"Hello, are you Misty?" She looked up to see a man coming down the corridor. Standing, she watched him approach. The man was wearing a deep red kaunak. Long silver hair drifted behind him, and as he got closer, Misty could sense a tightly coiled energy rolling off of him. His sharp features looked almost otherworldly. She felt breathless as if she were meeting a world-renowned idol for the first time.
This man would have easily gotten signed by an agent back in her previous world for walking down the street. Jay stood up and put his hand on her shoulder. She felt grounded by his support.
"That's me." She said. She felt a little embarrassed at being caught in a fan girl kind of moment by her mate.
"Can you follow me? We have a secondary test for you to take." He gestured to the priestess. "She will take your family to the temple annex to wait." Jay tensed. Misty felt his hand tighten on her shoulder.
"Can I have someone come with me?"
"I am afraid not. This is for the safety of you and your family." He gestured down the corridor again. "The test will occur in the external temple courtyard. It is designed to allow specific magic types to be released individually. But if a person is powerful, bystanders can be at risk."
Misty turned to look at Jay. He lowered his hand, and she nodded to him. His mothers followed the priestess down the hall, and after checking Misty one more time, he followed as well. For a moment, she watched his retreating figure until he looked back at her and smiled. Once he rounded the corner, she followed the priest in a different direction and, before long, entered a wide courtyard.
The external courtyard opened up into the forest. Next to the temple a stone patio had been laid with 6 pedestals situated in a semi-circle facing out into the forest. Six orbs similar to the one in the assessment room lay cradled at the top of each pillar, except each had a different color. The ground in front of the orbs had trees twisted and bent at odd angles. It appeared as if they had been scorched, drenched, shifted, and blown away until the clearing looked unnatural. But there was a decent amount of undergrowth that had come back since the last test.
"How does the test work?"
"Each orb represents a type of power. Red for fire, blue for water, green for air, orange for earth, violet for darkness, yellow for light. You must go up to each of the orbs and touch it. The orb will react if you have an aptitude for that type of magic."
"From the level of damage here, it looks like the reaction can be hard to contain."
"That is correct." Misty looked at the priest. He seemed cold and contained. She couldn't help but to be curious. Was he like that because he worked at the temple? He looked like a tyrant CEO in priestly attire. One of the stories she had read came to mind and she began to imagine what it would be like if this man...
Misty realized where her thoughts were starting to go. This was not the time or place to be letting her mind wander in such a direction. The priest was still looking at her and she blushed at her racy thoughts. Realizing she had been staring, she pulled her eyes away from the priest, but not before she thought she saw a brief smile form on his lips. Shaking her head, she tried to get thoughts of him out of her head. He was just too beautiful, and it looked like he knew it.
"Where will you be?" She was really proud of herself for keeping her voice even after she had gotten caught staring at his beauty. The priest gestured over to an alcove with a shell of transparent glass surrounding it.
"I'll be in there." At her look of skepticism, the priest explained. "The glass is magically treated. It is probably the only place in this courtyard that will be safe once the test begins." Misty nodded. She walked over to the center of the stone platform while he got in place behind the safety glass. He flipped a lever inside before he looked up and nodded that she could begin.
Misty looked at the orbs. After thinking for a moment, her gaze centered on the red orb. She knew she had at least some aptitude there since she had accidentally created fire at last night's dinner. She took a step and placed her hand on the smooth sphere. The orb lit up and flames began to flare high into the sky and out into the forest. She could feel the heat from the fire and immediately ripped her hand away.
The flames went out as if a switch were flipped. She realized that there must be enchantment on this whole area to keep people safe. Even though the flames burst forth, they had all been directed away from her, the priest, and the temple. The forest looming in the distance looked untouched, though the clearing looked like the aftermath of a hot forest fire.
Next she shifted to the orange globe. She lightly touched the orb with her finger. The moment she made contact, the ground started to tremble. As if the pillar was the epicenter of an earthquake, the clearing began to roll under intense seismic energy. The ground split and rocks the size of trucks began to fly up and float in the air. She removed her finger and the boulders crashed back into the chasm before the ground closed around it leaving a deep scar.
Misty was shocked at the power she displayed with no training. There had to be some kind of magical assist to draw out the person's mana. She moved to the yellow orb. The priest had said that yellow was for light. She placed her hand on it.
At first, she didn't notice anything, but then a warmth came over her. She could feel her body aches go away and felt refreshed. The priest from the glass alcove could see a glow envelope Misty's body and the air around her held specks of glowing dust. Before he could rush out, Misty took her hand away from the orb. The priest breathed a sigh of relief. He had read cases where the tester had held on too long only to have their body drained of energy.
Misty continued to the green orb. The air in the clearing began to shift dramatically until Misty could see a whirlwind emerge. Like a miniature tornado, the trees twisted, and still smoldering branches were launched in all directions. Before they could fly too far, they hit a barrier and fell to the ground. She smiled before taking her hand away.
She let the wind die down a bit and looked at the priest. He had a carefully controlled expression on his face. There was no way of her knowing if this was normal or not. Misty could only hope that she wouldn't regret her decision to get tested.
She stepped up to the blue orb and she felt a coolness in the air. Droplets of water began to emerge from the air and gathered into a sphere in the center of the clearing. Mist began to cover the ground and the clouds in the sky grew dark before rain began to pour and add to the water sphere. Misty let go of the orb and the water flooded onto the ground. Again, the barrier held as a foot of water began to soak into the ground like it was a sponge.
Misty approached the last violet orb and placed her hand on it. Cold seeped into her and the sky grew dark as night. She felt as if all light were being extinguished. The shadows grew and sound began to fade away. Misty let go of the orb and the sunlight and sound returned.
Misty turned and returned to the center of the patio and looked at the priest again. He had flipped the lever again and was stepping out of the alcove.
"Was that alright?" The Priest shook his head and walked around to the front of the pillars. His hands brushed them one after the other. He looked pale as if he had experienced a shock. He turned his eyes to her and looked her up and down.
"No one has ever lit up all of the crystals." Misty walked around the pillars and could see 8 crystals embedded below each orb. Every single platform was lit up. She grimaced and started to think about all of the isekai where the main lead was ridiculously overpowered. Well, she did have a mission from Tamult. The test had left her tired and she knew that she would sleep really well tonight.
"You know, I never did introduce myself." Misty said offering the priest her hand. If she had that much magic, it was only a matter of time before she garnered too much attention so she thought she would start networking now.
The priest opened his mouth to reply, but before he could do anything, a wooden weapon flew from out of nowhere and hit the back of his head. As his eyes rolled to the back of his head, pain exploded in her head and the world began to grow dark. Misty and the priest fell to the ground as people came out of the forest. One of them shifted into a huge lion and Misty was placed on its back and darted back to the forest.