Back in the underground training ground that was repaired overnight and even fortified even further, we stood on the ground and the families were on the stands like last night.

I was the only one with the headmaster in the arena, and even grandpa Zhen was on the pavilion with my family this time.

Aside from them, this place was empty and just like yesterday, there were countless barriers covering this stage.

But, this time, there was something different aside from the increased number of barriers.

A pure white barrier covered the stage, and this barrier was something I had only seen in books before.

(Protection of white light), a (tier-8) defensive barrier of the light attribute. And as its name suggested, it was a barrier of white light.

And he was the one to set it, so, the thought I had that things can't be as bad as my grandma, was crushed to pieces.

Mom was worried again, but this barrier was something that completely blocked the interference from outside and no one realized this until he put this barrier up, and... this old man was smirking.

He was excited right now.

He, one of the three archmages in the entire world, was excited right now.

And this wasn't a very good thing.

Even Rein's heart was beating faster and she just tried to calm herself down while patting her heart area.

Mom was enraged at this bastard before me, and none of us would have thought he would do something like this.

Even the grandparents were restless at this sudden behavior of his.

Setting up this powerful barrier meant he was definitely going to do something crazy, and.. I was still a not twelve-year-old kid, for nature's sake~!!

What was the test, and what was this old man thinking?!

My heart was calm right now, and despite this unthinkable situation, I was thinking straight, and this thing surprised this bastard even more.

"Well, you are just amazing, Axion. Really amazing~." I said with a now clear smile and genuine expression that was totally different from a moment ago.

I knew he was crazy but.. now I believed he was insane.

"Well, the test is simple." He finally spoke up, and I sighed while preparing myself.

"Shoot." I was ready.

If I can survive against things like those monsters in the dark forest and my crazy master, then his test was at the very least survivable.

And it wasn't like he had any intention of killing me or anything, right?

Not before my family, and not in the name of a test, and definitely not someone good like him.

There was no need to worry about death so, I can even go all out if needed.N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l-B1n.

But, his test was simple 'sounding' than anything I was thinking.

"You use three of your powerful spells. I use three of my weak spells. You won't die, and that's it. Simple, right?

Just show me those gorgeous spells and if you can, something so amazing that I would want to give you <Special access key>.

If you do more than I think, you would be the 54th person, according to me, to have the key~." his smirk was replaced by a warm smile in an instant and it surprised me to the core.

'Well, damn..'

Now I have no choice but to go all out.

The thing he just mentioned was something priceless and just from the way he said it, we could tell just how amazing of a place it was that only a few had ever been there.

That place was something like the restricted area from our tower library.

I have read many things about that place in the books from the general area and we had almost every book there could be in this library's area, but I was staying here.

Going back wasn't an option, and I had to stay here for as long as I wanted.

And if I can read the books of those parts in this library as well as some special books that only that place had, it was naturally a great deal.

Now, there was a fire burning in my eyes and I knew what I will have to do.

"Thank you, headmaster~. You can start this one. Let me show you the defensive power of this special energy I have~."

I smirked and looked at him, and he agreed with a perfect nod.

He was excited to see just how powerful this energy he faced a long time ago actually was in the hands of a human.

And he will have fun, from what I can say.

He was a genius like no other, and I admired him for all the things I knew about him.

Though not much was known about his early life, he came to light when he was a hundred or so years old, only ten in human age comparison, and at that time, he had started as an adventurer.

And when he started his journey, he was merely a (tier-3) mage like us.

But, he vouchers to places, became a legendary figure among the adventurers, and after some time, when he was of age, he joined the academy as a special talent that the headmaster of that time found the most intriguing.

After that, he trained him himself, and before he passed away, and the headmaster before me was barely a (tier-8) mage, he gave him the place of the headmaster.

And that was more than five hundred years back.

This person before me, having enormous talents like a select few and his special affinity with all attributes and a unique talent for handling the Aether that he harnessed on his own in the past hundred years, managed to become what he was today.

Someone all the nations in the world looked up to, even with his cunning behavior and manipulative mind.

Someone who contributed to the academy the most, and even in the entire history, became one of the best headmasters to ever exist.

Not only was he strong, wise, and smart, but he was also caring, gentle, and sometimes crazy, but caring at the same time.

He was someone like my grandfather to me. I can't help but admire him even with his craziness.

He was the reason many internal conflicts are solved without much bloodshed, and wars are ended just because he didn't want that to happen.

He was a force like no other, and just his mere presence changed all the battlefields.

He was strong, someone so strong that even the title of [Archmage] wasn't enough for him.

And maybe, in the future, he will surpass this rank of just being an archmage and become something of ancient legends.

And I knew he already knew there were realms above his current one, and with time, he might actually become a [Lord].

But that was too far away for me to think right now.

For now, this was the test to not just get his interest but also access to one of the secret parts of the grand library.