A week had passed, and everyone was talking about one thing: the commoner with the Blessing. Julius stood in the yard.

  "Fireball".

  launching a fireball at a wall. His sister had taught him a few spells she had learned at school.

  "Diligent in your training, I see, my boy?" His father laughed as he stepped out of the house. Julius greeted him. His father worked in the city's administration.

  Neither he nor Julius' mother had much to do with magic, but they were thrilled that their children were so talented—especially their daughter. Julius had never felt envy; instead, he was happy to have such a genius for a sister.

  His father needed to run errands in town and asked Julius to fetch some vegetables from the farmer.

  Julius had been training all day and had nearly exhausted his mana, so he couldn't continue even if he wanted to.

  He knew the way well since one of his best friends, Stier, lived there.

  The farm was on the other side of the village. Normally, he would have had to go around the forest in the middle, but he knew it like the back of his hand.

  In just 15 minutes, he arrived—half the time it would have taken on the normal path. But as he approached the house, he noticed an unusual silence.

  Stier's father would normally be outside working late into the night. Julius had often seen him fall asleep on the field after a hard day's work. A bead of sweat ran down his face.

  This was strange. Just then, Stier stepped out of the house, and they greeted each other.

  "Hey Stier, I came to pick up some vegetables," Julius said as they exchanged a handshake.

  Stier fetched a crate from the house and handed it over. Julius struggled to keep his balance as he took it.

  "They always look so light when you carry them," he remarked.

  Stier offered to help him carry the crate home, but Julius initially refused. However, after taking a few steps, he stopped. In the end, there were two of them walking through the forest.

  Embarrassed, Julius followed behind Stier and thanked him. Stier just smiled as he carried the crate effortlessly.

  "Your father isn't home?" Julius asked, as if it were unusual.

  Stier only knew that his father had gone to the city for some business. He also had a bad feeling—his father hated going to the city.

  Back at Julius' house, Jin was already waiting outside, looking around nervously. When he spotted them, he ran up to them. Both of them looked at him, confused.

  "To the city! Quickly!" Jin tried to speak, but his words were rushed and jumbled.

  Julius grabbed him by the shoulders and calmed him down.

  After taking a deep breath, Jin finally managed to say, "The soldiers are in the city!"

  They ran to the village entrance, where Bon and Jina were already waiting.

  "What's going on?" Julius asked.

  But Bon didn’t know either. Soldiers had arrived—not just any soldiers, but from Lidoris, the city with the best mage academy on the entire continent...

  Everyone was excited, especially Julius. If the rumors were true, he might finally find out whether he had a Blessing or not.

  "Man, if I got a Blessing of the Neun Wunder, Anja would marry me instantly!" Bon daydreamed aloud.

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  Normally, Julius would have smacked him for that comment, but he was too deep in thought himself.

  "You guys shouldn't get your hopes up too soon. A Blessing of the Neun Wunder for an idiot like you? Hahahaha!" Jin laughed mockingly.

  Bon put him in a headlock, joking that if he got a Blessing, the first thing he'd do would be to wipe Jin off the face of the earth.

  "Maybe not one of the Neun Wunder, but even a small Blessing would be nice," Jina grinned.

  Even though Blessings existed in the world, one couldn't know if they had one or not unless they inherited it and were already aware, or used a special crystal to find out. However, that crystal was extremely rare, making it inaccessible to commoners like them.

  "Of course, I'll have a Blessing of the Neun Wunder!" Julius shouted confidently, pounding his chest.

  Bon retorted that Julius was an even bigger idiot than he was, making it impossible. The two stood so close they looked like they were about to start a fight—until they heard the soldiers arrive.

  The soldiers marched into the village—four soldiers and a mage. They moved to the center of the village, quickly surrounded by curious townsfolk.

  A soldier dismounted his horse and introduced himself.

  "My name is Commander Schwarz. I am the leader of these soldiers. You have no reason to be afraid."

  His voice was deep and rough, matching his appearance. He had an unkempt black beard and scars across his face, signs of past battles.

  The other soldiers dismounted and began setting up a small tent in front of everyone. Inside, the mage placed the crystal.

  "Anyone who wishes to be tested for a Blessing may step forward. There will be no cost. In the name of the city of Lidoris, I swear it," declared the commander.

  Julius rushed forward eagerly, unable to contain himself any longer. As he stood before the tent, he saw his sister there as well.

  She also wanted to take the test.

  "You'll definitely have a Blessing, Sister, as smart as you are," Julius said with conviction.

  Anja blushed.

  Out of nowhere, Bon jumped ahead of them and loudly proclaimed that if he got a Blessing of the Neun Wunder, Anja would have to marry him. Before Julius could smack him, Bon had already disappeared into the tent.

  "What an idiot," Julius grumbled.

  Anja just laughed.

  A short time later, Bon emerged from the tent, looking as if someone had drained the life out of him.

  "She said I don't have a Blessing..." Tears welled in his eyes.

  Seeing this, Julius suddenly got cold feet. What if he didn't have a Blessing either? Everything started spinning—until a gentle kiss on his forehead brought him back to reality.

  "I'll go in first," Anja said softly before disappearing behind the tent curtain.

  Julius pulled himself together. He couldn't back down now. Time passed, and Anja finally emerged. Bon and Julius rushed to her, looking at her with curious eyes. She smiled slightly.

  She had a minor Blessing, called "IQ Boost," which slightly increased her intelligence above that of ordinary people, the commander had explained.

  Bon wasn’t surprised; he had always believed Anja would have a Blessing. He joked that no Blessing could ever compare to her beauty.

  But Julius felt uneasy.

  That smile—he knew it too well. It was the same one she wore when she told stories about her friends at school. A fake smile. Something wasn’t right. However, he decided not to ask her about it now.

  Julius thumped his chest, laughed, and stepped into the tent.

  As he entered, he heard two people whispering. But when he stepped inside, neither of them was speaking. It must’ve been his imagination, he thought.

  Inside the tent, there was only a table with a book and a crystal, roughly the same size as the book, placed in the center. Behind it stood Commander Schwarz, his arms crossed, wearing a menacing expression.

  "You don’t need to be afraid. A commander must be present for an official measurement," the mage explained, motioning for Julius to sit.

  She told him the process was simple—he just had to place his hand on the crystal.

  It would glow and reveal a symbol, and from the color and symbol, she could determine his Blessing from the book.

  Julius placed his hand on the crystal and waited. At first, nothing happened. Then, the crystal began to glow. It shone blue, and a symbol appeared.

  Julius was elated. A Blessing! He had one! He jumped up, unable to contain his excitement.

  "Blue means common. You have a common Blessing," the mage said as she flipped through the book.

  Julius was disappointed.

  He had hoped for something powerful, but reality was different.

  Time passed, but the mage remained silent. She kept flipping through the pages.

  "Hmm... that's strange," she muttered.

  "Your Blessing isn’t listed in the book."

  Normally, the symbol would indicate the exact Blessing, but she had never seen this symbol before.

  Julius stood up, curiosity burning inside him.

  "So, does that mean it’s something special?" he asked hopefully.

  But the mage shook her head. She explained that while it was rare for a Blessing to be missing from the book, the fact that it was blue meant it was just an ordinary Blessing. He shouldn't think too much about it.

  Another blow to Julius' hopes.

  He had gotten his expectations too high.

  Disappointed, Julius turned to leave the tent, but then stopped and looked back.

  Outside, Julius found Bon and looked around.

  "Where’s my sister?" he asked.

  Bon replied that she had forgotten something at school and had gone to retrieve it.

  Julius got a bad feeling about this.

  "Bon," he started, pausing for a moment, "who told you the result of your Blessing?"

  Bon didn’t think long and replied, "The mage, of course. The soldier didn’t say a word to me, he looked scary.“

  Bon looked at Julius, confused.

  "That doesn’t make sense. Then why did she say that the commander revealed her Blessing?"