Assessment Gone Wrong

The assessment grounds was an open chamber, its walls lined with various magical apparatuses, each humming faintly with stored power. At the center stood the prize of the room: a massive crystal mana assessor. The stone was a radiant, polished crystal that shimmered with latent energy, towering a few meters over Bagwis.

A bored-looking examiner, an older man with a permanently furrowed brow, stood next to the crystal, tapping his foot impatiently. He gestured lazily toward the glowing stone.

"This is the Adept Level Crystal Assessor," the examiner said, his voice flat. "Touch the stone with your palm and pour your mana into it. Don't stop until I tell you to."

"Got it," Bagwis said whilst smiling with faux innocence.

Easy enough.

He reached out his right hand, feeling the cool surface of the crystal against his skin. The moment his palm made contact, the crystal hummed softly, as if waking from a long slumber.

"And… start," the examiner commanded, still looking as though he was one yawn away from falling asleep.

Bagwis closed his eyes, concentrating as he channeled his very own mana into the crystal. The stone responded immediately, beginning to glow with a light yellow color. The more mana Bagwis poured in, the crystal shone a brighter yellow color, ever so slightly. The examiner's bored expression faltered for a moment.

"Hmm…" The examiner stroked his chin doubtfully. Was this young man really an 18-year-old at Adept level?

Bagwis wasn't scared of being exposed, after all, he had a game plan. He was prepared. He took his sweet time and filled the crystal with his pitiful novice mana.

"Aish! Why are you taking so long? Just pour all your mana out!" The examiner said with a tone of impatience as he felt that Bagwis was taking too much time. Perhaps he really was a fake.

Bagwis who felt the examiners doubt didn't falter and even gave out an evil grin.

"Okay, if you say so."

Bagwisbclosed his eyes and focused on the swirling storm within him. He could feel his own mana flowing calmly through his core, but lurking just beyond it was the corrupted mana, like a wild animal pacing in a cage. And today, Bagwis felt like poking the beast.

Come on, show me what you've got, Bagwis thought mischievously, his grin widening. He provoked the corrupted mana, taunting it, daring it to lash out.

And it did.

The corrupted mana, as if insulted by Bagwis' audacity, began to churn violently, bubbling and twisting in a chaotic whirlpool of dark energy. It attacked Bagwis' mana core, trying to consume it, but Bagwis was ready. Like a skilled puppeteer, he grabbed hold of the chaotic attack force and directed it.

Bagwis's grin turned downright devilish as he guided the corrupted mana attack down to his palm, where it eagerly rushed into the crystal mana assessor.

The mana crystal that was filled with the mana attack immediately jumped to a lighter green color and it grew deeper by the minute.

For a moment, the examiner nodded in approval, finally impressed by the steady green light radiating from the stone.

Then the light flickered.

The examiner frowned, his brow furrowing even more (if that was even possible). The crystal shifted from green to an ominous shade of darker green, the color intensifying as Bagwis continued to channel the corrupted mana's attack. The crystal began to hum louder, vibrating unnervingly. The examiner's frown deepened into outright confusion.

Bagwis opened his eyes to intently observe the crystal mana and noticed that for a split second it turned black before going back to a darker green and then—CRACK!

Immediately followed by a jagged fissure split across the surface of the crystal, followed by another and another, until finally—

BOOM!

The crystal assessor shattered into a thousand sparkling shards, scattering across the room like a violent storm of glitter. Bagwis blinked, pulling his hand back just in time to avoid getting skewered by flying shards. He stared at the now-destroyed crystal, his face a picture of innocent bewilderment.

"Oops."

The examiner, however, was not so innocent or bewildered. He was frozen in place, his mouth hanging open in pure horror. His eyes darted from the shattered remains of the crystal to Bagwis, then back to the crystal, then back to Bagwis again. He looked like someone who had just watched their entire life savings go up in flames.

"That… that crytal's a year's worth of wages," the examiner muttered, his voice barely above a whisper. His hands trembled as he clutched at his thinning hair. "A year! I—I'm going to be fired. No, worse. I'm going to have to live in a cave and eat moss for the rest of my life."

Bagwis coughed awkwardly, trying to suppress the laugh bubbling up inside him. "Uh… is this normal? Does it, uh, break often?"

The examiner slowly turned toward Bagwis, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Normal?! You just—you just exploded one of the adept mana crystal assessors in the kingdom! How is that normal?! You said you were only at adept level!" His voice rose several octaves, sounding almost like a distressed squirrel.

Bagwis scratched his head, looking sheepish. "I am a Haraya. Besides I didn't think I was putting in that much mana. You told me to pour out all my mana. I was just following orders."

The examiner was on the verge of tears now, staring forlornly at the sparkling debris. "This is it… my career is over. I'll be forced to work in a dung farm… or worse… I'll be reassigned to doing paperworks!"

Just then, Alab, who had been watching the whole spectacle with mild amusement, stepped forward. "Very good. Even I think it would take me quite the sword energy to slice this one. Nicely done kid."

The examiner: "....." I can feel my left eye twitching from stress.

Bagwis, seeing the man's distress, attempted to smooth things over. "Look, it wasn't intentional... per se. I just—um—misjudged my mana capacity a bit. Happens to the best of us, right?" misjudged the corrupted mana's capacity to be exact. He silently added and gave a thumbs-up that only seemed to make the examiner's left eye twitch harder.

The examiner took a deep breath, clearly struggling to keep himself from completely breaking. "Just… just go, please. Leave. Before I collapse."

Bagwis gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "Eh? That's it? What about my assessment?"

"The assessment? What do you want to hear?! You passed okay? PASSED! With flying fucking colors—"

"More like flying crystal shards." Alab corrected.

The examiner held his forehead as he felt an incoming migraine.

"Please just leave! You've already passed. Here take this paper and show it to the receptionist at the front desk! She will give you your trial quest so now get out of my sight!"

Hearing his words Bagwis let out a wide smile and even gave the examiner a tight hug, "Thanks old man and sorry about your crystal."

The examiner turned red at the reminder, "LEAVE!"

As Bagwis and Alab stepped back into the main hall of the Adventurer's Agency, Bagwis couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement. His little stunt had probably drawn more attention than he had intended, but that was fine. 

Let them think he was some sort of prodigy or freak of nature. He was more than happy to let his reputation grow… even if it was built on shattered crystals and a frustrated examiner.

"Well," Bagwis said cheerfully, "on to the next step! The trial quest!"

Alab raised an eyebrow. "Better watch your back. After all you'd have to do it alone."

Bagwis winked. "Don't worry. I have my ways."

And with that, they moved on, leaving the poor, broken examiner to mourn his crystal and possibly his future career.