Fifteen years old, the age when humans awaken their mana cores. The age when an incredible and magical path opens for those strong and brave enough to endure its dangers. However, unfortunately, not all young humans can follow this path. In truth, most of them will only use magic for simple daily tasks, like washing clothes, cooking, farming, and a few other things.
But there exists a small and select group of humans who can use magic to strengthen themselves and fight on equal footing with the most powerful magical races and beasts in this world. The members of this group are called elites. They are humanity's strongest and most talented individuals and the sole reason humanity remains a free race in this world.
The Silver Flame Nation is one of humanity's great kingdoms. And in this kingdom, there is only one path to becoming an elite. That path began when you turned fifteen and awakened your mana core. The test that separated those with the potential to become elites from normal people was called the purity test. As the name implied, it was a simple test, but one that determined how far a person's magic could evolve.
The purity test involved a simple device placed around the person being tested. The device emitted mana waves at a specific frequency, which reacted with the mana in the person's core. When these waves returned to the device, it would calculate and display the purity percentage of the individual's mana core.
According to experts, the minimum purity a person's mana core needed to advance beyond the first stage was seventy percent. And this number was just the bare minimum for someone to have a chance of becoming an elite. Mike, a young boy with black hair and eyes, a handsome yet slightly immature face, was undergoing the purity test at this very moment.
Since he turned fifteen, Mike had been anxiously waiting for this day, the day he could change his destiny, the day he could become an elite. But unfortunately, no matter how much determination or willpower Mike had to become an elite, there was nothing he could do in the purity test. After all, it was all about talent. Either you had it, or you didn't.
Mike sat as the device around him began to spin. It resembled a ring, but it was large enough to rotate around a person. The device had a silver hue, but what truly caught Mike's attention were the glowing purple engravings emanating an unusual energy. The boy watched in awe, technology like this wasn't common in the place he came from.
But Mike didn't have much time to remain impressed, as shortly after the ring spun a few times around him, a strange energy began to manifest at the center of his stomach. "So, this is mana?" Mike murmured as he felt the strange energy in his stomach resonate with the energy emitted by the glowing purple engravings on the ring.
"Core purity level: seventy-seven percent. Looks like we have another pass." A man in a white lab coat announced, glancing at a screen displaying Mike's test results. He began jotting down details on a clipboard while waiting for the testing device to stop spinning.
Mike felt the ring around him come to a halt as the purple engravings dimmed and ceased emitting their strange energy. The odd energy at the center of his stomach also subsided to the point where Mike could no longer feel it.
"What's your name?" The first thing Mike heard after the device stopped was a simple question delivered in a cold, emotionless voice. Mike looked toward the source of the voice and saw a middle-aged man with brown hair, also dressed in a white lab coat, staring at him as if he were a lab rat.
"M- Mike."
The man in the lab coat wrote Mike's name on the clipboard without bothering to thank him for the response. He looked at Mike again with the same cold expression. "Surname?"
"I- I don't have one." Mike replied hesitantly.
"Oh." For the first time, the man in the lab coat showed a hint of emotion but quickly masked his surprise, reverting to his cold and indifferent demeanor. In the Silver Flame Nation, it was common for poorer families not to have surnames. This reflected magic's societal influence: wealthy and magically talented families were considered humanity's pillars, while poor families with little to no magic were barely regarded as human by the elites.
The man's brief surprise stemmed from the rarity of someone from a family without a surname passing the purity test. But that was all. He quickly recovered his detached expression, noted Mike's lack of a surname on his clipboard, and returned his attention to the boy.
"You passed the purity test with seventy-seven percent. Do you wish to proceed with the tests to enter the royal academy?"
"Huh? Yes!" Mike was caught off guard by the announcement but quickly agreed, his excitement evident. He had done it. He had taken the first step toward his goal of becoming an elite.
"All right. You will be sent to the next testing location after you fill out this liability form." The man in the lab coat handed Mike a clipboard and a piece of paper.
"Liability form?" Mike asked, confused. The man, however, seemed uninterested in his confusion, as he began walking out of the room, leaving Mike alone. Being from a poor family, Mike hadn't received the best education, so he struggled with reading, especially complex texts. But since the man clearly didn't care, Mike had no choice but to read and try to understand the form.
With some difficulty, Mike deciphered the document's content.
[Liability Form. I, ___, declare that the royal academy is not responsible if: - I die during any admission tests for the academy; - I die in an accident caused by professors or students of the academy; - I die during the academy's school exams; - I die due to magical beasts, enemies of the nation, other empires, or any other entities while I am an academy student; - I am severely injured during any of the academy's admission tests;…]
The liability form was five pages long, listing possible misfortunes that could happen to Mike while he was a student at the royal academy. Despite his limited education, it wasn't hard for Mike to realize the form was unusual. After all, it listed an absurd number of potential dangers. But since his goal was to become an elite, the royal academy was his only option. Ignoring his instincts, which warned him that something was off about the form, Mike did what he had to do to move forward.
He picked up the pen handed to him by the man in the lab coat and stared at the paper on the clipboard: [I, ___, declare that the royal academy is not responsible…]. Mike used the pen to write his name in the blank space. His handwriting wasn't the neatest, but as soon as he finished the final letter of his name, several glowing purple engravings appeared on both the paper and the pen. Mike watched in awe as the purple glow intensified until the paper and pen disintegrated into sparkling purple particles and vanished into the air.
POW!
Before Mike could be amazed by the magical disappearance of the objects, a loud sound echoed as the door to the room flew off its hinges. Mike looked toward the now-empty doorway, startled, only to see a large, muscular silhouette approaching him.
"Are you Mike, the one without a surname?" The muscular silhouette asked as it entered the room. Mike stared, wide-eyed. Standing before him was a man over two meters tall with bronze skin, a heavily tattooed arm, and a completely bald head. The man wore dress pants, polished shoes, and a shirt with the sleeves ripped off, leaving his massive arms exposed. But what truly caught Mike's attention was the silver flame-shaped brooch on the man's chest, a symbol of the Silver Flame Nation's elites. This meant the man was an elite.
"Yes." Mike answered, nodding, assuming the elite wouldn't harm him. Unfortunately, Mike's assumption was wrong. The large man simply raised his arm and extended his open palm toward Mike. What happened next was so sudden that even Mike couldn't fully grasp it.
"Ahhh!" He screamed in shock as a mysterious energy yanked him directly into the man's hand. Mike felt the man's iron grip as he was carried out of the room, unsure of where he was being taken. In that moment, Mike regretted signing the liability form. Now, all he could do was hope he wouldn't end up dead without at least understanding what was happening.