While it happened too quickly for Ryne, the spectacle appeared too long for the haggardly 'seniors' and 'respected elders'. Unbeknownst to him, the trouble began as soon as his hands touched the crystal ball.
After the first few seconds, the crystal ball seemed to have worn down a little. Hans was the first to notice this peculiarity as he asked others in a low voice, so as to not disturb the child
"Why is the runic medium looking so murky?"
Golver noticed this abnormality as well upon hearing the Chief's words. Moreover, the walls of the crystal ball were going even murkier each second, as if a curse had inflicted it or as if the shadows were swallowing its light.
Panic began to grow in the hearts of the prominent and experienced old men present inside the majestic tent.
"Is this kid a.. demon? or a corrupted being?"
"Surely, it's not a good omen. Vice Chief Danulo, what is this?" One by one, the last two hulkish warriors sitting on Danulo's left side raised their questions towards Danulo and Hans, two of the three most powerful leaders of the Zaputa tribe present there.
Danulo was about to reply to the stream of questions being thrown his way when he saw the 'murky crystal ball' changing even further.
A dull grey particle, that shouldn't have been noticeable within the cloudy crystal ball, stood out as it was just too big comparatively.
Usually, the particles that appeared within the runic medium were minuscule, only noticeable due to their shining glow but the particle that spawned randomly within this mysterious crystal ball could be seen moving with the naked eye.
Moreover, unlike splitting in half and multiplying as it should, this one seemed to be absorbing something around it and growing in volume.
Unbeknownst to the astute eyes of the five observers, within the grey pendant hanging on Ryne's chest, the detailed and intricately carved engravings were shifting a little.
If at this time Ryne had decided to take his pendant out, he wouldn't have been able to see through the other side of the two holes present on the pendant.
While everyone was intensely focusing on the changes happening within the crystal ball, the pendant, unseen by their eyes, was also absorbing something from the atmosphere, magically, without causing even a minor disturbance.
A few seconds later, the 'particle' grew as big as the crystal ball, covering everything within the crystal ball.
Suddenly, the crystal ball or the 'runic medium' cracked and shattered like a normal glass fragment.
The absurd and peculiar phenomena that transpired randomly happened so fast that none of the elders present were able to process it and react to it.
At the same time, the grey pendant hidden within Ryne's robes seemed to have satiated itself as it slowly returned to as it was before the magic affinity test.
Senior Golver stood up from his seat and two other senior warriors looked at each other as all three of them exclaimed respectively
"How is THIS possible?"
"What the actual fuck?"
"Gods have damned us!"
Tribal Chief Hans was glooming over an entirely different matter. From his perspective, the runic medium seemed to be intoxicated, showing some random bull**** that didn't make any sense, but if that was the case, then didn't it mean that Daney's result might be fake as well.
Even if it was merely a possibility, it still worsened Hans' mood quite a bit.
Danulo, on the other hand, didn't concern himself with any such remote possibility yet the shattering of the runic medium stunned him completely.
At this time Ryne looked around nervously as he hesitatingly asked everyone about the expense.
Danulo was the first to recover from his stunned state as he replied without thinking much of it
"Eh? It isn't that expensive, kid. I'll get you another one next time I go out to trade but how did you break it though?"
Hans kept his head down and appeared to be solemnly thinking about something as he suffered consecutive blows from Danulo's carefree words especially the 'not that expensive' and 'get you another one' twisted his heart, but he couldn't even express his misery to maintain his 'respected' and 'esteemed' image.
Ryne visibly calmed down when he heard it but everyone's exaggerated reactions still unsettled him quite a bit. He started speaking again to gouge the reason behind everyone reactions
"So.. respected seniors, what is my affinity? Is it good or bad?"
"Ah.. well, Esteemed Golver what do you think?"
Danulo couldn't find words to explain the spectacle that occurred a few minutes ago during the testing so he shifted the responsibility of answering to Golver.
The benign and unfettered smile had long since disappeared from Golver's face. He looked around with a complicated expression and it betrayed a little bitterness as he could feel the thoughts running around in everyone's mind as well.
Finally, he decided to let the matter rest and to take responsibility for it for the time being. All of them needed more time to digest the abnormal happenings before making a rational decision. He coughed lightly out of habit before speaking
"Your test was a little abnormal kid but one of the basic principles that we follow during magic affinity test is that if a child could make the runic medium react, then he certainly possesses some talent for magic. The reaction you caused was extraordinary but we're not sure of its implications for now. We'll ascertain your result within three days and help you find your master then." Golver's formal tone broke down after this as he waved his hands and continued laughingly
"You can rest easy till then, little demon. Your master would make you work a lot. You can go now."
Ryne scrunched his brows as he didn't get a clear reply but he still nodded his head in reply.
"Wait outside, little Ryne, I'll come out in a bit." said Danulo as Ryne was about to turn around.
As soon as Ryne left the tent, the five old crooks simultaneously heaved a sigh of relief as they look at each other without speaking.