Chereads / Mechanical Mage / Chapter 5 - Aptitude Test

Chapter 5 - Aptitude Test

"W-what a sword! How did you learn to produce something like this?!" Garde asked in awe.

"That's just a slightly good sword you don't need to stare at it like it came from some god," Levi said.

"Oh goodness! This sword is heavenly! the user of this sword will surely prevail in a fight as long as they knew how to swing. Also, if this sword is given to an inscriptionist this will make a good magical sword." Garde said in a high tone.

"As I said this is nothing unusual, you will see many things better than that," Levi said.

"I will exercise my engineering skills here and make my childhood dreams come true," he said to himself.

"Can we continue our tour?" Levi asked. He wants to see and observe everything unfamiliar here. He's getting a lot more comfortable around these people.

"Okay, let us go to the training grounds," Jeff said.

They walked towards the training grounds located at the mountainside on the northern part of Natura. This area is specifically allocated for training the warriors of Natura. The people training close to the Mother Tree when Levi woke up were the newbies. The recruitment is being held there and after they passed they will be brought here to train harder and to make them a true and valiant warrior of Natura.

As they reach the training grounds, the sounds of swords clashing, the pulling of bowstrings and the small explosions of magic spells rang out through the area.

Levi stood in awe as he saw magical spells being used, it is his first time seeing such, he only knew magic exists on movies and books on Earth, but now it is playing in front of him.

"These elves have really good aim, they better have rifles. Oh, guns! I should make those."

Bang!

"What is that sound?!" Levi asked as he heard a loud bang.

"That's sumpacs, that is a weapon made here in Natura by the dwarves, it is loaded with metallic balls and a special powder that explodes when exposed to fire is triggered at the rear end of that thing," Garde explained.

He looked at the sumpac and quickly observed it's appearance. It is half a meter long cylindrical metal, with a hole in the middle through to the end. On top of it, at the rear end is a tiny hole where the special powder is placed. The user will put the metallic ball in the front hole pushing it to the near end, then he will put the special powder and finally, he will lit a fire. A loud bang will be next to it.

"A gun!" Levi exclaimed in excitement. Although sumpac is far from a decent gun, it has the same basic features. The special powder which is obviously the gunpowder and the metallic ball as a bullet and a long cylindrical case.

"A gun?!" Garde and Jeff asked.

"Ah, N-nothing. May I ask, how did you come up with the concept of that sumpac?"

"It was my late grandfather who invented that thing, he was just experimenting on an exploding powder that he discovered near the volcano. He put the powder on a tube and lit a fire at the end but didn't know that the tube has a small rock at the other side so when the powder exploded, the rock was propelled out that it left a hole in his wooden wall. He just made a bigger version, one that can be used by a single person. But unfortunately, the special powder is very limited, the source beside the volcano only makes a few every year, that's why we can't use these sumpacs as much as we like. But this weapon is feared by many for its dangerous capabilities.

"At least they have the basic knowledge of the gun, it would be easy to introduce the true gun to them. But most importantly, I wonder how does magic works in this world?" He thought to himself. Then, he walked several paces and reached the area for magic training. He looked carefully at the people training in the area.

An elf closed his eyes as if focusing on something then he reached out his hand targeting a dummy made of hays.

Spectacularly, a purple circular disc made of light is formed on the elf's hand then with a little enchantment...

"Crushing Beam!"

A purple beam was emitted rushing to the target. When it hit the target, the dummy was blown away, crushed by the magic spell.

When he saw this scene face to face, he couldn't help but shiver due to shock. This was a great display.

"Is this your first time to see magic?"

He looked behind finding the source of the voice, there he saw an old male elf holding a wooden staff with a long white beard. This slightly skinny old man wore a long white robe with blue linings. Levi couldn't answer immediately as he looked at the old man.

"I know that magic exists everywhere and humans can use it too. Is there no mages in your country?" The old man asked.

After the old man saw that Levi isn't answering and his eyes were frowning, "Oh sorry, I am Caleb, I am in charge of training these people into mages. We already met at the feast when you were being introduced by Jeff and Garde around." Caleb introduced himself again.

"Oh sorry, I forgot, there are so many people there and I couldn't remember everyone. I'm really sorry." Levi apologized.

"It's fine, don't worry about it. I just saw your look when you saw magic and I suddenly come and asked, I'm sorry too." Caleb sighed deeply, he looked at people in the mages' training area then continued. "These people are not mages yet, we call them Conjurers. When they master the use of magic that's when they will become an official mage" After a brief pause "Do you want to try magic?" He asked.

"Magic? I don't know if I can but I would like to." He answered as he imagine the power of magic and the amazing things he could do if he can use it.

"Okay, but first let's test your magic aptitude with this caster stone," Caleb said and then he took something from his pocket. A transparent crystal stone.

"This caster stone will determine your aptitude to magic. If it turns red it means you are not cut out to be a mage. yellow for low aptitude, orange for mid aptitude, green for high aptitude, blue for great aptitude and purple for excellent aptitude. Hold this stone in your hand and feel the vibrations of magic surrounding you."

"Which hand?" Levi asked, but Caleb just looked at him with a frown, that's only when he remembered that his left arm is gone.

With his right hand, he held the stone while he focused on what Caleb said about feeling the vibrations of magic around him.

He focused and focused but he cannot feel anything. Caleb now has a doubtful look. Maybe this man is not cut out to be a mage. The caster stone doesn't emit any light.

"Why don't I feel anything? He said I must feel vibrations." He said to himself angrily. After a few seconds, "Mages are supposed to feel magic and magic is everywhere. What is magic by the way? Magic comes from anywhere and something that is present anywhere is... wind?"

Shockingly, the caster stone started to emit faint light. As time passes by, the color starts to be clear, it is red!

"Light is present everywhere and also is darkness."

The caster stone turns yellow, he is now qualified to be a mage with low aptitude.

"Plants..."

Orange...

"Water."

Green...

Levi couldn't see the light emitted by the caster stone because his eyes were closed. But Caleb who is watching him since he took hold of the stone was there. The Conjurers that are practicing stopped as they saw the light of the caster stone. Jeff and Garde were also there.

Green stands for high aptitude and Caleb started to be happy as he smiled for his doubts before. As everyone thought that Levi reached his limit and he has a high aptitude, they are wrong.

From green light, the caster stone transitioned to emit blue light.

Then, a purple light!

Everyone's eyes popped out and their jaws dropped. It is one in 10 million that a man will reach an excellent aptitude!

"So magic is everything in this world. A mage is a person who is given the chance to control the world's everything!" Levi came to a realization from talking to his mind.

Then, the most spectacular and also the weirdest thing occurred.

The caster stone turned black and after a few seconds, it broked. It was crushed in tiny pieces.