Chapter 11: Talent
At the very end, the King clapped his hands. Seeing that he was the focus of everyone's looks, his face broke into a cold smile.
Those who knew the ruthless king well would be able to tell that he probably had an announcement to make, and one which 'pleased' him at that.
Calmly, he looked towards Zach, who immediately lowered his head. The mere gaze of the king sent chills down his spine, and he nearly wet himself. Seeing how cowardly someone with his bloodline behaved, the king felt more disgust on top of the hatred he already had for the kid.
"Zach, you're turning sixteen in a week's time. I want to ask, have you gone to the mage guild to try checking if you have any talent?" he asked, confusing Zach. Weren't they about to talk about his foolishness earlier?
Did things change? Or maybe Alaric didn't tell the king? No, that's not possible. It's like saying a cat didn't lick his catnip, which is impossible.
Anyway, back to the King's question, the jobs that humans could choose were divided into two big categories, and under them are multiple classes. One of them was the most common Warrior job, which was available to everyone, and those who practiced it couldn't harness mana but instead ki, a sort of energy only found inside the body and can strengthen the body to a higher degree. The more talented a person is in harnessing the energy, the stronger he can get.
The other one, Mage, was only for those with psychokinesis abilities. Generally, only one in a thousand would meet the requirements for becoming a Mage.
If one was to state the difference between the Mage and the Warrior, it would be as vast as the difference between a Warrior who had already undergone the second job transition and one who had undergone the first job transition, or a Warrior who had gone through the third job transition and one who had only gone through the second job transition. The Mage was akin to a killing machine, born to be above all living creatures with powerful AOE attacks.
According to his memories, the old Zach, naturally, had gone through the same test long ago, when he had been young, around 5. It was too bad that he did not have the necessary talent to become a Mage.
The Mage proficiency examination ran a detailed test on the subject's mental status, physical status, aptitude in psychokinesis, and many other factors. The results of the test would obviously decide whether the subject had the potential to become a Mage or not.
Following everyone's gaze, the King smiled a cold, scary smile that seemed more like death stares as he calmly said, "Seems that you have tried and don't have the basic requirements needed to be a mage. But not to worry, I've already spoken to Sir Briggs from the noble family of Jonathan. They're a family with the topmost skills in the ways of swords, daggers, and spears. You have 10 minutes to pack your things, as you will be leaving to go there and learn the ways of the sword."
"Indeed, it's better than slagging off at home and doing nothing. At least the stronger you are, the more helpful or useful you will be in this house," says the second lady with a cold look. She has always hated Zachary anyway, no, not only him but all those children born by the King's concubines.
The third lady chuckled as she teased Zach, "Don't feel scared, Zach. I'm sure you will do well over there. We will prepare you a few million coins to carry in a small space ring, okay?"
"Sir Briggs?" After being stunned for a while, the third brother said in a daze, "I have heard that Sir Briggs is a man that hardly teaches people, but the few people he ever taught have all become Grandmasters in their respective fields! Hahahahaha! It's a blessing for my family if my kid brother is going to train there."
The King looked at the dazed Zach, who did not know what to do, then he smiled and said, "Zach, I, your father, have already prepared a carriage that will take you to the next kingdom to meet Sir Briggs. 20 top-level knights will guide you till you reach his side. You'll have to work hard to pick up sword skills in the future."
The whole scene was a mess, with gazes ranging from envy and jealousy to excitement, all directed towards Zach. All of it made him the absolute star of the moment.
But to Zach, he felt more and more confused. That type of confusion you feel when the teacher in class asked a question, and everyone lifted their hands to answer it except you, who don't know the answer, only for the teacher to fucking point at you! Yes! That type of confusion.
Zach truly felt like something was wrong somewhere. Did Alaric really not tell the king what happened? Wait, did he threaten the concubine too, and now she's his? What the hell is happening here?
"Young Master has the talent to become a Sword God already!"
"Did you hear? His royal highness has already made connections for one of his sons to go study under the legendary Sir Briggs!"
"Is that the truth? Seems like our Royal family will sooner or later have a real legendary sword master among us."
Walking along the long corridor, Zach kept hearing the servants' chattering. He felt more and more confused, like there's something at play here, but he couldn't place his hands on it.
"These are all my faults. If I had focused on reading and watching crime scene documentaries, politics-related stuff, and so on, I would have easily uncovered it, but hey! I went for smuts, hentai, porn, 18+ magazines, and comic books," Zach grumbled as he passed the servants who kept bowing to him.
Zach knew he had no time to even meditate, and he was also scared of revealing he now has a mana pool because three things might happen.
Either he becomes a threat to his brothers, who are fighting for the throne, and gets eliminated before he even touches more boobs.
He becomes the favoured child of the king and does not have easy permission to go open his dungeons and experience life and always lives in fear of being assassinated by the family enemies.
Or lastly, they think he made some sort of deal with the demons and now has ways to harness their mana!
Either way, he can never reveal he already awakened his mage talent, as it's too special, with only 20,000 people worldwide having it. That's how special it is!