Quadruple cores
Michael seemed to have vastly underestimated how much fanfare he would get after announcing his world-breaking talent of a quadruple element mastery.
His mom and dad immediately leaped out of the hot springs and bombarded him with intense questions about his magic talents.
Even though the manifestations of the four basic element spells were as clear as day, Lylia and Bart simply couldn't believe their eyes. After all, not even the world's current 9-star grand wizard had this kind of talent when he was at the age of five.
It was unheard of—unthinkable to even dream up the fact that a child, who wasn't taught anything about magic during his childhood, actually had the talent to command all the fundamental elements of the universe!
To confirm what they were seeing, they had Michael cast the simplest spells, such as the [Water ball], [Ember], [Rock throw], and [Wind blow] a couple of times before their very eyes until they were fully convinced.
Even then, they still felt like they were dreaming.
To erase all doubt, they invited a 5-star wizard from the Magic Tower in Kingsbridge to come and officially assess Michael's talents in the four elements.
Four hours later, the wizard arrived at the mansion and started the assessment.
Bart paced back and forth anxiously while Lylia bit her nails as they watched the wizard raise his wand and cast an inspection spell over Michael.
"I'm here to assess your mana core," the wizard said, his tone indulgent, as if Michael was a child who needed pampering.
Unlike the Vanderbilts who wanted immediate confirmation, the wizard wasn't in a rush.
This wasn't the first time a hopeful family had hired him to see if their child was a transcendent talent in the mystic arts and believed that their cold was destined for greatness.
Most, if not all the time, the child only ended up having a mediocre talent bound to be stuck below the fifth star realm.
The wizard fully expected Michael to be the same.
As light mana flowed from his core and gathered at the tip of his wand like a lightning rod, a mystical screen made out of a milky-white liquid substance materialized between him and Michael.
Whatever semblance of mana core Michael had in his body would show up as a bright light on the white screen, confirming what kind of talent he had in the mystic arts—if any.
"!!!" The wizard gasped, stumbling back to keep himself upright.
[Invasive magic spell detected]
[Since you are voluntarily agreeing to the inspection, the magic spell is allowed to pass through your body.]
[Analyzing magic…]
[Magic theory acquired.]
[Mana Core Inspection]
— ★★★★
— Light and Dark element
— This magic creates a screen for the caster to peer through a target's body and observe the formation of their mana core. The mana cores will show up as different lights, each corresponding to an elemental affinity.
Michael was glad to have finally found out that the stones in his body had an actual name.
Mana core… so that's what it's called.
More importantly, the best thing he discovered through all of this was that there were other elements besides the four basic ones.
Case in point, the new 4-star spell he had learned needed Light and Dark mana, which he currently didn't have any stored in his body.
It seemed that gathering those special mana needed some kind of special encounter, or else Michael would have chanced upon them naturally in the world around him so far.
He wanted to ask the wizard how he could gather light mana, but the man was too stunned to even speak.
"Wizard, what did you see?" Bart said, his voice edged with nervous anticipation.
The wizard took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. But every time he looked at the four bright shining lights in the white screen overlaid on Michael's body, he felt like he was going to faint.
A vibrant green light, a fiery red glow, a warm brown light, and a cool silvery light shone brightly on Michael's lower abdomen.
The mere presence of these four lights coexisting under a five-year-old's body wasn't as problematic as the brightness they emitted.
The four mana cores were as big as an orange!
One would only see this large size and concentration of mana within the cores of adolescent or adult mages, those who had spent years upon years of formal training and cultivated their power. No one would expect—or even believe—that the wizard had seen it in a five-year-old boy with no training whatsoever.
He would have already been considered a one-in-a-thousand-year genius just with this mana pool alone.
But to have this much mana on all four elements?
That was… suffice it to say… otherworldly.
"He… he is adept in the four elements," the wizard murmured, fixing his tall, pointed hat and wiping the sweat off his forehead.
"I have never seen this kind of talent in the mystic arts before. I'm afraid I lack sufficient expertise in properly assessing his talent in magic."
"I strongly urge you to take him to the Magic Tower at your earliest convenience. He must not waste his youth and begin training this instant. We are willing to take him under our wings. Formally."
Bart was happy to hear that Michael was indeed a genius in the mystic arts. This could pave the way for Michael to become one of the most esteemed wizards in the world that even royals and kings would have to pay respects to.
But after hearing the wizard's offer of taking him in formally, Bart was a little bit worried. After all, by joining the Guild of Arcana, Michael would have to spend his whole life studying in the Magic Tower, forgoing all earthly desires to pursue the pinnacle of mystery.
Not only that, if Michael got too involved with the mages, his loyalty could shift over from the Vanderbilt family to the Guild of Arcana.
While Bart was worrying about the consequences of Michael being too much of a genius, his wife, on the other hand, was worrying about more important things.
"So?" Lylia demanded the Wizard.
"What is it, Madame?" the helpless Wizard asked.
"Is his Earth element core bigger than the other cores? Tell me he's more talented in Earth magic!"
The wizard hesitated, at a complete loss for words.