This Machine is Broken!

School life in this academy was pretty much the same as the Magic Knight Academy. There really wasn't too much to mention.

They had the same classes as well except there were no actual battling classes or anything related to physical prowess.

What replaced Battle Class, was something called Strategic Observation Class.

This class took place in a similar type of arena as Battle Class so it only took an idiot to figure out what they were going to do. Despite its nerdy name, it was a class where magicians dueled one another with magic spells.

The sophomores in the Formation Magic Class all went to their respective sophomore level classes but since Rachel and I were the only freshmen attending the field trip, we were assigned the same classes.

As we entered the room and went to the bleachers, we heard our names being called.

"Rachel and Daniel right?"

A bald man with a grey Mario mustache appeared in front of them.

"I'm Professor Mace, the Professor of this class."

"Come with me to get your information updated. This is necessary to partake in class activities." He said.

We followed him over to the corner where there was a giant machine with a small screen on the side with a couple buttons.

"What is this?" Rachel Raised the question.

He responded proudly, "This here is a machine prototype that can analyze a person's rough battle power. It accounts for techniques, stats, cultivation, and pretty much everything. Although it cannot display a status, it grades the person who is tested with a talent level. Only two of these exist in the world with the other one being at the Wizard's Tower. This machine was invented by the current master of the Wizard's Tower who is also an alumni of this academy."

With how proud he looked, Rachel couldn't really find anything else to say to him. I on the other hand...

'System is what he said just true? Can this machine measure my power? Can't you analyze it or something?'

[Ding!]

[Starting analysis]

[During this time, stay within 10 meters of object]

[Analyzing...1%]

...was in a state of panic.

Although I had never heard of a talent level before, I was certain that it would somehow trigger the curse. If that happened, all my Merit Points would be flushed away so I had to do everything in my power to avoid that.

"Alright before anything, let me explain to you guys. The reason I am having your talent levels measured is so I know who to pair you guys up with when you spar. There are 10 talent levels in total. It is just an overall estimate of your talent, or rather your future potential. As I mentioned before, it evaluates everything about you. You could be bad at magic but have a surprising amount of physical potential. Talent level is just a rough overall estimate of your body's potential. Naturally, a higher talent usually means you become stronger in the future."

[Analyzing...30%]

'Holy Sh*t, why is this taking so long.' I could only pray in my heart that the Professor could continue spouting as much bullsh*t as possible.

"The normal talent range for students of the Wizarding Academy is from 3-6. The talent range for normal people would usually range from 0-4. There are some cases where outliers appear; those people are considered geniuses since they are superior in all aspects. The current master of the Wizard's Tower is one such example. When she tested the machine on herself, she was bestowed the level of 9.23."

[Analyzing...60%]

"Alright, Rachel, how about you go first."

"Okay." Rachel went inside the machine.

The professor pressed a button and the machine started making buzz noises.

[Analyzing...90%]

The machine stopped. "Okay, come out."

When she got out, the numbers on the screen started calculating.

"This... You're a genius! To think a student from the Magic Knight Academy has a talent level of 8.89!"

Rachel completely ignored the professor since the only thing she wanted to know about was Daniel's talent.

[Analyzing...99%]

'Come on, almost there.'

"Alright, Daniel, you're up."

"Wait professor, I forgot to tie my shoelaces. Let me tie them real quick." I said as I knelt on the floor to touch my shoes.

"Shoelaces? What are those?" The professor had a confused expression on his face.

'F*ck, I forgot they didn't have shoelaces in this world.'

'Come on system, hurry up.'

[Analyzing...99.9%]

"Hurry up Daniel, we don't have all day."

"Alright." I got off the ground and headed to the machine.

It was also at that moment that I realized I had made a huge mistake.

[Analyzing...100%]

[Ding!]

[Analysis of object complete]

[4% Tungsten, 7% Ethereal Obsidian, 2% Glass, 3% Gold, 63% Steel, 21% Mana Stone]

'F*cking garbage system.' I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The only thing I could do now was prepare myself to lose some merit points.

I walked through the blinds and inside was completely dark.

After a couple seconds, I heard a beep and green lasers appeared out of nowhere. It started scanning my body, in a way, it was similar to technology back in my past world.

I got out shortly after and awaited the results.

It was also only then that I realized something.

'Appraise the curse.'

~~~~~~~~~~

Unnoticed Potential(Legendary):

1. Performing any big actions that lead to a gain in popularity will result in consequences.

Actions include: Proclaiming you are the strongest in the world, Boasting your magical prowess, Getting first place, etc.

Consequences include: Losing merit points, system removal, death.

Rewards include: Merit points.

~~~~~~~~~~

This was it! Wasn't this a loophole? As long as I convinced the professor and Rachel to keep quiet about my score, wouldn't this problem be alleviated, if not averted completely? The less people who know about my capabilities, then the lower the consequences right?

I set my mind to the task and immediately composed a 3 hour speech in my head to convince them.

As the numbers on the screen settled, the professor opened his mouth. I was also preparing to intercept right after he said the score.

"Your talent level is 2.00."

"Professor Mace and Rachel, please don't tell anyo—huh? Did you say 2.00?" I was pretty sure the me right now looked extremely stupid.

"2.00? That's impossible!" Rachel yelled.

The professor also had a visibly confused expression on him as he looked at the score on the screen and glanced back at me. It was as if he couldn't believe someone with a talent level of 2.00 could get into an academy.

Rachel raised her fist ready to destroy the machine, "This machine is—BROKEN!"

Daniel: 'Hey, isn't that supposed to be my line? Author, this script is wrong.'