"Alright, just place the child in the center of the hexagram in the middle."
Seventh Grandpa pointed to the center of the altar, signaling Duke Utah to place the baby there.
The Duchess carefully walked up and gently placed the baby in that spot.
At this moment, the baby had already opened her eyes. Her limbs were wrapped and restrained by a soft wool blanket, preventing her from moving. Only her big eyes curiously looked around.
Everyone else in Vladimir's family, including Duke Utah, was seeing the process of testing a newborn's Wizard aptitude for the first time.
It was false to say there was no tension at all.
However, since this group of Wizards were all blood relatives from the family, there wasn't too much worry.
"Oh, will of the esteemed Wizard World, your devout children pray to you here. Please pay attention to this newborn child of yours."
"How talented she is..."
The group of Wizards nearby, seeing that the child had been placed, began to pray softly.
As he continued to pray, the patterns on the carpet gradually emitted a faint fluorescent light.
And this color was brightening at a visible speed.
The strangely shaped plants placed around and the contents of some vessels also slowly disappeared into the air.
Later, when most of the items had disappeared, the hexagram beneath the baby's body began to emit a vertical pillar of light upwards.
The pillar of light went straight through the castle roof, shooting into the high sky tens of thousands of miles away.
But the baby in the center, as if nothing was happening, actually fell into a deep sleep.
Everyone present suddenly felt a very intimate and vast aura appear high above their heads.
The terrifying fluctuations emitted by that aura made Vladimir feel like an ant facing a giant.
But miraculously, the Seed of Life in Vladimir's heart seemed to be nourished by rainwater, and it quickly began to grow stronger.
At the same time, he felt his spirit becoming clearer. His perception of the world greatly improved.
It felt like adding points to mental power.
Of course, the most obvious change was still in the baby in the middle of the altar.
A seven-colored beam of light descended vertically from high above onto the baby.
The baby grew at a visible rate.
The baby was only a little over twenty centimeters long before, but in a short while, she grew to over forty centimeters. She was probably as big as a four or five-month-old baby.
The entire process only lasted about ten seconds.
Then the light disappeared.
Only the baby remained lying in the middle of the altar. The blanket had been pushed open by her, and the baby lay naked in the middle, sound asleep. She seemed to have even peed in her sleep, instantly breaking the solemn atmosphere.
"Alright. The Awakening Ceremony is complete. This child's aptitude is excellent, first-grade aptitude, and among first-grade aptitudes, she is also among the top. This is truly our family's fortune."
Although Seventh Grandpa looked tired, his happy and excited mood made his voice become excited and high-pitched.
It seemed that the credit for discovering a first-grade aptitude was immense, even for a Wizard like him.
"Little Duke Utah, you can go and carry the child down now. We are a bit tired, please take us to a room to rest."
Duke Utah, hearing his Seventh Grandpa's instruction, quickly walked to the altar and carried his naked child down. He wiped the baby's wet bottom with his clothes, then found a clean blanket to re-wrap her.
Only then did he hand the child to his Duchess, and then personally led the group of Wizards to the already prepared rooms to rest.
After all the Wizards had left, Vladimir's siblings, still standing in the middle of the hall, began to chatter and discuss.
"That scene just now was truly amazing. I feel like I've advanced to an Intermediate Knight."
Vladimir said with a look of wonder.
And his eldest brother, because he stood closer, gained even more benefits; he had already broken through Intermediate Knight and entered the realm of High-level Knight.
His other siblings also had very significant gains.
"Alright, the great Wizards have all gone back to rest. Let's go back to rest too. These past few days have really exhausted us, and everyone should properly consolidate their gains."
James, the eldest brother, began to usher his younger siblings away.
Back in his room, Vladimir eagerly opened his attribute panel.
He saw that the panel had refreshed.
Character: Vladimir
Realm: Intermediate Knight
Strength: 30.1
Constitution: 29.1
Spirit: 24.8
Skills Mastered:
Dragon Breathing Technique (Minor Accomplishment)
Giant Bear Strike (Minor Accomplishment)
Serpentine Step (Minor Accomplishment)
Basic Swordsmanship (Minor Accomplishment)
Free Attribute Points: 20"
Indeed, Vladimir found that his physical attributes had greatly improved.
Dragon Breathing Technique had also entered the Minor Accomplishment stage.
What made him even more delighted was that his Spirit attribute had directly increased by several points.
No wonder he had clearly felt his thoughts become clearer at the time.
At the very end, he was surprised to find that he had gained 20 more Free Attribute Points.
"It seems that in addition to constantly grinding skills to increase my Free Attribute Points, encountering such mysterious events can also increase my Spirit attribute points."
"Still the same as before, I'll add all Free Attribute Points to the Spirit attribute."
So his Spirit attribute reached 44.8.
That feeling of a completely renewed spiritual world descended again. Although he had experienced it several times, each time still made every cell in his body excited.
Perhaps the bodily changes were too drastic, or perhaps the events experienced today were truly incredible, Vladimir felt extremely tired now. He simply closed his eyes and immediately fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, before the servant could wake him, he woke up naturally.
Looking at the sky outside the window, he realized that he had probably slept from evening until around five or six in the morning.
At this time, there was already a hint of dawn in the sky.
Vladimir stood by the window, gazing into the distance, but his mind had already begun to wander.
"It seems that Wizards are the masters of this world. Just a simple aptitude testing ceremony benefited me greatly."
"If I always stayed in North Ice Territory, then perhaps I would never be able to achieve much development in my life."
"After all, the things I experienced yesterday were simply unheard of and unseen before."
"And my Spirit attribute is already so high now, it's very possible that I already possess Wizard aptitude. So I must find a way to access Wizard knowledge and ultimately become a Wizard."
Thinking of this, Vladimir couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
Because according to his previous discussions with his father, Duke Utah, becoming a Wizard, unless one was born with excellent aptitude from the start, there seemed to be no way to increase aptitude later on.
"But thinking about it, that Seventh Grandpa seems to have a very close relationship with our family. Perhaps I can find a way through him."
"They will be leaving at noon today, so I must figure out a way before then."
"First, I must clarify the relationship between Seventh Grandpa and our family."
Thinking of this, Vladimir impatiently opened the door and rushed out, quickly arriving outside his father's bedroom door.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
Vladimir, unable to contain his excitement, vigorously knocked on the door.
"Father, Father, I have something very important to tell you."
Vladimir shouted loudly from outside.
After about 15 minutes, the Duke walked out of the room, looking tired.
"You better really have something important for me, otherwise, I'll spank you until your butt blooms."
Duke Utah looked displeased and wasn't wearing his usual lord's formal attire. He had only come out in his pajamas.
"Father, I have become an Intermediate Knight."
As Vladimir spoke, he activated the Seed of Life in his heart. The Seed of Life gushed out a large amount of battle qi, and instantly, Vladimir's entire body was enveloped in cold white frost battle qi.
Being able to emit cold white frost battle qi from the entire body was the most significant sign of entering an Intermediate Knight.
"Hmm, very good. That ceremony indeed brought you good results."
Duke Utah's expression softened slightly.
"Father, not only that, I feel that I can also sense the elemental particles in the air now. I believe I must have awakened Wizard aptitude."
Vladimir continued.
"What? There's such a thing!"
Duke Utah looked incredulous. Just observing the Wizard aptitude testing ceremony actually led to an awakening? This was simply unheard of and unseen.
"I hope to learn and become a Wizard in the future, and I hope you, Father, can help me."
"Once I become a Wizard, I will do my utmost to help our family and make our North Ice Territory the strongest territory."
Vladimir, seeing his father's astonished expression, continued to encourage him.
"Father, what exactly is our relationship with Seventh Grandpa? Can we ask for his help?"
Vladimir finally revealed his purpose.
"Seventh Grandpa and we are direct blood relatives. And when he was young, he looked very much like me. It is said that my bloodline experienced an atavistic phenomenon. Seventh Grandpa has been very good to me since I was little. It's just a pity that I don't have Wizard aptitude like your twelfth sister."
"Even though I didn't have the Wizard aptitude he hoped for, he still helped me become an Earth Knight."
"And after helping me become an Earth Knight, he also helped me secure this huge North Ice Territory as my domain."
"In short, you must remember that he is our biggest backer."
Duke Utah hesitated slightly before telling his sixth son about their family's relationship with Seventh Grandpa. After all, a 14-year-old Intermediate Knight could already stand on his own in the family.
"Then can we ask him how to determine if I have Wizard aptitude?"
Vladimir asked, overjoyed.
"Probably."
"Describe again, the feeling you just mentioned about sensing elemental particles in the air! I want to see if it's the same as what I know Wizard Apprentices feel."
Duke Utah was still a bit uneasy and wanted to confirm again.
"When I close my eyes, I feel like a ball of light, and all around me are countless tiny, various colored sparkling points, like fireflies, flying around."
Vladimir closed his eyes. Then he began to sense the elemental particles in the air and translated what he felt into words for Duke Utah to hear.
"It really is exactly as I've heard. In that case, you go get yourself tidied up a bit and wait for me in the first-floor hall. I'll prepare some things, and then we'll go together to see Seventh Grandpa."