MAJOR’S POV:

  Mezmer had lied when describing his orders to the household. His true directive was to proceed to the slums to inspect the recent murders of Tier 1 mages and the surge in disappearances that had plagued the district like a spreading rot. He was certain that Dark Mages were behind the atrocities, yet it was uncharacteristically bold of them to invite conflict with the Kingdom’s military so openly. Before he could address the slaughter, however, he was tasked to visit this house and only this one. His mission was to check the boy’s potential and report the findings back by a raven immediately. The priority of this assignment was placed extremely high, and though the underlying reasons remained a mystery to him, an order from the Crown was absolute.

  He watched with a cold, observant eye as the Magic Stone turned a brilliant, pulsing orange in the boy’s hand. His focus immediately shifted to the child’s reaction, which felt fundamentally odd. Why would the boy smile, even if only faintly, at an outcome he supposedly already knew? He found himself wondering if it was merely a child’s simple joy or something far more calculated, a mask hiding a deeper truth.

  His gaze drifted to Lord Ander, whose presence throughout the entire interaction felt increasingly out of place. There had been a strange friction, a silent conflict brewing in the mana just before the inspection began, which was disturbing in its own right. The entire process felt divergent from the standard military procedures he was accustomed to, though he could not pin down the exact discrepancies. A profound sense of wrongness permeated the scene. The orders were strange, the master was enigmatic, and the boy’s smile was an anomaly that did not fit the patterns of the Middle District. He had to report these observations to his superiors without delay.

  BERTO’S POV:

  Soon the mages left the house after saying that Adam was now registered as Tier 1 with a potential of Tier 2. Their heavy footsteps faded slowly, the rhythmic thudding on the street outside leaving a ringing silence in their wake. There was a thick silence permeating the house after they were gone, a stagnant weight that felt like a physical pressure against the floorboards. He looked upon his disciple and saw how utterly exhausted he was. Adam looked as if he would drop dead at any moment, his skin sallow and his frame trembling under the invisible weight of the mana he had just manipulated.

  They were safe for now. Berto could feel for himself that something was wrong with the test as the mana had behaved oddly, vibrating with an unnatural cadence that still lingered in the corners of the room. He had no idea what Adam had pulled off, but it did not take them off the radar. It only increased the time that was given to them. The lead Major was not stupid, nor were the higher echelons who had sent him. They would observe, waiting for any slip of theirs. If a slip did not happen on its own, they would undoubtedly take the first step toward forcing them to show their hand.

  His gaze shifted to Cait. She looked confused and slightly scared, the warmth usually present in her emerald eyes replaced by a sharp, flickering unease. Even she could tell that something was off about this whole situation. Mages of high standing visiting their household to check Adam, his own skip of sending a report, and Adam’s complete exhaustion were all signs of a gathering storm. She would seek answers from him, and he would have to lie to maintain the fragile peace of their home.

  "Adam, you are still exhausted after your breakthrough, and testing your potential only made it more so. Go and rest. We will go to the market tomorrow to do a little celebration of your achievements." He said suddenly, breaking the silence with a voice that reverberated through the hollow stillness of the house.

  Adam looked upon him and nodded after a while, his movements sluggish as he vanished upstairs, leaving behind only the echo of his steps that soon faded into nothing. He knew that Adam preferred to stay in the house and read books or share time with his parents even before he had arrived, but he had to change that. The boy could not afford to remain ignorant of the world outside.

  "So, mind telling me what exactly just happened, Uncle?" the decisive voice of Cait reached his ears.

  He looked upon her and answered, "Sure, let us sit down first."

  As soon as they were seated at the table, he began his performance, pitching his voice to sound burdened by simple bureaucracy. "You see, my dear Cait, many people know that I am a friend of your family, so my presence here so often nowadays made them wonder. That is why they came here to check for potential, seeing as I have not made any report yet."

  He could see that she wanted him to continue, her gaze sharp and searching. He sighed. "As for why I did not send in a report, it is because of our Kingdom’s current situation. Disappearances in the slums and the pressure from the Orcs that is increasing by the day with new rumors coming in. There is much more than that, so I simply wanted to take my time before he is registered as a mage. They will not send him to a battlefield before he is fifteen, but it is better to be safe than sorry."

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  He spoke darkly, looking straight into her eyes, and he could see that the news hit her hard, the weight of the Kingdom's wars pressing down on her shoulders. The silence stretched between them, and after a while, she nodded slowly.

  "I think I am going to rest as well," her voice barely audible. Soon she was gone as well.

  He sat there for a moment longer, silently thinking about all that was coming. He knew what the higher echelons would do now after he had said it out loud himself. They would observe for the next five years, and if a slip did not happen, Adam was going to get a call the moment he hit fifteen years of age. Dark Mages or an infiltration mission against the Orcs; he was not sure which one it would be or what would change in geopolitics before then, but it was coming.

  "Great, another timer upon us," he murmured to himself. Maybe it would be long enough for Adam to hit Tier 2. It had to be.

  ADAM’S POV:

  The first rays of the sun pierced his eyes as he woke up, the bright light forcing a squint as his mind slowly returned to the waking world. He could faintly hear the nature outside that was waking up, a distant chorus of birds and the rustle of the garden that felt peaceful compared to the storm of the previous day. He felt much better after getting this long of a rest, even if there was still a faint ache in his muscles that served as a lingering reminder of the mana overload. He could work with that. The memory of the last day appeared in front of him, the pulsing orange light of the Magic Stone and the oppressive atmosphere of the inspection.

  He had done it. Would it be enough for them to leave him alone? He doubted it, for the Crown was a predator that rarely ignored such potential. He stood up from his bed and changed into a raven-black shirt with the trousers of the same hue, the very same outfit he had worn when he first met with his Master. It felt ideal for their journey to the market, a silent tribute to the path he had started. It felt a bit sudden of his Mentor to decide so. There was probably some reason behind it except for the celebration, but he did not know what exactly it could be.

  He looked upon himself in the mirror, his reflection staring back with a quiet intensity he had not possessed months ago. He could see slight bags under his eyes that still accompanied him, betraying the immense strain he had gone through and the price he had paid for his deception. The whispers actually saved me. Adam knew he would fail if not for their intervention, as the "Change" they provided was the only thing that had tilted the scales in his favor. But why did they do so? It remained a mystery that sat heavy in his mind. Soon he left his own room and descended downstairs, the wood creaking softly under his rhythmic steps as he prepared to face the world beyond the garden gates.

  Soon he got down and the aroma of breakfast had already filled the house, a warm scent of toasted bread and herbs that grounded his senses. He could see Berto and his father were already seated, and upon hearing his footsteps, they both turned towards him.

  "Good morning Father, Master," he said, his voice still carrying a hint of morning hoarseness.

  They both nodded, smiling faintly upon him as he joined them at the table, which was soon filled with excellent food prepared by his mother.

  "So you are going to the market with Uncle Berto I heard. Try not to get scammed," Kriss laughed while giving him a pouch that was jiggling with the heavy weight of coins that barely fit inside.

  "Thank you Father," he said unsurely, deciding not to peek inside at the moment as the metallic clinking of silver and copper felt unfamiliar in his palm. Even if he did look, it would not tell him much, for he had never gone to buy supplies with his parents. He was never interested in money or the mechanics of trade, believing that as long as he had a roof above his head and food to fill his stomach, he needed nothing but knowledge.

  But as he felt the weight of the pouch, he realized that perhaps that wasn’t so smart. He imagined a scenario where he successfully reached Tier 3, becoming a Great Mage, yet remained unable to understand the basic value of currency. That would be an embarrassment he wasn't willing to risk. The rest of breakfast passed quickly, and soon they found themselves outside the house. It was early morning and the weather was spotless, the sky a clear, endless blue. He took a deep breath of fresh air, feeling the crispness of the morning in his lungs before deciding to ask a question.

  "So Master, why exactly are we going to the market?" he asked, tossing his pouch slightly while looking upon the houses they were passing. Each was similar to his own in size, but every one of them differed in terms of decorations and the unique vision of its owner, reflecting the status of the families within.

  "Well to begin, Adam, you rarely leave your own house. You do not even talk with anyone else than your parents, and it is not a good habit. You became a hermit at ten. Second, from what I came to know, you have no idea how coins work and what costs how much. We will visit the market today and the Grand Library tomorrow to expand your horizons. Also, there is more we should talk about, but it can wait until we are back."

  His Master spoke with a scolding tone, and Adam could feel the weight of his gaze. He was right; he might have become the youngest hermit to ever live. As for what his Mentor would want to talk about in private, it was likely something revolving around what he did yesterday. Had he failed and simply didn't realize it? No, that was not possible, for he had gotten the color right and their reaction had seemed normal at the time. He would have to wait for his answers.

  With every step, he could hear how the commotion got louder, the distant hum of the city turning into a roar that seemed to burst his eardrums. There were so many people, each of them talking, arguing, or bargaining in a chaotic symphony of commerce. Every stand was a different color, each trying to pin his gaze with bright fabrics and exotic goods, and on top of that, he could feel it. The heaviness in the mana was palpable here, a dense vibration that hummed beneath the skin of the city. There were other mages here as well, their presence manifesting as subtle ripples in the atmospheric pressure that he could now perceive with his Tier 1 senses.