After signing the Magic Agreement, the three envoys from the magic college finished what they had to do in the city and prepared to leave.
Before they did, Alice looked at Vicente and said. "Cesar, I hope you'll be able to fulfill that agreement. Regardless of our earlier position, you are a native of the kingdom, and if you can grow up to be an expert, it will be better.
Don't think we wish you the worst just because we ask for such an agreement. I hope to hear good news about you, and if you need anything in the meantime, I promise to welcome you to my office in the capital."
The Seidel Magic College had only one seat, which was located in the kingdom's largest city, the capital, Grandis.
Grandis was home to the royal family and all the known Sovereigns of the Seidel Kingdom.
As far as Vice knew, the strongest people in the state were Sovereigns, and most of them lived in the Diamond Province, the territory ruled by the royal family, where Grandis was located.
As much as Alice had forced him to make a bad deal, Vicente knew her words meant something. Any support in this highest place in the kingdom would be critical to anyone.
He thanked her for her words. "Thank you for the opportunity, senior."
Joshua and his girlfriend didn't say much after Alice's words, just saying goodbye and looking forward to the end of the 10-year period.
Left alone with his soldiers and the two Mages from Rexnelts Academy, Vicente pondered for a few seconds before director Scott looked at him and asked.
"Will you be all right, young Cesar?"
Director Scott could already imagine that Cesar was likely to have problems that would be particularly troublesome for him if today's problem wasn't solved the way it had been. No one without motivation would accept a contract as terrible as the one he had signed.
The director could easily see that and was curious to know what Cesar would do from now on.
"Hmm, thank you for your concern, senior Scott. But better a problem in 10 years than now." Vicente said, looking immensely relieved for them.
Unlike the vast majority of people in the world, Vicente knew exactly how compound interest worked.
How important was that? Well, his progress was like compound interest. The more time he had, the more magical his results became.
He was weak now, but in 10 years, he could go through various bonuses and increase his strength exponentially. There was no way to predict for sure where he would be when such a deal was struck.
Confident in the effect of compound interest on his magical progress, Vicente was calm even though he knew he had a long way to go.
Hearing Cesar's relieved tone, director Scott asked him. "Young man, why did you come here? I sense that you have more plans than just solving this problem."
"The director is right," Vicente remembered why he had come to this city and put the future aside for a moment. "I'm looking for knowledge. At first, I wanted to come to this academy to get advice on where or who to seek help from. But now that I've met senior Newton, I think part of my search is over."
"You wanted to meet me?" Newton looked at Vice.
"No. I didn't know your name. But now that I've heard how amazing you are, I can't help but wonder if you might be able to answer some of my questions." Vicente replied.
"Perfect. I'd like you to join me for a more in-depth conversation." Newton liked that.
To him, Cesar was a great anomaly, someone perfect for him to study!
He looked at director Scott and asked. "Do you have anything else you want to talk to Cesar about? I'd like to take him to my lab."
"Go ahead, professor Newton. I'll wait to hear about your conversation later."
Newton had a lot of freedom because of his potential. But director Scott didn't have much more to talk to Vice about anyway since the matter was already settled, and Newton could help the young man reach more capable scholars in this city than he could.
With that, Vice and his three men soon followed Newton's lead to the laboratory of the head professor of the Rexnelts Academy.
Halfway there, Vicente's men asked Newton about the director because of the man's last name. As they expected, the director was a member of the Scott family, the family of the current Duke of the province.
The director Scott was the Duke's eldest nephew, someone far removed from the Scott line of succession.
After discussing such a curiosity, the group arrived at a laboratory of over 200 square meters, a large cylindrical chamber on one of the highest levels of the academy building.
Inside the laboratory, they saw a bookcase that could easily hold more than 2,000 books of various types, all perfectly cataloged by specialty and level of difficulty.
In addition, there were various tools useful for different professions around the area, including items for blacksmiths, which Vice naturally recognized when he looked at the well-organized surroundings of that laboratory.
Vicente's men paid attention to the beautiful view of a part of the city and the sea from there, something neither Vice nor Newton paid much attention to when they arrived there.
Then, after closing the door to his lab and activating various security mechanisms, Newton lowered the curtains on the windows and turned on the lights.
He asked the question he had been waiting to ask for a few minutes. "Cesar, what color is your first pentagram?"
Vicente's men looked at him, not understanding this simple question since it was so obvious.
What other pentagram, besides a red one, would anyone have? The first pentagram was given to magicians by the Magic Gem they received upon awakening. How could anyone have anything else?
But Vicente understood almost immediately what Newton was asking. 'Good question... Let's see where you take me.'
"Red, of course." He said, narrowing his eyes under his mask.
"Impossible!" Newton exclaimed. "In my work as a scholar, I've accessed the records of more than 10,000 talented young people who have awakened their powers throughout the kingdom. But when I checked their progress, none of them could even come close to what you've done.
Cesar, what happened to you wasn't initiated by you, but many talented magicians try to absorb pentagrams better than they should in order to achieve something fantastic. That happens every year, even though we scholars have long explained the risks of doing so.
Of the 10,000 cases I studied, 100 young people tried to do what you were forced to try. One of them had a Cyan talent. But even he failed.
So either you have a first pentagram orange or a phenomenal talent, probably above Cyan. Those are the only possibilities, or your body couldn't take it."
"Why?" Vicente asked, playing dumb. "Maybe there's another explanation."
"Either your body has been changed by some natural essence that has left a trace on you, like a pentagram, or your talent is so high that you can control the yellow pentagram perfectly without letting it harm you," Newton said.
"There may even be an additional explanation, but it's related to what I said. So, there must be something that explains it. Then, what is the level of your talent?"
