Chapter 499 – Stolen Right Out from Under Her

Aramir had already flipped through those three volumes back and forth three times over.

The first read-through was thoroughly enjoyable—fresh and fascinating.

The second time, without the novelty, it started to feel rather dry.

By the third time, it was nothing short of pure torture.

He had lived over seven hundred years, and aside from his favorite poetry anthologies and musical scores—which he’d read countless times—he had essentially never read any other book twice.

This was the first time he’d approached studying with such a clear, definitive goal—that he absolutely had to master the contents of several books. Aramir was deeply unaccustomed to it.

Though he was an Elf mage, his spellcasting didn’t rely on psychic power—it relied on the forces of nature within his bloodline!

Casting spells through the forces of nature in one’s bloodline didn’t require learning vast amounts of knowledge or training and developing one’s psychic power the way human mages did.

Naturally, his capacity for academic learning was considerably weaker as well.

After three read-throughs, he was still far from having memorized everything. At best, he could say he was familiar with the material.

He couldn’t delay any longer on the Elven Woods front either. If he waited any longer, he feared that by the time he returned, the Elven Woods would already belong to those half-Elves with impure bloodlines.

It was with this do-or-die resolve that Aramir went to take that exam, or whatever it was called.

【Exam complete. Total score: 75. Rating: Passing. Requirements not met. Would you like to retake the exam?】

The moment he saw his score, Aramir was utterly disappointed—until the button to retake the exam appeared.

He hurriedly reviewed the questions he’d gotten wrong, reinforcing his understanding, then took the exam again.

Surely he’d pass this time?

But as soon as the exam started, the questions had changed again.

Aramir could only bury himself in the test.

【Exam complete. Total score: 70. Rating: Passing. Requirements not met. Would you like to retake the exam?】

Aramir: “…”

How was it possible to do worse the more he tried?

He refused to accept this. He reviewed his mistakes again, then retook the exam once more.

【Exam complete. Total score: 74. Rating: Passing…】

【Exam complete. Total score: 78. Rating: Passing…】

【Exam complete. Total score: 80. Rating: Good…】

…

When reading, he couldn’t muster any interest. When taking exams, his spirits soared a hundredfold.

Although Elves couldn’t substitute sleep with meditation the way mages could, they were naturally energetic with minimal need for sleep. Especially since he was an old Elf of over seven hundred years—skipping rest was no problem at all.

He simply ground through exam after exam, relentlessly.

Mo Lan could see his test scores updating every so often.

“Is he using the trial task exam as a Practice Quiz Card?”

From the look of things, his grasp of the basic content was a bit lacking! If he wanted to raise his score, he might have to grind problems for quite a while if luck wasn’t on his side.

This was because the question bank always prioritized new questions first, followed by previously missed ones. Mo Lan had no intention of assembling an easy set of questions for him either. As the first Elf contractor of the Dawn Society, his understanding of the Society’s basic knowledge had to be thorough enough.

Greta’s situation back then had been special—she’d been on the verge of death. Where would she have found the time to study?

Still, her baseline psychic power was strong, giving her excellent learning ability. Her study results from that alone surpassed what Aramir had achieved after three days of reading.

While Aramir was still locked in battle with the exam, Lilith, Vasida, and Sylph had already gotten their invitations from Greta and were now putting on quite the performance.

“What is this thing? It can help us make big money?” Lilith, Vasida, and Sylph all wore expressions of bewilderment and confusion.

This was an expression they were supremely skilled at performing. Being around Moira, they were constantly bewildered and confused by her actions—only to end up won over every single time.

“My instant noodles make money, right? They all come from the Dawn Society! All it takes is a tiny bit of active psychic power—which recovers on its own—to exchange for a set of instant noodle ingredients, and you can sell it for one gold coin!” Greta said directly, then continued:

“Once you sign the invitation and receive your trial cards, you’ll understand. It’s just accepting a trial invitation—you don’t have to give up anything. And there aren’t any clauses in here that would disadvantage you in any way.”

The Dawn Society’s terms were far too generous. Greta figured that anyone with even the slightest ambition would be willing to give it a try.

Vasida skimmed through the invitation’s contents. “It really does seem legitimate!”

She looked eagerly at her two companions. “How about we sign?”

“Hold on! Check if there are hidden clauses. Did you forget what our Instructor said? All contracts must be signed carefully—what if it’s a Demon’s contract?” Lilith said.

Sylph looked somewhat worried. “If we secretly join another organization, won’t our Instructor be upset when she finds out?”

“If this really can make money, believe me, our Instructor would join faster than any of us,” Vasida said. “Nobody pinches pennies harder than she does.”

“This invitation genuinely doesn’t seem to have any problems,” Lilith said. “But just to be safe, let me sign first! If everything is as Greta says and there are no issues, then you two can sign afterward!”

“Deal!” Vasida and Sylph agreed.

Lilith signed her name first, then expressed a round of amazement at the invitation transforming into a magic card, as well as delight at the trial tasks and rewards.

“Read a few books, take an exam, and you can trade psychic power for these Gem Coins to buy a {Item Card – Magic Gold Coin}?”

“Those are really Magic Gold Coins?” Vasida and Sylph crowded over to look.

“Huh? Task Two requires handing out invitations to spellcasters—it only counts as successful if they accept! Does inviting you two count?” Lilith said.

“Of course it would!” Vasida and Sylph replied.

“Come on! Give it a try!” Lilith took the ten Dawn Society Invitation cards given for Trial Task Two, edited the modifiable content according to the card instructions, and gave one each to Vasida and Sylph.

This time the two of them signed without any hesitation, as if all their reservations had vanished.

Immediately, Lilith’s Trial Task Two progress bar jumped forward a notch. She only needed to successfully invite eight more spellcasters, and Trial Task Two would be complete.

This part wasn’t something Mo Lan had scripted at all—it was a scheme Lilith, Vasida, and Sylph had brainstormed on the spot while fretting over Trial Task Two.

The only one who suffered was poor Greta.

She had originally thought she’d successfully invite all three people today, and once they passed their trials, she’d earn three contribution points.

Somehow, her three targets had turned into just one. She’d been stolen right out from under.

Greta smiled on the outside while crying on the inside.

“Once you finish the trial tasks, pass the Society’s trial, and become official members, you’ll be able to buy the {Instant Noodle Card}. Actually, it’s not just instant noodles—there are all sorts of delicious foods. I haven’t tried many myself yet, but anything with an unfamiliar-sounding name has been absolutely delicious without exception. Take them out to sell and you can make a fortune!”

“Thank you, Greta! The moment we finish our trial tasks, we’ll let you know right away!” Lilith and the other two showed tremendous enthusiasm for the task of earning one Magic Gold Coin.