Sir Hector Hospital, Directors' Chamber.
A woman in doctor's garb was hunched over a large horizontal screen embedded in her desk. A series of slides showing complex, colorful patterns flickering inside a spherical structure was floating around on the screen. Data charts containing dozens of numeric values blinked in one corner of the screen, attracting the doctor's gaze from time to time.
With each recourse to the charts, her gaze became increasingly grim.
Alongside the board of directors, a bishop from the Church of Sunbreaker was also present inside the chamber. The changes in her complexion escaped no one's eyes.
"Professor Reno, is there anything problematic in the lab reports? Why did your department put out a clearance certificate if there is a problem with the boy?" One of the directors finally couldn't hold it in and broke the silence.
The woman looked up from her desk and the gaze she directed at the man made him flinch.
"No mistakes were made by the interns in my department, technically speaking," she said slowly.
"When you put it that way, it just makes the mistake appear even worse," said the Bishop from his seat, ignoring Professor Reno's sharp stare.
"When someone explains a failed operation as technically sound, more often than not, it refers to the existence of fundamental flaws. So what's the deal here?"
Professor Reno chewed on her tongue for a moment before beginning her explanation, as if it required some forethought.
"Only one test contains a set of data that we can call anomalous. The issue with it is that instead of signaling at hidden dangers inside the boy's mind, the test result is far below the danger zone. Too far below, in fact."
With a flick of her finger, the projector overhead recreated one of the slides on the wall behind her, making it visible to everyone in the chamber.
"The sphere here is a virtual representation of his brain activity. Look at the movement of the patterns inside his brain while receiving stimuli. Keep an eye on the red-colored zones, specifically."
The colors inside the spherical structure in the picture churned slowly for a moment for a couple of seconds before the color red amidst the patterns suddenly disappeared. Every few seconds, a red dot would burst out in various spots, only lasting less than a second.
"Now, watch the same stimuli go into a commoner's brain."
A second sphere slid into view on the wall. This time, the red color didn't disappear. Instead, it began to slowly overtake the other colors until red became the major color inside the sphere.
"What are the stimuli about? What does the color red indicate in this imagery?" the Bishop said, curious.
"The stimuli itself is targeted towards eliciting adverse mental responses, ranging from stress and anxiety to fear, destructive emotions, and suicidal tendencies. The red zones cover the major responses. Those of you who have some knowledge in this aspect can perhaps truly grasp the gravity of the problem. For those who have yet to realize the issue...here is a third image."
The third sphere appeared between the prior two on the projection.
"This is the average response to such stimuli inside the brains of veterans who have encountered the Limitbreaker-Grade mutant, Six-eyed Goats. For those of you who haven't heard of this mutant beast, it has gained the ability of hypnosis through its mutation chain. The most common result of being attacked by this creature is hysteria, panic, uncontrollable self-harm, a temporary period of cognitive instability, and in the best case scenario, Major Depressive Disorder that can last for over a month."
While Professor Reno spoke, every eye in the Chamber was glued to the projection on the wall. The patterns inside the third image were somewhat more vague compared to the previous two images. The number, colorfulness, and complexity of the patterns were higher as well.
As soon as the stimuli entered the brain, the churning patterns inside it reacted violently. But this violent movement settled down a moment later, followed by a unique scene.
The red zones began to separate from the other colors. In various spots of the brain, large red dots grew in volume, but couldn't spread uncontrollably. In fact, the other colors seemed to actively suppress the color red.
Almost a minute passed by, and then the red dots began to decrease in size. Five minutes later, almost no red spots were left inside the sphere.
"These commoner veterans have explored dozens of deadly sacred zones. They have encountered the highest level of mental assault their brains could survive. They overcame the consequences of the attacks. But even their brains are not capable of expelling the effects of the stimuli as fast as our test subject's brain can."
Professor Reno scanned the dozen faces inside the Chamber. Among them, only Bishop Alcius looked unmoved.
"They are commoners, after all. Their cognitive capability cannot be comparable to mages. But I admit, to be able to suppress such stimuli so fast and so thoroughly before any substantial progression as a mage seems quite abnormal," the Bishop said.
Professor Reno smiled for the first time, but it carried no mirth.
"Abnormal... isn't quite the term I would use. Because we have mapped the potential of human brains in the face of such stimuli, not just of commoners, but also of mages as high as Rank-3. Can you guess the expulsion duration of an average Rank-3 mage?"
Bishop Alcius shook his head, face uncertain.
"It takes a Rank-3 mage 30 seconds at least to fully dispel the red spots from his brain activity."
A collective hiss resounded through the room as everyone recalled the time taken by the test subject in performing the same task.
Two seconds...maybe even less, for the first wave of stimuli. Even when new red spots arose from continued stimuli, they lasted less than a second.
Bishop Alcius nodded slowly, as if the absurdity had finally settled in his mind.
"The first devotee of the 13th Deity has such cognitive power even before reaching Rank-1? The most likely possibility is that this mysterious deity's domain includes the Magic of Mental Category too. He must have secretly blessed this child!
The Church will be ecstatic to learn this. Within a day of the discovery of his existence, we have managed to confirm two aspects of his domain: Natural magic and Mental magic! Now only the third aspect remains to be uncovered!"
Standing up, the Bishop performed a standard salute to the Professor.
"Thank you for your assistance! The Church shall repay this favor any way it can!"
Professor Reno's countenance remained unchanged as she spoke unhurriedly.
"That is the most likely conclusion, yes. But have you considered the less likely possibilities?"
Stunned, the Bishop stared at her halfway through his appreciation.
"...What possibilities do you have in mind?"
"Possibilities such as...that he's not a commoner at all? Maybe he's someone, or something else in disguise, trying to infiltrate our civilization. Is it the first time such an incident has happened? No!
He may have hoodwinked everyone in order to convince us of his normality in order to get a pass from the medical board.
No matter how hard I try to believe it, I keep finding it doubtful that a simple blessing from a deity could break all biological and psychological limits of an unevolved mage's brain, elevating his mental state so far up the ranks that other similarly blessed humans can't even touch his trail.
Say, Bishop Alcius, have every Rank-3 mage not experienced multiple blessings from their patron deity? Why does such a huge disparity still exist between him and them, then? Rather than the word 'abnormal', I'd say this capability is inhuman!"
Professor Reno's heavy voice submerged the chamber into a gloomy, uncertain aura. The directors began to shift uncomfortably in their seats. A few faces had grown pale as sheets. Many had cold sweat forming on their necks.
Bishop Alcius, on the other hand, looked rather displeased.
"Professor Reno, you should think twice about the words you speak. This is a deity we're talking about. How can us unevolved mortals fathom the expanse of their powers, or the limits of their abilities?
If Lord Sunbreaker wishes, he can definitely provide a child with such blessings that would break every limit we have defined on our progression. People who haven't experienced divine blessings themselves are naturally skeptical of their power. I suggest you visit the tower and request one for yourself. I'm certain that you'll change your mind.
We shall investigate whether the remaining smaller possibilities you've mentioned exist or not, but trying to put limits on the powers of a deity is a glaring flaw in your logic."
Face dark, the Bishop walked out of the chamber after confirming that Professor Reno had no other data left to show them. As the directors began to leave one by one, Professor Reno's focus returned to the screen on her desk.
"Body of a mage at the lowest ranks, but a mind elevated beyond an evolved mage. So where does the normality end and where does the abnormality erupt?"