Uuhh, another training, another day." Ardent said in a lazy manner.
He already in his 10 years old, and from the looks of it, his parents wished for him to help more with the garden.
Ardent decided to agree on it, but planned on taking lesson in magic when he is 12. Hopefully, his parents will not create any fuss from it decide to humor him at the very least.
"I wonder if my parents will be proud or not." while being a Mage is a high prestige, his parents might not agree on it. Namely because it will mean less help in tending the garden.
However, the pros might convince them of him becoming a Mage, as it will increase the prestige of his family and will improve their status in the future.
"Well, that's for the future me to worry about." he said to himself before walking back home. As he returned, he powered his legs with Mana, allowing him to sprint faster and longer.
This is something he learned by himself. He want to experiment if he can mimic Aura or not. As it turns out, the answer is yes, though he called it Mana Reinforcement due to it being different from Aura.
He could tell the difference when he looked at some of the guards. While not all guards of the village possess the ability to use Aura, those that do cma be detected by Mages.
Unlike his Mana Reinforcement, Aura seeped through the body of the guards, making them stronger and improving the vitality of the part covered with Aura, making it more durable and have better endurance.
As for his Mana Reinforcement, he merely cover his skin with Mana, getting it to become a second shield. While he can improve his strength, the efficiency is lower than Aura user, which he can easily tell.
"Hhmm, I wonder if I can use Mana with my eyes. What will happen then?" he could not help but asked. And planned to execute.
Pouring Mana into his eyes, Ardent looked at his surrounding, to find absolutely nothing. To be honest, if he went by the rules of biology and physic, the outcome is high, but since he is living in a Magic World, he had hoped it might decided to not agree with his previous world common sense.
"Nothing then. Oh well, not like I expect everything to go smoothly." he then continue his trek home. Hopefully, he will not be caught this time.
-x-
Ardent hide his yawn. Catlin decided the best thing he can learn is Mana Control. She will normally not be wrong, if not for him now mastering Mana Control to a high level.
'Hhmm, maybe I can practice my Mana Control now. Maybe I am missing something with what I plan to do with my eyes.'
Pouring Mana into his eyes, Ardent looked around, only to see the regular sight, to his slight dismay.
"Ardent, pay attention." reminder of Catlin made him turn towards the blonde, only to gasp slightly, which thankfully was not noticed by her.
As for the reason Ardent gasping in surprise, he was seeing something on top of Catlin, which he never seen before. An image of a wand, with snowflake underneath it. Above the image is a character for the word high.
-x-
'What is that? What did I see?' Ardent wondered in his bed. This was the first time he sees something and he only see it because,
'Is it because I use Mana on my eyes?' it is hard to confirm it but it is the most likely reason.
'But, what did I see?' he wondered. Surely he did not see the figment of his imagination, or anything like that, right?
'Hmm, maybe I should experiment a bit more. Maybe that can tell me more of what I see.'
-x-
And so, Ardent decided to use Mana on his eyes for the entire day. The result is him gasping for air in fear every time a Mage is in the vicinity.
'That's too dangerous! Seriously, why did all the Mages of the village decided to come here!'
It did not make sense and it make it harder for him to learn of anything. In slight frustration, Ardent looked at one of the Mage with his Mana-empowered eyes before gasping, this time of realization.
He managed to stop the flow of Mana in time, as the Mage looked at his direction, slightly confused but not suspicious.
'That's too close but I get my answer.' Ardent thought.
'Looks like what I see is talent of people.' he exclaimed in his head. When he looked at the Mage, he see the same symbol above Catlin, with the difference being what underneath, which is a small fire.
Though, unlike Catlin, the word above the symbol is low.
'So, high likely mean high talent while low mean low talent. That seem to make sense. So, Catlin is someone with high talent in Ice Magic.'
Ardent was able to tell what he sees. Though, it is hard to get excited over his new ability. After all, while he can tell the talents of other, it will not be of use,
'Except, maybe I can build connection with talented children, and maybe push them to a new and more successful path.'
He had to hide the smile that threatened to form, or someone might be suspicious of why is he smiling like that.
-x-
Before going back home, Ardent looked at Frank, Curt, Celine and his other friends. As it turns out, most of the children possessed low talents in their field of expertise. Though, there are some outliers.
Catlin is one. And so is Frank, Curt, Celine, and 9 others. The other 9 children have medium talent. Whether it meant average or better than average is something he could not really tell.
As for the four, they all have high talent. Catlin in Ice Magic, Frank in sword with what he believed represent Aura. Curt is in botanical, or maybe farming while Celine is a financial expert should her talent was fully nurtured.