Maximus has been standing for several hours now. "If this is what it takes to become a mage, I am not sure I want to be one anymore" thought Max while yawning.
Suddenly, all the villagers straightened their backs and looked at the entrance of the village, as suddenly a sound of horses pulling a carriage could be heard with which small pebbles on the street started shaking.
As Max also straightened and looked ahead, he could see two massive black horses pulling onto a carriage that looked bigger than most houses in the village.
As the carriage stopped. A coachman slowly moved from the front of the carriage, laid a red carpet on the ground and opened the door for the delegate. With the door opened, and all the preparations ready, the delegate stepped out of the carriage to the cheers of fifteen hundred people, which he has simply ignored, as it was beneath him to show respect to commoners without magic talents.
While the delegate was slowly making his way towards the center of the street, Max carefully observed him, because this delegate was the strongest mage that he has ever seen.
The delegate looked to be about six foot in height, a little chubby. He was dressed in a light blue robe that had a mysterious pattern on it with an insignia on his left shoulder, probably signifying his status as a delegate. His walk was slow, yet fast, each step carrying confidence and arrogance of someone who possesses strength. Magical elements around his were moving which made him look more mysterious, which earned gazes filled with awe from villagers.
As the delegate reached the center of the street, he proclaimed: "Villagers of Snowbrook! My name is Steven Faust, and I was sent here by the Great Kingdom of Valtoria to which you belong, to test the magical talents of your children who have turned six this year. Let them line up and we shall start the procedure!"
With this proclamation, all the villagers bowed to Steven Faust to show gratefulness and respect, which is a common practice as Steven was someone sent by the Kingdom and was stronger than them in power and status. After a ten second bow, all the families who had children who needed to complete the magical talent test scurried to line up their children.
As the first child started walking to Faust, Max observed from the side trying not to miss any details of the process.
With the ceremony about to start, Steven Faust took out a round looking object that looked as transparent as glass and said: "this is an orb used to test magical talent. It will shine in golden color if you have a talent for magic and in blue if you have a talent to become a knight. Now put you hand on top of it and try to feel the magic within you."
With that, a small child of six years of age who went up first, suspiciously looked at the orb, but still did as told and put his hand on the orb attempting to feel the magical power within himself. But as seconds turned to minutes, nothing happened.
"Child, you do not have any talent for magic, go back and grow to be a farmer to help your family." Announced Faust.
"How can it be? How can it be? Mom said that I have a potential to become a mage, that I could be strong and respected. Why then do I have not talent? I refuse!" Sadly exclaimed the child and attempted to test again. Seeing this, Faust did not shy away from pushing the kids with his leg and saying "How dare you disagree with the results? Go back in line now or I do not mind killing you and your family!" With that, the kid in tears turned around and rushed to his parents who were on their knees begging for forgiveness.
"Do not let something like this happen again, as the next offense will be treated as an assault" Shouted Faust, with his voice reaching every corner of the village, probably magnified by some magic.
After that event, the rest of the tests were calm, despite their unfortunate results. This went on until a little girl went to test, who was a daughter of one of the few families who treated Max's mom well and with respect.
As she placed her hand on the orb and tried to feel the magic in herself, the orb strangely started producing an insignificant light blue in color, which quickly died down.
"Congratulations girl! You have a novice knight talent. Go back to your family to say goodbye, as you will soon travel with me to the Junior Magic Academy in the Kingdom of Valtoria and enroll in a knight class there. We will leave in a few hours, so hurry up." said Steven, as he acted casual about this because a novice knight talent was not enough to surprise him.
Hearing the results, the little girl named Lily was shocked and kept shooting stares at the orb and at her hand, as she could not believe that she had a talent to become a knight. Max also looked happy as he heard the news because he did like the girl's family for being nice to his mother.
The villagers clapped and started whispering amongst themselves when they heard the results of the test, realizing that they had to start acting nicer and closer to Lily's mom, as Lily had the potential to become a knight and will soon go to the junior academy to study.
After this event, there have been no other case of magical talent until it was Max's turn.
With his turn, Maximus slowly made his way to Faust and the orb as he realized that this moment will shape his future. Will he have the talent to stand at the peak of the world or will he be just another commoner?