The Most Arbitrary Wizard

The problem looked the same, but the chains binding everyone suddenly began to HUM. After trembling lightly, they burst into motes of light with a soft POOF and dissipated into the air.

"What the heck!"

Kave felt the pressure on his body vanish, his eyes widening. "So that was really it?"

"What else could it be?" Sean pursed his lips. "What would I gain from lying to you?"

They had no money to give, and he wasn’t interested in their bodies—they were men, after all. Even if he were a con artist, he couldn’t find anything about Tony and the others worth scamming.

With the Chain of Truth broken, the old man finally opened his eyes. He gave Sean a look of mild surprise before averting his gaze and saying flatly, "All of you, come in."

Hearing the old man personally invite them in, Elise’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Sean, her face full of admiration. "Hey, handsome, you’re pretty smart!"

’I only gave him the most subtle hint, and he actually figured it out. He’s amazing!’

Little did she know, Sean didn’t need her hint in the first place.

This was all child’s play to him; how could a trick like this possibly stump him?

"I’m just average, I guess," Sean replied coolly, heading into the bookstore.

Tony watched Sean’s smug expression and saw Elise’s sparkling eyes, and his fists clenched.

’Damn it! That guy totally showed me up!’

’Just you wait! I’ll get my own back next time!’

The group walked into the bookstore.

The old man shooed the cat away, telling it to go play and stop fanning him, then waved his hand.

Though it was a deceptively simple gesture, a powerful gust of wind suddenly tore through the bookstore. The pages of the books on the shelves flipped wildly before the volumes themselves were all swept up. They flew into the air, one after another, forming a continuous ribbon like a cascade of playing cards as they circled the old man.

Ignoring the group’s shock and confusion, the old man quickly plucked several books from the swirling collection and tossed them to Tony and the others. With another wave of his hand, the remaining books flew back to the shelves, settling into their previous, perfectly neat arrangement.

"Take these books and read them on your own. Don’t ask me if you don’t understand something. You can leave now."

The old man then looked at Sean. "You, stay."

The meaning was obvious: of the seven people, including Elise, only Sean was qualified to be his student.

Elise, for her part, was already used to it. Mr. Scholar treated everyone this way. He was a Grand Mage, after all; a bit of arrogance was to be expected. It wasn’t just him pulling rank because of his age.

Tony, however, refused to accept it. "Mr. Scholar," he said, "that last question just caught us off guard. We didn’t have time to think. Our Talent isn’t bad, really. If you don’t believe us, give us another problem to test it."

In a typical story, this sort of provocative challenge, a slight goad, would usually have the desired effect.

It was just one more question. For the Scholar, it was a trivial effort. If they got it right, everyone would be happy. If they got it wrong, the Scholar could mock them to his heart’s content. It was a no-lose situation for him.

Tony had no idea if he could actually answer another question and had zero confidence, but he had to swallow his pride and push for it. What if he got lucky, like a blind squirrel finding a nut?

Kave and the others quickly chimed in, nodding eagerly. "Yes, yes! Mr. Scholar, please test us again!"

As the saying goes, you can’t hit a smiling man. Kave and the others were all smooth operators; they plastered on ingratiating smiles, hoping Mr. Scholar would give them another chance.

Everything had just happened so suddenly.

Including this "sending them off" now.

Who would have thought the test would come before they even got into the bookstore? And now that they had finally made it inside, the Scholar just cut to the chase, threw some books at them, and told them to go home and study on their own. The whole process took less than a minute—you couldn’t even take a shit that fast.

But what Kave and the others hadn’t anticipated was that something even more sudden was about to happen.

The old man wasn’t falling for their act. Provocation or flattery, it didn’t matter—if he said he wouldn’t teach them, he wouldn’t teach them.

With a flick of his sleeve, he unleashed a massive, tsunami-like wave of air that blasted the group right out of the store.

He never wasted time on idiots.

This was for their own good, too.

A lack of Talent for the Truth Technique didn’t mean they lacked Talent in other areas. Forcing it would only hold them back.

Even in the Hall of Truth of old, the Truth Technique was far from the only course of study; there were plenty of other paths.

And so...

THUD. THUD. THUD.

"Oof!"

Half a second later, Tony and the others landed outside the door one after another.

Elise, who had only been guiding them, was caught in the blast as well. She had a feeling Mr. Scholar was blaming her for bringing a bunch of idiots over...

Nearby passersby quickly gathered to jeer.

They had noticed Sean’s group earlier.

"See? I told you so. There’s no way they’d get in. Even if they got lucky and fluked one answer, their true colors would show soon enough."

"To be fair, it’s not their fault. Mr. Scholar’s standards are just too high. In all these years, you can count the number of students he’s accepted on one hand... Huh? Wait a minute."

As he was talking, the speaker suddenly realized something was off. "Wait, isn’t someone missing?"

Normally, no one would bother counting how many people there were, but Sean’s face was just too memorable. His good looks appealed to men and women alike, making him impossible to forget.

"Where’s the handsome one?" he couldn’t help but ask.

Just then, Elise dusted herself off and stood up. "None of your business," she huffed.

"Don’t you people have anything better to do all day? What’s so interesting about someone going into a bookstore that you have to stand around and gawk?"

"Have you never seen someone be accepted as Mr. Scholar’s student before?"

The crowd: "Huh?"

"For real?"

"Don’t lie to us, Lili. This is a big deal."

If this was true, it meant there would be a new, formidable rival at next month’s Table of Truth.

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