I'd like to see just how strong your relationship is.

In the central square of Broken Gold Town, the cold wind was piercing, but the atmosphere among the crowd at this moment was hotter than midsummer.

Just moments ago, Asik, the blacksmith's son who usually only knew how to bury his nose in books, had used an unheard-of magic circuit structure to blast out a Fireball spell with a 30% power boost under the watchful eyes of everyone.

What was even more shocking was that he publicly proclaimed this theory, which was enough to subvert traditional magical cognition, originated from the casual guidance of Mr. Lynch, the apothecary who was currently off-stage peeling an orange for his wife.

Countless gazes instantly focused on Lynch.

Lynch held the unoffered orange segment in his hand, looking at Asik who was staring at him with a face full of worship on the stage, and the corners of his mouth could not help but twitch twice.

He recalled the casual chat on the way to the North Slope that day.

At that time, Asik was scratching his head over a complex magic flow chart. Lynch took one look and casually said, Since one path doesn't work, why not try a parallel connection? Look, it's just like water pipes. If two pipes flow side by side, the resistance is smaller, and the flow rate becomes larger, right?

Heaven knew, he was really just spouting nonsense about the parallel resistance formula from a middle school physics textbook.

Talking about science in this magical parallel world? Lynch himself found it a bit absurd.

It actually worked?

Lynch muttered to himself, It seems the magic elements of this world also have to follow basic laws. But this kid Asik is quite a talent, actually managing to force Ohm's law into a magic circuit and making it work.

Just as Lynch was lamenting that mastering math, physics, and chemistry makes you fearless anywhere in another world, the charming Professor Scarlett had already stood up on the high platform.

Her azure eyes were currently flashing with undisguised interest.

She ignored the dozens of candidates still waiting in a long line behind, and even ignored Asik who had just performed amazingly. With a light tap of the magic wand in her hand, a trail of starlight paved a staircase in the air, leading straight to Lynch.

That gentleman who is... peeling an orange.

Scarlett's voice, amplified by magic, carried a lazy and magnetic charm as it echoed across the entire square. Since Asik praises you so highly, why don't you come up to the stage first and let me see what kind of strength an expert who can casually propose the parallel shunting theory actually possesses?

This was blatantly cutting in line, and it was also blatant privilege.

But no one present dared to object. Because she was a Tier-6 Grand Magus, the king of this place.

Lynch sighed and stuffed the orange in his hand into Felsy's hand.

Wife, you eat first. I'll go up and deal with this.

Felsy took the orange, her purple eyes sweeping lightly over Scarlett on the stage, then looked at Lynch, a faint smile curving the corners of her mouth. Go ahead. Don't embarrass our family.

That look seemed to say: Go play, I'll be watching you from down here.

Lynch nodded, patted the leather armor on his body, and strode onto the high platform amidst a crowd of envious, jealous, and hateful gazes.

Facing this social queen from the royal capital up close, the impact was indeed much stronger than from afar. The scent on Scarlett, a mix of high-tier magic and expensive perfume, was highly aggressive.

But Lynch merely nodded politely. Hello, Lord Examiner. My name is Lynch.

Lynch...

Scarlett murmured the name, her gaze unscrupulously sweeping over him.

He was indeed at the Second Tier. His magic fluctuations were very stable, and his vitality was vigorous.

Since you are a special talent, let's skip those tedious procedures.

Scarlett waved her hand, and several floating magic characters appeared in the air. Let's test your theoretical foundation first. What unique insights do you have regarding the attenuation coefficient of magic in different mediums and the cornerstone of constructing a third-circle spell model?

These were all mandatory basic theoretical questions in the magic academy.

Lynch looked at the gibberish-like characters, blinked, and then very honestly spread his hands:

Sorry, I don't understand.

Huh? Scarlett froze for a moment. You don't understand? This is the most basic of basics.

I'm an apothecary. I usually just grow herbs and hunt. Lynch said with a matter-of-fact expression. I don't know any theory about this magic stuff. I just know how to gather magic power and throw it out, and that's it.

The whole square was in an uproar.

He doesn't understand theory? Then what about the formula Asik mentioned?

Could it really be a blind cat finding a dead mouse?

Scarlett's brows also furrowed.

She originally thought she had encountered a deeply hidden academic hermit, but the other party opened his mouth and turned out to be illiterate?

Gather magic power and throw it out? Scarlett laughed out of anger. Do you think magic is throwing mud? Without precise calculations and a stable model, magic is just violent explosives. You'll blow yourself up before hurting the enemy!

She shook her head, the interest in her eyes fading a bit.

Forget it. It seems that so-called guidance was most likely just you spouting nonsense and accidentally stumbling upon the threshold of truth.

Scarlett pointed somewhat disappointedly at the testing crystal ball nearby. Test your total magic power. Although you know nothing about theory, since you are at the Second Tier, your magic power should be passable.

Lynch didn't argue. He walked over and placed his hand on the crystal ball.

Buzz—

The crystal ball instantly lit up.

It was not a blinding light, but a deep, condensed azure radiance like the deep sea. The light slowly circulated inside the crystal ball, seemingly alive and full of texture.

Hmm?

Scarlett, who had been ready to call Next, suddenly focused her eyes.

This kind of magic purity...

She was secretly astonished.

Generally speaking, spellcasters of unorthodox origins had extremely impure magic power, full of impurities of various attributes. But this kid's magic power was so pure that it seemed as if it had been piled up using high-tier magic crystal stones in an academy!

And this total amount...

The light of the crystal ball even overflowed its surface, forming a faint halo in the air.

Peak Second Tier? No, with this density, he has even touched the threshold of the Third Tier!

Scarlett reassessed Lynch, the disappointment in her eyes turning back into confusion.

An idiot who knew nothing about magic theory actually possessed such a high-quality magic reserve?

It was as incongruous as an illiterate farmer hiding a whole library of rare ancient books in his house.

Interesting.

Scarlett pushed her glasses, a smile curving her lips once more. It seems you do have some talent. At least in terms of brute force, you are qualified.

Since you said you know how to gather magic power and throw it out...

Scarlett pointed to a special target at the edge of the square, about a hundred meters away from the high platform. It was made of black ironwood, boasting a hardness comparable to steel, and was specifically designed to test the power of offensive magic.

"Then let me see how an unorthodox amateur like you, who doesn't understand a lick of theory, throws mud."

"Attack that target. Use whatever method you are best at."

Lynch glanced at the target.

One hundred meters. A bit far.

But for his current vision and magic control, it was just right.

"Alright."

Lynch did not waste any words.

He stood there casually, without adopting any spellcasting stance or even chanting an incantation.

Under the astonished gazes of Scarlett and the entire audience, he simply raised his right hand as if swatting away a fly, extended his index finger, and casually pointed at the distant target.

The tier-two magic power within his body, purified by the system and as easy to command as his own limbs, instantly compressed at his fingertip, collapsed, and then erupted.

Arcane Blast Modified, Single-Target Snipe Mode.

Swish.

There were no dazzling light and shadow effects typical of traditional magic.

There was only an extremely sharp, extremely brief explosive sound of the air being forcibly torn apart.

The next instant.

Boom!!!

The distant black ironwood target looked as if it had been viciously crushed by an invisible giant hand.

No, it did not just explode.

It was directly blasted into fine powder!

Countless wood chips splattered like a torrential rain, and even the stone pedestal securing the target was blasted into a massive crater.

A visible shockwave rippled outward from the point of explosion, shaking the surrounding snow down in flurries.

Dead silence.

The entire square plunged into a deathly stillness.

Everyone's mouths were wide open as they stared blankly at the spot where the target had once stood, leaving nothing but a crater behind.

"This..."

Scarlett, who had been sitting in her chair, abruptly stood up. Her movement was so forceful that she even knocked over the teacup beside her.

She stared intently at the crater, then stiffly turned her head to look at Lynch, who still maintained his pointing posture with a placid expression.

As a Tier Six Grand Magus, her discernment was incredibly sharp.

"Chantless spellcasting..."

"No magical wind-up..."

"And... this isn't elemental magic at all! This is a pure, ultimate arcane kinetic impact!"

Scarlett felt her scalp tingle.

In this era, arcane magic had long been regarded as an antique and had fallen into decline due to its extremely complex models and massive calculation requirements. Mages nowadays preferred simple and brutal elemental magic like fireballs and wind blades.

But the man before her...

He said he didn't understand theory?

Who was he trying to fool!

Could someone who didn't understand theory instantly cast an arcane impact? Could someone who didn't understand theory compress magic power to the point of causing a qualitative physical change?

He was no theoretical idiot!

He was clearly a peerless genius who had internalized the principles of magic into his very instincts, returning to its purest essence!

"His so-called lack of understanding is simply because he disdains using our low-level language to describe it..."

Scarlett instantly understood everything.

The look in her eyes as she gazed at Lynch changed.

She was no longer looking at a country boy, nor was she looking at an amusing toy.

Instead, she was looking at an unpolished, peerless gemstone that was already radiating brilliant light!

A fire fueled by an appreciation for talent and a desire for conquest began to burn fiercely in her heart.

She, Scarlett Stuart, loved nothing more than this kind of wild, mysterious man!

"Good! Very good! Excellent!"

Scarlett praised three times in a row, stepping in her high-heeled boots as she quickly walked up to Lynch.

Her azure eyes seemed to truly catch fire at this moment as she stared intently at Lynch, her voice carrying a barely perceptible tremor of excitement:

"Mr. Lynch, I take back what I said earlier."

"You are no unorthodox amateur. You are a true genius."

She leaned forward slightly, and her highly aggressive yet elegant fragrance instantly enveloped Lynch. She spoke in a seductive tone that only the two of them could hear:

"I am... very interested in you."

"After today's assessment is over, I would like to invite you to dinner. At the best restaurant in town."

"We have a lot of things... to discuss in detail."

When she said the last few words, her gaze was practically oozing with allure. Anyone who wasn't a fool could understand the suggestive undertones typical of a mature woman.

The hearts of the men in the audience shattered all over the floor.

Yet on the stage, Lynch, facing such a blunt invitation from this great beauty of the royal capital, merely paused for a moment.

Then, he blinked and asked a question that almost turned Scarlett to stone on the spot:

"Dinner? That sounds great."

"Um... can I bring my family?"

Saying that, he turned around and waved in a certain direction toward the crowd below.

Following his gaze, Scarlett saw the silver-haired, purple-eyed woman.

Felsy was standing there, holding the orange Lynch had just stuffed into her hand. Wearing her signature aloof and indifferent smile, she quietly watched everything unfolding on the stage.

Scarlett was speechless.

Her smile froze on her face.

Hey!

Are you kidding me?

I, a professor, the acknowledged social queen of the royal capital, the Flower of Lucaria, actively invite you to dinner and want to have a detailed chat with you!

And your first reaction is to bring your wife for a free meal?!

What kind of dense blockhead was this? Or... was this some alternative form of rejection?

An unprecedented sense of frustration welled up in her heart, but immediately after, this frustration rapidly transformed into an even stronger desire to win.

"Bring your family?"

Scarlett narrowed her eyes, her gaze becoming playful.

She swept her eyes back and forth between Lynch and the silver-haired woman.

"Interesting."

"To actually maintain such composure in the face of my charm, and even bring your wife to show off?"

"Fine, since you want to bring her so badly..."

The corners of Scarlett's mouth curled up, revealing a smile tinged with a hint of danger:

"Of course you can. Bring your beautiful wife along as well."

She wanted to see just how steadfast the relationship of this loving country couple really was.

"Hmph... don't blame me for not warning you. My dinner parties aren't that easy to digest."

Just as Scarlett was secretly vowing in her heart to give this couple a little taste of royal capital shock.

At the edge of the square.

A panting figure had just squeezed through the crowd.

It was Bishop Lalavina, who had just finished her church duties and, unable to rest easy, had jogged all the way over.

As soon as she looked up, she saw a scene on the stage that made her heart stop:

Her good best friend, the arrogant Scarlett who didn't know the immensity of heaven and earth, was staring intently at Lynch with her classic player's gaze reserved for eyeing prey.

Moreover, she was looking down at Felsy in the audience with a smile full of provocation.

And that World-Destroying Witch adult was peeling an orange while returning Scarlett's gaze with the look of someone staring at a dead person.

Thump!

Lalavina felt her heart skip a beat.

It's over.

It's all over.

"Scarlett, oh, Scarlett..."

Lalavina covered her face in despair. Her legs gave out, and she nearly collapsed to her knees in the snow.

"In what world were you looking at a piece of prey?"

"You were clearly pole dancing right in front of the Grim Reaper's scythe!!!"