"I didn't expect you to promote to a Formal Mage before the Assessment," Harbos stated frankly.
"But I want to ask you now, you didn't use any potions to temporarily boost your Spiritual Power, did you?"
"I didn't," Furan answered.
Harbos continued to look at Furan and said:
"Then if you didn't use any temporary Spiritual Power boosting potions, it means you relied on your own Spiritual Power to directly meet the standard and promote to a Formal Mage, correct?"
"That's right." Furan nodded, a bit puzzled as to why Harbos was repeating this point.
"Then there is an opportunity now. If you truly relied on your own Spiritual Power to promote, only then do you meet the conditions required for this opportunity."
"Of course, you can still decide to go to the place I told you about earlier. It won't be too late to make a decision after I finish speaking."
Harbos brought Furan to a small room. After they both sat down in chairs, Harbos continued:
"First, you must know that after becoming a Formal Mage, you will need more resources to assist your promotion. It's very difficult to increase your rank by relying solely on yourself."
"And resources are limited, even precious; not all mages can get their hands on them."
"Allocating promotion resources—giving these resources to mages who are truly talented and have made contributions—is one of the important reasons the Alliance was established."
"After becoming a Formal Mage, you will find that there are almost only three paths to obtaining these resources within the Alliance."
"The first path is as an Administrator. By passing the School's or Alliance's Assessment, you manage the Alliance's vast lands. Through this merit, you exchange for promotion resources."
"Although I can recommend you to participate, I think you wouldn't be willing to choose this path. This path is really a bit slow."
Harbos paused and then continued:
"The second path is the Alliance's armed forces. You might not have heard of this, but in fact, the Alliance is not the only power on the continent; there are many other forces that have friction with the Alliance."
"The various Schools uniting to resist powerful enemies is also one of the important reasons for the Alliance's establishment."
"Of course, our Ashsoil Province doesn't have this problem. Basically, no other forces are attacking us, but that might not be the case in other provinces."
"You probably haven't heard of the Alliance's Mage Corps. They haven't recruited personnel in inland provinces like this for about thirty years."
"The speed of obtaining resources on this path is much faster than the previous one, but after all, the risks are much higher."
"And someone like you, who became a Formal Mage in the Ashsoil Province, would likely only be able to take the Alliance's Investigator Assessment."
Harbos then added: "The Investigator Assessment doesn't just test your Spell level; there are other aspects as well. If you're unlucky, you might not pass."
Furan nodded in her chair without speaking, continuing to listen to what came next.
Harbos drank a glass of water to moisten his throat before continuing:
"Then there is the unique profession of mages—the Researcher. This is a profession that does not exist outside the Alliance."
"The Spells cast by mages do not exist naturally. It was many mages starting from the very first Spell and slowly perfecting them that led to the vast array of Spell categories we have now."
"Adjusting and modifying Spells is the specialty of Researchers. They might not be good at Spell combat, but they must have a very clear understanding of the principles of Spells."
"And understanding the principles of Spell casting is also something that must be achieved when promoting to higher ranks."
"So in the Alliance, almost half of the mages will work part-time as a Researcher. Only those who know they have no hope of promotion will give up."
Next, Harbos pointed to the large machinery still operating outside the room and continued:
"What I am doing now is a Spell I am still developing, inspired by your machines."
Then Harbos sighed and continued:
"But because there are many Schools in the Alliance, the various Schools are wary of each other, not wanting their own unique knowledge to leak out."
"From this, another new form of organization was born, which is the Academic Society. Almost every School has its own unique Academic Society, and there are Academic Societies established by several Schools together, as well as Academic Societies dedicated to researching a specific public Spell."
"As long as you join one of these Academic Societies, you can call yourself a Researcher."
"Of course, within each School, there are more than ten unique Academic Societies. Not every Academic Society can be used to exchange for promotion resources."
"Only those Academic Societies that truly have a threshold and require an Assessment can be considered a real Academic Society, where people will publish their insights on Spells."
"The reward mechanism for each Academic Society is very different, but generally, as long as you publish something recognized by the members, you gain the right to exchange for key resources."
Harbos then pulled a piece of paper from under the drawer and handed it to Furan, letting her look closely at the contents.
"And the place I told you about earlier where you can learn a lot is an Academic Society. This Academic Society is very different; it allows mages from all Schools to join."
"Through the efforts of its President, it can disseminate some School Spells within the Academic Society, but because of this, it has angered many Schools, which forbid their own mages from joining."
"This was the path I originally arranged for you. I know the President there, and you could join as long as you went there."
Immediately after, Harbos changed the subject and continued:
"Then there is the fact that your Spiritual Power directly reached the promotion standard. This is very rare. In the history of magic, those who can achieve this are a tiny minority."
"I can recommend you to the Yobner Society under the Elemental School. They only take people whose Spiritual Power can directly promote them to a Formal Mage."
"That is also the core of the Elemental School. As long as you join, you will definitely obtain a core seat in the Elemental School."
Furan understood. Harbos wanted her to consider the Elemental School's side. If she truly joined, she would be able to directly access the Elemental School's core Spells.
At higher levels, these Schools would tighten the learning of relevant Spells, only opening them to their own people and those who had made significant contributions.
If Furan joined now, then when she reached a high level, she wouldn't have to worry about the path ahead; she would just need to focus on learning. However... "I would prefer to join the Academic Society you mentioned that welcomes all Schools."
Furan had already tasted the attribute bonuses that could be obtained by combining multiple mage Schools, and she didn't want to give that up.
Harbos gave her a strange look, seemingly having many questions about her choice, but he said nothing and simply began introducing that Academic Society.
"That Academic Society is called the Northern Lands Academy. It is not within the Alliance's territory..."
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