The divine flames were already used up and not even a single spark was left within the amphitheater. The candidates had a good harvest and many candidates had unlocked their true potential thanks to the extortion… I mean the blessing ritual, duh.

Many of the candidates had already reached 1st tier mage stat right off the bat.

They are already able to create pure mana orbs and control them to some degree. This already puts them ahead of the rest of the candidates who would still need to train and learn to just feel the inner workings of mana meridians before they could create mana orbs.

The 1st tier mage candidates were already on cloud nine as they proudly showed off their mana orb creation skills to the other 0-tier mage candidates. The ones who couldn’t get an epiphany from the divine flames were bummed out, especially those who were passed out during the blessing ritual. They could only grit their teeth and look at the other candidates with envy.

The amphitheater had now turned into a street show as the mage candidates who gained benefits from the divine flames tried to practice and display their skills.

They weren’t only brazenly showing off, some of the 1st tier mage candidates were also competing with other fellow 1st tiers mage to see who could create a bigger mana orb.

Creating a mana orb would be a spherical ball of pure condensed mana which is the most basic creation a 1st tier mage can make.

At this moment the amphitheater was filled with small orbs of mana balls in the hands of these mages. Some of the mage candidates started passing out from overexerting themselves to create a bigger mana orb than possible. Soon the red cape mages stepped in and stopped these unrestrained young mages who were clearly exhausted from their mana supply.

The red capes were also acting quite strange. They were roaming around and carefully studying the candidates with stone tabloids in their hands.

The red cape mages were quite neutral and only stepped in if the candidates were pushing themselves too hard. They were walking around and observed each and every candidate as they displayed their skills, temper, and personality. They then would scribble something on a stone tabloid and move on to the next candidate.

The ranking process had already begun!

These red cape mages were moderators who had begun to score the candidates and separate the cream of the crop from the rest of us. Only the top candidates will be able to get inside the big mage academies, getting access to top-tier mana arts, resources, and gears to become the best of the mages.

To exact revenge on this mortal body, only the best resources and skills could help me get me in the best shape as soon as possible.

Not only do I want to get back my strength but I also want to access top-class information as to how to travel from the mortal realm back to the demon realm. Also, what is the agenda of the 12 virtues lurking in the mortal realm? I don’t buy their pretext of protecting the mortal realm; there must be something even deeper. There is so much that I am still in the dark about.

Currently, I should just focus on scoring higher than the rest of these candidates. If I want a chance at claiming a seat in the big mage academies, then I must somehow stand out from the rest of these loser 1st tier mages and make a name for myself.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not cocky as there are even a few top-tier skilled mages who were able to create shapes other than mana orbs. Some even created cubes, discs, pyramids, and even long sticks. These candidates were ahead of the regular 1st tier mages but they got nothing on me though.

I guess I should also show off my abilities and gain the attention of those red cape mages.

“Hyah!” Suddenly there was a loud grunt beside me.

Following the noise, there I saw Tracker with a ferocious look stretching one of his hands and staring at his palm like a maniac. He had this crazy facial expression while breathing heavily and sweating like a faucet. It was as if he was about to burn a hole in his hand just staring at it.

“What the hell are you doing?” I asked.

“Don’t disturb me, I am so close to creating a mana orb, I just feel it in my bones,” muttered Tracker.

“Stop making shit up. You have to feel mana in your inner meridians and not in your bones.”

“Come on! Cut me some slack, not everyone here’s a gifted genius. A little insight from a 1st tier mage will be more insightful instead of mocking my attempt” Tracker was upset and looked in my direction with furrowed brows.

I let out a sigh,

“Let me show you how it's done.”

I then stretched out one of my hands, my palm facing upwards.

Tracker stopped his nonsense and peeked at my hand curiously.

“You should first be able to feel the inner flow of your mana meridians, only then can you actually be able to manifest mana to your will. Once you can do that you must then try to channel the mana according to your will and concentrate on what you want to do.”

I then concentrated my mana within my meridians and channeled it towards my fingertips. There was a warm tingling sensation that traveled from my chest towards my hand and reached the tips of my five fingers.

In the next instance 5 small orbs of mana formed at the 5 tips of my fingers.

Tracker had his jaw wide open as he stared at the orbs as if it was delicious candy.

“Benjamin! You really are a 1st tier mage, I still can’t believe my eyes. Although there are 5 orbs, they are tiny compared to other 1st tier mages but it is still amazing.”

My eyebrows twitched listening to his comparison.

“You know how the saying goes, it's not just about the size but the skill of how to use it, hehe,” I said out loud and proudly.

Soon nearby candidates also turned their attention toward me.

Although none seem to catch on to the joke that I just made. These guys are still brats and don’t seem to know that joke as of yet. Whatever.

I let out a cough,

“There are some bozos here who can just create some mana orb and think they are the shit. Watching these simpletons make a big deal of something so small matters turns my stomach upside down! Let the pro show how mana actually works.” I said out loud in an arrogant tone.

Candidates soon flocked around me and they even ignored the other 1st tier mages fooling around.

Even some of the 1st tier mages who heard me stopped their mana art practice and looked in my direction with rageful eyes as if they would eat me.

“Who the heck is that guy!”

“I don’t know. Never seen him before.”

“He’s talking nonsense, look at those tiny orbs. Even my orb is better than that.

“And he still has no shame to boast about such a little thing.”

“This must be some joke, let's just go.”

But I let them talk smack and continued,

“Well mana orbs are the most basic ability that every 1st tier mage can make but controlling them is the tricky part. Once you create a mana orb don’t let the link between the orb and yourself break. You must still be in control of your mana creation to get the most out of it. Creating more orbs is actually more difficult than creating one big orb. More mana orbs mean you need more concentration. Here my 5 orbs are still hovering at the fingertips steady as a rock.”

Candidates listened attentively.

Even some of the upsert 1st tier mage who was about to leave stopped and listened to me curiously. Finally, all eyes were on me.

Soon the nearby red cape mages also gathered around and started observing my act. About 3-4 mages were watching me carefully while diligently scribbling on the tabloids.

With a smirk, I continued,

“Once you are able to master your control to create multiple orbs, you can go to the next level”

I moved my fingertips in a circular motion and the mana orbs hovering on the fingertips started moving in a circular motion. I concentrated all my attention on the orbs and the speed of the spinning orbs increased even more.

At a point it was just a blur, the orbs started losing their shape and had finally condensed into a big disc ring-like shape hovering above my hand. The ring-shaped mana was denser and big almost the size of my hand. I grabbed the mana disc ring.

“As you can see exactly how I changed the form of this mana orb into this. This is exactly how mages use their basic skill and manipulate mana to a point so as to give them a form to use it into either offense, defense or support abilities.” I turned to the audience and a smile appeared on the corner of my mouth, “But there’s more-”

Saying so I stretched my hand backward like a catapult putting every strength I had.

But I didn’t immediately release it.

“It's better if you take a few steps back, Tracker!” I said out loud.

Tracker and the rest of the candidates were also surprised and quickly got back.

People were a bit surprised,

“What is he doing!”

Soon I channeled even more of my mana in the mana disc ring in my hand, and slowly but steadily the size of the disc increased. The mana disc ring glowed and swell simultaneously in my hand, shocking everyone present here. Even the red cape mages were bewildered at the sight.

Soon the disc ring shape reached almost double my size.

There was a bit of pain in my chest, I might be running out of my mana reserves. This should be enough for now.

I then released my arm and hurled the mana disc ring with everything I had. The mana disc ring flew in the air heading towards the central stage. The seated candidates and the red cape mages present in the amphitheater looked at the mysterious big disc of mana ring that appeared out of nowhere.

Even the upper balcony students were surprised to see such a disc mana ring in the central stage flying.

Right now everyone must be surprised where this mana disc ring came from.

I straightened my back at looked carefreely,

“Well even after you hurl your mana attack like this you must still be able to control your attacks from a distance. Like this-” saying so I suddenly snapped my fingers.

The big mana disc ring still flying in the arena, suddenly burst like fireworks and disintegrated into small mana fragments, and fell on the stage like snowfall. It was a beautiful scene as glowing small mana blinked and disappeared in the air.

There was dead silence everywhere as they saw this scene they had no idea what just happened.

“Benjamin, you are actually a genius and not all talk,” muttered Tracker who looked at me in a new light.

At this moment I was feeling a bit tired, putting everything in that mana disc to increase its size was a little overkill. But how else would I stand out if I couldn’t make a big scene and stand out as the best 1st tier mage?

Now that all the attention was on me, I should try to take it another notch.

“Well, I told you that I am a prodigy. To be honest, I did get some insights from the divine flames but sadly I was a bit bummed out that I couldn’t reach 2nd tier and discover my attribute. But soon I realized, what if I can’t reach the 2nd tier, the understanding of the inner workings of mana is a much better blessing than just reaching some 2nd tier mage in advance. You could say I am already 5 years ahead of everyone. Hehe,” I replied proudly and looked from a distance.

Tracker looked at me strangely,

“Beanjam? Why are you talking so loudly? You are breaking your character-”

I quickly shut Tracker’s mouth,

“I don’t know what you are talking about. This is who I really am.”

At this time all the candidates and even the 1st tier mages looked at me with an incredulous look like I was a living god or something. This felt good.

The red cape mages were scribbling in the tabloid-like writing a big essay about my greatness.

Well, that must be some enormous score and I am sure to bag a seat in one of those prestigious academies.

“You really love to talk, don’t you?” suddenly someone in an annoyed tone spoke.

I glanced in the direction of the voice.

In the next instant, the candidates in the direction of voice dispersed like scared cats.

As the crowd in front dispersed we finally saw a tall young boy walking in my direction climbing the stairs.

As this arrogant candidate got closer every other candidate paved the way for him. Even the 1st tier mages who were proud and arrogant lowered their head and gave way so as to not piss off this young man.

The young boy had a muscular body built from head to toe. He didn’t look his age at all. He looked more like a brat at the end of his adolescence. Currently, he was staring at me with ferocious eyes as if I had some beef with him.

Although what scared every other candidate wasn’t his demeanor but the pair of muscular extra arms growing from his underarm. Each arm is more muscular and durable which can easily choke the lives of these candidates.

He was a fellow 2nd tier mage candidate.

As he walked and stood before me he lowered his head and looked at me disdainfully,

“So what you were saying about your insights being superior to our abilities? Just because you can use some little pure mana tricks, don’t let it get to your head,” he said with a sneer.

Of course, he was one of the arrogant 2nd tier mages.

In front of me stood… who is he again, no clue. Don’t know his name and don’t care. He is a 2nd tier mutant mage. No wonder my cockiness rubbed him the wrong way.

To tell you the truth there are 3 general types of mages, that is, the elemental mage, psychic mage, and mutant mage.

The elemental mages have the simplest and pure straightforward road of mana arts to learn. They have the ability to control their element attribute and use it to perform their skills whether it's offensive, defensive, or support. Elemental mages rely on the attribute of their element and practice to their best to gain higher reach. These mages are also the most sought mages by both military and adventurer parties alike. Even low-tier elemental mages are in high demand.

Meanwhile, psychic mages are a bunch of very diverse types of mages. The power of such mages varies quite drastically unlike the two other mage categories. If you have a bit of good luck you can either be an all-powerful mage or with a stroke of bad luck be a nobody with useless skill. Some of these mages have the powerful abilities to create ethereal objects, summon spirits, move objects through the mind, teleportation, etc; While some the psychic mages have lesser powerful abilities like immense luck, reading one’s mind, clairvoyance, super memory, etc. There are more psychic mages compared to the other two categories. Most psychic mages can’t actually become real mages, so they rather live a common life as most of their abilities are not very good for combat. Even the road to learning psychic arts is tough as not everyone can mentor these mages, they have to self-discover their potential themselves.

Hence psychic mages are the least desired of the category of the two mages. But psychic mages are more unpredictable and have bigger underlying potential.

Last but not the least, the mutant mages have the ability to transform their body.

The mutant mages can shapeshift into various monsters or even take the identity of any other person they want. They can even change their size, grow wings, or get claws, depending on their attributes toward certain monsters or spirits. These mages can also sometimes control elements like elemental mages depending on the affinity of the beast they had inherited. Mutant mages are known for their fierce temperament and thirst for battle because of their beastly nature. The mutant mages have the best of their abilities but these guys also have short-tempered and can easily be provoked.

Now at this moment stood before me, was a 2nd tier mage with eight human arms.

This was one of the most pathetic abilities compared to the other 2nd-tier mages but had the biggest ego of all.

I looked at the tall eight arms with a teasing smile,

“Oh, what is it? Are you here to take a lesson about mana arts from me? I am a bit busy teaching my friend Tracker at the moment so get in line.”

Everyone present sucked in the cold air as they heard my cocky reply.

There was deadly silence.

“Benjamin!” said Tracker with wide eyes and a pleasant smile, “You~ you finally admitted that I am your friend,”

“Hey, don’t get ahead of yourself now, I am just making an excuse, can’t you see.”

“You don’t need to shy away! Don't worry my friend. I got your back.” Then Tracker looked at eight arms fearlessly, “You eight-armed freak, if you are here for trouble, then make it double. Because I won’t let you bully us just coz you are a 2nd-tier mage.”

Eight arms were shocked and angry as his nerves throbbed visibly over his forehead.

“Hey Tracker, this guy’s heck of tall. You can’t even reach his face to slap, let alone fight. Grow some height before you could start picking fights. Also, you are a zero-tier mage, you can do anything.” I said with a sigh.

“Hey! At least I can reach and punch him in the nuts. Don’t underestimate the zero-tier mage, I have more skills and tricks. I am the son of an adventurer after all.”

“Shut up. We are about to have a man-to-man fight and you are talking about fighting dirty like attacking the family jewels. That is so cowardly I don’t even want to stand next to you.”

“Hey! The last man standing is the winner, be dirty or cowardly. That’s what my dad has taught me.”

As the two of us rambled on, eight arms here had red eyes as he glared at his fiasco unbelievably. We two were treating him as air and talking about the morality of attacking his nuts in front of him.

The people here giggled listening to our charade.

His all 8 fists were clenched tightly as he gritted his teeth waiting for us to stop.

We two rambled for another minute ignoring him.

“I think you are a 2nd tier mutant mage as well. That spiky hair of yours looks like the spiky back of a porcupine. This is a better mutant ability than having eight arms, haha.” I complimented Tracker.

“You…you! This is a cool hairstyle and not a mutant ability! Do you know anything about fashion trends nowadays?”

“Speaking of fashion, I heard walking canes are the trend.”

“Canes? What the hell are you talking like an old man?”

Finally, the eight arms had enough,

“That’s it, I had enough of you two! Die!”

Saying so he swung all 4 pairs of his fists like a hailstorm at us.

As expected, I quickly shoved Tracker aside as I stood before his fists. I can clearly sense the physical power behind those fists. Mutant mages have the physical strength that can easily kill a normal human being with such a fist. He didn’t even hold back attacking a fellow candidate like myself. No wonder mutant mages have a little temper and are easy to manipulate.

But there was a hidden smile in the corner of my eyes as I had already expected such a scenario.

I quickly joined my hands and then stretched both my hands in an arc. There was suddenly a long condensed arc of mana formed between my hands. It was a dense long strip of condensed mana but the edges were thin and sharp like a sword. With one swing I could easily sever all his four limbs. Hence I quickly grabbed my mana blade and stretched my hands and waved them toward the incoming fists.

Defeating a 2nd tier mage candidate in front of everyone’s eyes would surely prove that I am the most excellent candidate at present. This way I can easily secure a big score and the acknowledgement of those mage academy recruiters who are currently watching us from the shadows.

Eight arms noticed that my pure mana blade was dangerous, and his eyes were in shock as he saw the approaching blade contacting his fists. There was no time to pull back now only bloodshed remained.

I expected to see the sight of a flying couple of arms, blood, and the scared face of the opponent before me. My old cruel demonic side started to reappear.

But all of a sudden a red cape mage appeared between the two of us. He suddenly grabbed my mana arc blade with his bare hands with his other hand, he patted away the 3 of the incoming fists like flies and grabbed the 4th fist. Even eight arms looked at this in shock and surprise.

My eyebrow twitched as I didn’t even notice when this strange red cape mage appeared between the two of us.

The mage then looked at us coldly,

“It's good to be competitive with each other but there is time and place for everything. This is not a place for you to fight and spill blood on these sacred premises. This is exactly why I hate brats. You two have good talent but you guys still need to work on your manners,”

I really hated the tone of this red mage,

“It's not my fault that the mutant mages are such hair-triggered creatures.”

“You! You trash-talked everyone here and boasted about your measly skills as 1st tier mage.”

“Right. A measly skill that was about to chop off your 4 limbs. You should thank Mr. Mage here to save your butt.”

“As if! My fists are as strong as a rock. Your puny blade couldn’t even scratch.”

“My blade can cut through rock like tofu- AAh!” suddenly there was stinging pain within my chest. The red cape mage suddenly crushed my mana blade with his bare hands. The mana blade crumbled like broken glass. Sadly I was still linked with a blade and I could only step back and hold my chest in pain.

“You two really take me as a joke.”

“AAAH” even eight arms shouted in pain.

The red cape mage holding one of his fists twisted it like a pair of crumpled paper. Eight arms fell on his knees. He grabbed his twisted hand with all his remaining arms but could not free himself.

But the red cape mage showed no remorse.

Soon tears started forming in his eyes and he started whining like a kid. The mutant mage turned back from a tall young boy to his original self like a smaller body with all the extra arms gone. Looking at his twisted fist he was sobbing and wailing in pain. There was no longer the arrogance of before, he was like any other 12-year-old whiny brat.

I even started feeling a bit bad, although I was about to cut his arms not so long ago to just make a statement.

Finally, the red cape mage let go of his fist

“Stop with the whining. I shall let this slide at this time but remember to behave on these premises. Just because you guys have a little talent doesn’t mean you are above the law. It was clearly instructed no infighting in this ceremony hall premises. The next time I caught the next kid making trouble, I swear I shall let them have such a good ending.” said the red cape mage coldly and loudly to let every candidate be known.

I clenched my painful chest and gritted my teeth looking angrily at the red cape mage.

I was really injured internally when he shattered my mana blade causing some internal damage and disturbing the current mana flow in the meridians. It will take some time to recover.

This fucking embarrassing.

Why the fuck do mages love to pop between fights all the time.

The cold red cape mage then looked around at the other candidates standing around,

“Stop gawking around and return to your seats. The ascension ceremony will begin soon. Be on your best behavior if you don’t wanna end up like these two.”

Asshole!

I so much wanted to clobber this asshole if I had the strength to back it.

I must quickly recover before the ascension ceremony.