The orb shone with an unmatched brilliance, obliterating the shadows from the stone. Where once the room had stood in darkness, now only light existed, searing the eyes of any who dared gaze directly upon it.

Kanna gritted her teeth as she dragged the perpetrator of this incident back from the plinth. In five years of administering the Test of Potential, she had never seen such a reaction from the Mana Absorber. Somehow, the boy in her arms had done what no candidate before him had managed, and she was determined to find out how. But first, she had to deal with this situation.

With a wave of her hand, Kanna conjured a wall of fog that descended upon the orb, dimming the light slightly as she dragged Rowan towards the door.

“Into the passageway, quickly!” she commanded, ushering the other two through as she hauled Rowan inside after them. Closing the door, she lay Rowan against the wall, making sure to take care not to let him hit his head against the stone as she did. Content that the boy wouldn’t fall, she turned to the other two, contrasting expressions visible on their faces.

Xan had a look of shock, unsurprising considering her own lack of magical prowess. The girl had better hope she had performed well on the other tests, because she had barely passed this one. Morgana’s features were knitted into a frown, an unwilling expression that Kanna recognized well. The fae girl had lost to the boy, most likely an unfamiliar feeling for the girl if her background was anything to go by. The members of Noble House Lunythe were clearly not accustomed to failure.

“Wait here a minute, then head back up,” Kanna commanded them. “And tell Egil that it will be a few minutes before I’m ready to receive the next group.”

“Egil?” Xan asked, tilting her head.

“The man with a beard who led you here,” the woman responded. “Dour expression, dislikes interruptions.”

“The guide,” Xan nodded. “I will tell him.”

“Good, now go,” Kanna told them, propelling them upwards as light continued to blaze behind them from the cracks in the door, beyond which the orb still shone brightly in the wake of its feast. Now then, to deal with this one.

As she watched, Rowan’s eyes fluttered. Reaching out with her mana, Kanna observed his aura, checking for any damage as the boy slowly awakened. Satisfied that he hadn’t damaged his mana pool too badly, she exhaled. It would have been a shame to lose a mage so promising to a mere test of magical potential.

“Ugh.”

Below her, Rowan stirred, his eyes cracking open as he took in his surroundings. Summoning a flask of water from nothingness, Kanna pressed it against Rowan’s lips. “Drink,” she commanded.

Obediently, Rowan drank, the cool water splashing against his parched throat. As if only now realizing just how thirsty he was, Rowan eagerly lapped at the water, panting as he drained the flask.

“Easy,” Kanna warned, returning the flask to her pocket dimension. “Do you remember what just happened?”

“I had my hands against the orb,” Rowan said after a moment. “There was a pulling feeling, and then things started to go black. Why did I pass out?”

“You gave too much mana,” Kanna said simply. “Your mana ran out, but you kept trying to give more, so your body began to convert your lifeforce to mana in order to meet your demands. If I hadn’t stepped in, you would have died.”

The boy seemed to take pause at this; however, there was no regret in his eyes, merely a look of acknowledgement. “I’ll remember that,” he swore.

“Please do,” Kanna said dryly. “I’d rather not have to explain to the headmistress why an applicant died in my test. It’s normally the non-lethal one.” Having said this, she took out a small package from her robes and thrust it into Rowan’s hands. “Eat, you need to regain your strength.”

The chocolate within the package seemed to revitalize Rowan, a rosy glow returning to his cheeks as he bit into the sweet treats. Judging him sufficiently recovered, Kanna’s eyes narrowed. “Why did you hide your true power?” she demanded, her tone turning accusatory.

Rowan shook his head. “I didmf,” he said, his mouth still full of chocolate.

“I am a mage of the seventh circle,” Kanna replied frostily. “During the test, your mana swelled from a level that would have been reasonable for an average adventurer to a level only seen among the most elite of mages. For me to misjudge your mana count can only be because you made efforts to hide it from me. Choose your answer carefully. I do not take kindly to secrets kept at my expense.”

Again, Rowan shook his head, swallowing the remnants of the chocolate. “I didn’t hide anything. When I placed my hands on the orb, there was a pulling sensation and I gave into it, but the results weren’t good. No better than Xan, and you didn’t seem impressed with how she did. So I let the orb keep pulling. There was a weird feeling, like a barrier inside me. I attacked it together with the orb until it broke down. That was when the orb started to glow brighter,” Rowan explained, his hands outspread as he pleaded his case. “I’ve never even had my mana assessed before.”

“A barrier?” Kanna frowned. Although crudely described, from the boy’s words, it sounded like there had been a seal placed upon his mana pool. But why? Glancing at the boy, Kanna mulled over the matter in her head. Regardless of the reasons behind it, the boy’s mana pool was enormous, larger than any applicant she had ever seen in her five years administering the Test of Potential. If he was trained… Kanna nodded, the decision made. “You said you’ve never received any magical instruction before?”

“Never,” Rowan swore.

“Are you interested in becoming a mage?”

Rowan cocked his head to the side. “Will I become strong if I do?”

“Yes.”

“Then yes,” Rowan replied firmly. “I’m interested.”

“Good. My name is Kanna Soreth. Report to my office before the term starts and I’ll help you select your courses.”

Rowan blinked slowly as the words sank in. “Does this mean I’ve passed?”

It was Kanna’s turn to blink, the words hardly registering as she looked at the boy before her in disbelief. Did he truly not realize what sort of feat he had just performed? What other mages would give to have a mana pool a fraction the size of his own? How did a brat who knows so little about magic get this far in the academy’s selection process?

Resolving to look into his background later, Kanna nodded. “Your score in this test guarantees your acceptance.” Offering Rowan a rare smile, she reached out a hand. “Welcome to Faebrook.”