Two days before the examination
*Drip drop*
the sound of the rain contacting the wet ground could be heard. The sound was accompanied by the refreshing smell that accompanied rain. The trees swayed gently, almost as if they were happy. A carriage that seemed to have travelled slowly on the wet gravel had reached the city gates. Next to the carriage 2 black robed individuals could be seen, one displaying curvaceousness in all the right spots and could easily be identified as a woman. The second figure also displayed curvaceousness, but a different form of curvaceousness altogether- the curvaceousness brought by being slightly overweight. After an entire month of travel Magnus and Martha had finally reached the city gates. In this world it was common to see individuals accompany carriages, these individuals were often one of two types. The first being individuals who were of great strength and whose duty was to guard the carriage. The second type were individuals who could not afford the full price of transporting goods using carriage, the cost of using a carriage being split into two services- namely for the goods and the owners of the goods. In many instances people would only be able to afford to pay for the goods and as a result they had to walk alongside the carriage. This practice was extremely beneficial to carriage owners as in most instances the owners would simply find individuals who had no goods to join in place of the individuals who could not afford the full cost- this would result in there being more individuals and thus greater protection from criminals.
Very soon the carriage stopped at the city gate, which had two burly men who were no less than 2 metres tall. These men wore shinning armour which was like those worn on earth by knights. The armour even covered their faces making it impossible to determine their identities. Keeping their identities secret not only protected them physically, as they would not be targeted by criminals. It also protected the city; you simply cannot contact a person whom u knew nothing about- and as a result bribery to enter illegal goods into the city was not possible.
Magnus stared at the brown city gate which seemed to be made of metal and towered 10 metres tall. On the magic gate there was many symbols that shined brightly in gold.
*These symbols, where have I seen them before? * Magnus stroked his chin trying to remember where he had seen them before, however his thought was soon interrupted.
"You read about these symbols in the Grimoire Luke, they called runes- remember?" Martha said with a playful smile to Magnus, mocking him for not remembering such basic information.
*How did she know what I was thinking? I guess the saying is true- Mothers do have a sixth sense when it comes to their children*
"Yeah, I knew that." Magnus replied in a cheeky manner.
While this entire exchange between a mother and her son was underway, the carriage owner was speaking to the guards in front of the gate, and very soon the gate opened, and they were let in.
Once the two were in, they parted ways with the carriage owner after he handed to them their goods.
Magnus looked around in awe, the city was beautiful. The city had a countless number of buildings that were made of grey stone, that appeared darker due to the rain. The houses were like those on earth- after all this was the world for individuals who had once lived on earth and passed on. Even though it was raining, a few people would be seen walking from time to time. In the sky majestic creatures that looked like dragons would also be seen occasionally.
Martha turned to Magnus.
"Its so beautiful." Magnus could see Martha's beautiful eyes brimming with happiness, to her comment he replied with a bright smile.
*lub dub lub dub*
Seeing his mother's eyes Magnus felt his heartbeat increase dramatically. Even though he had a 40 year olds mind, it made no difference as all the children in this world were older than they seemed. The only exception being the holy region, as foetuses and toddlers who died on earth would be reborn in the holy region. Its human nature to be accustomed to one's circumstances after a while, because of being treated as a child- he began to behave more and more like a child. This was a common phenomenon in this world.
*I love you mum; I wish that my demonic affinity would be so high that I would finally be able to give you a better life. A life where we would be able to travel wherever we desire, eat what we want and experience all the fun things this world had to offer. *
Magnus knew that every world had its set of rules, if he was found to be genius, he would be able to enjoy this world to the fullest. A genius would be seen as a being with a potential of obtaining immense power. People always respect power. It does not matter which world you in, for as long as humans exist- power will dictate everything. Even on earth, money and the support of the majority determined one's power. For as long as one was either very wealthy or was a politician loved by his people- he would be able to enjoy earth to the fullest, the laws that applied to the lesser powerful would not apply to him in the same way. For as long as there's humans, there will be the concept power and if there is a concept of power- there will be the victor and the vanquished. This applies in any world; one might even say it is human nature, it's just life- survival of the fittest.
"We should probably go find the accommodation" Martha said.
Due to Magnus coming to the city for the sake of the examination, both him and his mom were given free accommodation at one of the "government" subsidised lodges. This so-called government consisted of a few demonic families that ruled over the city collectively. These families were answerable to the demonic rules of larger cities, and they all were answerable to the elusive King of Demons, however very little is known of him except his existence. Free accommodation was provided to encourage children from poor backgrounds to take the examination- this was not out of goodwill but rather a mechanism of increasing the probabilities of finding a genius. It is also worth mentioning that even though this city was enormous and had a circumference of 270Km, it was still merely considered to be a small city within the demonic region. Furthermore, there were thousands of such cities.
Very soon the mother- son duo reached a stone house that was not as impressive as the houses they passed on their- however it was still a million times better than the one they had left. As a result, both were very happy. They enjoyed dinner, which consisted of mutton soup, and both went to sleep.
......….
1 day before the examination
The weather conditions had not changed.
The duo decided to walk around the city stalls, however due to their poverty they could merely watch the items on display with the hopes of one day affording them. Their poverty did not matter as they enjoyed each other's company and very soon the day reached its end.
......…
Examination day.
The rain had decreased to drizzling. Many 12-year-olds could be seen walking on the road, each walking to the same destination. The destination was a large Chinese temple-like building. The building was black in colour and was the only building that stood out from the maze of grey buildings. Amongst the 12-year-olds walked a chubby kid, around 160cm tall, with black hair and black coloured pupils- truth be told he looked rather goofy. He walked with a grin on his face.
*The day is finally here, for as long as my affinity is good, I would be able to live a decent life. May lady luck bless me with her presence today. *
A group of girls caught a glimpse of the grin on his face and started whispering amongst themselves.
"ewww Why does he have such a disturbing look?" one of the girls asked in disgust.
"The pig must be a pervert." Another replied with disdain.
Upon noticing the attention, he was receiving from the girls, Magnus sucked in as much air as possible and tensed his chest muscles- Thereafter he gave a wink at them.
*Damn it seems my harem is developing…. my charisma is scary. * Magnus thought as his face began to become red.
Soon the 12-year-olds reached the building and waited patiently. The building was simply an empty room, full of carpets and completely empty. The room was humongous and could easily fit all the children. After a long wait, suddenly the air in the room became scarce, an ominous sensation permeated the room- the sensation of dying overwhelmed all the children. They all knew this sensation as they all had felt it before coming to this world, time seem to have slowed down a thousand-fold, the only sound that could be heard was one's own heartbeat. Suddenly a group of individuals entered through the door. This group consisted of two men and two women who all wore plain white robes.
After a moment of silence, the pressure suddenly decreased, and things went back to normal. A bald man who was no less than 80 years old stepped forward, he was around 140 cm and had a very ripped physique. He also had a long white beard that reached his chest. The old man began speaking.
"Since you all here, we shall begin this year's examination. As you all probably guessed we are the teachers at this institute, the prestigious Abyssal Demons school. We will call each of your names, step forward once your name is called and approach the teacher that called your name. The teacher would then pour some of their spiritual force into your body to activate your dormant spiritual force. Once your spiritual force is awakened the symbol of Luke will appear above your head. After all of you had been examined you would be categorised accordingly. Does anyone have questions?"
One of the students raised his hand
"Master, respected Lord- how are we categorised?" fear could be seen in the kid as his hands could not stop shaking from fear.
"Very simple, it depends on the number of symbols appear above your head. You will all be ranked from A to F. Rank E and Rank F are normal humans, the only difference being that Rank E has a slim potential of obtaining abilities later in life- whereas rank F did not.
If 1 symbol appear you are rank F.
If 2 symbols appear you are rank E.
If 3 symbols appear you are rank D.
If 4 symbols appear you are rank C.
If 5 symbols appear you are rank B.
If 6 symbols appear you are rank A.
From Rank D onwards, individuals would be able to use abilities. Furthermore, individuals with a rank from D to A would be trained by the instructors in this room as well as our peers. Individuals with Rank F and E would undergo special training to serve ability users. Is that all the questions?" As the man asked, he let out a spiritual force to indicate his annoyance. This made the kid who asked the first question and was about to ask another to put his hand down as it was about to go up.
"Okay than let's begin." The man said.
One by one individuals stepped forward to their allocated teacher, however one test was conducted at a time. So, while being tested an individual would be observed by the others.
"Magnus freeman!" very soon Magnus heard his name being called by a sweet delicate voice. As we walked to the voice, countless eyes were gazing at him, silence was the order of the room. All the students knew that this test would determine their destinies, so no one spoke when other people were tested- this was also coupled with the fear of angering the teachers present.
Magnus walked past the crowd and was greeted by the view of a woman who looked in her 20s. Her eyes were blue and had the depth of the sea. Her skin was pale, her hair was brown and had freckles. She was also around 160 cm and seemed to have been revealing a bit of skin in all the right places. If one had to describe her beauty in one word one, it would be "goddess". Magnus was not immune to the charms of women, in fact- he was more susceptible due to him reaching a stage where his body was undergoing tremendous changes.
"I will now put my hand on your navel, tell me when you ready" the woman stated in a sweet and delicate tone.
In reply Magnus gave a nod and therefore the process had begun. She put her hand on his navel and began pouring her spiritual force into him.
*What is this feeling? It's so warm. * Redness developed on Magnus's face.
Suddenly Magnus's face distorted, he felt he was in trouble.
*fuck no…..no…..no…not now please* Magnus felt blood rushing to his lower body at a rapid speed.
*please don't do this, stay down please* Magnus slightly leaned his chest forward and his bum backward, however this only gathered greater attention. The blood soon reached its destination and in front of everyone in the room a small bump appeared in his robe that continued to get larger.
At maximum length the bump was the size of a carrot. Soon everyone in the room noticed however nobody gave a reaction.
Soon the female teacher caught a glimpse and her face turned red in anger.
"You insolent dogshit trash, I will…."
Her words were interrupted by 3 signs of the eye of Luke appearing above Magnus's head. The sign was one of an eye within a circle. Once the eye appeared she did not dare speak, this indicated the amount of respect the eye had. Shortly after the eyes disappeared.
"Magnus Freeman, Rank D."
Fearing for his life the blood in his carrot quickly went back to normal as he quickly left the area.
Very soon the test was over, and all the students were addressed by the old man from earlier.
"We will contact you with further information relating to your classes at the end of the week. The statistics of the examination for this year would be released at the end of the month after we have examined all the batches of students. Now go home."
On the way home disappointment filled Magnus's heart, rank D meant that at most he would only be slightly superior to humans. In this world he was trash amongst the ability users. His sadness was increased by the fact that he heard people calling him "little carrot." The good news was that by being admitted in the Abyssal Demons school, the government would award his mom with accommodation in the city, furthermore free food would also be given. As for him, he had to live in the school's student residence until he finished training. Students were allowed to train at their own pace; however, each rank had a maximum number of years they could train and benefit their family members.
He soon reached his destination and as soon as he saw his mom tears began to fall from his face.
"I am sorry mum; I am a Rank D." he tears could not be stopped. After all she did for him was this the thanks, she got. This thought made Magnus extremely disheartened.
"Its okay, my handsome Maggy. This is only the start, we do not choose the hand that we dealt with by fate, we can only do our best with what is given. Do not cry over things beyond your control, focus on things that are within your reach." His mother's eyes were filled with comfort and warmth.
Soon Magnus calmed down and told his mom of all the incidents that occurred that day, for obvious reasons he did not mention the little carrot incident.
At midnight Martha entered Magnus's room and was welcomed by the view of a cute chubby little boy hurled up sucking his thumb. With a gentle touch on his forehead Martha had woken him up.
"I have something important to tell you." Her eyes were filled with determination as the window in Magnus's room ferociously opened letting in a cold breeze from outside.