At that moment, one of the clerks called them forward in a formal tone. The clerk had sharp features accentuated by thin glasses. Her narrow eyes scrutinized Ace as he approached the desk with his application paper in hand. She took it with practiced ease, reading it carefully—not just the words, but checking for forgery, then assessing the applicant himself—his features, his posture. After a brief silence, she said firmly:
"Please, follow me to the magical testing room."
She gestured toward a side door behind her desk—a dark wooden door that seemed to divide the known from the unknown. Ace moved toward it, with little Emilia by his side. But the clerk stopped her, saying:
"Sorry, miss. The magical test is for the applicant only."
The girl froze in place, worry clinging to her eyes. The clerk noticed and added:
"You may enter—if the applicant permits."
The clerk turned to Ace, who gave a slight nod of approval. With that, the three of them entered the room. As the door closed behind them, the outside sounds faded, and darkness enveloped the space.
A light clap echoed, and then a soft glow began to fill the room, revealing its interior. The space was narrow and heavy with stillness. On both sides, shelves held transparent crystal stones, each resting on a soft cushion like a precious gem waiting to unveil its mystery. The dim blue light they emitted was the only illumination.
At the far end of the room stood a modest wooden table, with a soft cushion placed at its center. The staff member stepped forward, picked up one of the glowing stones, and set it on the cushion. Then, she stood behind the table, lifted her gaze to the young man, and said in a low voice:
"This stone is known as the magical stone. It can detect magical energy deep within the body. It will reveal whether you are capable of using magic energy, and it will also indicate your magical affinity."
Ace didn't grasp everything she said, but he stared at the crystal stone and asked:
"What is magical affinity?"
The staff member's expression didn't change, as though she was used to hearing that question. She replied in a formal tone, devoid of any sympathy for his ignorance:
"Every person has a unique magical signature. The stone determines the type of that signature."
Her explanation wasn't entirely clear, but Ace didn't ask any more questions. He stepped toward the table, and the staff member instructed him to place his hand on the stone. She explained that what would happen next would occur automatically—the stone would draw out his inner energy to reveal its quantity and type.
Ace slowly extended his hand toward the stone. The moment his fingers touched its cold surface; he felt a slight prick. He placed his whole palm on it, sensing its chill, though the cold didn't last long. It quickly turned into a gentle warmth, then into growing heat. Ace felt as if something was being pulled out of him.
Suddenly, the stone glowed with a brilliant white light, like a white flame. The light reflected off the black walls of the room, making them look like mirrors. The sight was so unexpected that the staff member took a step back, her eyes wide with shock, as though she hadn't anticipated such a result. A moment passed before she spoke in a hushed, astonished voice:
"This... is rare!"
The glow continued to intensify, as if the stone was still hungry for the young man's energy. Ace began to feel his palm burn from the heat. Emilia stepped back, covering her eyes to shield them from the blinding light, while a small girl's scream pierced the air. Ace felt the stone tremble and asked in a worried tone:
"Is... is this normal?"
The staff member didn't answer. Her gaze stayed fixed on the scene with a mix of focus and unease. She raised her hand, forming a circle with her fingers in front of one eye, as if narrowing her vision to focus on a distant detail. Her eye sparkled with a different light, and then widened abruptly, as if she had discovered something unexpected.
Moments later, the stone burst into a sudden flash and disintegrated into a cloud of white dust that spread in all directions, filling the room with a thick fog, like a cloud detonated inside an enclosed space.
Emilia coughed several times while the staff member pulled out a handkerchief to cover her mouth and nose, brushing the dust from her clothes. Emilia wiped tears from her eyes caused by the swirling particles. With half-closed eyes, she asked in a quivering voice, not really expecting an answer:
"What? ... What just happened?"
Ace was still staring at the space the stone had occupied; his brows furrowed in a mix of worry and confusion. His heart was pounding—not from the explosion, but from a different thought that crossed his mind: would he have to pay for the crystal stone?
The staff member tried to make sense of what had just occurred. Before they entered, her preliminary scan of the young man—done discreetly and without his knowledge—had shown no signs of active magical energy. To her, he had seemed like an ordinary person with no trace of hidden power. But what had happened now had shattered that belief completely. She began to wonder if he had used some technique to conceal his true energy.
Still, she couldn't think of a reason why anyone would do that, especially if they were going to release such a massive amount of energy anyway. While she was lost in thought, Ace interrupted her with an awkward smile and a hint of humor in his tone:
"Do I... do I need to pay for the stone that just evaporated?"
His words were merely a distraction from the obvious reality, but he didn't expect the staff member to continue scrutinizing him with the same intense gaze. She blinked slowly several times, then finally said in a low voice:
"Don't worry. Magical stones sometimes get damaged. I just didn't expect that much energy to be released. I would've chosen a larger stone."
Emilia then stepped forward, curiosity overcoming her hesitation. She asked with nervous interest:
"How much? ... How much energy did he release?"
The staff member hesitated before answering, as if the words themselves were reluctant to leave her lips. At last, she said in a low voice:
"My reading indicated 2500 units."
Emilia's eyes widened in shock. She gasped, trying to comprehend what she had just heard, her fingers trembling from the sheer surprise. Ace looked at her with concern, his brows tightening with a mix of suspicion and anxiety. He asked:
"Is that... bad?"
She turned to him sharply, her eyes ablaze with a mix of awe and disbelief, and said:
"Bad? Quite the opposite! That's insane! How do you know nothing about magical energy and yet possess this much of it?!"
Her words struck him like a blow. He found himself staring at the staff member, who had been silently observing. She sighed slightly before explaining to the bewildered young man the reason behind the girl's reaction:
"Ordinary people generally have less than 50 units of magical energy. That amount is considered practically useless. Beginner adventurers usually range between 200 and 500. Those nearing 1000 units are extremely rare and are often seasoned warriors or trained magic users. But for someone who seems unaware of magic to possess 2500 units... I've never seen anything like it."
Her final words dripped with quiet astonishment. In contrast, Emilia couldn't contain her excitement. She leapt up lightly, her eyes sparkling like twin stars in the dim light. She turned to the staff member again and asked with palpable eagerness:
"So, Mr. Ace is one of them, right?"
The staff member smiled—not just a polite smile, but one filled with a special recognition, as if she had discovered a rare gem. She nodded and said with firm conviction:
"Yes. Without a doubt."
Her words ignited a fire of excitement in the girl's heart, while Ace only grew more confused. He asked Emilia:
"One of them? What exactly do you mean?"
She beamed at him and replied with irrepressible enthusiasm:
"Sometimes, individuals with immense magical power appear. They're called the Gifted, and they almost always become the strongest and most famous adventurers in the world in a short time. You seem to be one of them, Mr. Ace!"
Her tone carried open admiration, as though she were facing a storybook hero. Then she turned back to the staff member, her eyes gleaming with curiosity and confusion as she asked:
"But... what does that color mean? I've never heard of a magical affinity that shows a white color."
The staff member paused briefly before smiling, as if she had anticipated the question:
"The colors that crystal stones display are fixed. Blue indicates water, red is for fire, green for wind, and brown for earth. But white, the rarest color, signifies a universal affinity for all elements. It means the person doesn't lean toward a single element but instead possesses a balance among all four. However, that balance comes at a cost—an inability to specialize deeply in any one element."