"Congratulations, Mr. Alduran," the elderly man in black robes said, a smile playing on his lips.
"Sorinus, young master, indeed possesses the talent to become a mage, and his potential is not to be underestimated, likely falling within the intermediate range," he continued.
The Alduran family members all wore expressions of ecstatic joy.
As Sorinus gazed at his father, Sapiens Alduran, his excitement caused the thick beard beneath his jaw to tremble slightly, reminiscent of a lion's mane.
Yet, Sorinus's heart sank continuously, his complexion turning grim.
This marked the sixteenth year since his arrival from modern-day Earth, finding himself in a world reminiscent of the medieval era, where feudalism, military districts, theocracy, and republicanism coexisted across the continent.
His father, Sapiens, was a baron noble with a small parcel of land to his name.
Moreover, he often heard tales from wandering minstrels, stories that spoke of mighty sorcerers, gallant knights, and terrifying beasts that laid waste to villages and cities.
Indeed, today he had witnessed the existence of truly extraordinary powers.
The elderly man before him bore a striking resemblance to Saruman, the white-robed wizard from "The Lord of the Rings," but his name was Randal, a bona fide mage.
The only difference was that this mage wore robes of pure black.
On the left breast of his black robes were embroidered two golden threads, symbolizing his status as a second-tier mage, and also as an Emperorimancer recognized by the Imperial Mage Guild.
Emperorimancer, a title reserved only for formidable mages officially accredited by the empire.
In this realm, mages were the rarest and most esteemed profession across the entire continent.
Sapiens spared no expense to invite this passing Emperorimancer to his castle, to conduct talent assessments for his offspring.
As a result, Sorinus was the only youth found to possess talent.
"Sorinus's talent is comparable to mine, even a bit better," Randal remarked, a hint of surprise in his eyes.
He had only conducted the test for the sake of payment; otherwise, he would have never bothered with nobles like Sapiens from such remote locales.
To discover a youth with magical aptitude was a rarity, even Randal couldn't help but marvel at Sapiens's stroke of luck.
"So you're saying..." Sapiens could hardly contain his excitement. "Sorinus could become an Emperorimancer in the future?!"
Randal nodded, "In theory, yes."
Sapiens's face flushed with excitement.
Gods be praised, the Alduran family was finally producing a mage!
Sapiens could already envision the prosperity of the Alduran family through his eldest son.
For once Sorinus became a second-tier mage, he would receive rewards from the emperor, gain more territories, and his title would immediately ascend to that of a Count.
But Sorinus seemed far from pleased.
Just a mediocre magical talent?! Sorinus was deeply dissatisfied with this outcome!
Following the standard path, he would only become a second-tier mage like Randal, even when his beard turned white.
Sorinus didn't quite grasp the hierarchy of magical prowess in this world, but it was evident that being a second-tier mage wasn't particularly impressive.
This outcome left Sorinus feeling disappointed.
He had waited a whole sixteen years, only to receive such a result...
What happened to the promised golden finger? None of his experiences seemed to align with what a transmigrator should encounter.
Apologies for the oversight. Here's the translation with each line separated:
Sorinus's melancholic demeanor, perceived by Randal, appeared as a mark of maturity and composure.
Randal, moved by this observation, retrieved a weathered tome from within his voluminous black robes, its pages shimmering with arcane luminescence, and handed it to Sorinus.
"Child, I trust this may offer you some assistance," he said with a tone steeped in nobility.
Sorinus accepted it graciously, expressing his gratitude in kind.
Under a thousand thanks from the Alduran family, Randal left joyfully with hundreds of gold coins.
It took just a bit of effort to give away an apprentice's notebook, long useless to him, in exchange for enough money to cover the expenses of a commoner for decades.
The money was too easy to earn.
At night, Sorinus slowly flipped through the book that Randal had given him under the dim light.
The messy and sloppy handwriting made him furrow his brow.
Most of the text boasted the mystery and power of magic, while the remaining parts complained about how obscure and difficult magic was. Only occasionally did some obscure magic names pop out, making the notebook look somewhat substantial...
However, it wasn't of any substantial help to Sorinus.
Turning to the last page of the notebook, Sorinus's eyes suddenly lit up.
This page recorded a wizard's "meditation technique," along with a few convoluted magic spells.
That old man Randal finally showed a bit of conscience.
Sorinus meticulously read through the "Meditation Technique" word by word, sentence by sentence, three times over.
Then, he climbed into bed, assuming the posture instructed by the meditation technique, embarking on his first-ever "meditation" in life.
The meditation technique was, in fact, quite simple, consisting of only two steps overall.
The first step was to sense the magical elements in the air, while the second step was to capture those elements within oneself.
These two steps were as daunting as a chasm for those without magical talent.
Sorinus closed his eyes, and immediately, a myriad of colorful lights appeared before him.
This was the sensation step, something he had been able to do since he was very young.
The difficulty lay in how to employ one's thoughts, or what the magicians often referred to as mental power, to capture those slippery magical elements, akin to fish.
Sorinus finally understood why his magical talent was only average.
It was because it took him quite a long time to barely ingest a single light point into his body.
Just as the light point entered his body, a voice echoed in Sorinus's mind.
"Matching energy detected..."
"The system is activating..."
"Space creation in progress..."
"The Dragon Pasture system is activated!"
"Dragon Pasture"? What's that?
Is it a cheat code?!
That's fantastic!
But before he could even rejoice, Sorinus felt dizzy and disoriented!