"Let me go first. I'll set the bar real high. HA! I might even get a black talent," Aldrian exclaims.
"Ha, you wish!" Ainsley shouts as Aldrian gets close.
"Zip it!" Violette laughs.
As Aldrian reaches the crystal, he stands seriously for a moment, takes a deep breath, and places his hand on the crystal. One, then two, finally ten seconds pass.
"UHHHH, what am I supposed to do?" Aldrian asks, confused.
Suddenly, Ainsley starts laughing. "Black grade talent? More like it won't even light up for you. Out of the way, sucker." He pushes Aldrian aside and grabs the crystal, but it doesn't light up for him either. He looks to his mom. "Could it be that this thing is broken?"
"Broken? NO, it's just that you idiots wouldn't even let me finish talking. I have to unseal the crystal first, then you drop a bit of your blood on it," she says, pulling out a needle. "Here, use this and give me one moment." As she speaks, they feel a difference in their environment, but only Violette understands what's happening.
"Oh my gosh!" Violette exclaims.
"What is it?" the boys ask in unison.
"There is so much spiritual energy rushing into her right now," she says.
Amelia laughs. "It may seem that way, but you're not used to any of this. This isn't even a high-level skill. In the cultivation world, you'll see much greater feats. Anyway... roch dos def ret mei cal dot rei neirt flugh sho." As she chants, the crystal shines with a bright grey, then white, yellow, orange, green, blue, brown, purple, red, and finally black. "Alright, now it's ready. You just need to put a drop of your blood on it."
Violette steps up, pricks her finger with the needle, and drops her blood onto the crystal. The crystal changes colors, dyed with three colors: blue, silver, and red, shining with a silver light.
"What... what does this mean?" Violette asks, the boys nodding in agreement.
"WOW," Amelia exclaims. "That was definitely unexpected. Overall, you are a blue level talent, which is two tiers higher than mine. Regarding spatial power, you are regarded as a red tier talent. This is amazing—you could almost be considered a pseudo red grade talent! The silver light means you have a spatial affinity. This means your cultivation speed will be that of a blue grade, but when it comes to learning and using spatial powers, you will be several times more powerful and faster at learning. You'll be on par with even the strongest in the universe in that regard. You'll also be much stronger than those at the same cultivation level as you. Who's next?"
Ainsley looks at Aldrian. "Whoever has the lower talent has to listen to whatever the other says at least once."
"You're on! Let's see if I wind up below you!" Aldrian says, shaking hands with Ainsley. He grabs the needle and drops some blood on the crystal. This time, the crystal turns colorless, almost invisible, and shines bright golden.
"WHAT! How is that even possible?" Amelia exclaims.
"What is it?" they all ask quickly.
"I never thought I'd personally hold the talent test for not one but two world-changing geniuses. The crystal turns colorless because you have an origin body, a much higher realm than we are in. We're in the mortal realm, then the divine realm, or the realm of gods, followed by the chaos realm, and finally the origin realm. Typically, to move into a higher realm, you go through body cultivation steps all over again with materials from the next realm. But for those with an origin body, they unlock all their body's power from the start. Your crystal is the clearest I've ever heard of, even from the origin realm! You also have a time affinity, one of the strongest along with space. Both allow you to use those powers long before you're supposed to."
"Ha, I told you I am amazing!" Aldrian beams with pride.
"Yeah, yeah," Ainsley says. "Now just stand there and let your senior show you what real talent looks like!" Despite his bravado, Ainsley is nervous. He stands in front of the crystal, preparing to drip his blood when his mom puts her hand on his head and begins to chant.
"Yut vei rei sa col gul ma ra fu to ki jo pi mu ni op de ru te yi KASAYREDDE," she finishes with a shout.
"Hey, what was that? Are you cheating for him?" Aldrian yells, even Violette looks confused.
"Yeah, mom, what was that? I suddenly feel a lot stronger," Ainsley questions.
"Hmph, if I could upgrade someone's talent through a simple chant, do you think I would care about you two being so talented? I'm not cheating. I'm just unsealing his cultivation and his body's innate power. If we knew you also had an innate body, the highest grade, we would've sealed yours too. Well, beggars can't be choosers. Go ahead and drop your blood, Ainsley."
"Yes ma'am." Ainsley drops his blood onto the crystal. It changes colors: one half turns clear, not as clear as Aldrian's, while the other half turns black, emitting light of every color, including silver and gold.
"Now you see why I said Aldrian's talent had to be between brown and red. A black grade talent goes half and half like this. You have a chaos body and the highest-level talent. You have an affinity over every element, including light, dark, space, and time. You won't be quite as strong in space as a true space affinity cultivator, but you will be second to none in versatility. You should be on par with purple talent space affinity cultivators. The only ones who could beat you would be a black or red talent, which is basically nonexistent—except in your group, of course. I'm done with the lecture," she finishes, throwing a ring and a green ball to each of them.
"Alright, the ring is a spatial ring, a storage device. Inside are all the materials you need for the next ten years. The hall of cultivation manuals is inside this tree. The green ball is a jade slip with information on what to do when you've finished your training, as well as general information about the cultivation world and the abyss. You can't access either the ring or jade slip until you can use spiritual sense. I'll leave enough spirit stones inside for you to cultivate safely. Good luck. I'm sorry, I thought I'd have more time, but the higher realms have noticed my presence. Your father and I are being pulled back since we can't stay in the mortal realm for long. Don't worry, Ainsley, your jade slip has extra information about us and what to expect. Follow the training manuals and workout regimen to the letter. Don't stay for more than two more years—that's the limit to how long this barrier can hold and keep you safe. Goodbye, my son.
Both your dad and I love you very much. Hopefully, you can reach us, and we can all live a happy life again."
As she says this, she turns into a flash of light and shoots into the sky. The sky itself seems to shatter. Amelia thinks to herself, "Maybe just maybe he will be able to use whatever that thing from dad all those years ago?" She quickly pulls off a ring and drops it, hoping they'll all be together again someday. As Ainsley, Aldrian, and Violette stand there watching, they put the items given to them away as another ring falls to the ground directly in front of Ainsley's feet. Tears streaming down his face at the unwelcome departure of his mom, he reaches down, picks up the ring, and whispers, "Mom, goodbye, and thank you. I'll always love you."