Support Mage Jung Wong was quietly observing the crowd facing him. After spending years being pushed around like a lackey by his office in Seoul, he couldn't help but savor this moment facing regular civilians showing him respect and deference.
The single thought of being the one presiding over this life-deciding event was enjoyable but not enough to wash away his oppressive feelings from his close return to the main office after this event.
Thinking about his coworkers and superiors always sneering at him and pushing him to the most ungrateful tasks, he took his time to enjoy this precious moment happening only once in a year.
He was a scout for the Ministry of Education. Even though he looks like a chosen one in the eyes of the commoner he knew that his job only meant that he was fired from the education cycle and recycled in the social pyramid.
A mage showing a weak assessment grade then having no sign of progress like him would be abandoned by the government to prioritize the resources on better talents. The government would stop all nurturing and education and force those weak prospects to sign employment contract as Support Mages.
They would then get dispatched into different official branches where their main tasks are to work as assistants for the higher ranked mages or, in his case, to discover and nurture new talents worth sponsoring.
To replace the old by the new and support the successful on the shoulders of the failures was the plan the government established to become a powerful Mage nation.
Jung Wong understood clearly his own low value for the country and was totally aware that this assessment would be the first step into deciding the rest of the lives of those kids.
Some lucky ones would finish like him while the majority would get a failed grade and never get to touch his toes. Those failures would then live the peasant life, finishing a classic professional education, being assigned to a dull and boring job, marrying another failure and breeding potential new mages.
"I'll now explain how this assessment will be conducted," declared the man, "Each students will one by one come to the podium when called."
Pointing at his wristwatch he said, "This magic tool will scan your DNA information and measure your mana synchronization rate, the lucky ones who receive a pass will stay here and wait for the follow-up..."
Stephan eyes opened wide, his heart starting to beat faster. This was a real magic tool! A legendary item imbued with mana from a Sage Mage!
Even with the help of the media and Internet, the information available about Mages or mana were way too rare and scarce among the general population.
Every country was competing and privatizing their every research and discoveries to gain an advantage in this Age of Mages. The only way to gain access to this secrets was to reveal enough talents during this assessment.
"There's 3 different grades you can receive," continued the man, "A failed grade is the most common, received by around 90 percent of the examines. This means that the mana synchronization rate is too weak for the mana to be sensed or used in the human body."
"If you are born under a lucky star you can receive a passable grade. This is what most mage receive, they can sense mana in their own organism after the Awakening and so train it. Those destined ones would then follow me to Seoul to undergo another test before receiving an elite education and care provided by the country."
At this point the whole crowd present was trembling at those words. Children holding their breath and pumping their fist while imagining their future as a powerful respected Mage.
Parents, their eyes full of desire for the prospect of becoming a Mage family, instantly leaping towards the higher steps of society and getting carried towards riches.
"A Great grade is theoretically receivable, " continued Jung Wong, "This is restricted for the true sons of heavens, the one in a million, the real talents in a world of mages."
"This grade means that the mana synchronization rate in the body is so high that they would leap through the training stages and be destined in the future to achieve far more than Passable grades."
"This is those geniuses who, by hard work, training, competition and lucky encounters will maybe become the future Combat Mages of our nation!"
At the mention of his dream, Stephan felt tremors surging through his skin, this was his objective since the days he was old enough to learn about the existence of mages.
Combat Mages were said to be inhuman weapons able to easily emit and transform mana outside of their own body.
The last public appearance of a combat Mage was during a border skirmish between Japan and Korea. On the national broadcast, this man faced an entire Japanese army by himself.
Tanks, jets and missiles kept firing at him but couldn't leave a single scratch on his clothes. A round blazing red aura was rotating around him like a shield, making any threats disappear at contact.
Then he slowly raised both hands, wide open above his shoulders. Strings of red light coursing from his abdomen to the tip of his fingers until the light emitted from both hands suddenly merged.
The broadcast suddenly went white, it started to revert to a clear image little by little following the dispersing smoke until revealing a scene of devastation.
An enormous crater, deep and so large that it was separating the seas was now the only remains of the army and the island where the battle took place. Scarred rocks and scorched earth gave a black tone to this crater appearing like a gigantic black hole.
Then the broadcast finished while the sea replenished the crater, filling it until any proof of existence from the island of Dokdo disappeared with it. The Mage was nowhere to be seen after the explosion.
The following broadcasts informed that Japan surrendered multiple territories to Korea after this event, offering multiple reparations and gifts in the process. The power, prestige and deterrence offered by a single Combat Mage showed that they were the strongest assets produced since the Cataclysm.
Stephan was determined to become a strong combat mage since he saw this video. The strength, power and mystic abilities shown there were making him fret with uncontrollable thirst.
He was known in the whole school for often talking big about it. The difficulty to become a mage was well known to the population, especially a legendary Combat Mage. Most kids would only see his aspirations as shameless lies, always mocking it behind his back but never confronting him by fear of his bullying in revenge.
Stephan is well-aware that the luck required to achieve his goals would never get improved by talking big like he did. But still, knowing that the mana synchronization rate is determined by birth and impossible to improve, he also knew that his will or efforts would be useless towards improving his chances.
That's why he over-confidently declared to his small world that he would definitely become a Combat Mage. Despite being powerless, the fact that he cut all his ways of exit at this point, was letting him keep the confidence in himself necessary to rule the school with Mina and John.
Of course he feared failure, to him it would mean his whole world would get annihilated. He had no way to project himself in a regular civilian lifestyle after spending so many time dreaming of mages and magic.
But he feared most to become akin to an herbivore like his schoolmates, always prudently telling others that they don't dare to dream big like having the talent of a Mage by fear of failure and repercussions.
For Stephan, it was now that everything would be decided, either taking the first step towards his dream or plunging deep into oblivion. He was convinced that even if he didn't choose to kill himself for failing, one of his previous victims would definitely end him for revenge.