Alex was a bit disappointed. He genuinely thought something dramatic had been in order. But here he was, about to have his palm read like a cheap trick at a gypsy's stall. Nevertheless, he complied.
As soon as his palm came in contact with the orb, it began to glow brightly. filling the room with it's bright refulgence. For the next twelve seconds, it continued to glow brighter and brighter with a low humming sound in the background, and finally it went dead- back to it's original dormant state.
Alex withdrew his hand and turned to face Mina.
The boss lady was shocked to the bone!! The look on her face said it all. She struggled for words, but none came out.
Really, Mina could not be blamed. She had just bore witness to a once in a lifetime anomaly. Normally, A-level was the highest level a genius could attain on the spectrum. A-level was extremely rare even among prodigies. But there existed a whole different realm above the reverred A-level.
There was the S, SS, SSS, and X respectively.
This was purely theorical as there were very few mages who had managed to reach this point. But Alex, this young cocky newbie with the devil-may-care attitude, he was an X-rank potential!! His current strength showed that he was an A-level potential. But in this business, the future potential was the real metric.
This bit of news came as a real shocker to Mina. To say that she was horrified would be putting it too mildly. Shock had arrived.
Her eyes moved from the results on the screen of her tab back to Alex. He was still standing before her, all calm and cool. As if this was not a big deal. Of course it was not. He might be currently human, but at his core, he was still very much a god. So, this was nothing to be excited about.
But Mina did not see it that way. Not at all.
Swallowing hard, she addressed him, this time, without the usual condescension;
"Your results are very---" she paused; "...They're very unique, very unique indeed. It seems like your strength is currently ranked at A-level, but your potential suggests that you might be at a level X..."
Thinking Alex was not aware, she went on to explain the levels above A-potential.
"This is highly an anomaly, even by the most extreme standards. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to keep this a secret for now..."
Alex calmly nodded. As he watched Mina head for the principal's office, he knew that this piece of news had disturbed her greatly. If she were to ever find out the truth about his true nature as a god, Alex was sure that her mind would systematically implode on the spot.
Meanwhile, Mina's head was bursting with this new development, and she just had to report it.
The office she entered was a well laid out one. But it was not nearly as well laid out as the beautiful woman seated inside it.
Seated in the chair behind a clean white table was an incredibly young woman. Her youthful face resonated with cuteness. But her most prominent features were her ears. They were pointy, because she was an elf. A very intelligent, beautiful and efficient elf.
Mina entered the office, announcing almost immediately;
"There's been a new development."
The lady lifted up her eyes warily; "What is it?"
"I think it's best you see it for yourself!"
The lady leaned forward and beckoned on Mina to approach. Clutching a ten inch tablet, Mina hurried over to the table and placed it within the elf lady's full view. It only took her a couple of seconds to catch the full gist;
"This can't be right!" She muttered in disbelief. Without taking her eyes away from the screen, she asked Mina; "When was this taken?"
"Less than three hundred seconds ago. I came right away to inform you."
Despite the glaring age difference between both of them, the fact was Mina was a lot younger than the other lady even though it looked to be the complete opposite. The lady was elvin, so, she aged really slowly. But that did not keep her from being taken seriously at all. Her word was law, and her subordinates respected it.
She began to dish out orders immediately;
"Mina, let this new development remain between us only. Do not discuss this with anyone else, understood?"
"Got it."
"Good. In the mean time, I believe it's best we find a suitable partner for this Alex character. He needs someone to match his skill and talent, someone that will definitely keep him on his toes, and push him to his full potential..."
Mina did not need to make any suggestions. The description was clear enough, and both of them knew exactly the perfect person for the job. Therefore, it came as no surprise to Mina when she said;
"Get Zooey. Have her prepped immediately and ready to move right away."
Mina inclined her head in a slight bow and made her way out to get the job done.
Alex on the other hand was fully aware of the the ripple his results would cause, and was therefore anticipating some kind of kickback. He was particularly curious to see how the top management was going to handle it. So, when he saw the lithe energetic familiar figure of Mina headed towards him, he knew a decision had been made. He straightened himself up, and waited for the update.
"I must say," she began on a personal note; "Your results were not quite what we were expecting. I mean, we pretty much figured out the fact that you were skillful, your performance at Angelia's magic show was a dead giveaway."
There was a pregnant pause for a moment.
"But, never would I have thought that you were an X-level potential!"
Alex said nothing. His calmness suggested that he was definitely not ignorant of this information. So, she wasted no time with trying to explain to him the levels above A-potential, and instead moved past that drudgery.
"Upon consultation with my principal, I have received orders to keep this particular piece of information UNDER WRAP. We don't want your identity to be out in the open. At least, not just yet."
Mina always looked serious. There was never a time when she could be said to be joking. But this time, the sense of urgency in her tone was undeniable. As if to botress the seriousness of the situation, she closed the distance between them by taking a step closer to him, and reiterated her warning again;
"We're dead serious about this Alex, no one is to know about this as long as you remain here. I know how much you love to flamboyance, but you're just going to have to keep it to a minimum. None of that showboating anymore. Trust me, it's best that way."
Much to her surprise, Alex did not fight her on this. He agreed wholeheartedly with the whole plan;
"Sure, okay. That sounds reasonable enough."
Mina looked at him for a moment, as if she wanted to doubt whether he was genuine or not. But he ended up gainsaying her with his next question;
"So, what's the way forward Mina? Surely I'm not just going to be holed up in some kind of secret location. What's the move here?"
Forward thinking- she liked that.
"I'm glad you asked. First off, you will publicly maintain the fact that you're an A-rank potential. This data is currently being updated in the system even as we speak. Got it?"
He nodded in affirmation.
"Good. The second thing is in regards to your scheme of work here. Obviously, you're not a newbie. The very fact that you were able to figure out the matrix at the entrance here is a testament to that. So, we can't ask you to waste time with learning the basics of magic from scratch."
"That we can agree on."
"I did not ask if you agreed mister Alex. It has been decided that, given your current strength, it's best you skip the basics and go right to refining your skill. That way, you don't get to be just a brute mage. But don't get too excited, you first need to understand the rules and regulations.