An Official Genius

"What? How is this possible?! They said you were 3rd circle at best which is already insane but you're already a 5th circle at only 16 years of age? This is impossible and unprecedented in all of history!"

"Is that it?"

The mage calmed himself and snapped out of his shock.

"Oh, no. there is still another test! You just have to completely release all of your Mana and then retrieve it. You can use this orb, simply put all of your Mana into it and that's it!."

The mage handed me a black orb.

"Sounds easy enough but shouldn't you be testing something more practical?" I questioned.

"These are the current standards. Please proceed," he replied.

"Alright."

I poured every bit of energy in the [Energy Storage] into the orb and numbers began appearing on it. The mage began going crazy as well.

"179! 280! 506! It's still going! 800! 999!"

The numbers suddenly stopped at 999.

"Huh?! Is the orb broken? Your Mana is almost higher than a 6th circle mage!"

I just wanted to be done and get back to reading.

"Is the test void then?"

"Oh! Uhh no. The last number was 999 so we'll just go with that. One second and your pendant will be ready."

The mage began casting several high-level spells while muttering chants.

"Here you go. I must say that your talent is rather unfair! The king will surely faint upon hearing of this!"

The mage handed me a rectangular iron

necklace with 5-Stars lit on its surface.

"A 16-year-old 5th-Circle mage with nearly the mana of a 7th-Circle Mage is truly unprecedented! Thank you for allowing me the honor of appraising you!" he said with a joyous expression.

I put on the necklace as the mage bowed and left the hay circle.

"My turn, young master!" said the swordswoman as she jumped into the hay circle with two swords in her hands.

"I only have two simple tests for you, one is for your Aura and the other is a spar. Which one would you like to start with?"

"Let's get the Aura test done with."

"Take this then."

The brunette woman tossed me a strange iron sword with 10 thick horizontal black lines from the blade's base to the blade's tip.

"Oh, a testing sword? This reminds me of something. Can I ask you a question, sword master?"

"Go ahead."

"Was there an incident about 6 months ago, where a young man broke a testing sword with his Aura?" I questioned.

"There was, but how do you know that? It was kept under wraps."

Her answer revealed to me that the novel's story would kick off in only 2 years and that the main character had already surpassed me a year ago. His cheat was even greater than I imagined.

I ignored her question.

"Let's start then."

I released my Aura into the sword and one by one the black lines turned a dark red.

"3 lines, 5 lines, 7 lines, 8 lines! 9 lines! 10 Lines?! It still hasn't stopped!"

"You didn't think I'd fall behind my cousin, did you?"

The sword combusted and my Aura was released into the air in the shape of a dark red flame. Immediately, I retracted it into my body.

"It broke! This is the third time in our kingdom's entire history, and Sword Energy on a 16-year-old? My god!"

"Let's start with the second test immediately."

"Oh, sorry. I was distracted. We'll do a 5-minute spar, if you land 10 hits on me or manage to push me out of this hay circle you win." she replied.

She tossed me a wooden sword and took one for herself as we faced each other in the circle.

"Start!"

In an instant, she leaped at me and swung down with her sword. I instantly took a blocking stance.

"You have a heavy sword, Sword-Master," I said nonchalantly.

"Not heavy enough it seems, you're not even budging."

When her meteor-like sword reached my guard it was stopped completely. Brute strength was my specialty after all.

"I've been told I have a strong body."

"I'm ashamed to say that I, a Sword Master can't overpower you with physical strength. Aura is a different matter though!"

Her bright blue Aura was unleashed and I was pushed away a short distance.

"I guess i'll start getting serious."

I dashed forward and swung at her from every direction, her Aura was too much to get through but I felt a strange sense of calmness, precision, and reflex that could find pinpoint openings in her defense.

"3."

"How incredible! I'm blocking but you're finding even the smallest openings!"

She sped up and began closing all tiny openings without giving way.

"5 hits, I have to use my Aura now or I won't get through."

I sped up my attacks and unleashed my dark red aura to fully cover my body and my wooden sword.

"6. 7. 8!"

"Ngh! Your Aura is incredibly pure, I've landed nearly 50 strikes on you but you've endured them without blinking!"

She suddenly increased her Aura to the limit in an effort to completely block me but I simply dodged back and dashed forward piercing through and striking past her guard in an instant.

"9 and 10!!"

"Hahaha young master, you've really mastered the basics to an incredible degree! Your senses and reflexes are amazingly sharp too!"

"Thank you. Does this mean I've passed?"

"Perfectly so! You're an official Swordsman-Rank swordsman! This is the proof."

She handed me a black ring with the words Swordsman inscribed on it in bright silver and then she brought out a rectangular black card, engraved something on it, and then handed it to the mage who did the same.

"This is your identity and status card, it contains your most important information, from family to ranks to exact stats and the sort, all you have to do now is drip some blood on it and it'll be linked to you."

…