CHAPTER 17: THE TEST

As David was walking back to his room from the gym, his phone started to buzz. Not recognizing the phone number, David answered anyway.

"Hello, David Knox," he said as he answered the phone call.

"Mr. Knox, this is Mr. Gauge. We have made arrangements for the test and would like to know if you are ready to proceed."

"Sure, I can be ready in around 30 minutes. I just got out of the gym. I need to shower and change first," David replied.

"That is acceptable, Mr. Knox," said Mr. Gauge in his steady tone, "I will be waiting for you in front of the building in 30 minutes."

After David hung up, he quickly showered and dressed. He was waiting in front of the building with a few minutes to spare when the town car pulled up at the curbside.

Mr. Gauge stepped out and invited him to sit in the back. Not many words were exchanged and they were quickly on their way.

After a few minutes of riding, David had a feeling of where they were headed.

"We are going to the Carmine estate?", David asked Mr. Gauge sitting in the passenger seat.

"Yes, the test requires the use of some very valuable items that Mr. Carmine safeguards personally," Mr. Gauge responded.

After a few more minutes, they pulled up at the gate. There were only five guards at the gate this time and Davis recognizes four of them. He and the guards had gotten very chatty as he was living through the party dream over and over again. He would even consider two of them his friends although the actual people probably wouldn't recognize him at all.

"That's weird," David said under his breath as the thought that he had spent days talking to some of these men but they were completely unaware of it.

The car pulled up at the house. Mr. Gauge and David proceeded to walk around to a side door to access a room with an elevator. David had expected to go through the front door, but it seemed like he had to use the servants' entrance. As the elevator descended, David quickly realized he was mistaken. They were going deep underground. After a few minutes decent, the elevator came to a stop.

The guards down here were of a whole different class and number. It was like he had stepped into another world. Mr. Gauge proceeded to lead David along to a room off of the main lobby. When David entered the room, he was perplexed. The room was empty with the exception of a glowing orb in the center of the room.

Mr. Gauge explained, "This is what we call a soul-root stone. It originated from The Other, is very rare and has a unique ability. It can look at your soul and determine its strength and affinity. Some people have even said that the stone gives a perspective into ones own mind."

"For example, those two nurses of yours are Class A Light Healers. When they touched the orb, it glowed white so bright that it almost blinded me. It showed that they had a high proclivity to light magic."

"We would like for you to sit down, touch both hands to the stone, and focus your intent into the stone."

"I will leave the room so as not to disturb your test. Do not start until I leave the room," Mr. Gauge finished up, "do you have any questions?"

"How long will the test last?" David asked.

"They usually last anywhere from 5 minutes to 30 minutes. We are unsure why the length varies as it seems to have no direct correlation to strength."

"Thank, Mr. Gauge," David said.

Mr. Gauge proceed to leave the room. David could hear the door lock behind him.

For some reason, David was feeling slightly nervous. Personally, he really didn't care about what level of talent he had. He was really just participating in this test because of his own curiosity.

David sat down in front of the orb and slowly reached out his hands. His hands touched the orb and a cold chill went through his body. With a quick thought, his mind focused on the orb.

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Within a room off to the side, three men were standing while watching a display screen that showed the happening in the room.

"How do you think he will test?," asked Mr. Carmine.

"I'm not sure," responded Mr. Lester, "but I really don't care after his demonstration in the gym. He was fighting hand to hand with a Class B Warrior at a pretty steady pace. Are you sure he isn't a spy sent by another organization? A normal person shouldn't have this kind of strength and skill right out of the gate."

"I checked his background in extreme detail. Actually, the detailed study started when he first started to spend significant time with Lady Karine. We had to be certain that he wasn't from some rogue organization or a spy from another family," said Mr. Gauge in a condescending tone.

"Every test we run seems to show that he is just a normal person. That is why I recommended this test. The soul-root stone is very special. While it tests the talent of a soul, it also tests the soul's root origin. But we won't see the true origin if it happens to be stronger than a demi..."

"Look he is touching the stone," Mr. Carmine interrupted.

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David felt like his body dropped into the stone. It was very similar to when he dropped into a dream. He was now in his dark world. Almost on instinct, he focused in on the darkness to show what was present.

An outline of woman appeared in the distance. The outline itself was practically as as dark as the space but David could make out the silhouette with ease. The elegant woman turned to face David and two starlike eyes looked directly at his soul. At the sight of David, a wonderful smile appeared on the woman's face.

Then she spoke in a perfect voice that seem to exist without any sound, "My friend. My child. It has been a very long time. For the past, let me help you on your new adventure. I look forward to the future."

She reached forward and touched David on the forehead.

David felt his consciousness swim. It wasn't like he was losing consciousness. It was like he was gaining so much more that it was causing his mind to distort.

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In the side room, the three older men were watching the screen. It had been 10 minutes since David had touched the stone. Nothing had happened.

Just as Mr. Gauge was about to leave the room to stop the test. The stone started to shift from white to black. The blackness of the stone continued to increase. After another minute, the black stone appeared to begin sucking in all the light around it. The monitor screen that was showing the three men what was happening inside the testing room went black and even the light in their room started to slightly dim.

"Shit," Mr. Gauge said looking around, "after this we are only going to have one more spirt-root stone left."

"No wonder the kid is so talented," Mr. Lester said.

"In order to cause that kind of reaction," Mr. Carmine said, "his origin has to come from at least a demigod ancestor."

The three old men were both surprised and excited by the results.

"I would assume that his mental talent lies in the darkness element," Mr. Gauge said, "I'll start making appropriate arrangements for him."

"Yes...and Lester...please make sure to continues his physical training," Mr. Carmine said.

"Sure. You sure are one lucky dog William. Didn't you say David and Karine had hit it off well?" Mr. Lester responded.

All Mr. Lester received was a glare and a grunt of disapproval of his comment.

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David was still floating in the darkness after the beautiful woman appeared before him. He knew that something had changed with her touch but he wasn't quite sure what changed. After a minute or two, he began to feel a pull that was similar to waking up from sleep.

David could feel his focus pull him out of the stone. The stone in his hands began to crumble into nothingness. David just sat there trying to process what had just happened. Was that woman real or just a figment if his imagination in a dream?

Within a few seconds, Mr. Gauge entered the room with a frown on his face. David was feeling exhausted. The test had worn him out.

"Mr. Knox, you appear to be so talented in the darkness element that you broke out soul-root stone. Luckily, we have another to replace it for now. Please follow me this way," Mr. Gauge said while seeming kind of pissed that the stone broke. Mr. Gauge started leading David back the way they came into the facility and soon they were riding up the elevator again. As they were riding, Mr. Gauge began to speak.

"Mr. Knox, your results were exceptional and I would like to invite you to participate in a few training sessions concerning your elemental affinity. I will forward you the information once we arrive back at your dwelling. I understand that you are tired from the test so be sure to rest up. I will have someone come visit with you in about 3 days. Go home and rest."

Mr. Gauge then told David that his car was waiting and would take him back. With that, Mr. Gauge walked off and David started walking toward the car to go back to his new apartment. He was tired.

As David was walking to the car, he noticed a larger vehicle pull up in front of the house. After three guards exited the SUV, David saw someone he had not been able to talk to recently.

Karine was getting out of the vehicle while displaying the cold and detached expression that David had learned is just cover. Seeing Karine, David changed his direction to walk toward her. It didn't appear to David that Karine had seen him.

As he got a few steps away, one of the guards stepped between David and Karine. David was pissed that someone had just blocked his way and his anger flared.

"Hey Karine," he yelled since the guard seemed to be intent on blocking his way, "When do you want to go on that date?"

As Karine was walking in the other direction, David could see her stop moving. She turned and looked at David with a cold expression then proceeded to continue walking toward the house.

"So, are we not friends anymore?" David yelled again. A few other guards started to show up. David was making a scene.

"Okay, I understand," David said in his normal voice then proceeded to walk over, get in the car and leave.

Maybe because he was agitated, hungry and tired, David didn't seem to notice the tears slowly running down Karine's face as she walked into her house.