After a moment of contemplation, Elizabeth Tudor brought up something that she'd initially glossed over, "While Nicholas did mention it in his letter, I'd also been meaning to bring this up with you. The investment that was made in Bristol for you, while such things are heavily frowned upon due to the attitude developments of children that have such advantages, you are a unique exception, and it's not entirely due to your race. From the information we have, you are abnormally mature for your age. All of your decisions, that we know of, were considered the best response to the situations, at least according to the alternatives. While your combat skills remain relatively advanced, you still lack enough experience to match it. You're capable of commanding, to some extent, trained soldiers efficiently and effectively. Not only are you a C-rank Adventurer, but you're also a C-grade Enchanter that is capable of creating new and unique items that have never been seen before. Then, at the tail end of all of the reasons, is your status as a Dragonborn and having a legitimate dragonkin as your familiar."
Luca understood all of this perfectly, as it made total sense. "Yes, ma'am, I am aware that I am an odd case. I was thankful for Guildmaster Nicholas's gift, as it helped expand my knowledge and taught me new spells... I also didn't have the opportunity to admit to this to him, but... I also memorized everything in the archives..." The boy sheepishly scratched his head with an awkward smile.
Quirking an eyebrow with a mild hint of surprise, Elizabeth addressed the young Dragonborn seriously, "The entire archives? That means you've memorized not only the spells but all of the texts?"
"Yes, ma'am..."
She leaned onto one armrest as she gave the boy the look that a stern teacher gives to a bad student, causing Luca to fidget. "What is the highest level spell you know?"
Luca had an immediate answer, as the System had given him a pop-up immediately following the question, "In terms of simply knowing the spell, it's the Lv. 6 Water-Wind Dual Elemental spell [Tempest]. If you want me to cast it, the highest one I can cast is the Lv. 3 Wind-type spell [Vacuum Blade], but only once and I can't control it." Dual Elemental spells begin appearing at Lv. 5 but they only start to become useful at Lv. 6. Tempest was designed to create a giant tornado that was combined with hail, like a hailstorm twister. As with all Dual Elemental spells, it could be downright nasty. As for Vacuum Blade, it was the opposite of a Wind Blade and proved to be capable of thoroughly decimating spells and targets. Among Lv. 3 spells, Vacuum Blade was considered to be one of the most advanced spells available.
"... Now let me ask the same question, but rephrased. Do you understand the spells that you have memorized?" She realized the small mistake in her question earlier and decided to clarify what she meant.
Luca nodded, "Yes, ma'am. I understand all of the spells enough to know how to use them correctly. I have yet to fully master all of the Lv. 2 spells, at which point I will consider myself a true Lv. 2 mage."
The Head Guildmaster sat back in her chair with an emotional sigh, though Luca could not pinpoint the specific feelings. "I knew it, you're a genius..." She pinched the bridge of her nose after removing her spectacles, "I can hardly keep up so far... Let's move on from that topic and return to the original point before we got sidetracked. As of right now, provided you can prove yourself as being worth the price, as it will be costly, the Mages Guild will continue that investment here in Valour City. You should understand that we will certainly not go easy on you for the tests before we officially begin, of course."
Surprised, the white-haired lad briefly stammered, "Y-yes, ma'am... I d-didn't expect that at all..." A small guild branch investing in a genius wasn't entirely surprising, as it had happened in the past. The investments there were generally a give-and-take arrangement: the genius being invested in would receive what they were being given, and, provided it went well, the small guild branch could receive a slightly bigger resource allocation from the headquarters in return. As for the headquarters of any guild arranging an investment with a single individual rather than an institution such as an academy was almost unprecedented. On the rare occasions that it did happen, the investee would almost certainly achieve the highest possible status in terms of their given ability. Case in point, the Mages Guild had invested in three separate individuals over the course of its several centuries of operation, and all three went on to become Archmages, one of which held two separate Archmage titles albeit one being honorary due to it already having a possessor and only one Archmage title could be official per person.
"I didn't expect someone like you to show up either, but here we are." Elizabeth certainly didn't mince words and bluntly stated, "I'm going to give you access to the archives here up to Lv. 8, aside from confidential and forbidden areas, for a total of four hours. After four hours, we will begin the first test, a memorization exam on various topics from specific books. After that will be an exam on deconstructing a simulated spell then reassembling it to test your understanding of spells. Following that will be an Enchanter's exam for an official license, and concluding with an exam on alchemy. If you manage to pass all four exams, the final exam will be a mock duel. Each exam might take an hour at minimum, so I'd recommend you get started immediately." Her tone made it clear that there was no refusal allowed.
"M-ma'am, a-are you s-sure about this? I d-don't know if I can do all of that..." If Luca had ever been nervous before, he had exceeded that nervousness by a thousandfold. This was terrifying in prospect to him, as it would shape his future going forward. If he failed, it would be impossible to keep from becoming a rumour. The entire kingdom would know within a fortnight, guaranteed, with how fast rumours travelled.
Placing her hands on the armrests of her chair and leaning forward with a deadpan look, Elizabeth Tudor simply stated, "If I were you, Luca, I'd get moving immediately, because you've already lost a minute of time."