"Will Lord Barda be joining us, Your Majesty?" Asked the elegantly robed girl. She did not look a day above her 20s.
"I don't see why not," The Queen asked. She was enjoying the look of bewilderment in Barda's eyes.
Barda had gone to bed merrily. He hadn't slept, but on this rare occasion, he got a chance to relax and just go over the plans and what lies ahead. The following morning, he got word that the Queen had summoned him.
The moment he came in, this girl had waylaid him by subtly demanding his presence. He didn't even know where he had been asked to join, all he could do was follow.
"Lord Barda, I heard that you were able to absorb a wyvern's essence?" The girl asked. Barda was even more shocked. He hated being in the dark. Moreover, he did not know what this woman's agenda was.
"What is a wyvern's essence?" The Queen asked.
"Your Majesty, Do you remember the flying creatures that Gumina sent against? They are called wyverns. When they die, they produce an essence that can be claimed by the one that kills them, in this case, Lord Barda." Barda hated the discrete condescending tone the woman employed. This was the Queen she was talking to.
"To what end?" The Queen seemed to not have caught it.
"If one can successfully absorb an essence, then they gain the magical powers of that beast. Absorbing the essence of a wyvern, for instance, gives someone magical powers over the fire element," It was overly simplified but that was the gist of it.
"Does that mean that you are a mage?" Lady Maara asked Barda incredulously.
"Not really," Barda replied, "I can only do this."
As Barda was speaking, he lifted his hand and channeled the Magical energy he had within into a ball of fire. Many people among those who he had come with gasped as they watched the ball. All this time, Barda had not disclosed he was a mage too.
Barda had surmised that this woman wanted to disclose his secret. It was a tactic to throw him off course, but he had decided to show off his power instead. Instead of throwing him off, she was giving him a chance to show off.
"If you are a mage, does that mean that your inventions are magical too?" A curious mage asked. All of a sudden the entire theatre was in an uproar.
Part of the reason for this reaction was that the mages here were thoroughly impressed by all that Barda had been able to accomplish. Only the higher-ups got to know the details of Barda's confession, but everyone got to see his work.
Many mages even argued that these inventions were magical. Try as they might, they could not detect any hint of magic in his inventions. Upon seeing him cast magic, the suspicions began to rise once more.
"As I said, this is all I can do in magic," Barda replied as he waved off the inquisitor.
"Lord Barda, it is well known that to absorb a magical essence you need to have magic in you. If you obtained that ability from an essence, what was your primary element?" A scholar asked.
Barda at first did not understand. According to information he had obtained about essences, he knew that only those of a similar element could absorb an essence. Was this a trick question?
"I did not have any command over a magical element, at least, none that I knew of," Barda's reply was honest, and many believed him.
"If that is the case, my Lord, then you must take the test," Someone from the crowd said as he came forward. "Your Majesty, My Lord, allow me to introduce myself. I am professor Althalos, Grand Mage and head of the Fire Elemental department." The man then turned his attention to Barda.
"My Lord, Seeing your power now, I must admit I am impressed that you were able to conjure such a magnificent fireball without training. All this calls to immense talent. If you will it, I bid you take the initiation test, know what tier of magical talent you possess."
Hearing the words of the professor, who was well known among the faculty, realization dawned upon many.
After the collapse of the Magician's Association, there was a decline in the number of mages in the continent. This was not due to a reduction in the magical talent, but without proper cause or motivation, many would-be mages never discovered their talent. Barda could be one of them.
The initiation test allowed one to gauge their magical talent. One's magical talent was ranked in tiers. Ordinary humans were at Tier 0. Magical talent determined how far someone would develop. It was not a test of skill but command over an element.
Many agreed and even urged Barda to take the test.
"What do you think, will you take it?" By this time, lady Maara was plenty shocked by this realization. How could it be that Barda was a mage and did not tell her? She wished to see him take the test and see how far he would go, but she did not want to command him to do it.
Many waited to hear what Barda had to say, but then someone interrupted, "He has already taken the test." Turning around, everyone wished to see who had spoken.
"What do you mean?" Lord Althalos queried.
"The Initiation Test is like the Adventurer's Test. Since he had already tested as an adventurer, then his results stand." Lady Arnea surmised.
"You are an adventurer too?" Lord Carwin was shocked, "what rank are you?"
"Golden-ranked," The statement dumbfounded many as they eyed Barda with shock. In this silence where one could hear a pin-drop, Lord Althalos muttered to himself: "Could it be?"
"Lord Barda, how long did the test take?" Many wondered what Lord Althalos was getting at. Higher test results usually take longer to process, hence they expected that Barda took several days to complete his test.
"A few seconds," Barda's answer stunned many, but looking at Lord Althalos' face, they could tell that was the answer he was expecting.
"You are a druid then," the man said as he placed his arm around Barda, as though they were the best of friends. "Follow me, ordinary tests break at the hands of druids, unable to control their power. Let me take you to the proper test."
***
As Barda was being dragged by this man, he was reading from his collection what a druid was. The moment the professor mentioned the word, the AI pulled out all the information it had about the druids.
Among all Elemental Mages, the Druids reigned supreme. Druids were known to be extremely powerful Elemental Mages because of their excellent control over all elements.
Most Elemental Mages were specialized, such as Fire Element, Water Element and so forth. From an early age, they can only cast certain elements. Over time and much practice, they can combine related Magical Elements. For instance, Storm Magic is a combination of Wind and Water Magic.
However, for a druid, elemental control was not limited. However, since they were not specified, discovering a druid's magical power was extremely difficult. Furthermore, normal tests did not accurately test druids since they could not discover which element to facilitate. It should be known that the tests were different for everyone but based on an element.
***
Many people were shocked when the professor dragged Barda to the conjuration department, and into the conjuring halls. He then led Barda to the Conjuration tournament grounds.
"When you are ready, grab the lever and pull," The professor said as the only advice after he led him to a dark cubicle. In there, Barda found the lever and pulled. Suddenly, he was no longer in the room.
In an instant, he found himself in grassland that seemed to stretch to the horizon. Then he saw a beautiful woman standing opposite him. She too was dressed in elegant robes.
Moreover, Barda saw that she was holding a staff white staff about 2 meters long. Barda checked and saw he too was holding a similar staff.
As many people watched, the professor called forth the top student in the Water Department and asked her to spur with Barda. All this while, Barda did not know what was going on. Then he led them to the stands to watch the bout.