Result: Disbelief

The candidates that had gone through the test all had different expressions written on their faces, joy, sadness, contentment, embarrassment. The ones that were still waiting though were anxious.

"I'm a little worried guys, I don't know what I'd get." Joshua said with a hint of concern and anxiety in his voice.

Paul tapped him on shoulder. "bro, don't worry, it will be alright."

Paul said so even though he was also feeling a little anxious himself, he just didn't express it.

"Joshua Lonsdale" his name was called by the Magus Jake.

"You'll be fine, I believe you'll do well." Oscar said some words of encouragement while gesturing him to go and take the test.

The pale-skinned boy who got paler by the second, responded with a nod and walked to the platform.

He passed through the scanner which glowed purple. An indication of his affinity with the lightning element.

The scanner gave out a blue light for water affinity, brown for earth, red for fire, white indicated air. with purple, yellow and black for thunder, light and darkness respectively.

He placed his hand on the orb and it emitted a blue light.

"Joshua Lonsdale, lightning affinity, mid-grade."

Joshua sighed in relief after the announcement. He knows he doesn't have the potential of a genius. However, his result was considered acceptable by the standards of the kingdom. He went back to his seat and was congratulated by his pals, Oscar and Paul.

"Marcus Williams!" A dark-skinned boy with black eyes and a slightly muscular build stood up from his seat and made an ascent to the stage for the test.

"Marcus Williams, earth affinity, high grade!"

"Myra Iyun" The mage called out.

A tall and beautiful olive-skinned girl with budding features took to the stage.

There was a prejudice against dark mages in the kingdom because of their abilities.

A strong dark mage could take the life of any living being and turn it into mana for themselves, stronger dark mages were also capable of soul and mind attacks. If not for the fact that every power was vital in their fight against the knolls. The discrimination of dark mages would have been worse.

"Darkness affinity, high grade." There was an applause from the crowd, however, it felt like more of a formality than approbation.

Oscar maintained a stoic expression outwardly but was weighing the potential outcome of his result. "How high is my potential going to be? I don't know what to expect, will the orb glow white or is there a shade higher?"

He was incredibly optimistic at this point because most of his rivals and acquaintances had outstanding results. So he wouldn't do any worse than them.

"Oscar Lane!"

A young boy with brown eyes, jet-black hair, and bronze complexion, stood up and strode with elegance towards the platform.

The mage, Jake Wellings smiled at Oscar as he gestured him to the stage. Oscar passed through the scanner which registered his affinity for the fire element. He then placed his hand on the orb.

The orb, in this case, didn't respond to his touch. Oscar had a bewildered look on his face, so did Jake as he came forward to examine the situation more critically.

"Touch the orb again." Jake instructed.

Oscar tried again, but there was no response.

Jake pondered on what the actual problem could be while looking at the young boy. He then proceeded to carry out the examination the old fashioned way, by stimulating Oscar's core himself.

The orb's way of awakening was more refined, stimulating the core in a discreet manner. The older way was primitive and could hurt the mage, though not to great degree if done properly.

The audience was baffled at this point, as this was something unexpected. Even when they saw what was happening, they couldn't comprehend what was going on.

Jake decided to use the primitive method as he placed his left hand on the boy's stomach and his right hand on the head. He injected his mana slowly to check for feedback from Oscar's body.

If there was a response, his core would be triggered and undergo a crude mana awakening process, this could also determine his potential. If in spite of the method, there was no response whatsoever, then it implied that Oscar was a non-mage who would never be able to cast spells, control mana or hold magical energy in his body.

Jake had a grave expression, the result of his test was the latter.

Everyone at this point was puzzled. The King asked from his seat. "Jake, what seems to be the problem?"

"Your majesty, the boy..."

"Uh-huh?"

"The boy..."

"Spit it out"

"The boy does not possess a mana core or rather I would say he possesses something resembling a mana core but it's not functional."

"Hmm, so you're implying that what he has is a..."

"A defective mana core your highness" Jake responded bowing slightly.

The crowd was thrown into confusion, as no one expected the proclaimed genius to be an invalid.

Oscar's mind was in a state of turmoil, not knowing what to do, what to say, how to act or feel about this information. He stood there, unable to utter a word.

The King spoke while taking a glance at Oscar's state. "Well, that was unpleasant. Lead the boy to his seat then continue the test."

"At your order, your Majesty."

Oscar was escorted to his seat. Joshua and Paul were as shocked as everyone else, they didn't know what to tell him or what to do, if he had a low grade aptitude, it would be bad, but acceptable. However, in this case, they drew a blank.

Oscar himself didn't even look like he was present in the hall, yes his body was, but his spirit, it was like something died inside of him. He was looking forward but not looking at anything at all. Oscar wished for the ground to just open and swallow him up but he couldn't leave. As a candidate, you had to be present till the end of the ceremony, even if you turned out to be a non-mage.

"Paul Bloom"

Paul heard his name being called, his white skin turned lighter, his anxiety increased, an effect of his friend's result. Not knowing what to expect, he tried his best to compose himself as he walked towards the platform.

He passed through the scanner which indicated his affinity for the lightning element. Paul placed his hand on the orb and it glowed white.

"Paul Bloom, lightning affinity, high grade!"

The stressful emotion washed away. Accompanied by relief and happiness, his lips curled into a perfect smile as the result was announced. He felt the slight energy from the energy from the orb.

'So I'm an awakened now' Paul thought to himself.An applause resounded throughout the hall after the announcement.

Oscar was surprised by this. "How?... Why??..."He kept muttering inaudible words.

...

"Sarah Zach, water affinity, high grade!"

...

Jake Wellings finished with the nobles and began calling out the other batch of potential candidates for awakening.

"Andy Loudman, wind affinity, low grade."

...

"Ethan Walls, earth affinity, middle grade"

...

There was no one among the common-folk with potentials higher than middle grade. The announcement went on till the last person.

"Zahad Dimworth, fire affinity, high-grade!"

"Ehh?!!"

This caused an uproar in the hall.

A handsome white-haired youth with icy-blue eyes. If he was dressed better people would believe him to be of noble blood. His clothes made him look ordinary and unassuming.

Oscar, whose head was lowered, looked up to see the person that had been practically declared the first high grade fire mage since the test began. He fell into a state of denial. Thinking of this as a dream, a bad dream that he would soon wake up from.

Now that the awakening process for all candidates was over. It was time to move on to the next part which was the celebration of the newly awakened mages of the kingdom.

The successful candidates all came together and walked to the stage in an orderly manner.

Charles Lane went to meet his son. Patting him on the shoulder he said, "Son, let's go home." He said nothing more but his eyes held a look of sombreness to it, not for himself but for the current condition of his child.

Anyone who saw him now would know, Oscar looked broken.

The youth didn't speak, only giving a brief nod before standing up and following his father. His mother and brother were already outside waiting for him. They were leaving the venue earlier than normal. There was no need to keep staying here anyways, it was all for naught.

As Oscar marched out, he was faced with different expressions. Pity, mockery, disdain and derision was evident in their eyes, in their expressions. They just didn't blurt it out because his father was here, but he knew that after today, his life and status as the prodigy of the kingdom was bound to change.