Darius nodded and followed the aide. "And what about my servant?"
The aide turned around and added: "They can also be tested. I shall accompany Sir Mage to the awakened testing area, which is managed by an Adept mage. The testing area for sparked fighters is right next to it, manned by an Adept fighter. They check for the various traits of each profession."
Darius understood, and together with Gunner, he followed the aide through different hallways in the building until they reached a small hall. The double doors were opened, and the aide led them in with a servile smile.
Within the room, Darius saw two counters set on the extreme east and the extreme west. Various people were lined up before each of them. There weren't too many, just about 3 on the left and 6 on the right.
The aide turned to Darius and explained: "The queue on the left is for those who intend to verify their capacity as mages while the one on the right is for fighters and combatants of all kinds."
Darius nodded and entered the queue on the left while Gunner walked to the one on the right. It seemed that both queues moved at around the same speed as Darius got his turn around the time that Gunner moved forward two positions.
The Adept mage seated behind the table looked at Darius with a bored expression and practically droned. "What's your stage?"
Darius had already thought of it beforehand, and chose to reply: "Amateur."
He didn't do this to remain low-profile. No, he had chosen his answer because he didn't know if he could deceive an actual Adept mage into thinking he was on the same stage as them. It was better to play it safe and state his actual stage than to try to act clever.
Besides, if something did happen and the fellow would mistake him for an Adept like the rest, Darius could just claim to have wanted to start from the - figurative - bottom and rise up on his own.
However, the same could not be said if the reverse were to occur. If he claimed to be Adept and was found to be half-baked by their standards, he wouldn't have a good excuse for lying and the damage could be catastrophic depending on how far it got.
One should not forget, the main reason the Equality Faction had been so nice towards him and had invested so much into his future wasn't that they were generous, but because of a misconception. If that misconception were to be clarified one day, Darius would have to go back to living in the wilds.
Once he heard that Darius was an Amateur mage, the mage nodded as that was what he had expected. He simply asked Darius a few questions, including his name, age, title, next of kin, date of birth, address, and other details.
Darius stated his date of birth as the same day as when he was incarnated. Of course, he set the year back by enough that it didn't look awkward.
Once he was done filling the form, the mage faced Darius and ordered him. "Perform a basic spell for me to see."
Once Darius heard this, he knew it had been the correct choice to admit to his real stage. After all, he was unable to perform any Adept, or even Journeyman spells!
Darius turned to the side and cast Ember. The spray of smoldering fire that launched out in an arch was like a small explosion, shocking the Adept mage and all the others waiting for their turn in the other line except Gunner.
The inspector especially was confused and focused on Darius more. "How can this be? Such a strong basic spell… either he had a strong master, or he's… hmm?"
The inspector was flabbergasted this time and began to sweat. "Mind Power? Lad, you're also an Adept?!"
Once the crowd heard this, it was like thunder struck the room. The aide who had led Darius here still hung around out of mild interest, as he would have to finalize Darius' application anyway, and it was a nice reprieve from sitting on that hard chair all day.
However, his body shook when he realized he had been dealing with a young Adept… a prodigy! No, almost a legend in the Andrato Kingdom!
Especially one so young!!!
Darius simply smiled in response and clarified his intentions: "It's nice to start from the ground and climb your way up. Besides, I'd like to explore this dungeon slowly in the future."
The Inspector nodded as if he had been clued onto a secret, and grinned knowingly. "Alright, alright Brother. Let me get this form done up for you and you can dive in as much as you like."
Darius also beamed in much the same manner as the duo chuckled below their breath, as if understanding some inside joke only those of their kind would understand.
The Inspector naturally did not doubt himself, just like how Foldo hadn't despite Darius merely casting a basic spell. It was impossible for one to have Mind Power and not be an Adept.
One could say it was like a class-locked or race-locked ability. It was simply impossible to use unless you reached the prerequisite level.
It reminded Darius of the Pokemon genre. As for that name, he would never forget it due to how many hours he had spent watching and playing it with the kids. He had eventually been forced to buy the company that had made those games so he could invest more into it for his descendants to enjoy.
It was like the HM skill, Fly. When one saw one of those pokemon performing such a skill, they would know that it was a flying type or had wings allowing them to manifest such an ability. For others like legendaries and certain psychic pokemon, they could use extra means to achieve this effect.
However, no trainer or player of the Pokemon genre would believe that a Geodude or a Machamp could use Fly. It was simply beyond logic and definitely impossible.
This was the same situation here. An Amateur could not have Mind Power, meaning Darius had to be an Adept.
It was that simple.
In no time, whether because of his 'status' or because it was just like this every day, the rest of his applications was handled smoothly and he received something like an ID card with his name and rank on it.
