Every person in this world have their own individual potential. It varies from person to person in whatever race, continent, or environment they are born to. Although countless studies have been conducted long since civilization existed, they never found the true cause for this so called potential.
The potential of a person can easily be identified by the quantity and quality of the gifts he possesses. This potential is heavily influenced by the race of an individual; since the gifts that he will receive will be based on the race that he was born to. For example, an individual with a Technorat as his race can only receive gifts related to science and engineering.
How about the individuals born through an interracial relationship? They either die at birth or their bodies just choose between the father or mother's allele. Albeit for a price of course. Studies have shown that individuals of mixed blood has a ninety percent rate of a potential decline. Meaning, the less saturated the blood is, the lower the potential of a person.
The racial potential assessment is very literal. It's very purpose is to assess the potential of a person in his racial aspect. As this continent, Noesis, and all other continents out there focus more on the output and the results, engineering has completely overshadowed science in a Technorat's racial potential aspect.
"Knowledge will only ever be thoughts lest they be applied," Neil muttered under his breath.
Neil opened the box and swiftly took out the contents within it. They were tools and parts of the like. To his surprise, only traditional tools were available for use. Ever since a shelter dive a couple of decades ago revealed what they call power tools and upgraded tools which have a touch of engineering to the mix, people have used those tools to hasten their work and lessen their loads.
Neil immediately got to work and used the tools to start assessing and assembling the gizmo.
"Hoh? A traditional tool user? Bummer, he wasn't even fazed with the surprise we had for them," the bespectacled representative thought to himself as he stole a glance Neil and the others. He never thought anything great about Neil though. Neil was simply too mediocre of a man with a carefree reaction to traditional tools.
Neil finished assembling when the clock counted down to 20 minutes. His gizmo revealed itself as a 32 inch long gun. He then proceeded to inspect and fix. Having spent a solid two minutes to figure things out, he finally found the problem and started working on it.
Neil's cluster weren't faring that well either. All off them were either at the same stage as Neil or worse. There were only about five people that were faring better and was on the last stages of fixing their gizmos.
The clock counted down to 10 minutes and Neil finally fixed what he needed to fix. He then proceeded with the tweaking that will be deciding his fate today. Simultaneously, an aspirant raised his hand indicating he was finished with the assessment. Neil ignored all the people around him. His eyes cold and focused not even glancing one bit to whoever finished early.
One by one, aspirants walked out of the tent leaving Neil and a couple others inside with a minute left. Neil sweat buckets as he was hell-bent on finishing whatever he decided to start. He finished making some last adjustments to the muzzle as the timer went clocked down to zero.
"Hands up! Put your gizmo and tools on the table," a man wearing Lima's military uniform announced.
"Aspirants, back to your tables. We are now finished with the theory and practical exams. We will now proceed back to where we gathered to have Vessel asses our physical statistics and arcane capacity," the bespectacled man announced and immediately left the tent.
When Neil and the others went back to the square the air was now significantly heavier. Even the silk and linen wearing aspirants were looking down with sunken faces and clenched fists. They probably understood the gravity of their predicament; that no money can ever secure them a spot in Lima due to the rule change.
"As per announced earlier, we will now proceed to your physical and arcane evaluation."
A thick 10 foot arch made of metal was brought onto the stage. It looked pretty advanced with multiple wires attached to each of its ends. A woman with dark green hair wearing a lab coat was beside the gate holding a square metallic gizmo in her hands.
"Good day, everyone. I will be the one operating the Vessel here in Drevon. To give you guys a little background about this device, I will give a short introduction."
"Vessel was first introduced into this world when a shelter dive unearthed the blueprints and data of the gizmo. As we all know, the ancient civilization possessed an unfathomable understanding of science and its application through engineering. But, they never had control of Quantum arcanum."
"We were able to assemble, fix, and tweak the gizmo and discovered how beneficial it would be for humanity to have access of being made aware of our own capabilities. But, due to the material cost, only 6 units are currently operating in the world of Afterveil. One for each of the 5 continents, and one for the academy of Lima."
"We have been to various cities for the past couple of months with the Vessel to screen aspirants. As this will be our last day here in Drevon, we wish all the aspirants the best of luck!"
"Hmm? So the continents are basically using the academy to publicize this gizmo, huh? In return, Lima can utilize the Vessels for their screenings. All parties can receive their own gains. As expected of the Technorat's president," Neil mumbled to himself.
The woman wearing a lab coat stopped speaking in front as the first cluster was lead to the Vessel. The Vessel was booted up and a transparent green sheet appeared like doors under the arch.
"As long as you pass through the structure, you can be assessed. Attention, aspirants! We will be proceeding by cluster."
The bespectacled said as he lead Neil's group closer to the stage. The assessment was going rather swiftly. Neil quickly noticed that the number of aspirants multiplied than what originally was. Their faces were the same as the aspirants who were originally with Neil; a look of apprehension and confusion mixed with excitement.
"Looks like they only held racial potential screenings in days prior today. Looks like the people of Lux really lucked out in finding this gizmo," Neil thought to himself.
Neil's turn was swiftly approaching when he noticed the looks of those who were assessed. Unlike the combat assessment wherein you can see what the immediate results, the Vessel is quite discreet. Noticing this, Neil quickly concluded that the results will only be announced after everything was over or they will tell you discreetly about it.
"Name?" the woman in the lab coat asked.
"Neil Stanfill"
Neil walked calmly and closed his eyes as he passed through the green sheet. A smirk crept on his face with his eyes cold and full of mockery. Thankfully, nobody noticed his abrupt change.
Well, except for one. A handsome man with ash grey hair and dark grey eyes were staring at him. He was one of the ones who finished ahead of Neil and seemed to have been screened in the previous days. A look of astonishment was plastered on his eyes, but oddly enough his face was devoid of emotion.
More and more aspirants were assessed by the Vessel and by 4 in the afternoon, it finally ended. Neil was standing in attention with his cluster. He saw the bespectacled man from a distance walking with a few papers in his hands.
One by one, their names were called out and were given back the applications they've submitted; with the assessment of course. The ones who received their applications didn't go back to the cluster which means that they have been dismissed.
Neil's name finally got called and he excitedly received his results. He went to a a nearby tree and read the contents within.
Neil Stanfill
Racial Potential Grade - B
Vessel Assessment:
Physical - B+
Arcanum - C
Overall Grade - B
"You have passed the screening. Please be at the academy on the 15th of March for your entrance examination. Your stamped application will serve as your identification. We wish you the best of luck, aspirant!"
"HAHAHA! I knew I could make it. Oh wait, I still have an entrance exam, Oh well, you know what they say, you gotta celebrate the small things," Neil laughed obnoxiously followed by his loud mutterings.
The sun was already setting when Neil was walking down the streets back to the slums. He was taking the winding roads and maze like paths as if it was child's play. He could've done this the easy way but he had his reason. It was to shake off whoever was tailing him.
"Sheeesh, who are you? Just come out will you? Are you also attracted to my pretty sword?"
A silhouette of a man appeared behind Neil as his shadow grew bigger enveloping the alley in darkness with each step he took. A handsome man revealed himself equipped with two daggers attached to each side of his waist. A man with ash grey hair and dark grey eyes with a face devoid of emotion.
"Hello there. My name is Rainier Grimville."