Soon the evening arrived along with a cool breeze, soothing the body and minds of the people of the Smith Castle. At the same time, along the distant horizon, the beautiful scene of the red sun setting into the faraway mountain ranges of Zerak could be seen, appearing just like a mesmerizing painting...
At this moment a luxurious-looking horse carriage could be seen moving towards the Smith castle. At the first sight of the luxurious horse carriage, a guard quickly went to inform the Viscount about the arrival of their honored guest.
Soon the castle gates were fully opened by the castle guards to let the honorable guest enter the castle. As the horse carriage stopped infront of the castle a young man with a burly build stepped out of the carriage.
The young man wore a tight royal blue Arcane robe adorned with golden embroideries that accentuated his muscular build even more, with shoulder-length chestnut brown hair resting on his broad shoulders he stood tall at a height of two meters and had a set of deep brown eyes reflecting a look of serenity and firmness further that made his already handsome appearance even more charming...
As the figure looked ahead he saw two extremely handsome young men standing in front of the large fountain in front of the castle, and looking at him with a welcoming smile. He smiled back at them and continued to walk towards them.
"Thank you for coming all the way here Richard, you must be tired from the long journey, come, we have prepared a delicious feast for you!" said Aiden in a friendly passion, to which Richard nodded gently.
Soon the three of them headed towards the dining hall, which was a vast hall with a long dining table in the middle. The dining hall was decorated with all sorts of fancy items, such as expensive-looking vases, large beautiful paintings, an affixed silver armor set, and many more.
Soon the trio sat together and started enjoying the luxurious feast, that Aiden had personally organized for his old friend Richard.
"How are things going on in the capital? I've been hearing a lot of info regarding the border disputes between the Grazzier and Maktur…" Aiden asked with a hint of curiosity.
"Hah, nothing much… just the greedy old Imperial family stirring up trouble with its neighbors" replied Richard with a sneer, after talking about various topics and interesting news with Aiden, he then looked at Aron who had been silently enjoying his dinner...
"So…have the Nightmares stopped troubling you, or still having them?" Richard asked with a hint of uncertainty….But before Aron could respond, his brother Aiden replied "Initially he said they had stopped and he was completely fine…..but lately, I have observed him acting quite strangely….just today only he told me that he started having them again...It seems the nightmares are quite persistent….."
"Hmm, it seems like the cause of these nightmares has some kind of deep bond or link with your brother….like a concealed potent blood or soul curse," said Richard with a tight frown and a hint of uncertainty in his light brown eyes. "I'll see what I can do…." said Richard while looking at the two brothers.
…..
After the Feast, during late evening Aiden told all the servants to gather everyone under the age of 20 into the main hall if they wanted to be tested for magic talent...
Soon in the main hall of the fourth floor, Richard could be seen standing in front of a large group of young men and women, along with Aiden and Aron standing right beside him...
"Before we begin, let me brief you about Arcana and its commonly known facts, The path of Arcana was discovered by the ancient shamans who had miraculously discovered ways to channel mana from the surroundings into their bodies and later on learned ways to harness it.
It's a path of knowledge, that combines various fields of Knowledge along with various mana-channeling techniques to ultimately create magic or sorcery….
Talent is the first and foremost condition you must have to wield magic or mana. I've traveled around the empire and tested on nearly ten thousand people, having magic talent is very rare, the probability of a person born with magic talent is 1 in 10,000."
Richard gave the Smith brothers and the rest of the crowd a brief explanation about the current condition of the Arcane world and how one's talent determined how fast he or she could become an Arcanist.
"Although one's talent determines their possibility of becoming an Arcanist, however, once that happened, talent would no longer play an important part.
However, talent is extremely critical as long as one has not become a formal Arcanist. Some could do it with a few years of training, while others could train for their entire lives without going beyond level-1 apprentice. This was the difference caused by talent and destiny."
Richard always believed that he was utilizing most of his talent and that he could only rely on destiny to become a formal Arcanist. However, destiny was not something one could ask for. Besides, it was almost always accompanied by great danger.
Most known destinies were gained by risking lives. Rarely any destinies were easily earned—unless someone accidentally bumped into their luck.
After that, Richard asked Aiden to shut all the doors and windows so that he could set up the proper environment for carrying out the magic talent test...
After everything was set, Aron wanted to go first, but Aiden stopped him and whispered, "Let the servants try this out first."
Aron already understood even when Aiden did not explain why.
Richard had said earlier, that the probability of a single talent appearing was one in ten thousand people. So being "untalented" would surely embarrass someone. If he was the last one after all the failed servants, the embarrassment would not be as terrible… as long as none of the servants turned out to be a surprise.
Soon enough, about 78 servants in the manor who were under the age of 20 stood in a line in the massive hall.
"All are here then? Let's then begin the test one by one," said Richard. The testing ground was the massive hall, occupying half of the fourth floor. Aiden asked the servants to empty it as well as to shut the windows and cover them with black curtains, as per Richards's arrangements.
Richard sat in the middle of the massive hall on the main seat, while Aron and Aiden sat beside him. In front of him was a short wooden table with a smooth round crystal ball resting over it...and a single cushioned chair for the tester to sit...
The room was completely shrouded in darkness with a single candle made from Prantikor's liver burning on the table, placed right beside the crystal ball. The gentle yet strong light illuminated the massive hall, shrouding it with countless deep shadows...
Richard looked at the translucent crystal ball with a concentric small black sphere in its middle. It looked like any normal crystal ball except for the black sphere in the middle, which made it resemble an eye.
"The Yeti's Eye, or the 'Magic Talent Sphere', is made from the eyeball of a behemoth called Yeti from the Abyss Plane," said Richard. He began to explain, "The beast is really strong, and its soul possesses extraordinary power. The Talent Sphere crafted using its eye can reflect one's soul and show us that person's talent."
The first one to be tested was a maid called Reen, who took care of Aron's daily life.
Reen was 15, only one year older than Aron. She and Aron shared a friendly relationship in daily life like friends rather than master and servant. Reen came in with a serious expression, but she secretly winked at Aron when no one was looking.
Aron gave her a simple explanation about what this was about. Hearing this, Reen's eyes brightened.
So a talented one could become a legendary Arcanist? Her heartbeats intensified so much that she could hear them herself.
This was a chance to change her life. Realizing this, Reen's once relaxed mood immediately tensed up. She bowed to Richard with respect and sat across him while trying to hide her excitement.
Richard pointed to the eyeball-like Talent Sphere. "The test is simple, place your hand on this crystal ball and do not let go, then observe your surroundings. If you see any changes, you're talented."
Changes? Reen was confused for a moment, and so were the rest of the people inside the hall.
Richard continued, "Different individuals will notice different phenomena. Here's an example, When I touched the Talent Sphere for the first time, I saw a small spinning pebble slowly materializing in front of me. Nobody else could see it. That meant I was declared to have magic talent" said Richard.
He thought about something else before continuing, "It is believed that The sphere can hint towards the level of talent and magical potential a person possesses from the 'change' they observe...Although it hasn't been officially proven, there have been several cases that imply its practicality... but personally, I don't believe it. I've learned several Geoth spells and it wasn't any easier than learning Aqua spells."
"Now, all you have to do is place your hand on the crystal ball for a minute, if you are indeed a magic talent then you will notice some sort of sign or change, and at the same time, the crystal ball will also glow in a corresponding light to the affinity of your talent.
In my case, the crystal ball shone in a brown light which corresponds to my magic talent in the geoth (Earth) elements."
"If you do not see anything at all after keeping your touch for one minute, then I'm afraid you basically have no talent," Richard shrugged.
When he finished, Richard went back to being silent and pushed the Talent Sphere towards Reen.