A few hundred smart-looking children clad in uniform were gathered here in neat rows.
They were apprentices of the East Magic Academy.
Today was the annual promotion assessment.
Only by passing the test could one advance from an Apprentice Mage to an Elementary Mage.
The mountain in front of them was the place for the assessment.
Trial Mountain of Magical Beasts.
At that moment, the children were looking seriously at the red-robed middle-aged man in front of them.
The man placed his hands behind his back and spoke in a powerful voice.
"The exam rules state that if you return before dark and obtain at least five Class 1 Monster Cores, you will pass the exam.
"Be careful, you are not allowed to steal other people's Monster Cores. Once we find out, you will be disqualified."
The middle-aged man's body suddenly burst into flames.
In the blink of an eye, he vanished from the spot.
The hundreds of children looked at the magic cast by Mentor Shylock, their eyes burning with passion.
The magic was called "Fire Escape", a Class 5 spell that could allow one to teleport temporarily.
This was already extremely shocking for the children who were merely apprentices.
And among the hundreds of children stood a youth who was a head taller than the others. As a person who had lived two lives, his eyes carried maturity and steadiness.
Yes, he was Ronald, a time traveler.
In the magic world, one could cultivate magic at the age of seven and become an Apprentice Mage.
As for him, he was 12 years old this year and was still stuck at the level of an Apprentice Mage.
This caused many of his peers to mock him.
The students who entered the Magic Academy at the same time as him were all Elementary Mages.
Some of them were quite talented and had even become Intermediate Mages.
However, he had been practicing magic for five years, and he still could not master the elemental energy required to cast magic.
Elemental energy was the key to cultivation.
By relying on elemental energy, one could gather the various elements contained in the space and cast magic.
For instance, the most basic fireball spell was to use elemental energy to gather a certain amount of fire elements in the air.
After condensing into a fireball and shooting it at the target, it would be a fireball spell.
This was the most basic magic that an Apprentice Mage needed to master.
However, if he still could not master elemental energy by the time he was 12 years old, he would have no fate with magic in his entire life.
At this moment, after Mentor Shylock left, the apprentices all ran towards the Trial Mountain of Magical Beasts.
There were still five hours before nightfall.
In other words, killing five Class 1 Magical Beasts within five hours and obtaining five Class 1 Monster Cores was the only way to pass the test.
Ronald stood rooted to the ground as he watched his juniors charge toward the trial grounds with blazing eyes.
He used to be like them, his eyes filled with hope. After all, he was a transmigrator.
And which transmigrator didn't have some secret hacks up their sleeves?
He thought that since he could not awaken his elemental energy through normal training, he could use danger to stimulate his potential.
But now, he didn't think so anymore.
In the past years, in order to force himself to unleash his potential, he would intentionally look for vicious Magical Beasts. But each time, he would be chased by Magical Beasts and almost lost his life.
In last year's trial, he had even run to the place where Class 2 Magical Beasts appeared. If not for Mentor Shylock's timely appearance to save him, he would have died in the deadly jaws of Magical Beasts.
Now, Ronald only wanted to leave the Magic Academy after the trial and live a normal life as an ordinary person.
But at that moment, a voice sounded in his mind.
"Ding-dong. The host has received a god-level modification system."
Ronald was stunned. It had been five years. Why had the system only just arrived?
The moment he obtained the system, the disappointment on Ronald's face disappeared, replaced by anticipation.
However, what kind of hack was this modification system?
At this moment, an Apprentice Mage sprinted past him and headed towards the Trial Mountain.
When he dashed over, the strong wind caused Ronald's body to sway.
"Ding-dong. The host has started modification. Movement Speed +999999."
Ronald wondered what "Movement Speed +9999999" meant.
Before he could think further, three classmates arrived.
The three of them were not short either. They were looking at Ronald mockingly.
"Isn't this Senior Ronald? Oh, wait, I forgot that he can't awaken his elemental energy. He's still in the first grade."
The kid who spoke was Jack, with the yellow hair.
Ronald recognized him.
The three of them had become apprentices two years ago, and they were already 10 years old this year. Like him, they had yet to pass the Elementary Mage test.
The blue-haired Dill and brown-haired Bell sneered.
"Hahaha, I'm sorry, Senior Ronald. The three of us have awakened our elemental energy this year. After today, we will be Elementary Mages."
"After today, we'll be your senior. No, you're already 12 years old this year. You should be expelled by the academy. What a pity. I can't humiliate you anymore."
As Jack spoke, he showed off his fireball in front of Ronald.
Immediately, the fire element in the air coalesced in Jack's palm. A small fireball the size of a baseball appeared.
The next moment, Jack deliberately pretended to fall and threw the fireball at Ronald.
The instant the fireball came into contact with him…
A system notification popped up in Ronald's mind again.
"Ding-dong. The modification system has been activated. The fireball has been successfully modified. Gained Fire-type forbidden spell, Burning Heavenly Flame! Fire elemental affinity +99999999."
The moment Ronald obtained it, he sensed that the air was filled with fire elements.
Jack's small fireball brushed past Ronald's clothes and fell onto the grass.
The grass was ignited, and a charred area appeared on the ground.
A moment later, the flame was extinguished.
Of course, Jack and the other two did not notice Ronald's abnormality at this moment. After mocking him, they left.
Ronald stayed where he was, thinking carefully about the contents of the system prompt.
Fire elemental affinity +99999999.
With a thought, there was no need for elemental energy to activate. Two balls of flames the size of ping pong balls appeared in his hands.
The moment the flames appeared, the temperature around him rose sharply, and burnt marks appeared on the weeds and trees.
With Ronald as the center, all the fire elements in the air gathered within 100 meters.
All the creatures were roasted to death by the scorching heat.
Although the fireball was only the size of a ping pong ball, Ronald could feel that the fire element was extremely pure.
Excited, his eyes shone.
Although the temperature of this fireball was lower than the baseball-sized fireball Jack cast just now, its purity was astonishingly high, so the heat was also incredibly hot.
He had seen Mentor Shylock cast a Class 5 fireball.
It was a fireball the size of a basketball. However, Ronald had felt that kind of temperature from afar before, and it was not as terrifying as his now.
This was the effect after the fire element was modified.
In other words, the speed of the modification…
Ronald dashed ahead.
His figure turned into an afterimage and disappeared from the spot.
In the span of a breath, he appeared 100 meters away.
He turned around and looked at the spot where he had burnt with his fireball.
The glint in his eyes grew brighter.