Ugly talons
Low whisperings filled the huge plaza.
"Shi An is also here."
"Wasn't he missing?"
"Yeah, didn't the monsters rip him apart?"
"They found him already. He seems to have fallen into a cave and lost consciousness afterwards."
"Pff, as expected of a failure."
...
The person at the center of the gossip was a young boy. He stood alone at the center of the crowd, isolated by the others who stood in a large circle around him. Despite all that, he seemed unaffected by the gossip. His pitch-black eyelashes were drooping and the vacant expression on his pale face gave the impression that he was fragile yet otherworldly.
At that moment, a commanding voice sounded from nearby, "Number 2087, Shi An, please come forward."
There were a total of 2087 students waiting. Student numbers were given according to the strength of the student's magical power. If one placed last, it meant that their magic power was nonexistent.
By right, these kinds of people were not qualified to enter the school. However, the Shi family had donated a building to the school, which allowed Shi An to get onto the school enrolment's waiting list.
This year was Shi An's third time participating in the magic detection test. If no magic power was detected again this year, no matter how much money the Shi family donated, the school was obliged to remove Shi An from the waiting list and his eligibility to enroll into the school.
After hearing his name, Shi An's eyelashes lightly trembled and lifted his gaze. He hesitated a little before walking towards the front desk.
The plaza became very quiet. Everyone's attention was now on Shi An. Most of the stares consisted of little kindness and more ridicule; the majority were waiting to see Shi An make a joke of himself.
Shi An walked into the testing room. A tired-looking teacher was in charge of the magic detection test. He raised his eyes and glanced indifferently at Shi An. Assuming Shi An was already familiar with the process, he said: "Proceed."
Shi An did not move. He looked at the strangely-shaped equipment in front of him puzzledly then turned to the teacher and honestly asked, "Proceed where?"
"..."
Why are you feigning ignorance when this is not your first time? However, thinking that this would be the last time seeing Shi An, the teacher patiently pointed to the dull silver ball on the equipment and said: "Put your hands on top of it."
"Okay," Shi An calmly replied. He walked forward, put his hands on the ball, took a deep breath and turned his gaze away as though he could not bear to see the outcome.
Seeing this, the teacher could not help but feel sympathy for Shi An despite knowing the outcome.
——As the only son of a prominent family, he must be under a lot of pressure unimaginable to others because he does not have any magic power. That must be why he is so concerned about this magic detection test that will affect his eligibility to enter the school.
At this moment, an alarm blared shrillly. "Di Di Di——" The shrill sound startled the teacher and pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked in the direction of the shrill sound.
The hemispherical equipment was currently emitting a very bright light that stung the eyes, and the needle on the meter beside it was fluctuating wildly. The shrill sound was so loud that it reverberated through the wall and even the students outside heard it. The students looked at one another and the same shocked expression was on their faces.
——What exactly happened inside?
Nobody knew.
What, what is going on? The teacher stared in astonishment and jumped up from his chair.
Shi An was also bewildered by the events and reflexively withdrew his hands. The shrill sound stopped immediately and the bright light also dimmed.
The teacher rushed toward the equipment and began checking it. There is nothing wrong with the equipment. Unless...someone tampered with the equipment! With that thought, the teacher suddenly turned to look at Shi An, who was also looking at him ignorantly.
That possibility was quickly crossed out. Regardless of how rich the Shi family is, they do not have enough power to manipulate the Mage school's magic detection test. As for Shi An, it is even more unlikely. Everyone knows he is a failure with almost zero magic power; he couldn't have tampered with the equipment in front of my nose. The teacher hid the suspicions in his heart and pulled out the backup equipment. "Try this equipment."
"Okay." Shi An put his hand on the backup equipment——"Di Di Di Di Di!"
The alarm blared loud and sharp enough to pierce the eardrums. Once again, the alarm stopped blaring when Shi An withdrew his hand.
The teacher was perplexed by the situation. How is this possible?!Logically speaking, this situation should only occur when the tester's magic power is higher than the magic detection equipment's range. Although this detection equipment's range is not high, it is more than enough for freshmen——not to mention this is that infamous Shi An!
After making Shi An try out a few more times, the teacher soon felt his ear becoming deaf.
Shi An raised his hand. "Erm..."
"What?" The teacher asked angrily.
Shi An pointed towards the equipment in front of him. "The quality of this equipment does not seem to be very good?"
"..." Shit! This is making me even angrier!
Both Shi An and the teacher stood in silence for several long moments. Belatedly, Shi An asked: "I remember I qualify if the ball lights up, so...I passed?"
The teacher, right now, looked perplexed with beads of sweat dotting his forehead, a huge contrast from his indifferent attitude earlier. The teacher mumbled under his breath for a while before finally replying: "That...Why don't you go home first; someone will notify you of the result when it comes out."
"Okay." Shi An turned to leave. Suddenly, a voice spoke from behind him: "Wait! Stop!"