Chapter 129: Trial

  Harris is fifty-four years old, a mid-sixth-level magician, skilled in water magic, and also has some remarkable achievements in potion-making. Additionally, there are some interesting facts: he and the current Emperor Cantos of the Empire are of the same age, both being fifty years old, and coincidentally, his birthday is on the same day as that of the Spear Emperor.

  Harris was a relatively mild-tempered person - compared to other magicians. Most magicians were eccentric and liked to shut themselves away in pursuit of magical secrets, hiding in their laboratories all day, tinkering with strange things, not good at communicating with people, and disgusted with most secular things.

  But Harris was different, after becoming a qualified magician, he stayed in the Magician's Guild to serve. Became one of the few magicians on the continent who were hired by the Magician's Guild as an executive magician. Serving in the Magician's Guild has some great benefits, such as getting the latest news from the Magician's Guild, using the channels within the guild to get some affordable magical materials, having a free laboratory, and being able to use the ancient magical literature within the guild at will.

  However, there is a price to pay for everything, and as an executive of the Magic Association, Harris has to devote some energy to completing some tasks in the association, although most of them are easy: currently, there are 20 executives in the Magic Association, and according to the order, each executive must take out one or two days every month to work in the association, handling daily affairs, and also devote some energy to teaching at the Magic Academy, explaining basic magic theories and potion studies to those magic students.

  Although the union has twenty executive lawyers, most magicians are not interested in these secular jobs. The teaching in the college may still have people doing their best, but that is just hoping to find one or two excellent seedlings. However, the daily work of the Magic Union is very slack.

  The president of the Magic Guild, Rafael the Great Magician, in order to prevent the hired mages from slacking off and neglecting their work in the guild, issued a regulation that for every three absences from teaching or work in the guild, the mage would be punished by having their access to the guild's magical literature revoked for a month.

  Even so, the Magic Guild offered generous terms, but few truly powerful magicians were willing to serve the guild. Those true strongmen still pursued freedom like wild geese. The executive mages in the Magic Guild now are mostly mid-tier.

  Harris' work tasks in the guild mainly involve manual potion-making, and he must spend two days each month in the guild's office handling official business. His magical attainments have already reached the top level of Grade 6, and under current circumstances, he may have a chance to advance to Grade 7 within three years, becoming a high-ranking magician. However, this depends on luck, and also requires a lot of time for practice.

  He has recently been considering whether it is necessary to resign from this appointment, after all, if he can become a senior magician before the age of 55 and get the title of "Great Magician", it would be a very honorable thing for any magician. It's just that the chairman of the Magic Guild, Rafael, had helped him a lot in the past, but he couldn't bring himself to do so because of his pride.

  Today, Harris was on duty as the Executor of the Law, and he signed a few documents about purchasing a batch of magical medicines in his office, then closed the door to meditate for a while. Just at this time, someone disturbed him.

  The guy who came into the room called himself "Dororo", and Harris seemed to have some impression of this name, he rubbed his forehead and thought for a while before remembering it.

  The guy who walked in claimed to be a magician too, Harris's attitude was still quite polite, but after he remembered who this guy was. His face immediately turned stiff: It was this guy. Simply the shame of the magic world!

  "What?" Harris listened to Dororo's account with great impatience, frowning and saying: "Mr. Dororo, you came here to ask the Magician's Guild to restore your reputation?"

  "Yes." Doro was very respectful when facing Harris, and this respect didn't seem to be pretended like it was with the turtle: "Respected Lord Harris, regarding those debts I owe, I have now got enough money to repay them. I will handle all these matters properly, my request is just that... please let the Magic Association restore my honor as a magician... after all, I possess qualified formal magician qualifications and am also a graduate of the Magic Academy."

  "I'm afraid I must decline your request." Harris frowned: "Just a few months ago, the things you did caused great trouble for the Magic Guild. According to the guild's regulations, due to your dishonorable behavior that tarnished the guild's honor, the guild has officially revoked your magician qualification. This is the unanimous opinion of the guild's executive committee, so... I regret to inform you that your magician qualification has been suspended, and we have tried to retrieve your magician badge, but at that time, we couldn't find you in person."

  Duoduo's expression was somewhat awkward, at that time he had already absconded with debts and ran to the Wildfire Plains...

  "This way." Harris waved his hand impatiently: "According to the Magic Guild's regulations, you can apply for re-acquisition of your magician qualifications. However, according to the punishment system, you must take a skip-level assessment, so... if you want to apply, then within one month after submitting the report, we will arrange an assessment."

  With that, Harris gave a look at the door, meaning: if you've got something to say, then get lost.

  Transcendental assessment?

  Duoduo was stunned.

  The meaning of "越级考核" is that when a magician's qualification is cancelled due to violating the rules of the Magician's Guild, and they want to re-obtain their qualification, they must retake the exam. However, during the re-examination, they must skip two levels!

  That is to say, under the current circumstances of Duo Luo. His original first-class mage qualification was cancelled. So if he wants to return to the ranks of mages again, he must go and take the "third-class mage" exam directly!

  Are you kidding me!!

  At first, I barely passed the primary assessment with all my might. Now you want me to take the tertiary exam directly? If I had the ability for the tertiary level, would I have been so miserable?!

  But... if I don't take the exam, then I won't have formal qualifications as a magician...

  Although strength is strength, a true master. Doesn't care about the title of rank, as long as your strength has really reached level 7 or 8, it doesn't matter if the official gave you a formal badge. Your strength is there anyway...

  But for a grassroots magician like Duoduo Luo, a formal title is extremely important.

  Firstly, formal magicians can receive a substantial allowance from the Magician's Guild every year. He also plans to use this money to redeem himself from Shaya. Then, only those with formal magician qualifications can enjoy the treatment of magicians at the church's magician guild branches throughout the empire, including free food and lodging, as well as free use of the magic arrays at each branch. They can also purchase a considerable portion of magical materials at extremely low prices. A significant part of these materials is prohibited on the mainland and can only be bought within the Magician's Guild. Although they are available on the black market, the prices are much higher, and the supply is scarce and unstable.

  Moreover, only magicians recognized by the Magic Guild can enter the guild to peruse some magical texts - for a masterless and teacherless soul like Dororo, this is an indispensable step to further improve his abilities.

  The most important point is that only formally recognized magicians by the Magician's Guild have legal immunity and protection in the Empire!! Magicians who commit general crimes can be exempt from punishment under the law, while also being protected by the law. This point is extremely important for a grassroots character like Dororo! In the past, he was able to travel alone from the Imperial Capital to Noh Fire Plains because of a magician's badge, and those bandits and thieves along the way didn't dare to provoke him.

  Todor's face was extremely unsightly, he looked at Harris and saw that this big shot seemed somewhat impatient. Todor hesitated repeatedly, finally revealing a resolute expression, his voice hoarse: "Then... Lord Harris, may I choose... the trial!"

  Harris was stunned, he subconsciously straightened his back and couldn't help but take another look at the guy in front of him.

  Trials? He actually chose trials?

  Looking at the records from before, this Rank 1 magician named Dororo is normally a coward like a mouse. He's despicable, cunning, greedy and lacks courage, and because of that, he brought such a huge reputation problem to the Magic Guild.

  What's gotten into this guy all of a sudden?!

  "Have you really decided to take the trial?"

  "Really." Todoroki took a deep breath.

  A flicker of something unusual flashed in Harris's eyes.

  Duoduo walked down the stairs with an expression as if he had just been diagnosed with a terminal illness, his face was gloomy and it seemed like even his feet were having trouble moving.

  After walking down the stairs, I saw in the hall that Xia Ya was staring at a magician, both of their expressions were somewhat strange, Xia Ya's smile was very weird. The magician was obviously somewhat timid, his eyes dodging back and forth.

  Could see clearly the other's face, Duoduo Luo couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

  "What? Bidaldo?!"

  Bidaldo was deep in thought on how to get rid of Shaya, when he was suddenly called out. He looked up and saw Dororo coming down the stairs with a surprised expression: "Ah? It's you, Dororo!"

  Dororo took a big step forward, warmly embracing Bidoro for a moment as if they were old friends. However, after the brief hug, they quickly separated. Dororo grasped one of Bidoro's wrists, which was reaching into Dororo's left pocket, while Bidoro grunted and seized Dororo's other hand, whose fingers had already slipped into a leather pouch at his waist...

  The two of them exchanged a glance, both smiling with a somewhat suspicious look, and then chuckled briefly before quickly separating, as if nothing had happened at all, their facial expressions becoming as calm as possible.

  "Haha! It's actually you, this guy! I didn't think we'd ever meet again!"

  "Bidaldo, you're looking quite well, it seems your magical cultivation has increased significantly recently."

  Xia Ya beside them was stunned, watching the two of them smile with knives hidden in their words, their faces pale and expressionless. She couldn't help but ask: "Do you know each other?"

  "Of course." Dodo chuckled: "This Bidaldo is actually a classmate of mine from the Magic Academy! We're pretty good friends, you know."

  As he spoke, Dororo's eyes twitched. Meanwhile, Hyakkimaru felt a bit uneasy with Shizuka by his side, but still managed to shoot Dororo a menacing glare.

  Xia Ya couldn't help but laugh at these two guys who were indeed "good friends".

  "Since it's an old reunion, we must find a good place to have a good drink."

  Bidaldo immediately said: "Not bad! To celebrate your return to the Imperial City, I'll treat you! I know a tavern that's quite good."

  Pausing for a moment, Bidaldo looked at Xia Ya: "However, this gentleman... Who are you..."

  Todor hesitated for a moment and looked at Xia Ya. Xia Ya sighed, smiled and said: "Yes, I'm saying that Todor's martial arts attendants are not good enough."

  Duoduo immediately stole a grateful glance and then raised his chin high against Bidaldo.

  In the circle of magicians, having one's own warrior attendants is a symbol of status.

  Bidaldo was taken aback, but immediately sneered in his heart. Warrior followers? Don't joke around, if it were someone else, it would be fine, but Xia Ya, Bidaldo knew how ruthless this guy was. This Dororo and himself had similar strength, where did he get the qualifications to recruit such a formidable follower?

  However... Looking at Xia Ya, Bidal let out a sigh. Running into this guy was his own bad luck. He'd first take them away, then find an opportunity to shake him off outside. Luckily, it seemed that this Xia Ya, the demon hunter, didn't seem to have any intention of revenge...

  Dororo had Hiyao's support, and with a confident air, he walked out of the Magic Guild's main gate. After they left, Dororo intentionally brought up some past events with Bidalto, and the two engaged in a war of words, their conversation laced with veiled insults. However, with Hiyao by his side, Bidalto didn't dare to be arrogant, and no matter how much Dororo provoked him, he didn't dare retort. This left Dororo feeling greatly satisfied, thinking that after all these years of rivalry, he had finally gotten the upper hand today.

  After leaving the Magic Guild, passing through the central square and out of the large cathedral, Shaya slowed down a few steps on purpose after coming outside, saying in a low voice: "What's your relationship with this guy?"

  Duoduo said in a low voice: "Hmph, stealing food to eat."

  Duoduo simply explained a few sentences. It turned out that the two were graduates of the same magic academy, and both had limited talent and low achievements in the field of magic. However, they were both despicable and shameless, greedy and cunning. To make a living, the two could only think of ways to deceive some ignorant small nobles and fat sheep in the imperial capital, cheating and drinking, surviving by muddling through their days.

  However, the imperial capital is not that big, and the two of them have been making a living on the same road, so it's inevitable that there will be some friction and collisions. Occasionally, they would encounter some fat sheep that both of them coveted, and they would secretly engage in some infighting and sabotage each other. Over the years, this led to a lot of resentment between them. The only difference was that Bidaldo had an extra layer of endurance, so in the end, Dororo was mostly at a disadvantage, and Bidaldo was lucky enough to become the apprentice of a real magician, while Dororo was just a lone wolf. He also lost too much face. Gradually, he was squeezed out by Bidaldo and couldn't even make a living anymore. In the end, he had to flee with debts, which also had something to do with Bidaldo's "merit".

  Xia Ya couldn't help but laugh upon hearing this. He then spoke in a low voice about his encounter with Bidaldo. Duoluo's eyes widened after listening, and an idea sprouted in his mind. He deliberately feigned indignation, saying: "What a scoundrel! He bullied me back then, that's nothing, but he actually dared to deceive Master! This time, we must teach him a good lesson!"

  Xia Ya snorted, casting a sidelong glance at Duo Luo: "You want revenge, but you think you can deceive me into taking the lead for you? Don't even think about it. You've cultivated a life-and-death curse technique; use it to test your skills."

  "That life magic, this life magic, they all consume life force... I'm worried..." Dororo took a step back, and Shuya glared at him: "Nonsense. You've exchanged your life for this power, yet you can't bear to use it. Are you waiting for it to go moldy? You don't dare use one thing, you're not willing to part with another... what's the point of trading your life for power?"

  As he spoke, he pulled Duoduo to chase after Bidaldo who was walking ahead. Bidaldo was deep in thought, thinking of a plan, intending to lead the two into that tavern where many acquaintances were present. The other three of the Wangcheng Four Beauties were also there, and it would be perfect to stir up some trouble. After all, he was the local snake in the imperial capital, and with more people on his side, he could finally avenge himself against Ye Huo Yuan.

  Three people rode horses away from the church, chatting along the way. Shaya asked about Dororo's progress in the guild, and Dororo's mood suddenly fell. He let out a heavy sigh: "Ah... they need to understand my qualifications as a magician, so I have to go through a trial!"

  "Trial?"

  "Trial!!"

  Upon hearing this sentence, Xia Ya and Bidal both spoke up at the same time, with Xia Ya being puzzled and Bidal being shocked.

  "What is a trial?" Xia Ya asked. Beside him, Bidal looked at Doro with suspicion: "Really chose the trial?"

  Duoduo snorted: "My qualification as a magician has been cancelled, you can't possibly not know that in the Imperial Capital. Why pretend to be so surprised."

  Bidaldo smiled and said, "Old friend, don't say that. No matter what, we've been friends for many years, and seeing you in trouble doesn't make me feel good either." But in his heart, he was thinking, "When I found out you were disqualified, I celebrated by drinking three cups of wine that day."

  Duoduo hummed and ignored the guy. Explaining to Xia Ya: "The trial is a special assessment method for magicians who have violated the rules of the Magic Guild, for me, in order to restore my reputation, restore my magician qualifications, apart from re-taking the promotion exam, there is only this path. The so-called trial is within the Magic Guild. They will report some tasks published by the guild, generally speaking, they are applications for needs from various branches of the magic guild, such as a shortage of certain magical materials or where a magical beast has appeared and needs to be subdued... The difficulty level of the task varies greatly, if you're lucky, the trial task might just ask you to go to a certain place to dig up a few ordinary magical minerals. Or collect some magical plants. If you're unlucky, it's possible that they'll send you to eliminate a high-level magical beast that's rampaging somewhere... Sigh..."

  Xia Ya was stunned for a moment, and beside him, Bidaldo had some schadenfreude: "If you choose to take the trial, you can draw three tasks at once, and then the person being tried will draw one from them that they think is the easiest to complete. Unless... you're unlucky and all three tasks are very difficult! Hmm, Duoduo, looking at your expression, I'm afraid the difficulty of the task won't be low!"

  Although he was suppressing his smile, the laugh lines on his face had already piled up.

  Duoduo hummed and pulled out three sheepskin scrolls from his bosom.

  "These are three tasks I randomly picked up... Ah..."

  As he said that, his worried and unhappy expression sparked Xia Ya's curiosity. He quickly grabbed it and tore open the first one...

  Just as he was about to tear it open, Dororo's face suddenly changed and he shouted loudly: "Don't! Don't open it!!"

  But he said it too late!

  Xia Ya's hands moved too quickly, and with a flick, the scroll was unfolded. The wooden axle of the scroll immediately flashed a silver light, and then the characters on the scroll quickly emitted a silver glow!

  Xia Ya took a glance and saw that the sheepskin paper had a simple sentence written in Majik language. After the line of words flashed with silver light, the corner of the scroll quickly ignited, and in an instant, the sheepskin roll turned to ashes in the flames. Xia Ya was startled and hastily let go, but saw Doro and others staring at him with wide eyes, their faces pale as death.

  "Huh? You... your face looks terrible?"

  Duoduo Luo rode on the horse, his body swaying back and forth, wanting to cry but having no tears: "You... you can't open it! Once opened, it means accepting this task... I'm done for! The scroll was triggered. The magic contract has taken effect! Dammit... I had already signed my name with a magical seal when I came out!"

  The Bidall beside him finally couldn't help but laugh: "This... this young brother, your actions are a bit too fast. There are three types of tasks to draw from, and when drawing, the person can take a look at them once. After taking it back, the person can carefully consider it. Once they decide on one, they can open the selected scroll, and once opened, it represents that the magical contract is in effect and cannot be reversed."

  Looking at Duo Luo's expressionless face, Xia Ya also realized that she might have gotten herself into trouble, furrowing her brow and saying: "Sorry... Hmm, is this task really that difficult?"

  Duoduo Luo cried with a sad face: "All three tasks are very difficult, I originally wanted to spend some time carefully considering which one might be accepted in the end. Maybe... In the end, I simply gave up on the trial, as long as the scroll hadn't been opened before, it could still be exchanged back, now..."

  Xia Ya scratched his head and smiled wryly: "This... can we still go back now? If it's really too difficult, I'll accompany you back and tell them to cancel the trial."

  "Bidaldo interjected from the side, 'Cancellation... hmm, it's not that it can't be done. However, this is a trial we're talking about. Choosing to undergo a trial isn't mandatory, but once the oath takes effect, if you want to cancel or are unable to complete it, then it's considered mission failure. And according to the Magic Guild's regulations, if a trial fails, the trial-taker will never be able to obtain the qualification of a magician again...'"

  Duoduo listened, and glared fiercely at Bidaldo. Bidaldo rolled his eyes: "Old friend, it's no use getting angry with me, I didn't take your scroll..."

  Although Xia Ya often beats and scolds Duoduo on ordinary days, after all, Duoduo is his person. He was too quick with his hands just now and got this guy into trouble. He also felt a little embarrassed in his heart. After thinking about it, he said: "Since that's the case, I'll help you complete this trial... If not, then forget about being a magician. Hmm, what task is triggered by this contract scroll?"

  Duoduo swallowed his saliva and said in a low voice: "Requirements: Ten magic kiss fragrant taro. Time limit: One hundred days."

  "What's a Magic Kiss Taro?" Xia Ya thought for a moment: "What is this thing? Is it hard to find?"

  Next to Bidaldo, as soon as he heard the name, his eyes widened immediately, and he looked at Dororo with a glance, unable to help but take a breath of cool air, and blurted out: "Makisenka? You actually drew the Makisenka mission? My god! Dororo, I didn't think that after all these years, your luck is still so bad!!"

  Xia Ya was somewhat impatient and glared at Bidal Duo fiercely: "Shut up for me! If you say one more word, I'll knock out all your teeth!"

  Then looked at Duo Luo: "This magic kiss taro, isn't it hard to find?"

  "Hmm, it's not hard to find, you can say that its location is very clear, almost any magician knows where this thing grows."

  "Is it very dangerous? Must be a kind of ferocious and highly lethal magical plant?"

  "It's not that either." Doro sighed: "Magic Taro, is a very beautiful flower in appearance, this flower itself has no killing power, but it has a magical effect. When the flower is picked and the stem is placed on human skin, the stem can grow on human skin and simultaneously absorb the host's emotions. The flower will then bear fruit. For example, if the host is in a state of panic, the resulting fruit will be filled with fearful spiritual power. If it's a brave warrior, it can produce courage fruit. And there are other types of fruits, such as hatred, joy, sorrow... and so on. The host's emotions determine the type of fruit that grows. The fruit can be used in spiritual magic, making it a very precious magical plant."

  "So why are you looking like you're about to die?" Xia Ya asked in confusion: "This thing isn't hard to find, and it's not even dangerous."

  "Ah..." Duoduo gnashed his teeth: "Mò wěn xiāng yù, everyone knows where it grows, but the place where it grows is a bit troublesome..."

  "Where is it exactly?"

  Dororo gritted his teeth: "The territory of the Spirit Tribe... and it's in the territory ruled by the Dark Elves that such a thing exists."