The square was a sea of people.
Groups of children of appropriate age, guided by instructors, walked orderly into various testing arrays.
As the arrays activated, streams of soft light rose from the ground, sweeping over each child's body like flowing water.
The next moment, elemental light pillars of different colors shot into the sky—red, blue, cyan, yellow… varying in color and height.
The higher the pillar, the stronger the elemental affinity.
At the same time, on the other side of the square, numerous alchemical instruments operated synchronously, measuring mental strength, soul stability, elemental control precision, law perception potential…
Data was recorded item by item, ultimately compiled into a complete aptitude file for each apprentice.
Jie Ming stood at the edge of the square, gazing at the lively scene before him, a hint of emotion stirring in his heart.
Thousands of years ago, when Nolen 147 Academy was first established, the entire academy had only a few hundred apprentices.
On enrollment days back then, the square was empty, with only a few dozen people loosely lined up before the testing arrays, not even filling half a football field. But now.
Children from hundreds of subsidiary planes gathered here.
Long queues stretched from the testing arrays to the outskirts of the square, winding back and forth along the streets for several loops.
One after another, elemental light pillars rose and dissipated.
Crimson, ice blue, emerald green, golden yellow…
The colors interwove, like a slowly flowing ocean of light, illuminating the entire square with dazzling brilliance.
Neither in number nor in overall aptitude could it compare to those early years.
Just then, an exceptionally loud exclamation burst out from the center of the square.
Boom!!!
A thick crimson light pillar suddenly shot into the sky.
The pillar was far more dazzling than any before, its diameter a full circle thicker, reaching the highest scale of the testing array and finally stopping at the very top.
Fire element affinity: maximum value.
"Tenth-level!"
"Maximum fire element affinity!"
"Notify the instructor quickly!"
The instructor in charge of registration suddenly stood up.
The children who had been queuing around also tiptoed, looking toward the center of the array.
Standing there was a little boy about eight or nine years old.
His light blond hair seemed gilded in the firelight, and his deep brown eyes still held some excitement.
Jie Ming merely glanced and raised an eyebrow slightly.
That child… the soul fluctuation on him felt somewhat familiar.
"David?"
The light blond hair was almost identical to a young David, and the deep brown eyes were probably inherited from his wife, Irene. Thus, he confirmed the boy's identity almost at a glance.
Jie Ming turned and looked toward the outskirts of the academy.
Soon, he found a familiar figure in the crowd.
David was standing at the front of the parents' line, seemingly using mental force to see his child's performance, with a smile on his face. After centuries, he hadn't changed much.
His golden hair was still meticulously combed back, and his robe remained neat.
His Law-Crystallization Domain was much denser than before, but it lacked the sharp edge of a true combat wizard.
Jie Ming smiled, moved silently through the crowd, and gently patted him on the shoulder.
"David."
David turned around, and upon seeing Jie Ming, he was momentarily stunned.
Then, the smile on his face immediately brightened.
"Jie Ming! Long time no see."
The two shook hands.
David couldn't help looking Jie Ming up and down, and said with a smile:
"I was just thinking whether you would come for this enrollment. Didn't expect to actually run into you."
Jie Ming smiled: "I'm sort of in charge of the academy now, so I had to come take a look."
As he spoke, he looked toward the center of the square.
"That child… your son?"
"Yes."
Speaking of his child, David's smile intensified.
"Kern, just turned eight this year."
Jie Ming nodded: "Good aptitude."
"More than good." David smiled, his eyes nearly curving. "Maximum aptitude."
"Speaking of which, I must thank you." He looked at Jie Ming seriously.
"If it weren't for the aptitude enhancement technique you researched back then, Kern could never have had such talent."
"The family later made specific calculations. Without enhancement, he would at most have seventh- or eighth-level elemental affinity."
"But now…"
He looked at the flame pillar in the distance that had not yet dissipated, his eyes full of pride.
"It's a truly top-tier talent."
Jie Ming waved his hand.
"The technique works because you chose to use it. Besides…"
He smiled.
"Aptitude is just the starting point; how far he goes in the future will depend on himself."
"That's true." David nodded in deep agreement.
While the two were talking, the little boy on the square had already been led by an instructor to the department registration counter.
He hesitated almost not at all, directly pressing his hand onto the registration crystal of the Combat Department.
A faint red light flashed, and registration was complete.
Jie Ming was a bit surprised.
"Combat Department? The child's own choice? Or family arrangement?"
"Both." David smiled.
"Over the past few years, we've run many tests on him in advance. It turns out this child is quite interesting."
"His stability in fine control is average, but when it comes to instantly bursting out large amounts of energy, he actually performs better than other children his age."
"After family discussions, we felt he is more suited for the Combat Department."
Jie Ming nodded thoughtfully: "Indeed, besides intelligence, the Logistics Department values control precision more. Combat values burst, reaction, and on-the-spot adaptability."
"Since his talent lies there, there's no need to forcefully steer him toward the logistics path."
"That's the logic." David said with a smile.
"Actually, at first, some in the family thought the Combat Department was dangerous, but after careful consideration, they dropped it."
"You can't let a child walk a path he's not suited for just because you fear danger; that could be even more dangerous in the end."
Jie Ming nodded without refuting.
As Wizard Civilization has developed to this day, there have been countless statistical data on the choice between the Combat Department and Logistics Department.
From a low-level perspective, the mortality rate of the Logistics Department is indeed far lower than that of the Combat Department, and the combat power of the Combat Department seems lower than that of the Logistics Department. So many novice wizards instinctively regard the Combat Department as cannon fodder and the Logistics Department as elites.
Even Jie Ming once had such thoughts.
But as time passed, Jie Ming increasingly realized that the terms Combat Department and Logistics Department are indeed very appropriate.
Strictly speaking, the Combat Department and Logistics Department are actually two different paths.
The Combat Department excels at obtaining resources through war and tempering themselves, and their real-time resource digestion ability far exceeds that of the Logistics Department. In terms of combat power, if we focus on high-level wizards, we find that those Combat Department wizards who have fought their way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood often surpass Logistics wizards of the same rank in combat awareness, law application, and on-the-spot reaction.
The most typical example in the academy was Berta Vera Augusta.
Almost all senior instructors who know the inside story tacitly agree that as long as she successfully steps into the sixth level, her combat power will be second only to himself and Viola.
More importantly…
Compulsory war conscription is a fate that no wizard can avoid.
If a person who is not good at research forces himself into the logistics system for the sake of so-called safety, he will ultimately suffer from insufficient growth speed. When conscripted in the future, he will face dangerous battlefields, and his mortality rate will actually be higher.
The path that truly suits oneself is the safest path.
Seeing his child being led away by the instructor, David let out a light breath.
"Alright, the child has completed the procedures. I should go back too. There's a pile of things waiting at the family."
Jie Ming nodded: "We'll get together when there's a chance."
"Definitely." David smiled and waved.
"When Kern is on break, I'll bring him to visit you, let him meet the person who actually created the aptitude enhancement technique."
"He has always been curious about you."
"No problem." Jie Ming also smiled and waved.
The teleportation array lit up, a flash of silvery-white light, and David's figure disappeared in the center of the array.
Jie Ming stood in place, gazing at the still bustling crowd in the square.
Group after group of children walked onto the testing arrays.
New light pillars kept lighting up.
New cheers kept ringing out.
His gaze slowly swept over each child, very attentively.
After a long while, he let out a soft sigh in his heart.
"It seems… this year's cohort still has no true genius."
Of course, that's not to say these children are not excellent.
But Jie Ming's perspective now is different.
In his view, what determines whether one is a genius is not reaching tenth-level elemental affinity, nor having mental power surpassing ordinary people.
But… 'wisdom.'
At least among this batch of children, he has yet to see such a person.