March 4, 3064
Every year in the first week of March, a test was carried out to see if a child has the potential to become a magician or not.
Even though most of the magicians came from clans, it wasn't that rare to find someone from the general population. It was just that the potency of magicians from the general population was far insignificant compared to the ones from the clans. And because of this, the magicians from the general public used to be overshadowed by magicians from the clans. But that doesn't mean that insignificant bunch could be ignored.
Magicians, if raised properly, could become an important asset of the nation. If not, they could be turned into a tool of mass destruction. So, both the general public and society of magicians took this test very seriously.
When children reach their teens, they start showing various magical traits. Usually physical traits like change of hair colour could also be observed, but there were few among many who showed no such traits. Hence, they had to come up with Potency Testing Device (PTD). This device, as the name suggests, could verify if someone has the potential to become a magician or not.
The Magic Research Society - in short MRS - who came out with this device, claimed the accuracy of this device to be 100%.
And because of this accuracy, there had been a significant decrease in the number of magicians who fell into wrong hands. At least that's what the research showed.
The mechanism of this device was similar to MM that magicians use. It could enhance the absorption of mana and show the reading of the rate at which it was being absorbed. Since only magicians can absorb mana in the first place, the reading it showed for non-magician was always zero. And the reading between 1-5 was considered insufficient for using any kind of magic.
"Hello there, I am Mark. I will be administering your potency test."
Mark's tone and gesture as he spoke was formal with a slight smile on his face. If it was someone like Lucas, he would have immediately noticed the logo of MRS on the badge that he was wearing over his black suit.
MRS, even though independent, was a government organization and their uniform was similar to that of many other government organizations: black suit over a white shirt. Even though independent organizations could change it however they saw fit, MRS hadn't bothered changing it in its decades of functioning.
"So, let's see."
Mark lifted the transparent pad on his table and checked the details of the boy who was sitting in the chair facing him.
"Name: Razak, age: 13 years and 3 months, Origin: Unknown; Adopted twice but both ended up in a failure."
Adoption failures weren't that uncommon, so he wasn't surprised. Instead, some part of him felt sorry for the boy.
"So, how are you feeling today Razak?"
"I'm okay."
His voice as his appearance sounded simple. He was wearing a white t-shirt, blue jeans and looked like any normal kid of his age would.
'How did the adoption of such a child ended up in failure?' is the question that came into Mark's mind. But he wasn't insensitive enough to ask that to a child.
"Now, this won't take long. Could you please put your hand on the outline drawn over there?"
Razak, who was looking down the entire time, slowly lifted his hand and put it over the PTD scanner that Mark was pointing at with his pad. It was a small black box with an outline of a hand-drawn over it.
As Razak did that, a bright green light came out of the PTD scanner, and the back of the transparent pad that Mark was holding turned black.
It turned black because the actual score of the test was supposed to be kept a secret even from the child until they turn 16. The scores were kept on the central database of MRS which only selected few people had access to.
After they turn 16, they would be sent a letter with the score along with an invitation to join a Magic school.
For now, they would only be told the result using any one of the five phrases approved by MRS. They were 'confirmed to be a magician', 'likely a magician', 'Unlikely a magician', 'Not a magician', and the rarest of all 'inconclusive'.
If the result comes as 'confirmed to be a magician' or 'Not a magician', no further test would be necessary. In case it comes as 'likely' or 'unlikely', they would need to take the test again next year. This was because in some the potency could be insignificant now, but could develop later on. Finally, if it ever comes as inconclusive, they would be taken to the district branch of MRS for evaluation by experts.
Mark's eyes widened when he saw the score. His other movements stopped, and he kept on staring at his pad for a while.
After a few seconds, he noticed that the boy was looking towards him, so he quickly composed himself and said, "sorry, looks like the system wasn't ready yet. Could you lift your hand and put it back there please?"
Razak did as he said. He lifted his hand and put it back inside the outline.
Mark took a deep breath in as he left the pad on the table and looked towards Razak.
"You can remove your hand now."
Razak did as he said and removed his hand from the scanner. He then looked at Mark with eyes that were expecting to hear something more.
"Sorry, but you are 'not a magician'."
Those were the words that would make anyone disappointed no matter how nicely worded. But there was no disappointment in Razak's face. It was like he was expecting that outcome all along.
He looked at his hands once. He was sure he felt something, but he didn't say anything. He just got off the chair and slowly walked out of the room the same way he came in; expressionlessly.
'I was done expecting miracles to happen a long time ago.'