Betty clapped her hands as well. “Congratulations!”
Now that he had successfully become an adventurer, Lynn instinctively looked back at the quest boards pinned with various commissions.
He was eager to encounter new monsters and unlock his very first manual reward.
“Don't look at those just yet,”
Betty said, pulling Lynn along with a helpless sigh as she led him downstairs. “You don't even have a decent set of equipment yet, so don't think about adventuring. Come with me to a place first.”
Lynn turned his head to look at the blonde girl, who was half a head shorter than him, and asked in confusion,
“What place?”
Betty gave a mysterious smile. “You'll know when we get there.”
After exiting the Adventurers' Guild building, Betty led Lynn straight onto a carriage.
To Lynn's surprise, he recognized the driver. It was the same coachman who had brought the adventuring party to the village yesterday.
As it turned out, the carriage belonged to Betty's family. It seemed she was quite wealthy.
Before Lynn could speak, the coachman teased, “We meet again, Mr. Lynn. When we returned yesterday, the young lady mentioned your name more than once. She even came to the Adventurers' Guild first thing this morning to wait for you.”
“Uh... the honor is mine.”
Lynn didn't know how to respond to the coachman, so he could only offer a polite reply, casting a slightly odd look at Betty.
He didn't really have much of a relationship with Betty, did he? Why was this girl being so warm toward him?
Was it because of his status as a spellcaster?
“Uncle Will!”
Embarrassed and slightly annoyed, Betty quickly cut off Uncle Will before the coachman could ramble any further.
It took a while for the blush on her face to fade. She glanced at Lynn, who was resting with his eyes closed, and said, “Don't get the wrong idea.”
Get the wrong idea about what?
Though puzzled by what Betty meant, Lynn didn't say anything and simply nodded.
The carriage rolled smoothly down the middle of the town's streets. Wingen Town was indeed the largest town in the vicinity; even with carriages on the road, it didn't feel crowded at all.
“Whoa—we're here,”
Will announced.
A moment later, the carriage pulled up in front of a courtyard.
From the outside, the courtyard looked even more high-end than the Adventurers' Guild in the center of town, though its location was much more discreet, situated in a secluded corner of the town.
Despite the remote location, there was a significant amount of foot traffic.
Next to the courtyard stood a three-story building open to the public. It appeared to be a shop, with many adventurers dressed in various gear entering and exiting.
Slightly excited, Betty was the first to step down, offering her hand to Lynn on the carriage,
“Welcome to the Mages' Association.”
The Mages' Association.
Lynn looked at the courtyard behind Betty. It occupied a vast area, easily making it one of the largest building complexes in town.
There were even fully armed guards stationed at the entrance of the courtyard—a luxury not even the Adventurers' Guild enjoyed.
It seemed mages were indeed incredibly wealthy.
“Come on, I'll take you to get certified as an association member.”
Lynn was a bit puzzled. “Can a non-class-holder become a member of the Mages' Association?”
Seeing Lynn's reaction, Betty knew he probably had no idea how difficult it was to become a class-holder.
Still, she understood. It was only natural for a green village boy to be clueless about such things.
Betty covered her mouth and giggled. “Yes, they do. The Mages' Association also accepts those of us who haven't become class-holders yet but possess spellcasting talent.
“Plus, unlike the Adventurers' Guild, which charges a registration fee, members of the Mages' Association receive a monthly stipend. It should be a huge help to you.”
A stipend?!
Hearing this, Lynn's interest was instantly piqued.
He hadn't expected mages to look after their juniors so well. To think there was money to be made just by joining the association.
Now he had a compelling reason to become a mage.
Upon entering the Mages' Association courtyard, the melodious, soothing sounds of a lute drifted into his ears.
Looking toward the source of the music, he saw a device resembling a phonograph.
Noticing Lynn's gaze, Betty said with a touch of pride:
“That's an invention by one of our local mages in Wingen Town. It only needs a single low-grade magic stone—the cheapest kind—to power it to play music for an entire month. It's already popular among the kingdom's nobility and has even been exported to the elves!”
Lynn smiled and nodded.
The mages of this world gave Lynn the impression of inventors from his previous life. They researched and created many gadgets, some highly practical, others purely for entertainment.
Without these mages, the productivity of this world would probably drop by an entire tier.
Betty led Lynn to a building in the very center of the courtyard.
“This is the Mages' Association's administration hall. There's always a mage class-holder on duty inside. As long as you pass the mana talent evaluation they set, you can become a member of the association.”
With that, the two walked into the building. The interior of the room was quite spacious, with understated decor that featured many clever touches, showing that the builders had put a lot of thought into it.
In the center of the room sat a long, solid wood table.
A handsome young man wearing a light blue robe and glasses sat behind the desk. He had his legs crossed and was casually flipping through a thick tome with "Magic Arts" printed on the cover.
Betty whispered to Lynn, “The mage on duty today is Gray. He's quite nice, but make sure you aren't too impolite.”
With that, she walked up to the desk with a smile. “Teacher Gray, I've brought someone for the magic talent test!”
Gray looked up. Seeing a familiar face, he placed his half-read book face down on the desk and offered a warm smile.
“Is it the young man behind you? Alright, follow me.”
Only when Gray stood up did Lynn realize that this mage was actually slightly taller than him, even when Lynn was enhanced by the Strong Goblin bloodline. Gray stood at nearly 1.9 meters tall.
Considering Gray's status and appearance, Lynn felt his Charisma attribute might even be an eight or nine.
Gray quickly led them into a soundproof chamber. Standing in the center of the room was a translucent white stone pillar that seemed to be a testing tool, with markings engraved every twenty centimeters.
It looked simple and straightforward—the kind of testing pillar where "you just place your hand on it, and it reacts instantly."
Gray adjusted his glasses and said to Lynn in a warm tone, “I am Gray Brinkman, an official member of the Mages' Association in charge of this evaluation. The test is divided into two parts: a mana capacity test and a spellcasting ability test. Candidate, please give a brief self-introduction, and then we can begin.”
Lynn took a step forward and nodded slightly. “I'm Lynn.”
Gray nodded, seemingly waiting for Lynn to continue.
After a few seconds, he realized Lynn's introduction was already over. His expression shifted slightly, looking a bit surprised.
No family name?
In the kingdom today, surnames were no longer the exclusive privilege of nobles. Many common citizens in the cities chose surnames for themselves.
So Lynn was a boy from the countryside?
This was rare among mages. The vast majority of mages came from relatively wealthy backgrounds. Even if they weren't nobles, they were at least from families with generations of merchant wealth.
After all, whether it was the base materials used for spellcasting or the various magical materials needed for research, none of them were cheap. Mage was a money-burning class.
In short,
a mage might be personally short on cash, but they could never come from a poor family.
But Gray quickly recovered and smiled again, giving Lynn a hint:
“Just place your hand on the pillar and release your mana. This is a magic-conducting material with high sensitivity.”
Rate on N.U.
