**Chapter 87: Headquarters**
The sheer number of wizards gathered together, even if only apprentices, generated a collective mental force strong enough to make the surrounding elemental energies extraordinarily active.
These overly active elemental forces caused the various magical artifacts carried by the apprentices to hum with energy.
Wizard robes of all kinds, from simple apprentice garments to ornate leader robes, shimmered with vibrant, multicolored hues.
The magical items the apprentices carried were even more diverse: some had rune-carved staves hanging at their waists, others held faintly glowing alchemical constructs, and some bore uniquely designed artifacts or energy packs on their backs.
Wizard apprentices were still young, after all. Jie Ming noticed that in this atmosphere, many couldn’t resist subtly comparing themselves to others.
Many half-revealed their signature abilities, sizing each other up, quietly assessing their rivals’ strengths.
Jie Ming’s gaze swept across the diverse faces in the plaza.
Some apprentices were flushed with excitement, their eyes burning with ambition for future achievements.
Others looked grim, lips tightly pressed, clearly nervous about the upcoming test.Most had sharp, blade-like gazes, filled with scrutiny and challenge toward those around them.
Hailing from different academies, their competition had already begun.
However, the clamor was suddenly subdued by an invisible force, turning into hushed murmurs.
The air seemed to solidify as all eyes converged in one direction.
Noren Workshop’s comprehensive test had gathered the most elite forces from its hundred-plus academies.
Among them, the true hopes of the wizard civilization’s future were thirteen super-geniuses with tenth-level aptitude.
Normally, aptitude strength depended on both genetics and luck.
Even lower-ranked Noren Academies could recruit one or two eighth- or ninth-level talents each year.
But true tenth-level aptitude geniuses had only ever appeared in the top ten academies.
The probability of a tenth-level aptitude was simply too low!
Even in the top ten academies’ planes, which had been transformed to ensure universal meditation aptitude, not every cohort produced a tenth-level genius.
Unlike other academies, the top ten recruited students annually.
Even so, these thirteen tenth-level geniuses were the culmination of a decade’s efforts.
These students from the top ten Noren Academies were the chosen ones, recipients of the Workshop’s boundless resources, and the true focus of this test.
Now, these dazzling figures began to make their entrance under everyone’s gaze.
The first to catch the eye was a towering figure, broad-shouldered like a moving boulder, nearly blocking the passage.
A massive axe, engraved with crude runes, was slung across his back, its blade as thick as a door, exuding a heavy metallic aura.
His appearance was less that of a wizard and more akin to a barbarian from some savage land.
His presence was like a mountain—steady, oppressive, each step seeming to shake the ground.
His eyes radiated absolute confidence in his strength and disdain for the weak.
Information about these figures had long spread among the apprentices, and his identity was quickly recognized.
Jie Ming watched him, recalling the relevant details: “David Kolma, from Noren Academy 1.”
“Truly gifted…” Jie Ming marveled inwardly. “David’s physique rivals high-tier earth-elemental magical beasts. He’s not even a transformation wizard, yet his physical strength is staggering. I can’t imagine what he’d be like with sorcery.”
As David surveyed the less powerful apprentices, a faint trace of disdain flickered in his eyes.
His lips moved slightly, emitting a low hum, wordless yet conveying the scorn in his heart.
David made no effort to conceal his power. In Jie Ming’s perception, the man’s vital energy was like a roaring furnace blazing right before him.
Even without relying on mental force, David’s innate ability to manipulate earth-element particles through sheer will matched that of a third-level wizard apprentice.
In other words, against ordinary third-level apprentices, he could crush them with raw physical strength alone, without even using sorcery.
Most importantly, despite his barbarian-like appearance, David was a bona fide wizard.
Treating him as a mere brute would lead to a miserable end.
Under David’s overshadowing presence, another genius from Noren Academy 1 appeared quietly in the crowd—Seraphina Nightshade.
Clad in a deep purple hooded robe, her slender form was nearly imperceptible.
Her aura was faint, blending into the surrounding shadows, her movements silent and ghostly.
Only when she chose to reveal herself did the nearby apprentices realize, shocked, that someone new was among them.
Seraphina paused briefly in the crowd, then casually turned in another direction.
Jie Ming frowned, noting that her gaze had lingered on him for a moment.
“Seraphina, master of dark sorcery, illusions, and stealth, specializing in mental infiltration and precision assassination.”
“Her concealment and mental infiltration are even more impressive than I expected. Most first-level formal wizards probably can’t match her. And her power feels strange—every trace of it seems to meld into the void. It’s not quite like soul sorcery’s suggestive effects. Could it be some unique aptitude? Fascinating…”
Jie Ming couldn’t help but glance at her again.
From that brief look, he knew that beyond her supreme stealth, she likely had other means of sensing danger.
Three more radiant figures emerged from the teleportation array, drawing attention away from the pair.
Leading them was a figure wearing gold-rimmed glasses, holding a thick, ancient tome, exuding a refined yet overwhelming presence beneath his scholarly demeanor.
Jie Ming thought for a moment, recalling the relevant details.
Kaelern Vania, the genius from Noren Academy 2.
His image was starkly different from the previous two, embodying the truest essence of a wizard.