"Full marks?" Alina Magenda asked the receptionist that she remembered giving the task of assessing the guy that was standing in front of the tower in Northpass. Northpass was the main location of Terra.
They had a few transitional islands leading there and many vied for the recruits coming from earth, but the next batch wasn't due for a few more weeks. Usually, a faction had to be the first to greet the new recruits, otherwise they would need to wait for the recruits to inform themselves about more suitable factions.
That was why she was making sure that their branch their had some incentive for the new recruits.
Of course, Terra would usually gain the new recruits first and with their contracts they could hold onto the recruits for the first couple of years in this world. Considering that the human species is a creature of habits, the recruits from years ago would just stay with Terra since they wouldn't exhaust their faction's resources anyways and their contracts were still the laxest.
One of the reasons that the other factions weren't as hostile towards Terra as they could have been, was the fact that they wouldn't hoard talents that they wouldn't be able to nurture as well as others could.
As a former branch of the Legion Terra was mostly concerned with the battle against the beasts, which obviously gave them a considerable amount of goodwill even from members of other factions.
There was also the fact that the governor was the unofficial leader of Terra. The governor wasn't someone anyone wanted to cross, considering his background. It had already been a couple of decades, but most factions still knew of his story.
His friends were slaughtered, and he was enslaved by a faction, and it only took him less than a decade to completely eradicate everyone that once harmed him. He then moved onto to reform almost every faction making them recognize him as the judge of the immediate surroundings.
He hated those factions that used their members as they saw fit and therefore instituted some laws that bettered the lives of the normal members.
The former faction leaders were displeased to say the least but after the majority was eliminated in the shadows and new laws were set about who was eligible to be the leader and for how long, the opposition became nonexistent.
He brought many changes and most of them gave an opportunity to the members of factions to rise the ranks and gave safety to almost every citizen of Northpass, making him the most liked person.
Ironically, he was the only one that after decades was still in position of power even with his own laws present because others just put the responsibility on him. The other factions grew dependent on his presence for multiple reasons.
Even The Archmage of Mysticism, Magenda, would rather keep him in his position to have him keep outside forces outside than give it to someone less competent and let them completely fuck everything up.
So, it didn't really surprise her that some talents approached their faction to join, but someone like Leo was someone no one had seen around in these parts of the world.
Someone like him exceeded the governor's raw talent by a lot and if he were even remotely comparable to him in his determination, Leonidas Thompson would grow monstrously, maybe someday he will even reach the land of the gods.
Still, she was skeptical about the test result. She could understand that he might have a knack for absorbing anima, but understanding the techniques used in the assessment in matters of minutes were just unimaginable to her.
For the average person, the test would just end after 2 hours with one hour in each room. If the examinee could copy the effect of the technique to brighten the orb, the next door would open for them and they would have already passed the test, making them members of Arcanum already.
Usually, it would be accomplishable within an hour. If the examinee couldn't copy the effect of the technique in the given time it would just mean that the effect was too complicated for them, making them not affine enough to the ways of the Arcanum.
Talents and geniuses would be able to understand the several steps of the process to create the effect, some to a lesser and some to a greater degree of detail.
The second room determined if they could withstand the temptation of the technique placed inside the room. Usually, it would induce a sleep in which the examinee was shown their deepest desire or manifest their fears.
One only needed to endure it until it was determined that they couldn't withstand it anymore or in rare cases when they woke up from their dreams.
The average point range was between 51 and 70, while talents and geniuses ranged points between 71 and 90.
The points between 91 and 100 were attainable in theory but no one had done so in their first try, especially those that hadn't cultivated to a high level before.
Simply said, to get full marks one had to be someone like herself, an Archmage with a lifetime of experience, who had already dabbled into the laws of the world, since full marks represented the idea of fully understanding the technique to its core.
If Leonidas really figured out the law of the orb in his first try and with his first contact with a sustained technique, he would be a terrifying existence.
She read through the paper once again as she wanted to see if there had been a mistake. She even pulled out the records of what happened during the assessment.
She looked at Leo's figure as he stared at the glowing orb in the darkness. His eyes focused until something changed.
She looked in shock as she saw him enter a state of enlightenment just a few moments after he sat down. He made it look like it was something easily attainable!
She saw how he stripped the technique of its individual components until only the law was left behind. It was obviously just a blink in which Leo saw the law but an instant later, the orb started to glow with a greater intensity than before, filling the room with light.
The orb crumbled after he cut off the energy supply and exited for the next room. She was blown away once again, when Leo fell asleep only to wake up just a few minutes later.
She would need to check but that was probably a new record time. She saw him pick up the technique orb that held an illusion inside of it and the process of him stripping everything away to peek at the law inside happened anew.
She was in disbelief. Was he some god reincarnated? She thought to herself as she was then reminded that the receptionist was still waiting for her orders.
Although, it seemed like the minx was fine staring at her, it calmed her down to the degree that she could think about her next move.
She would definitely have to keep him away from those geezers.
'They already felt threatened when I grew to become an Archmage. They might do something stupid with Leo like trying to stunt his growth by giving him unnecessary tasks just to preserve their own sense of worth.'
She thought in disdain as she remembered how unreasonable the ancient Archmages could be. With the governor's rule, they wouldn't be blatant about it or necessarily commit a crime to get their will through, but they still could be a pain in the butt. No innuendo intended.
She decided rather quickly to take Leo under her wing to let him grow and become indebted to her in the future.
She knew what she would gain from a genius like Leo especially if he meets the other not so pleasant Archmages. He will surely feel grateful to her, and it will only cost her a bit of tutelage and some resources, nothing to be sad about if she gave it away.
After reminding the receptionist to delay her report for a few days, she stepped out of her office only to see the man in question sitting on a chair in the hallway. Now that she was looking at him again, she reevaluated him in her mind.
Usually, those of his physique wouldn't be suitable for the work in Arcanum. Although, Arcanum also focused on influencing the world around them through their body, it was mostly the specialists that had a violet affinity to learn new techniques that utilized awareness through the body.
The fact that Leo not only was affine to violet but indigo as well indicated that he will greatly advance in the way of the mind. It was almost a certainty that his body will lag behind, so seeing his well sculpted body that had seen hundreds upon hundreds of hours of training was a surprise.
It wasn't just that the affinity gave the person an advantage or meant that he was talented in that category, it was more of a representation of their tendencies. It was also why most people would draw in every color available for the assessment crystal.
The main affinities were more of the core of their personality, their being or soul as many Archmages have theorized, though Alina Magenda was hesitant to agree to this theory.
Someone like Leo, who was well connected to his inner mind and awareness of the world indicated that he spent more time thinking or observing his surroundings than being mainly an active person.
The one that did take care of their body were usually doing it out of vain or were more balanced persons, which made them less talented and less suitable for Arcanum. However, she knew that Leo's body wasn't taken cared for because of pure aesthetics.
His body had power behind it. She felt like he was comparable to some low-level warriors. This was also the reason why she didn't think much of him when they met in front of the door.
Someone comparable to a low-level warrior was either extremely talented in the physical aspects and therefore unsuitable for Arcanum or they had talent for both making them more balance but never exceptional.
"Hello again Leonidas Thompson. I have heard of your successful assessment. My congratulations are in order." She told him as her senses reached out to him just to feel him out.
"The pleasure is all mine. Ehm- I hope you don't mind me asking but what exactly is expected of me?" Leo politely enquired and even though she could see that he was making eye contact without letting his eyes wander, she felt like he was giving her the once over.
It was a strange since he wasn't supposed to have learned to sense with anima yet and even if he instinctively knew how to, she would have already noticed, but she digressed.
'What did the youth on earth nowadays say again…? Maybe he is just built different or something like that.' She thought as she instructed the receptionist to give him the rule book of Arcanum and show him to his room.
She made sure to extend an invitation to him as her disciple since his assessment had impressed her that much. With the receptionist's eyes widening and her jaw dropping it would give Leo a good impression of how rarely she took in new disciples.
However, Leo seemed to be unimpressed as he asked for more time to let himself feel at home before deciding something of importance. A wise choice and an indicator that the assessment wasn't for nothing.
Most if not all of Arcanum's members were smart even if they could be incredibly petty.
Additionally, even the most collected man would be feeling horny sometimes and she would make sure to use it to her advantage. She wouldn't prostitute herself, obviously, but attraction is an easy gateway for some goodwill.
After saying their goodbyes, she left for her laboratory to conduct an experiment. It was ironic really, a recruit in his assessment had given the Archmage of Mysticism, who climbed her way to the top in a span of barely 2 and a half decades, an idea for the next destruction spell.
She would need to rewatch the video of Leo's assessment a few times again, which was purely for her research even if he looked exceptionally in his attire…