Upon hearing his name called, a boy with blue hair—sitting in the second row on the platform and looking to be around six years old—stood.
"Please put your hand on the sword."
When he came down to the platform, the master of the ceremony pointed at the stone sword. Burren nodded his head and placed his hand on it.
A green light blossomed from the Burren's fingertips and enveloped the entire sword, and a thick air bloomed from the hilt.
"Ooh!"
"It's Wind! It's Wind!"
"Seeing as the entire sword lit up, the quality of his mana is also top class!"
"It is truly a talent befitting the child of Lord Karoon!"
"Congratulations!"
The collaterals standing below the platform sent applause and cheers towards the middle-aged man that had been sitting next to Burren.
"It is an attribute well-suited to a swordsman. Concentrate on feeling the wind from now on."
"Yes, I will!"
Glenn nodded, and Burren beamed as brightly as a sunflower facing the sun, before returning to his seat.
"Next, from the vassal family of Sullion, Runaan Sullion."
"Yes."
A silver-haired girl, who was sitting at the right end of the platform, stood up quietly.
Like the nobility serving the King, the vassal families serving Zieghart were great families in the North.
Sullion appeared to be on the platform with the direct lineage, as they were the representatives of the vassal families.
The girl called Runaan approached the stone sword with calm eyes and placed her hand on it.
Cling!
The moment her hand touched the sword, a silvery light that looked as if the moon had melted burst out of the blunt sword tip.
The light that burst out did not stop at filling up the sword completely, instead traveling up the sword hilt and creating a silver frost around the entire sword.
"Frost? And around the whole sword, at that!"
"Is it the same level of aptitude as Lord Burren…"
"Sullion is definitely something."
"Yet another genius from the Sullion family."
However, the sounds of applause and cheers were not as loud as when it was with Burren. It seemed there was a competitive relationship between the vassal families and the collateral line.
"You have a good attribute. If it can be sharpened like the edge of a knife, it will be able to pierce through anything."
Glenn Zieghart nodded his head at Runaan as well.
"Thank you."
Runaan bowed her head without a significant change in her expression, and jumped down with the grace of a cat, before returning to her seat.
There were two more children from the direct line, collaterals and vassals all put their hands atop the stone sword, but there was no one who had aptitude comparable to Burren or Runaan.
'Now I know.'
Raon flicked his fingers. As he witnessed the others' Judgment Ceremony, he could determine what was good and what was bad.
'For mana purity, it is how far the light from the blade of the sword travels. As for the mana attribute, it shows from the tip of the hilt.'
In the case where the quality of mana was outstanding, the entire sword shone like it did for Runaan or Burren, and the special attributes of mana could be determined through the hilt of the sword.
"Lastly, Raon Zieghart. Please come forward."
"Let's go, Raon."
"Okay."
When he nodded his head, Sylvia smiled sweetly and held him up.
"You saw the others do it, right? You just do the same."
Sylvia brought him down in front of the stone sword and held out her own hand as if giving a demonstration.
"Okay."
He answered shortly and looked at the stone sword.
'It probably won't be good.'
Though the Ring of Fire was Two-Star, the ice in his mana circuit remained at a shocking level.
Considering his current condition, he would not be able to spread as brilliant a light as the other children.
"Phew."
He slowly breathed out and stretched his hand towards the stone sword.
The moment his hand touched the stone sword, a wave broke out in his heart as if a pebble had dropped into a pond. A small whistle extended from his chest and rang through his entire body.
'What's this?'
Just as he was about to remove his hand because of the strange sensation, something flashed in front of his eyes.
He saw a blonde man clad in silver armor.
There was an uncountable number of monsters crashing towards him, like a wave.
'What is this…?'
Even though it was obviously an illusion, the sensation felt so real that he broke out in a cold sweat.
He was unable to breathe properly, hand trembling, when the man picked up the sword.
A gold flame burned over the dazzlingly beautiful sword edge.
He drew down the sword engulfed by flames like a thunderbolt.
At that moment…
A golden flame shot out from the earth and covered the entire world.
He averted his eyes from the golden flames filling his entire field of vision and shut his eyes. When he opened them again, the world had changed again and there was a message in front of him
[You are cultivating the Ring of Fire (Two-Stars).]
[You have not acquired ???.]
[Not enough achievement.]
When he tilted his head at the indecipherable message, a light burst from the stone sword.
The light that had started traveling up violently, lost its strength and stopped at the middle of the sword.
There was no special ability or high purity like the others. He was of the aptitude that fell short of even the collateral line, let alone the direct lineage.
"Done already?"
"It doesn't even reach the middle?"
"Hahaha! Isn't it the first time we're seeing something so little?"
"The quality of mana is bad, and it is white, so there's no ability either."
"There's nothing other than his looks."
"Seems like the God of War doesn't look over the child of an outlaw, as expected."
Those of the direct line that witnessed the Judgment Ceremony scrunched up their faces, while those of the collateral line openly sneered.
"..."
Glenn, who had provided short advice to the direct and collateral lineage, did not open his mouth either.
"Phew…"
Raon let out a soft sigh.
He was used to being disregarded. It had already been a long time since he threw away his emotions. He had been raised as not a human, but a dog, and was indoctrinated further. He could accept criticisms or insults any time.
He was going to take what he could and leave anyway. He did not want to care about what would happen.
Though Sylvia and the maids treated him as real family, that sentiment did not change.
But at that very moment, he was in a strangely subdued mood.
Seeing them ridiculing not just him, but also Sylvia and Helen as well, his heart throbbed as if electrocuted.
'Alright.'
Raon clenched his teeth. Sylvia and the maids were the first people to ever treat him as a human being.
He pledged to show the direct and collateral lines that sneered at him that bestowed talent was insignificant.
"I participate in the Judgment Ceremony all the time, but this is my first time seeing that kind of level."
"Is he really a Zieghart?"
"So, the talent that Sylvia had has gone to waste. There's nothing in him other than the fact that he is blonde with red eyes, like the head of house."
He remembered each and every one of their faces, those that babbled on unthinkingly.
"Stop."
The entire audience chamber froze at that single word from Glenn.
"This is the end of the Judgment Ceremony. Everyone is to leave."
"My lord?"
"Do I have to repeat myself?"
"All of you are dismissed."
When Karoon Zieghart—Glenn's second son—stood up, the others furtively glanced around before leaving the audience chamber. All while quietly mumbling a curse at Raon and Sylvia, of course.
Less than five minutes later, the only people remaining in the audience chamber were Glenn Zieghart, who was the owner of the room, and his Chief Butler, Roenn.
"It cannot be helped."
Glenn calmly nodded as he stared at the Sword of Judgment set in the middle of the room.
"Lord Zieghart…."
Just as Roenn was about to approach him…
Crackle!
A light burst from the bottom of the Sword of Judgment, traveling beyond the sword edge to the end of the hilt.
The light was of a golden color, as saturated as the sun, and a blazing fire was burning at the end of the sword hilt.
"Golden flames?"
A storm raged in Glenn's eyes for the first time.