A drop in aptitude instantly turned Ailin from a promising apprentice into a useless waste.
When the mentor reviewed Ailin's condition, he bluntly informed Ailin that he had lost the qualifications to practice advanced Meditation Methods.
Some advanced Meditation Methods placed extremely high demands on Wizards, and given Ailin's current state, he was clearly no longer suitable.
"An ordinary simplified Meditation Method has a far lower probability of advancing to Official Wizard than an advanced one. They've completely given up on me… And then there's her…"
Ailin hung his head low, his nails digging into his flesh until they nearly drew blood.
After word spread that his aptitude had been crippled and he'd lost the right to practice advanced Meditation Methods, friends and relatives alike had distanced themselves from him one after another. Even his already-betrothed fiancée had abandoned him.
Recalling the contemptuous look in that woman's eyes and the decisiveness with which she threw herself into another's arms, Ailin felt a surge of fury threatening to erupt from within his body.
What infuriated him even more—what pushed him toward outright despair—was that several enemies within the Academy had immediately moved to suppress him, with that woman's instigation clearly lurking behind the scenes, and they had managed to have him posted here.
Dolun City was a frontline war zone. Perhaps the Official Wizards could withdraw calmly even if the city fell, but that certainly did not include Ailin, a Third-rank Apprentice!
In wartime, it was cannon fodder who died the most, while the higher-ups rarely suffered casualties.
Based on past experience, in a conflict of this intensity, the apprentice death rate was at least fifty percent!
Ailin realized he was already growing numb to it all.
Dragging his body to the city gates, he called out: "Third-rank Apprentice Ailin, reporting for duty!"
He tried his best to look a bit more energetic.
"Hmm!" The stationed Wizard nodded, seemingly unsurprised and showing no anger.
He had seen plenty of apprentices who'd been squeezed out and sent here like this. Without backing, such apprentices never lasted more than a month. There was no point getting angry at a dead man.
"Your task is to maintain this detection Magical Array. I've already calibrated it beforehand—white means an ordinary person, red means an apprentice or a Knight, and purple means an Official Wizard. Understood?"
"Understood!" Ailin nodded.
Just then, the detection Magical Array suddenly let out a tremendous roar, its corners cracking from the force.
A beam of black light erupted violently from its surface.
"What does black mean?" Ailin asked dumbly.
"Second-rank! A powerful existence at Second-rank or above!!!" The Wizard answered in a daze, then snapped back to reality. "Quick! Sound the alarm!"
Not far away in the sky, a black dot slowly expanded until it resolved into a human silhouette.
Leilin Farell regarded the commotion at the city gates and shook his head faintly. "It seems I've caused a bit of a misunderstanding."
He then halted his advance and waited quietly.
A few minutes later, two equally powerful waves of energy surged from within Dolun City, and two figures transformed into streaks of light, rushing to meet Leilin Farell.
They were two Second-rank Wizards—one male, one female. The man wore a Wizard's robe of red trimmed with silver patterns and greeted Leilin Farell with a hearty laugh: "Lord Leilin! It's wonderful that you've arrived in time!"
The female Wizard stood smiling to the side, seemingly deferring to her male counterpart.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lord Vintix!"
Leilin Farell returned the greeting with a courteous smile.
Over the past three years, Leilin Farell had hardly been idle. At the very least, he had familiarized himself with several Second-rank Wizards of the Eastern Region.
This Second-rank Wizard named Vintix was the head of another major Academy, and the Duke Vintix in the mortal world happened to be a descendant of his bloodline.
"Come! Whatever business there is, we can discuss it inside!"
Vintix glanced at the commotion on the ground below, smiled at Leilin Farell, and descended slowly.
Leilin Farell and the female Wizard followed behind.
"It's a Second-rank Lord! Salute at once!"
Ordinary soldiers, generals, and nobles alike dropped to their knees, and the previously stationed Wizard also bowed respectfully.
Ailin hurried to bow as well, then raised his head with a trace of puzzlement, stealing a furtive glance at the young figure at the center. "That Lord… I feel like I've seen him somewhere before, but I just can't remember…"
The moment Ailin's gaze swept across the figure, the Wizard on the other side seemed to sense the scrutiny. A pair of dark eyes swept toward him.
Instantly, darkness and shadow closed in around Ailin, sending him stumbling back several steps, his chest tightening as though he couldn't breathe.
Ailin broke into a cold sweat of fright, hastily lowered his head, and dared not raise it again.
"So it's him! I didn't expect to run into him here!" A faint smile appeared on Leilin Farell's face.
Strictly speaking, his initial understanding of the Dark Poles Region had actually come from this very apprentice's memories. Meeting him again could be considered a stroke of good fortune.
"I'll choose you first, then!" A sudden flicker of dark amusement rose in Leilin Farell's mind.