While Riley was having a conversation with Peruda on various things, Iris and Sera had already made their way to another place and called for Riley.
Ian too was already over there and looking at Riley from the other side.
“Um?”
“It’s for mana measurement. You said you wanted to try it once.”
“…”
With excitement, Ian’s eyes lit up as Riley walked towards them in acquiescence.
“Okay, okay.”
Unlike other objects in the Magic Tower’s first floor that must not be touched, the mana measurement device had a blue orb placed in plain sight with a sign that said it was fine for anyone to use it.
“Peruda, how do I use this?”
“Just place your hand on top of the orb. Ah, are you left-handed by chance?”
“No, I am right handed. Why?”
“In that case, just place your right hand on the top. When you do, the orb will glow briefly, and then it will fill with water to the extent that reflects the amount of mana measured from you, sir.”
Mana measurement.
The device in front of Riley was a mass-produced version, the kind for a distributed widely and used by anyone. To that end, the orb had measurement lines drawn to help the user easily discern the mana measurement.
“Excuse me, Mr. Peruda.”
“Yes, Mr. Ian.”
Before Riley placed his hand on the orb, Ian asked Peruda,
“What happens if the dissemination type orb breaks?”
“Uh…that only happens in extremely rare circumstances. If that happened, the Magic Tower or someone else will attempt scout the user, especially if the person is still young since that would mean the person possesses jaw-dropping talent.”
Peruda was shrugging his shoulder as he was responding, but then he changed his words in the middle.
“No, that’s not it… Instead of saying it is rare, it is correct to say it never happened. The orb could develop a crack, but if it broke, that means the user is showing talent beyond the level of a genius. To this day, orbs have never been broken. Haha! It’s not like the user is a dragon or something. There is no way for it to break.”
Peruda waved his hand as he explained that it had never happened before, and he added explanations on the figures that managed to make the orb to develop cracks.
“So, making the orb develop a crack alone is an incredible feat. To tell you about the most notable figure that made it happen, there was the grand mage Astroa from our Magic Tower, and then there is the renowned mercenary hero from the world war of the past…who was that? I cannot recall his name very well, but there is also that gentleman.”
“…”
Sera and Iris, who were watching from the back, made noises of suppressed laughter as they gazed at Ian.
It appeared that a very long time had passed since after all.
“By chance, Mr. Ian… are you expecting to occur? When sir Riley tries it?”
“Kuhum…”
Ian omitted a response as he just made a fake cough.
It was not certain if Riley was aware of how Ian was feeling or not, but Riley placed his hand on top of the orb and casually murmured,
“After this, let’s just go eat lunch. I am not certain about the time now… Is it going to be a dinner instead?”
The measurement orb started to exude a steady blue light.
“…”
Perhaps about ten seconds had passed.
The orb’s light turned off as if it was signaling that it had finished the measurement, and Riley took his palm off the orb.
“How was it?”
“What was the result?”
“Um.”
Not just Ian, but Iris and Sera also gathered in front of the orb that had just finished measuring.
“Well?”
Upon close inspection, the water filling the inside of the orb was up to about half.
“It’s…normal. It’s about average.”
Peruda, who had joined afterward to stand right beside everyone, observed the water inside the orb and opened his mouth.
“…Average?”
“Yes, average. If you tried hard, you could learn magic, but the progress would be slow…so it would be better for him to find something el…”
“This cannot be.”
“Mr. Ian?”
“This is not possible.”
Ian got right in front of the orb and grabbed a firm hold of it with his both hands.
He was hoping maybe that would make the amount of water inside to increase a little or even make the orb to develop a crack.