Gareth only recruited apprentices because of the generous rewards offered by the Mage Association.
Mages tended to immerse themselves in magical research and rarely took the initiative to train apprentices, which made Mages particularly scarce across the Aurelia Continent.
But Logan's uniqueness caught Gareth's attention.
Logan's magical talent was very weak, yet his progress in meditation was unusually fast.
This defied logic—and anything that defied logic was worth studying.
Over the next few days, the three boys stayed inside the Arcane Spire.
They ate and slept in the meditation room—not because Gareth hadn't provided them with rooms, but because all three were desperate to succeed in meditation and officially become Mage apprentices as soon as possible.
"You filthy lowborn! Even if you somehow made it into the Arcane Spire, you'll never become a real Mage apprentice!"
Aris looked at Logan with disgust as he spoke.
With his blond hair and blue eyes, Aris was the textbook example of a Silvermoon City noble.
At only ten years old, he had already been steeped in the arrogance of so-called high society and harbored deep contempt for commoners like Logan.
He never bothered to hide his arrogance or his disdain for Logan.
But faced with Aris's curses, Logan wasn't fazed in the slightest.
He looked directly into Aris's blue eyes and said calmly, "If you enjoy running your mouth so much, perhaps you should try singing at the Black Raven Tavern. You'd be a big hit there."
The Black Raven Tavern was the most chaotic place in Silvermoon City's slums.
It was a haunt for mercenaries and vagabonds—and one of the places nobles despised the most.
"You—!"
Aris's face turned red with anger, and he could barely speak.
Logan, however, ignored him completely.
He sat down cross-legged again, focused his mind, and fixed his gaze on the Meditation Tablet in front of him, attempting once more to meditate.
"You lowborn scum! Once you're out of the Arcane Spire, I'll make sure you regret every word you said today!"
Aris's gaze turned vicious as he spat out each word through clenched teeth.
The third boy in the room remained silent as he watched the scene unfold.
He, too, was a noble, but he didn't approve of Aris's behavior. Compared to Aris, he found himself far more interested in the quiet, reserved Logan.
Unfortunately, Logan had little interest in him.
[Low-tier Meditation Tablet detected.]
[Host has comprehended the Meditation Tablet: +1 Modification Point.]
[Modification Points: 1]
…
Logan tried to meditate with the Meditation Tablet again, but this time, he earned fewer modification points.
That made him abandon the idea of farming the tablet for points.
It made sense, after all—if he could endlessly farm the Meditation Tablet for modification points, he could max out his talent stat just by sitting here.
Still, before the Meditation Tablet completely lost its effectiveness, Logan managed to squeeze 3 more points out of it.
He immediately allocated all his remaining points to his talent stat.
[Host: Logan]
[Talent: 5.2]
[Mana Element Affinity: 0.3]
[Mana: 0]
[Modification Points: 0]
…
Logan looked at the updated system panel, his expression slightly tense.
He didn't know whether a talent rating of 5.2 would be enough to succeed in meditation.
If this wasn't enough, he might truly be expelled from the Arcane Spire.
Logan took a deep breath, calmed his thoughts, and focused on the Meditation Tablet ahead.
This time, the starlit sky on the slab looked more vivid than ever—like he was gazing at the night sky from an open field.
And just at that moment, specks of starlight began to fall from above.
These glowing dots surrounded him—some warm, some cold, some dazzling, some searing—they were all different.
Among them, a gentle, lively green light slowly merged into his body.
The moment the green glow entered him, Logan felt all his fatigue vanish in an instant.
His entire body brimmed with energy, and at the same time, he came out of that strange trance-like state.
"Your affinity with the life-element magic is quite high. Not bad. Being able to enter a meditative state on the second day means your mana affinity must be decent."
Gareth had arrived in the meditation room at some point.
He looked at Logan with a probing gaze, as if examining some rare creature—making Logan feel a little uneasy.
"He… he succeeded in meditation?!"
Aris shouted in disbelief from the side.
He had fully expected to be the first to succeed in meditation—how could a lowborn manage it before him?!
Rage screamed inside Aris's heart, but no one paid any attention to his petty emotions.
Gareth shot him a cold look, and Aris immediately shut his mouth, not daring to utter another word.
"All right. Starting today, you are officially a magic apprentice.
Your access is limited to the first and second floors of the Arcane Spire. You can pick any room on the first floor to stay in.
As for other matters, someone will come for you tomorrow."
After speaking to Logan, Gareth turned toward Aris and the other boy.
"As for the two of you, you have four more days. If you still can't enter meditation by then, leave on your own."
With that, Gareth turned and walked away.
Logan merely glanced at the two of them, then began heading out of the meditation room.
He wasn't in a rush to claim his new quarters.
Right now, he wanted more than anything to return home.
With that in mind, Logan quickened his pace and caught up to Gareth ahead of him.
"Something else?"
Gareth's tone carried a bit more patience when speaking to Logan.
"I'd like to return home for a bit. Would that be allowed?"
Logan looked up at Gareth with clear, bright eyes as he spoke.
His mother was still gravely ill, and his sister needed him.
For the past three days, he hadn't stopped thinking about getting home as soon as possible.
Now that he had succeeded in meditation and officially become a Mage apprentice, it was finally time to go back.
"You may. But you only have one day. This is your salary for next month."
Logan hadn't expected Gareth to not only grant him leave but also advance him a month's worth of pay.
A quick glance revealed that there were at least several dozen silver coins in the pouch.
In Silvermoon City, five silver coins were enough to support an average family of three for a month.
These few dozen coins were more than enough to treat his mother's illness and pay off their outstanding debts.
Thinking of that, Logan couldn't help but feel a rush of joy.
"Thank you, Master Gareth."
He bowed and thanked Gareth sincerely.
Gareth simply waved a hand and disappeared up the stairs to the second floor of the Arcane Spire.
Once Gareth was gone, Logan could no longer contain his excitement.
Carrying a pouch full of silver coins, he walked quickly toward the exit of the Arcane Spire.
Just outside, he saw that there were still quite a few people gathered in the central plaza.
"Someone's coming out! It's that lowborn from before. I told you—no way a commoner would stay in the Arcane Spire."
"A wretch will always be a wretch. Thinking he can become a noble Mage apprentice? Keep dreaming!"
…
The crowd gathered in the central plaza saw Logan and immediately assumed he had been eliminated.
Faced with their venomous remarks, Logan slowly furrowed his brow.
He didn't respond—he simply memorized the faces of those speaking and continued on his way home.
Right now, nothing could stand in the way of his steps toward home.
As soon as he reached his door, he heard angry voices coming from inside the house.
"I heard your boy went off to take the Arcane Spire test. Ha! Trash like you wants to become a noble Mage? What a joke!"
Logan instantly recognized the voice—it was the debt collectors.
He clenched the money pouch tightly in his hand and charged straight into the courtyard without hesitation.
His sudden entrance made the people inside the house freeze for a moment.
Only Lena stumbled forward and threw herself into Logan's arms.
From her swollen, red eyes, it was clear she had just been crying.
"I believe today isn't the repayment date yet, is it?"
Logan's voice was icy as he looked at the group of debt collectors.
He had calculated the days carefully—even if he stayed in the meditation room for seven days, he would still make it back in time.
"Heh, Logan, is it? Getting bold now, huh? What—already kicked out?"
The man in the lead stepped forward with a mocking look on his face.
Though he'd heard Logan had gone to take the Mage apprentice test, he was sure a mud-stained peasant like him would never succeed.
He had come early to pressure Logan's mother into sending Lena off to the church—this was all part of the plan.
"My business has nothing to do with you. Now get out of my house immediately, or I'll call the city guards.
And when that happens, none of you are getting out of here!"
Logan shouted the threat loud and clear.
The men before him didn't seem the least bit intimidated.
In fact, the leader even laughed aloud.
"Hah! One trip to the Arcane Spire and you think you're a different man? You really believe you're some kind of Mage now?"
Clearly, these people weren't the type to be frightened off with a single threat.
Seeing this, Logan didn't bother with words.
He pulled out the pouch of silver coins and slammed it directly onto the table.
"Now, can you get the hell out?"
Logan asked coldly.
The moment their eyes landed on the silver coins, the debt collectors' expressions changed.
They hadn't expected Logan to actually come up with the money.