Reinvite the sword

On their way home, Milla and Gabell could not help but look at Artus's expression, since the magic affinity test, he stayed silent. In front of the mocking glances from Tom and the other children, he did not say a word.

"Artus my boy, if you wish to be a mage or warrior, you still have a chance, there will be other chances in the future".

"Artus, you only started training recently, your body is somewhat special, so your strength is not at a similar level as your peers".

"Life is not a race; you should walk your own path at your own pace".

"Cheer up little man, you have at least secured a spot at the academy scholar's division. After you join the academy, things will be much easier for you, you will have access to various resources, you may be able to take the next magic division".

They gave him some support and encouraging words, Gabell lightly patted him on his back.

"Good job, you did your best".

Even when Aldric handed him the invitation letter to the scholar's division in addition to his personal token, around a metal object with some inscription on it with the word Aldric, he remained silent.

Aldric could feel his disappointment, he even tried to encourage him with some words.

"Don't be sad, Artus".

"You are bound to be a great scholar and achieve great things".

"You will reach a peak unattainable even by ordinary mages and warriors".

 But Artus still did not say a word, he only showed a faint smile and left with his family.

"Father, Mother, thank you. I wish to stay alone for some time, I will be in my room if you need me".

When they reached home, Artus finally spoke then climbed up the stairs to his room and closed the door.

Milla and Gabell looked at the stairs for a while, then they went to their room.

**************

Artus threw himself on the bed; he looked at the ceiling.

"NuroFusion, did you continue with the energy particles absorption process all the time?"

"Yes Master Artus, since you did not set a time limit or give me an order to stop, I continued the energy particles absorption, in fact, I am still absorbing them when they are detected even till right now, should I stop?".

"No, don't stop, it's too late to do that".

*sigh*

"I miscalculated"

Artus said with a slight smile on his face.

When he first put his hand on the magic affinity stone, it did not light up. He had two possible theories in his mind, first, the energy he absorbed with the help of NuroFusion was diffident from the ordinary energy that is used by practitioners of this world, so it was not detected by the magic stone.

Second, the magic affinity stone works in a way to measure the detected but not the absorbed energy particles, so when NuroFusion absorbed all the energy particles, the stone was not able to absorb anything, so it did not light up.

According to the information he had at hand, the second theory is the one that is most probably right.

"I wanted to show the academy officer part of my talent in magic".

"I was hoping to receive special treatment or support".

"If I don't show some of my cards, I will need a long time to gather enough recourse for my progression".

"Still, I am happy about the fact that with the help of NuroFusion, I was able to make the energy particles absorption process passive all the time without effort".

Artus closed his eyes, he focused all his attention on his inner world, he was able to see a dozen or so energy particles moving around.

"what's done is done, let's focus on continuing my magic training, I will have to go to the academy, the enrolment trials will be held in 3 days".

***********************

The next day, Aldric and Edir were riding the carriage. They were headed to the academy after they spent the night resting at the village.

"Hey Edir, what do you think of that boy Artus?"

"What do you mean?"

"I am asking if he truly had a chance to become a warrior?"

"Are you worried that you might have wronged him by cutting all his other pathways? Hey, Aldric when you gain a conscience?".

"Edir don't tease me, it's not like that. That boy will certainly become an outstanding scholar, I just wanted to ask about his potential as a warrior".

"Depending on his performance in the strength technique, I can tell you he could become an outstanding warrior. His techniques were impressive, you know although physical strength is important for warriors, technique is also important. Not all warriors are big guys who wield swords and axes".

"Some warriors use daggers, small swords, bows or even whips".

"I also was afraid that I had wronged this young boy when signaled to me to make him fail, but when I saw his performance at the magic affinity stone, I finally was able to relax".

"Without energy, no matter how skilled or strong one person is, he will not be able to become a warrior because he will not be able to perform arts".

"Okay let's camp here for the night".

They got out of the carriage, the attendants set up a camp with tents, a fire was lit in the middle.

"Edir, I am very tired from the trip, I will sleep early, after all my body is not as strong as yours".

While Edir was sitting around the fire, a shadow descended on him from above.

She was a tall lady with a fair complexion in her late twenties, her dark brown hair cascading down her back. She wore a white dress with a dark green cloak over it, around her neck, she wore a light green pendant, the same color as her eyes.

Edir immediately stood up and greeted her.

"I welcome lord Seers of the magic division".

"Sir Edir, no need for formalities, set down please".

"So how was your trip to the last few cities?"

"It was better than expected Lord Seers".

"We discovered a few outstanding talented individuals, in fact, in the last village we passed through Aldric even claimed that he found the next head of the schola's division".

Edir said while looking at Aldric tent.

"Is that so…"

Seers smiled lightly.

"Oh…. Before I forget, here's your magic affinity stone".

"Thank you, Sir Edir".

Edir kept looking at the fire as if he was lost in thought.

"Lord seers, may I ask you a question? Please don't think of me as stupid".

"Go ahead Sir Edir, it's okay, ask anything".

"The only stupid question is the one that was not asked".

"Thank you, lord Seers".

"You explained everything to us about the magic affinity stone before handing it to us"

"I was curious what does it mean when the stone never shines? What does it mean if the stone stays dull?".

"Oh my…did something like that happen?".

"No….no… I was just asking out of curiosity … After all you never mentioned that possibility when you explained how the magic stone worked".

Edir looked troubled as he said that. She noticed that he was avoiding eye contact with her, but she did not say a thing.

"Magic affinity is one of the essential abilities of any living being, it is similar to physical strength, every being should possess a certain amount of it no matter how tiny that amount is".

"If you brought the weakest man in the word or even a toddler and put a stone in front of him, if could not carry it, then he may be able to move it, if not then he will at least shake it".

"If still fail then bring a smaller stone and try again…. And so on…keep bringing smaller and lighter objects till you reach an object the size of a grain of sand….so every being possesses a certain amount of physical strength no matter how weak he is"

"In fact, just by living and supporting his body functions, it means he still possesses strength even if he could not move…. just by breathing it means that he had the strength to inhale and exhale".

"The only person without physical strength is a dead person".

"The same applies for energy…. every living being possesses it, no matter how small the amount".

"So, it's impossible for someone to not have any energy affinity…. even if the stone did not shine….it means there is something else that we overlooked".

"The stone shines by absorption of energy particles that the user can sense….it means if there is something else that absorbs the energy particles preventing the stone from absorbing them, it will not light up".

"For example, if that person has already entered the energy-gathering phase or is already a mage".

Seers said while she placed her hand on the magic stone, the stone remained as dull as ever.

"So, tell me Edir, what do you think?"

Seers looked Edir straight in the eyes, he was not able to hide the truth from her anymore. He told her the whole story about Artus.

"If what you said is true…. There is no way for such a young boy to learn magic from a mentor….it means that he taught himself how to gather energy by himself like the original mages of the past".

"Lord Seers, he maybe was lucky and discovered how to do this by chance"

"it's impossible, it's like throwing a child in a cave and closing it off and returning later to find out that the child is able to perform sword techniques, the child taught himself these skills without even seeing a sword in his life, it's like he reinvited the sword".

"Do you know how absurd that sounds? Now instead of sword techniques, we are talking about energy and magic principles, it is one hundred times more absurd".

"I have to check things myself, I can't miss such a talent".

"I will get back at the village, you continue on your way to the academy".

"By the way tell Sir Aldric, I am sorry, I am about to steal his beloved scholar trainee".