Archmage Examination

Noah didn’t care whether Tony got the short end of the deal. In Noah’s eyes, he was guaranteed to win this.

As for teaching Tony magic?

If there was even a one-in-ten-thousand chance that Noah lost, then he could only accept it and report the matter to The Ancient One.

After all, when someone was unlucky, even drinking cold water could make them choke. For all he knew, the little butterfly effect he had caused might end up making Pepper Potts the one who wanted to harm Tony.

Tony did not immediately return to New York. Instead, he chose to stay in London for a day.

The guy simply held his phone and downloaded the two "Noah Finneal" movies. As for paying?

What was that, just a few Pounds Sterling?

However, when Noah saw him the next day, he found Tony looking at him with a strange expression.

Noah swore he had seen that expression before, and more than once. It was always some similar look, and it gave him a headache.

"If you want to say I’m interested in little girls, shut up," Noah said, cutting Tony off before he could speak.

"Uh, all right. I understand. It changed the story, right?" Tony nodded subconsciously as he looked at Noah’s cold face, then quickly thought of something else. "You’re only… twenty-eight?"

The first movie had explained Noah’s background—Noah had been born in March 1980, in an orphanage in the Muggle world.

Of course, some parts had been adjusted. For instance, Ms. Heifen, the director of Noah’s orphanage, was no longer an ordinary person. Instead, she was an ordinary person with magical talent who had never received an invitation letter.

Ms. Heifen was now a mage, but her existence was bound to cause considerable trouble. Even if The Ancient One approved, Noah still had to find a way to clear things up.

However, the alteration had been highly successful. Now, many mages knew of Ms. Heifen’s existence.

"There were some changes, but most of it followed my story. Also, I really am only twenty-eight. Do I look old?" Noah shrugged. He was twenty-eight, but he looked like a young man in his early twenties. He did not look old at all, did he?

"Not old." Just as Noah expected, Tony nodded seriously. "But I always thought you were some old monster who had lived for hundreds of years and was pretending to be young."

"…" Noah rubbed his brow. This guy really had a foul mouth.

"The examination is about to begin. Please prepare yourselves, everyone."

Sitting in Kamar-Taj’s great hall, Noah looked at Mordo standing at the front, and the corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably. He had never expected this guy to be the proctor.

After parting ways with Tony, Noah had come straight to Kamar-Taj, while Tony had returned to New York.

Coincidentally, the day Tony had gone to see Noah had been the day before Noah’s examination.

Noah had long since prepared for the examination, and he was not worried about failing.

What he had not expected was that Mordo would be the chief examiner, or that Kaecilius would be among those taking the examination in the same batch.

Mordo had already passed the Archmage examination. He had taken it in the same batch as Wong.

At that time, Noah had just broken through to Tier 7 and was still consolidating his strength, so although Noah had proposed the whole thing, he had not participated.

Instead, Wong, Mordo, and a large group of others who had reached Tier 7 had taken the examination.

The examination was strict. Beyond magical power requirements and knowledge reserves, there was also a test of willpower.

It was said that The Ancient One had personally created something similar to the Illusion Realm for the willpower test, or perhaps something like a bewildering formation.

Noah was not worried about such things. With the System, he could basically block them out completely.

What caught Noah’s attention, though, was that Kaecilius seemed to have run into some sort of problem. This appeared to be his second time taking the examination.

"What are you thinking about? It’s an exam, buddy. Aren’t you worried you won’t pass?"

Just as Noah rested his head on his hand and thought, Mordo’s voice suddenly reached his ears, pulling him back.

"Is that even possible?" Noah rolled his eyes. "If I hadn’t been stabilizing my magical power, you wouldn’t have become the first batch of Archmages, you know."

"You’re jealous. I can feel it." Mordo flashed his white teeth, but quickly continued, "That new Transformation Magic really is impressive. The name Dragonborn, though, isn’t that great. Still, it seems your entry is doing exceptionally well this time."

"You’re one of the judges?" Noah raised a brow. He truly had not expected Mordo to know so much.

"Not exactly, but I’m at Kamar-Taj, so I know a little more."

Mordo’s smile remained unchanged. "Your research is an excellent way to improve physical fitness. And while transforming isn’t essential for mages, it is still a means of increasing one’s strength."

"Oh? Looks like I have a chance to become the first mage in history to win the Kamar-Taj Magic Award twice." Noah smiled indifferently, then lowered his voice. "What happened to Kaecilius? Is this his second examination?"

"Yes." Mordo lowered his voice as well. "He reached Tier 7 two years ago and then took his first Archmage examination, but… apparently, the teacher was very angry."

"Really?" Noah rubbed his chin. "What happened?"

"I don’t know. None of us know what happened in the Illusion Realm. Only the teacher and he himself know." Mordo shook his head. "All right, stop asking. Focus on your exam, understand?"

With that, Mordo placed the paper on Noah’s desk and turned to leave.

Although Mordo had spent quite a bit of time talking to Noah, none of the mages taking the examination blamed them.

After all, everyone knew that Mordo and Noah were both disciples of the Sorcerer Supreme, and that they had a good relationship.

There were many mages taking the examination. Aside from Kamar-Taj’s mages, there were also mages trained by independent Magic Organizations.

Whether Kamar-Taj had some sort of exchange with them, or whether they also wanted to confirm the level of the people they had trained, many such mages had chosen to participate anyway.

Noah picked up the paper and glanced over it. None of the questions were difficult. Although the questions were somewhat obscure, they were nothing to Noah.

So after Mordo finished handing out the papers and announced the start of the examination, Noah immediately began writing his answers.

"The structure of Space magic? Is this just free points? Every Kamar-Taj mage basically knows this, right?"

"The construction ratios of Elemental Magic? Independent Magic Organizations probably know this best, but unfortunately for them, I’m pretty good at it too."

"A dragon’s bodily systems? Wow, another free point? In a sense, I’m a dragon too."

"What is London’s independent Magic Organization? The York Magical Association, I think?"

Noah answered quickly, while the other mages looked at the questions with blank expressions.

Quite a few mages even cast spells on the spot to verify their answers.

But that was allowed, just as calculators were allowed in mathematics examinations in the Muggle world.

The examination covered an extremely broad range of material, from spell construction and magical structures to magical creatures and the history of the magical world. Anything one could think of was included.

If a mage’s knowledge was not broad enough, they would likely stumble here.

The examination lasted two hours. Once time was up, Mordo began collecting the papers.

Noah had finished in about an hour, and spent the rest of the time sleeping.

More accurately, he had been checking his answers in the System Space. Noah was very confident that he could score full marks this time.

"How do you feel?" When Noah walked out of the examination hall, Wong and Ms. Heifen, who had accompanied him there, immediately came over.

"It was all right. Not difficult." Noah smiled confidently. "At least, it wasn’t difficult for me."

"Really?" Wong smiled and scratched his head. "I remember when I took the examination last year, it nearly drove me crazy. Those questions were really tough. But this isn’t the hardest part. The hardest part is the Illusion Realm examination."

Noah nodded, but he did not say that the Illusion Realm examination would probably be the easiest examination he had ever taken.

To be honest, Noah sometimes wondered what his own temperament was really like, but he did not want to leave The Ancient One with a bad impression.

So most of the time, Noah asked his System instead. However, the System’s answer left Noah at a loss for words.

Noah was not originally from this world. As long as he followed proper values, there would be no problem with him.

Shaking his head, Noah stopped thinking about it and turned to Ms. Heifen. "Avril, when do you plan to take the Archmage examination?"

"We’ll see." Ms. Heifen smiled. "Maybe next year. I think you should focus on preparing for the next round of examinations."

"Don’t worry, I’m confident." Noah shrugged. "But I heard this examination requires us to stay in the Illusion Realm for more than ten hours. That part makes me uncomfortable."

The Illusion Realm examination was held at night because it lasted a long time.

Those taking the examination were basically asleep within the magical barrier.

So holding the examination at night was perfect. It allowed them to catch up on sleep and prevented other distractions from affecting the examination, didn’t it?

At the same time, Tony stepped off the plane. He had just returned to New York from London.

Without magic to help him, he could not ignore distance like Noah and the others. He could only obediently fly back.

"Where are we going, boss? The company, or…" Sitting in the car, Tony’s bodyguard Happy asked directly.

"Home." Tony said in a low voice, "I have some matters that need to be dealt with."

Third update delivered. Please send some recommendation votes~ Thank you, everyone.