Chapter 2 - Novaium

Soul power is a universal energy and the essence of all life. Be it man or beast all life possesses it as it is the marker of life and to lose it is to die.

In the world of Wisteria, this universal energy has been taken full advantage of by its inhabitants. The humans have developed soul power in a way that allows them to rank up in incremental stages, each new rank harder to reach than the other, starting from the rank of protoperios that humans possess from birth. They have also researched extensively to create a unique technology based on soul power. Due to this, humans have become the batteries and by utilising soul circuits, devices can absorb a specific amount of soul power from the users to be powered up

One such technology is soul calibrators, these machines are designed with the main purpose of accurately divining aptitudes and are also capable of measuring soul power.

In the past aptitudes were often misunderstood due to a lack of any accurate method of testing them. The only somewhat accurate method was the fact that aptitudes could be a combination of the parents' aptitudes, however, this was only true for half of the time. This meant that aptitudes were usually underutilised, some people with more esoteric aptitudes were incapable of using their abilities due to not understanding it or they would simply lose their lives. It was only when the Temple of Ilios and the Syvernisi came into power that soul calibrators were made. They then created the Novaium to divine aptitudes and then manage the Novaium academies.

Soul power is completely unique like DNA or fingerprints, however unlike them it cannot be replicated or copied. It is strictly tied to a person's soul crystal which is essentially what contains the soul power and once completely drained, you will die. If your soul power is removed unwillingly then that soul power will dissipate into nothingness making it useless. If your soul power is removed willingly then it can be used to power up soul devices.

By using this principle the soul calibrators were designed to receive the soul power and then by analysing the wavelengths of it, they can determine someone's aptitude. However, it can only provide a vague description of the aptitude leaving it to the individuals to explore it to its full potential. It is also very heavy on the soul crystal which is one of the reasons why people were only limited to one use. The other reason is because it's expensive to run and extremely difficult to maintain due to its complexity.

Protos can not possess aptitudes as they would not be able to maintain increase in rank. This is because as one progresses in rank, their soul crystal undergoes an evolution by improving in strength and size. This opens up the mind to further possibilities that the user would not have considered previously because the complexity and SP usage would be greater.

The reason why the Novaium has tried to place all rankers in their academies is that they are an investment. By casting a large net, they can find the best students and by making positive connections with the students they can rope in powerful prospects to join the Syvernsi and TOI, it's especially easiest while they are young and possess malleable minds. Then they can create long-term connections if those prospects decide to have families. This has allowed them to maintain power over the past few millennia and rich, allowing them to afford to power the soul calibrators every year without much difficulty. It is essentially a soft form of indoctrination that benefits everyone.

Some aptitudes are more closely related to other aptitudes, so their applications will be similar initially, however, in later ranks without trying to explore the limits of your aptitude on your own you will be unable to advance.

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A large group of students entered a large building. The Novaium centre was large with a central resplendent glass dome located on top of the building. There were several other domes of smaller volume and the main building was made from smooth white marble. The 200 acres of land surrounding the centre belonged to the centre which both protected it from outside threats and also allowed it to conduct confidential research within the confines of its reach.

This group of students, headed by 5 adults were greeted by the staff there. A tall woman wearing a white office uniform brandishing black streaks to signify its place of origin lead them to a large venue, after confirming their identities through a database of schools.

there were many other venues as it would not be practical to do all the testing in one place, it would take far too long and would just isn't as efficient as having multiple venues

Inside the large venue which housed thousands of Students from different schools in the south Forkland Kingdom. There was a stage at the front with 5 golden-coloured machines. On top of each a number from one to 5 was placed at the top from the first machine to the last, they were called soul calibrators and children were required to learn a brief description of their purpose so as to remove surprise when using them. t

The machines were large, larger than most would have expected. They were roughly 2 metres in height and a meter wide. They contained various parts, the most eye-catching parts of it were located in the middle where there was a bright screen and a large vertical rectangle of some kind of lithic material. this material was called Matamas and was a high-tier metal resonant. It had a special quality not found in any other resonant and that was to split soul power underneath a certain threshold which was high due to its tier into different strands.

These strands became so thin they are no longer harmful. This is useful for the soul calibrators as this process also makes it easier to determine the frequency of the soul power. When combined with the complex analytical parts it possesses it can produce a vague description of the aptitude one possesses and as a bonus it can take a reading of your current maximum soul power.

After 30 minutes of waiting, an older man wearing similar clothes to those the staff at the centre wore entered. His clothing was clearly much more high-class indicating a higher status and he had a well-groomed beard with slicked-back white hair; there were also five other officials who came with him and moved their way to a soul calibrator, one for each.

Once there he announced "The aptitude testing will now begin, when you hear your name you should come onto the stage where you will be instructed to place a palm on top of the handprint. This will take away half of your soul power to analyse. After about a minute reading will show up on the screens. The staff would then read out your aptitude and your SP reading. Just to remind you there are 3 different classes and once your aptitude has been determined you will be placed in one of the following classes: Elementas which are aptitudes related to natural elements that can be seen such as fire, light and life, Fysikas which are aptitudes that increase physical characteristics or creates them, for example, increased speed, strength or transformation and lastly Paraxenos, which do not conform to the characteristics of the other groups. The top 100,000 students will be attending the Novaium academy in South Forkland and placed in classes pertaining to your class. With that good luck and let us begin!"