Haim Horn had been stuck at the fourth-tier mage level for nearly a hundred years.
The stronger a mage's magic, the longer their lifespan would generally be.
And Haim Horn was not human, so his lifespan could not be compared to that of humans.
However, during those long years, Haim Horn studied books every single day, increasing his knowledge.
His talent was not bad either, but he never expected that Cocotte, that lazy elf, would step ahead of him and become a fifth-tier mage.
Seeing Cocotte's proud look, Haim Horn was so angry his teeth itched.
His own failure was painful enough, but a friend's success felt even more heartbreaking.
The overflowing magic gathered around Cocotte's body. The bright green magical light mixed with natural energy and began to gather behind her back.
Several rings flashed with dazzling light and spread outward, reflecting green glow onto the pale marble.
The magic rings linked one after another, constantly overlapping behind Cocotte.
The surging magic on those rings seemed to gain consciousness, moving continuously along a direction.
Magic rings.
That was the manifestation of a fifth-tier mage's magic.
This meant Cocotte Yade was currently the only fifth-tier existence in the Mage Council.
No, there was an even more outrageous fact.
Because Cocotte was no longer a member of the Council.
She was a former councilor, and now she was working as an employee of the Clavenna family.
Even if the Council wanted to publicize this, it would be extremely difficult.
"How did you do it?"
He was of course asking how Cocotte became a fifth-tier mage.
At this moment, Cocotte sat upright with her chin raised high, her nose proudly pointed at the sky.
She crossed her legs on the cloud and snorted arrogantly.
"Of course it was my genius-level talent and my persistent hard work."
"…"
Haim Horn fell silent. His face was covered by the phantom, so no one could see his current expression.
Cocotte was the queen among elves. Her talent was unquestionable.
But saying she relied on persistent hard work…
'Do you hear what you're saying?'
Cocotte seemed to enjoy Haim Horn's doubtful gaze very much.
Showing off in front of a former colleague clearly made her feel good.
So she continued, "So hurry up and bring out those fifth-tier spells that are stored in the library."
That's right. In Endymion's magic library, there were countless fifth-tier spells that many mages had never even seen.
Haim Horn clearly remembered.
The founder of the City of Mages, Endymion.
He was the only legendary figure in the world known as the Great Mage.
His magic was unfathomable. Every spell seemed to have become part of his body.
With just a slight movement of his thoughts, he could raise mountain floods of lava and unleash thunder with overwhelming force.
During the hundreds of years of the Council's operation, this Great Mage had left behind countless treasures for Endymion.
For example, the magic library.
He once turned the thousands or even tens of thousands of spells he had learned into knowledge and placed them all in the magic library.
Among them was the life's work of the Great Mage.
From first-tier basic spells to everything he learned when he became a fifth-tier mage.
In the entire history of the mage world, his contributions were enough to be remembered by mages across the world.
However, afterward, no mage was ever able to achieve what the Great Mage did.
"The lack of attention many countries give to mages created this situation."
It was different from the era of the Great Mage.
He lived in the era when magic was newly born.
Elements and magic were combined to form one elemental spell after another.
The mages of that generation were all feeling their way forward without guidance.
But now…
The number of people who wanted to become mages, or were even capable of becoming mages, was decreasing.
Because of difficulty.
Becoming a mage was extremely hard.
Talent and effort were both indispensable.
Just understanding the structure of magic was enough to make learners collapse.
Some people might spend their entire lives without ever touching the edge of magic.
Even if someone successfully became a mage, it did not mean they could continue down this path.
Because becoming a high-tier mage was even harder than becoming a mage in the first place.
Many mages had to overcome various hardships while pursuing advancement.
If someone only had talent but did not put in effort, they would eventually stop progressing due to lack of knowledge.
But without talent, they might live their whole life accomplishing nothing.
That was also why Raschel chose to establish the magic academy.
But even so, the number of people who wanted to become mages was still too small. That could not be avoided.
Haim Horn looked at Cocotte and accepted the reality that she had become a fifth-tier mage.
At least Cocotte was still part of the Mage Council.
Haim Horn stopped dwelling on Cocotte and turned to Viktor, speaking, "Then let's first assess whether your teaching assistant is qualified to join the Council."
He was naturally referring to Henny behind Viktor.
Perhaps worried that Henny would be nervous, Haim Horn comforted her, "Don't worry. We're just going through the formalities."
The moral standards of mages were very flexible.
After all, rules were made by people. Old mages understood how to adapt.
If Henny had truly only been a mage for three months, then as long as she was not some unforgivable villain, the doors of the Council would always be open for her.
Seeing that Henny had no objections, Haim Horn nodded and said to Viktor, "Let's go."
As he turned around, several phantoms flickered from his body and gradually surrounded everyone.
Those faint phantoms slowly blocked the view in front of them, and a strange pulling sensation surrounded their bodies.
Whoosh!
As a wave of illusion passed, everyone felt as if the ground beneath their feet had shattered and become empty.
When the blur before their eyes gradually faded, the phantoms withdrew from around them and returned to Haim Horn's side.
The ground beneath their feet became solid again. In the blink of an eye, they had arrived in front of the magic library.
Two huge white marble doors slowly opened to both sides, and a heavy presence surged out, brushing across their faces.
Viktor raised his head and looked at the familiar doors.
The magic library.
He had been here more than once.
He still remembered those days of working day and night to gather resources and earn money.
All so that he could learn every spell inside the library.
As a result, he was already overly familiar with the paths inside.
The doors opened, and the four of them entered the complex magic library.
The moment they stepped inside, chaotic magic rushed at them.
It was like countless vines intertwining in this forest of magic.
Among them, Henny was the weakest.
She was immediately blocked by the chaotic magic and instinctively closed her eyes as she stepped in.
Only then did she truly feel the shock coming from inside the library.
The paths of the magic library were completely crisscrossed and complex. Both the upper and lower levels were filled with thick books, and delicate bookshelves were arranged neatly throughout.
It felt as if two worlds had been flipped upside down, making everything dazzling.
Henny's eyes lit up.
"This… this is unbelievable!"
She could no longer stay calm and cried out in surprise.
This place felt like a world called knowledge.
Haim Horn looked at Henny's expression and said, "You can freely browse the contents of the library."
He paused.
"But you must remember not to be confused by knowledge that is too advanced."
Mages must not force themselves to accept magic that clearly exceeds their understanding.
For example, a second-tier mage absolutely could not forcibly learn fourth-tier magic.
"This knowledge will always stay here. As long as you become a member of the Mage Council, you can come here anytime to reference and study."
"So now, let's do something serious first."
Haim Horn led the way while continuing, "The reason we conduct a moral judgment and evaluation for those who join the Council"
"is because it was a rule established at the very beginning of Endymion."
"That is!"
As his words fell, the stairs around the magic library began to flip and twist upward in a spiraling shape toward the sky.
On the mysterious rotating staircase, a door suddenly appeared out of thin air.
The next second, everyone appeared in a new room.
The entire room was extremely empty, and the white walls around them looked especially bright.
In the whole room, there was only a golden scale placed on a table.
As a former councilor, Cocotte was already used to this.
She lay on her cloud and looked at the scale in the center.
"The Scale of the Goddess of Justice."
Haim Horn's voice sounded again.
Henny stared at the golden scale with wide eyes.
Haim Horn seemed very satisfied with her reaction and nodded with a smile.
"Of course, this is only a replica."
The real one had long disappeared.
If the real one appeared in the world, there would probably be big trouble.
Haim Horn turned to Henny and encouraged her, "Miss Henny, go ahead and try using it."
Joining the Mage Council required passing this test to evaluate one's morality.
The evaluation was necessary.
Except for Viktor.
Haim Horn did not dare to test Viktor's morality.
Henny glanced back at Viktor, looking a little uneasy.
But after seeing Viktor nod, she gathered her courage.
Henny stepped forward and reached out to touch the golden scale.
The moment the scale felt her touch, it began to tremble slightly, and the trays on both sides started to sway.
On the right tray lay a dagger quietly. On the left, a phantom feather made of Henny's magic appeared.
When the feather fully settled, the entire scale did not move at all.
It did not tilt even slightly to either side.
This completely shocked Haim Horn.
He opened his mouth and rubbed his eyes, unable to believe what he was seeing.
'What is going on?'
'The scale is so stable?'
'Is there really such a pure and kind heart in the world?'
This was practically the moral standard the Council needed most.
Vega stood on Viktor's shoulder, watching everything and feeling it was perfectly reasonable.
After all, this was a pure succubus whose mind was filled with nothing but studying and Viktor.
Haim Horn immediately became excited. Even his phantom body trembled slightly.
"Miss Henny, congratulations. You have passed the test."
"You may join the Mage Council at any time."
Hearing Haim Horn's evaluation, Henny felt a little embarrassed. She bowed slightly to him and said, "Thank you."
Henny was very obedient. When outside, she would never let the professor lose face.
Suddenly, as if thinking of something, she turned to look at Viktor not far away and blurted out something that shocked everyone, "Professor."
"Would you like to take the test too?"