Chapter 209: Battle Merit Missions |
The next two tests were much simpler and did not have such harsh requirements as the first one.
In the interference resistance test that followed, the main requirement was to choose three different types of spells and then cast the corresponding spell according to the signal given during the test.
During the test, once you received the signal, there would be bright flashes or piercing noise to interfere with you and disrupt your spell channeling.
But overall, this test was not difficult.
Fulan passed it with ease, and that was also thanks to the Physique she had worked so hard to raise, which allowed her to resist the interference very easily.
After her, Dylan nearly lost control of his spell channeling and almost failed, but in the end, he still managed to release the spell successfully.
Nora, like Fulan, passed the test with great ease, as though the interference had no effect on her at all.
But when it came to the remaining two mages, both of them ran into problems.
One of them was almost completely unable to resist the interference. The moment the interference appeared, he canceled his own channeling.
As a result, although the interference had no effect on him at all, he still failed to release his spells according to the designated signals, and naturally that meant he could not pass the test.
As for the target test afterward, the requirement was to hit the designated target among a group of moving targets while at the same time avoiding all the other targets.
Fulan completed this test with ease as well. Her many Physique boosts were no joke, and her hand-eye coordination naturally far surpassed that of ordinary mages.
Normally, although a First-Tier Mage could accurately identify the designated target among a mass of moving targets, the direction of their spellcasting simply could not keep up fast enough.
As a result, the other mages could all see the target, but they still could not hit it.
After many attempts, Dylan was still just a little short and ultimately failed. No matter what he did, he simply could not get past that final step.
Cole, however, was beyond Fulan’s expectations. After making only a few slight adjustments, he passed the test with ease.
As for Nora and the remaining mage, both of them failed very easily, and both of them had equally poor aim, striking many targets they were not supposed to hit.
After the tests ended, everyone looked at Fulan with disbelief.
Only Fulan had passed all three tests with ease. As for the others, they still needed to go back and train further.
Even Zane looked at her in amazement. He had never expected that a mage could pass all three tests directly without any prior training and do so with such ease.
No matter what, Fulan had passed all three tests. Under the envious gazes of the other four mages, she obtained the qualification to be listed as a formal member.
Zane took her to a room to complete the registration, then told her that starting tomorrow, she could come here and work as a battle mage.
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The next day, Fulan looked at the dozen or so notes pinned to the wall. Each of them listed a different job assignment and the reward that would be earned for completing it.
The structure of the Northern Society’s Battle Mage Corps was actually not complicated. It only required each battle mage to earn enough battle merits every month.
Once someone failed to meet the target for three months in a row, they would be kicked out of the Battle Mage Corps.
This target was very easy to achieve. Generally speaking, as long as you came here for six days each month, accepted a guard duty mission, and went to the designated location to serve as a guard for a few days, you would be able to complete it.
Moreover, the exchange system for battle merits had been specially designed. The battle merits earned from six days of guard duty had been deliberately calibrated so that after doing it for a few months, you would have just about enough to exchange for a spell.
Of course, battle merits could be exchanged for far more than just that. They could also be used to obtain many precious materials, some finished pieces of equipment, or even the qualification to commission custom equipment.
These were all things that were extremely difficult to access outside.
But what Fulan had in mind was not what the mages who normally came here had in mind.
Most of the mages who came here treated this work as a part-time job.
The battle merits earned here could be exchanged for precious materials, which was exactly what they wanted.
Some mages also came here purely to temper their combat ability and had specifically joined for that purpose.
The place Fulan had come to was where the mages who made a living specifically as battle mages stayed. Only the missions posted here offered large amounts of battle merits.
The missions here were also divided into many types, but they could still be broadly classified into two categories.
The first type was assigned missions. These were generally assigned to the core members of the Battle Mage Corps.
Whenever something major happened, these people would be summoned together, and naturally the rewards for such missions were the most generous.
The second type was the missions Fulan was now looking at. Any member could accept them on their own, and the mission rewards were written on them from the start.
This was also another source of income for the Northern Society: providing combat services to surrounding areas in exchange for money.
In the Northern Frontier, the Northern Society itself was only a small place.
After the Northern Society had replaced the local lord, it had made no move at all toward the surrounding lands.
The Northern Society had absolutely no interest in ruling those territories, so despite possessing powerful armed forces, it had no designs whatsoever on the lands around it.
In fact, for the sake of establishing the Battle Mage Corps, it had even deliberately adopted the practice of charging outside commissions so that its own mages would have opportunities to engage in combat.
Just as the name implied, battle mages had to battle.
And only through prolonged combat could one truly become a battle mage.
The Northern Frontier did not have the kind of harsh environment found in other parts of the Alliance, so there were basically no conditions that could lead to large-scale operations.
As a result, the only choice was to split the mages up into smaller groups and let them train by accepting these missions.
“You’re choosing a mission, aren’t you?”
Fulan was still considering which mission to take when a mage in a gray robe interrupted her.
“Yes,” she replied.
The other party smiled, then pointed at the note above and said,
“I suggest you take that one. It’s a mission proposed by the lord of Winter Bear Territory to clear out a mine. Since the lord cannot leave his own territory, he asked us for help.”
“As far as I know, there’s a First-Tier undead creature there. You understand, right?”
Fulan took down that note and examined it carefully, only to find that it did indeed mention the possibility of an undead creature.
She calculated it carefully. The journey to that place would take about five days, which meant that by the time she returned, her two papers would have just been published.
“Thank you for the recommendation.”
“No need to thank me. We’re all mages. It’s only right for companions to help each other.”
The mage’s smile remained warm and friendly, but only after watching Fulan walk away did he finally let the smile fade from his face.