“If you do not see anything at all after keeping your touch for one minute, then I’m afraid you basically have no talent,” Mara shrugged.
When he finished, Mara went back to being silent and pushed the Talent Sphere towards Auri.
Auri swallowed hard. She then reached out a trembling hand, and placed it on the sphere…
When the small hourglass on the desk made one flip (1 minute) 1 , Auri shook her head in disappointment and left on her own accord.
Mara retained his blank expression. “Next.”
Time passed. Dozens of people had taken the test and none succeeded.
When an honest-looking young man did his test, his expression became sharp.
“I just felt a breeze against myself, as if I’m standing in a sea of winds,” said the young man. He hugged the air in front of him and seemed to be enjoying something.
“There—there it is! A talented one!” Count Eton exclaimed in surprise. He totally did not expect to find one all the way out here, in the countryside, when they found none back at the capital.
Leon became excited as well. He happily asked Head Maid Mana about the young man.
Mana, however, looked at the “honest” young man and curled her lips. The man had quite a bad name in the manor, and someone like him was actually talented? Mana silently cursed Lady Luck for being unjustified and answered Leon in a low voice, “His name is Fawkes, son of the gardener, Glenn.”
Fawkes? Leon never heard of him. It did not matter though. There were lots of servants in the manor.
In a high spirit, Leon ordered Mana, “Take a hundred gold coins from the storage and present them to—”
“Wait.”
Mara’s deep voice suddenly echoed inside the room.
When hearing Leon mentioning “coin”, Fawkes was feeling quite proud. When Mara spoke, however, he slumped down quickly, sweat drops showed on his forehead.
“A sea of winds? Ha… No one dared to lie to me back at the capital. Now someone here actually made up a story in front of my face? Do you really think white wizards have no temper?”
Mara humphed, and a strong storm began circling around Fawkes.
“A sea of winds was it? I’ll grant you that wish. Enjoy this ‘Whisper of Wind’!”
There was screaming before Fawkes was blown out of the window of the third floor by the wind and fell onto the ground, followed by constant screeches and cries.
Leon’s expression went pale as he asked, “Mister Mara, what happened? Was Fawkes lying?”
Mara sneered, “The ‘change’ can only be seen by the testee, true. But once that happens, the Talent Sphere will flash to tell me that talent has appeared.”
Hearing Mara’s words, everyone quickly understood the reason for the incident.
They had been watching. The sphere never gave out anything from the start, which meant Fawkes was truly telling lies.
Leon showed obvious anger and turned to the Head Maid Mana, “Don’t let me see Fawkes’ face in Grue Town, starting from tomorrow.”
Mana made a bow to acknowledge the order before she left the room.
No one thought about what would become of Fawkes. Mara tidied up his robe a bit and lifted his impatience before he proceeded with the test.
Two hourglass hours had passed. All the servants were done, including Head Maid Mana and the guard knights. No one was talented.
Finally, Mara shifted his gaze onto Angor.
This is it.
Angor had made up his mind.
…
“I’ll go first. I’m also interested in wizardry. Mister Mara said that wizards all have a long lifespan and that they can live forever. That’s what I wish for,” said Leon. He stopped Angor and sat in front of Mara himself. He then said, “I can see much more scenery that way. I want to see everything this world has to offer.”
Angor did not move back. Instead, he sat beside Leon.
“You first,” Angor showed a fist to Leon. This was what they would do when encouraging each other during childhood.
Leon rubbed Angor’s soft hair with a smile. Then he reached for the Talent Sphere.
The white sand of time in the hourglass flowed down slowly. Leon looked around the room, trying to spot a “change”.
A minute passed. Leon lifted his hand and grave disappointment was written in his expression.
“It seems… I’m not talented,” Leon spoke helplessly. He could not find any changes during the minute. As Mara said, talent was extremely rare.
“It’s your turn then,” Leon patted Angor’s shoulder.
Angor nodded and slowly put his hand on the smooth surface of the Talent Sphere.