchanged.

Only Duke, as the person involved, knew how terrifying Medivh's skill was.

System alert: "Warning! You have been dragged into an unknown, separate space by Medivh (Sargeras)."

Fortunately, Medivh showed no hostility. He even wore a gentle smile on his face.

"This is a relatively independent space, but it won't affect your communication with the Elemental Plane. Mr. Marcus, you may begin. If you can cast any three different Level 1 spells without using magical items, you will become an official mage of the Stormwind Royal Academy of Magic."

Duke took a deep breath, ready to begin.

At that moment, he saw the worried faces of Daniel and Itana. He didn't need confirmation to know that they were trying to persuade him not to be so desperate. They urged him not to draw so much attention and provoke the old mages.

Duke could only give a bitter smile.

He had no choice but to push himself! He had no funds to wholeheartedly study at the academy. To make money, he had to go out. Even with Medivh's promise, if he left the academy temporarily as an apprentice, he would undoubtedly be attacked by the conservative forces of the entire Kingdom of Stormwind.

Even if he could resurrect and recover his body, it wouldn't be enough.

An apprentice dying in a wilderness trial was not a big deal.

However, it would be different if he were an official mage. Even a low-ranking, novice mage would have their name automatically listed in the Kingdom of Stormwind's Mage Corps, known to the highest commander Lothar and King Llane Wrynn of the Kingdom of Stormwind.

With his prodigy title, he couldn't avoid attention even if he wanted to.

If the king and the commander both had their eyes on him, neither the nobles nor the resentful mages could easily make a move against him.

This was Duke's amulet.

It was enough to get him through the most dangerous "newbie phase."

Duke took a deep breath, ready to cast a spell.

The nanny-style casting in the apprentice trial crystal ball was generally impossible for an apprentice to reproduce. An apprentice couldn't possibly have such a keen spell perception ability to reverse-engineer an entire series of elements, including the spell, casting formula, and connection to the elemental realm, from a fixed, incredibly complex casting tool.

Under normal circumstances, this was as unreliable as expecting a newborn baby to fight lions and tigers.

All the mages present knew that Duke hadn't acquired even half a spell formula through any formal channels.

But as Duke chanted the spell, the mages were dumbfounded.

They couldn't possibly know that at this moment, Duke had even let the system control his tongue, and his consciousness had practiced the tongue-twisting spell in the system thousands of times, like singing along with karaoke subtitles.

What flowed from Duke's mouth was incredibly standard high elf language.

The intonation was full of mysterious beauty, and the key syllables were rapid, short, and incredibly accurate. Without magical aids, Duke could clearly feel that he was like an opened faucet, with his mental and physical energy rapidly depleting.

However, he could feel with great detail that his body and soul had established a stable connection with a different dimensional world—the elemental realm.

A scorching breath came quickly, rapidly condensing on his arm.

Everyone could see a huge fireball forming in Duke's hand.

"Fireball spell? No! This is... Pyroblast!" The surrounding mages couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

How old were they when they first successfully cast Pyroblast? Probably none of them were younger than 20, yet this young man managed to pull it off.

Not a single bit of excess elemental power leaked out, and the amount of power absorbed was nothing short of exquisite.

Could this level of control really come from an apprentice who had only awakened his magical power less than three days ago?

"Phew!" As if to slap Medivh in the face, this barrel-sized Pyroblast was aimed directly at him.

For a powerful Guardian, this was nothing. Medivh didn't even move a finger, and the blue glow enveloping Duke grew. Everyone saw Duke's Pyroblast completely erased.

"You did very well on your first spell," Medivh immediately confirmed, and then he saw sweat beads trickle down Duke's forehead, "Do you need to rest for a while? The official novice mage exam has a time limit of one hour."

"No need!" Duke chose to continue. Although he saw in the system prompt that his pitiful mana value had changed from the initial full value of 26/26 to the current 12/26, Duke didn't stop.

He had a vague feeling that if he continued to push his potential, he might even break through.

Shaking his head, Duke cast away his fatigue and listlessness, and in tandem with his hand gestures, a soft, pale blue glow formed in his hands. Even from ten meters away, the mages could clearly feel the chill emanating from the light orb in Duke's hand.

Frostbolt!