The girl nodded, her face showing a complex expression, a mix of disbelief and joy...
"Have you already succeeded in advancing to an Official Wizard?"
As she spoke, she walked toward Colin.
With each step, her figure gradually shrank, and the Wizard Robe on her body also shrunk until she transformed into the familiar figure of Lillian.
Indeed, this girl was Lillian... Colin thought to himself, surprised that Lillian had such a form.
"Yes, Senior Lillian," he replied, "I have successfully advanced to become an Official Wizard."
While speaking, he summoned the Golden Paper again. He seemed to be looking at Lillian, but his gaze actually fell upon the Golden Paper.
After completing his advancement, he had checked the Golden Paper several times, but there had been no change in the Talent section.
There was only the lone Strong Life sitting there.
However, after using the Foolishness Scepter to cast the Arrow Shooting Skill... there seemed to be a change on the Golden Paper.
Underneath the Talent section, a row of blurry black characters quietly appeared, constantly twisting and changing, becoming clearer as time passed.
Though she had some suspicions, Lillian was still unable to hide her shock upon hearing his answer.
"Your Talent is...?"
She blurted out, but then quickly realized that it was somewhat inappropriate.
The specific effects of a Talent are a sensitive topic... and usually, it's not made public.
So she raised her hand to stop Colin.
Just at that moment.
"Not bad for Electromagnetic System witchcraft."
A robust voice suddenly interrupted their conversation.
A middle-aged Wizard with short, blue-white hair and a beard walked over at a slow pace.
By his side was the figure of the old farmer now frozen into an ice sculpture.
And behind him followed three Second Rank Wizards.
"Have you just advanced to become an Official Wizard?" the white-haired Wizard asked, his tone more affirming than questioning.
"Yes, Lord Mortilan," Lillian answered for him quickly.
"Lord Mortilan," Colin greeted in turn.
The Wizard in front of them was undoubtedly a genuine Third Rank Wizard, and naturally, Colin could not afford to be disrespectful.
"Just after advancing to become an Official Wizard, you managed to cast such a powerful witchcraft," Mortilan continued, "I think... it's because of that scepter in your hand, right?"
Colin's heart tightened involuntarily, but he did not intend to hide anything... The Foolishness Scepter was just an external object, not his true reliance.
Moreover, hiding something from a Third Rank Wizard was not a wise choice.
But before he could explain, he saw Mortilan smile warmly, patting his shoulder as he added:
"Don't be nervous, I recognize that scepter... A very famous artifact—the Foolishness Scepter."
"About five hundred years ago when I was still a First Rank Wizard, I saw it once. Unfortunately, its owner at the time, having killed a powerful enemy with it, mutated and fell in an instant..."
Mortilan sighed, and then he added a word of advice, "If you can use the Foolishness Scepter less, then do so...
As far as I know, over time, the price you pay for enhancing witchcraft of the same intensity will become increasingly high."
"This change is not a slow incremental increase, but rather, it may suddenly surge one day."
"If at that time you find that you have paid a little too much..."
Mortilan left his words hanging, but his meaning was very clear.
If you are used to enhancing a certain witchcraft's intensity at the cost of 10 progress points.
One day in the future, when using the Foolishness Scepter to enhance the witchcraft to the same intensity, you might find that the price suddenly spikes, far exceeding ten points.
Then, when that witchcraft is completely forgotten but the price is still insufficient, other knowledge will be forgotten immediately...
This was undoubtedly very dangerous.
Colin shivered inwardly, taking the warning seriously to heart.
He hadn't expected the Foolishness Scepter to have such a downside!
In fact, he had also noticed that at the Official Wizard stage, the enhancing effect of the Foolishness Scepter was not as significant as the difference during the Apprentice phase.
Using nearly 100 progress points as an Apprentice, he could enhance the Arrow Shooting Skill, at its peak Apprentice power, to match the minimum intensity of a normal First Rank Wizard.
That was a difference of an entire Rank.
But now that he had become an Official Wizard, with Rank enhancement, he could barely reach the lowest intensity of First Rank Wizard just by using the golden Arrow Shooting Skill.
But using the Foolishness Scepter, he could only elevate it to the level of a First Rank Intermediate Wizard, which was only a minor increase in Rank.
"Are you all members of the Tin Saint School?" Mortilan spoke again.
"Yes," Lillian answered, with Colin nodding along.
"Hmm, what is your name?" Mortilan asked him.
Colin was slightly taken aback and quickly responded, "Colin Leonard."
"Colin," Mortilan spoke with a serious, stern tone, "I inform you in the name of the Law Enforcement Team."
"You have contributed to the capture of a Divine Believer and will be rewarded accordingly by the Law Enforcement Team afterward."
Having said that, he paused and then asked, "Is there anything in particular you want?"
Colin felt a small rush of joy... He hadn't expected that being forced to counterattack would bring such a pleasant surprise.
After pondering for a moment, he replied, "Witchcraft, Lord Mortilan, I'd like a First Rank Witchcraft, preferably of the Elemental type, related to the Fire Element."
Though it was said that his assistance in the capture was meritorious, in reality, even without him, the downfalls of that believer were merely a matter of time.
Therefore, his request couldn't be too high.
"Hmm," Mortilan nodded, then pointing to Betty, who was being supported by Lillian, he said, "Hand her over to me."
Lillian nodded and handed over the still unconscious Betty to Mortilan.
With a similar spell as used on the other side to the ice sculptures, Mortilan levitated Betty. He then ascended into the sky with the other Law Enforcement Team Wizards and vanished into the distance.
"Senior Lillian," Colin withdrew his gaze and couldn't help asking with curiosity, "What is all this about?"
"I don't know the specifics, I was here just because I was bringing two other School Wizards to visit Betty today to act as a bridge between them... but happened upon this believer making a move on Betty."
After finishing, she paused to think and then added,
"However, judging by the Divine Power fluctuations, this believer seems to be under the same Divine entity as the previous believer."
"So, is he a remnant fleeing from the last purge, or a new believer that we hadn't yet discovered?" Colin interjected.
"A new believer,"
Lillian answered after a moment of silence.
"Are there other Divine Believers in the city?" Colin sighed softly.
Although he asked the question, he already knew the answer.
To use a saying from his past life, when you see one cockroach, it implies that there are at least ten more hidden in the dark corners you can't see.
If the old farmer believer had remained undetected, then it's very likely that more undiscovered believers existed in the city...
For a moment, he felt worried.
But... even though he had become a First Rank Wizard, facing the current situation, he was still just a small boat drifting with the waves.
Overthinking was useless, it was better to quickly learn some First Rank Witchcraft to increase his power.
"Apprentice Colin," Lillian didn't answer his last question but instead directed him,
"Now that you've successfully advanced to an Official Wizard, remember to visit the School first thing tomorrow; there are many procedures to be taken care of."
After speaking, she watched Colin, feeling as though everything was too dreamlike.
Could it be that this Wizard, who had joined the Tin Saint School less than a year ago, had already advanced to an Official Wizard?
Such news was too shocking, and even now, she still couldn't settle her mind.
And then there was that Electromagnetic System Attack Witchcraft...
"Senior Lillian, what exactly are the procedures for tomorrow?" Colin asked.
"Mainly, you'll need to exchange your School Badge, test for Talent quality..."
Lillian gathered her thoughts and began explaining to Colin.
After talking a little more, Lillian said her goodbyes and left.
As he watched Lillian's figure disappear in the distance,
Colin stood in place for a while before returning to the Meditation Room.
He opened the Golden Paper.
The characters under the Talent section were still blurry... It seemed more time was needed.
Colin slowly closed his eyes, patiently waiting.
The sunset had already fallen behind the earth during the battle, and it was now night, with calm restored all around.
Only the occasional passing of Knight Guards on the road outside of the yard hinted at the difference in this night.
The moon quietly rose, and when it reached its zenith,
A profound sense emerged within him, with no need for guidance, Colin subconsciously looked towards the Golden Paper.
He saw that in the Talent section of the Golden Paper, the blurred characters gradually became clear, and eventually solidified into —
[True Talent: Superbrain (0/100)]