Even though they were dragonkin, they were dressed in plain commoner clothes. It was impossible not to find it strange!
"These dragonkin… some of them are fallen nobles!"
Captain Hades glanced at the circle of dragonkin and explained in a low voice, "Some are just like us—commoners!"
Meng Lei was stunned. "Commoners? Dragonkin have commoners too?"
"Of course they do!" Captain Hades shook his head. "Dragons are naturally lustful, and many dragonkin inherit that trait. Some lowlife dragonkin finish their dirty business and then pull up their pants and deny everything…"
"That's why so many dragonkin orphans and dragonkin bastards are born. When they grow up, they have no one to rely on and no noble title, so they naturally become commoners!"
"I see!"
Meng Lei suddenly understood. Humans were already capable of abandoning wives and children—how much more so for dragonkin, who were born lustful? The existence of dragonkin bastards and orphans was simply inevitable!
"Even as commoners, their lives are nothing we can compare to!"
Captain Hades shook his head again. "The weakest dragonkin is still a fairly powerful warrior. They have plenty of chances to rise in the world—something our human race simply can't match!"
"True." Meng Lei nodded silently.
"Let's go. The testing area is over there." Hades pointed toward the direction with the largest crowd. The group walked over, only to be stopped by several knights in full armor.
"Accompanying personnel, stop here!"
"Magic test—10 gold coins per person!"
"Meng Lei, you four go in."
Hades took out the 40 gold coins he had prepared beforehand and handed them to Meng Lei. His eyes swept over the four of them as he encouraged, "May the Dragon God bless you. I believe you will all get what you wish for!"
"Mm!"
The four nodded heavily.
The magic test drew huge crowds. People streamed back and forth, forming ten long lines that looked exactly like the train station during Spring Festival rush hour.
"So many people… how long are we going to wait?"
Meng Lei sighed, joined the relatively shorter queue, and looked at the endless line with a headache.
"Big Brother Meng Lei… I-I'm nervous!"
Joanna tugged at Meng Lei's sleeve. Her small face was full of anxiety and unease, completely lacking her usual liveliness and mischief.
"Relax. This kind of thing is up to fate. Being nervous won't change anything."
Meng Lei didn't know how else to comfort her, so he could only say that.
The sun blazed overhead, the midsummer heat scorching. The Fire Dragon Kingdom bordered the Magic Beast Forest and had a climate similar to a tropical rainforest. The temperature was brutally high right now; waiting felt like pure torture.
Yet almost no one cared about the sweltering weather. Their hearts were completely consumed by tension and unease. This was the moment that would decide their destinies!
If you had talent, you would leap over the dragon gate like a carp and soar into the sky!
If you had no talent, you could only keep struggling along, living an ordinary, mediocre life and finding another path.
"This is way more brutal than the college entrance exam," Meng Lei thought to himself. "It's practically the same as the ancient imperial examinations."
During the agonizing wait, every human emotion was on full display.
Some people cried tears of joy and left in ecstasy.
Some shook their heads and sighed, unsatisfied with their results.
Even more left in utter despair, faces dark with pain.
The cruelty of reality was laid bare here in all its vividness.
The queue moved slowly. After several hours of waiting, Meng Lei and the other three finally reached the testing platform.
Three young men in black magic robes stood at the front, handling the testing for this line.
One called out names.
One performed the test.
One recorded the results.
They worked with clear division of labor and perfect order.
Behind them sat a drowsy middle-aged man, leaning back in his chair with his head drooping and eyes tightly shut, fast asleep and completely ignoring everything around him.
There were two testing tools:
The first was a crystal ball the size of a basketball, perfectly transparent with no impurities, floating in mid-air like a flawless diamond.
The second was a giant "thermometer" roughly ten feet tall and one foot wide, standing beside the crystal ball. A red line ran inside it, with numbers marked on both sides—an enlarged version of an ordinary thermometer.
"Next!"
The young man calling out names shouted. A yellow-haired boy in coarse hemp robes and commoner clothes answered and hurried forward.
Perhaps because he was too nervous, his foot slipped and he suddenly stumbled, nearly crashing headfirst into the crystal ball.
Everyone burst into laughter. The yellow-haired boy grew even more nervous. He scrambled to his feet and stammered, "S-sorry… my name is Po… Potter…"
"No need to give your name. Just put your hand on the crystal ball."
The tester spoke indifferently, showing no interest in learning the boy's name. Indeed, they only registered those who possessed magic talent.
Those without talent didn't even deserve to be recorded.
Reality was simply that cruel.
"Y-yes!"
Potter nodded frantically. He stretched out his trembling hands and pressed them against the crystal ball, staring at it with wide eyes as he awaited fate's verdict.
He was so nervous he held his breath, terrified that even the slightest mistake would ruin the result and condemn him to "death."
The tester's expression remained cold. He looked at the crystal ball. The originally transparent orb suddenly glowed with a hazy, ethereal light, as if it had been charged with electricity.
A yellowish hue mixed with faint cyan—exactly like the soft colorful reflection off a lens.
"Elemental affinity: Earth—medium, Wind—low!"
The tester said flatly, "Next, test your spiritual power. See the red dot at the bottom of the spirit meter? Use your spiritual power to press it down as hard as you can."
Spirit meter?
Meng Lei looked over and indeed saw a red dot the size of a coin at the bottom of the giant "thermometer," looking like a button.
"B-big sir… how… how do I use spiritual power?"
Potter's face flushed red as he stammered the question.
"The red dot is engraved with a magic array that will automatically draw out your spiritual power. You only need to stare at it," the tester said indifferently. "Those who are testing later, listen up too. When it's your turn to test spiritual power…"
"O-okay!"
Potter nodded quickly and fixed his eyes on the red dot beneath the spirit meter.
Instantly, the red line inside the spirit meter began to climb, passing one numbered scale after another.
"So this is the tool for testing spiritual power?"
Meng Lei's eyes sparkled as he stared at the rising red line. The device worked on the same principle as a thermometer—one measured spiritual power, the other measured temperature.
A moment later the red line stopped rising. The tester glanced at the scale, and his tone softened slightly.
"Spiritual power 23—four times the average of your peers. Barely meets the standard. Elemental affinity: Earth—medium, Wind—low. Qualified to become a mage!"