⏰ A wake-up call

A year had gone by in a flash.

In this whole year Sven did not have it easy. Although magic was fun and all the schedule was completely inhumane. Every single moment he was awake had been meticulously planned by Ludovic, in order to train Sven in the most efficient way possible.

Within this year he had learned tremendously not only about magic, but also about the technology they used in their research. Although he was busy with learning all of these new things he could feel that things were about to change. He was a test subject after all.

In recent weeks more and more researchers had been taking part at the training sessions, teaching Sven about various highly technological equipment. The equipment did very specific and weird things according to Sven, and seemed very dangerous. He had yet to actually use them, and he hoped he wouldn't have to, but he knew that they wouldn't be teaching him about these equipment for nothing.

One of those equipment was some sort of an energy gun, blasing highly concentrated energy blended with mana. Sven did not know what it was used for but he knew that it hadn't been tested yet, and considering the information he was given, it wouldn be weird if his hand would get burned to crisps while using it. Considering Sven was taking into account that he was highly skilled in magic and could easily coat himself in mana in order to shield himself from damage. And considering that at Svens proficiency 100 nukes wouldn't even make a scratch, it meant that using the energy gun would risk his life.

Two figures in lab coats at the end of a hall could be heard discussing.

"We can begin." said Ludovic to the other person, presumably his higher-up.

"Already?" answered the man surprised.

"Yes, didn't I say he was exceptional?" responded Ludovic with a smirk.

He had waited for this moment for so long, he had not expected Sven to progress at such an astonishing rate. He thought to himself about how much of a genius Sven was to be able to achieve such great feats in just a year. While he was thrilled about what's to come, he was also a bit worried if he would be able to contain Svens power. Then he remembered that Sven had undergone the S rank restriction ritual, which made him let go of his worries. After all, that ritual was something that even the strongest magician wouldn't be able to overcome.

Sven was at his room laying in his bed with his hand out in the air trying his best to muster out his mana, but to no avail. His handcuffs were active after all. In disappointment he stopped his futile attemps.

Something could be heard behind the door, and in the next second it burst open.

"Today is a great day!"

Ludovic stood at the door opening with his assistants. Sven jumped out of his bed a bit worried and suspected it would only be a good day for Ludovic. His suspicions would soon be proven to be right.

He followed Ludovic and was told to enter a room by himself. Once he entered the room there was a table standing in front of him with a gun laying on top of it. It had struck Sven, he had now become a test subject for real.

"Shit." said Sven quietly to himself.

He was a bit hesitant since he knew what could happen if he wasn't careful enough, since that gun wasn't an ordinary one. It was that unstable and untested energy gun.

"Is anyone there, chop chop, don't keep me waiting!" said Ludovic in a condescending tone that could be heard through the speakers placed at the corners of the room.

"Don't worry, this room was specifically constructed to test that energy gun."

Sven knew that he didn't have a choice and took the gun from the table. It was quite a big gun, and needed both arms in order to operate. In his mind Sven went through the instructions he had previously been given in hopes of not messing this experiment up.

"Now that you have the energy gun just aim it at those dark rocks and shoot at them until they become transparent."

Sven looked at his handcuffs and saw that the lights were off, which meant he could use his mana. He readied himself and made sure to coat himself with mana as a measure against the heat from the energy gun. Once his preparations were over he fired.

The whole room shone brightly and a blasting sound could be hard as the energy was being fired. The table that was a few meters away from Sven had immediately incinerated from the heat the gun had produced. The gun was consuming tremendous amounts of mana from Sven, but that was the least of his concerns. He could feel the room getting warmer and warmer despite being covered with layers of mana that could easily withstand 100 nukes being blown at the same time. Sweat could clearly be seen dripping down Sven's forehead. He was focused on maintaining his posture as to not miss his target, the dark rocks. After a few minutes change could be seen from the rocks. They had started turning a lot paler in color. However, Sven didn't believe he could hold out for much longer.

A couple of minute passed and Sven released the trigger. The rocks had at last turned transparent. He could feel the exhaustion hit him and immediately collapsed.

Ludovic walked into the room and looked at Sven.

"Magnificent, exceptional!" Ludovic praised the unconscious Sven.

"I can't wait for the next experiment."

With a smirk on his face Ludovic turned away from Sven and inspected the previously dark rocks, that had become transparent. He bent down and touched the rocks and closed his eyes. In a flash he withdrew his fingers.

"This exceeds my expectations. For the mineral to have such condensed mana after refining was not expected, this might just work as fuel for that thing."

With shimmering eyes Ludovic continued to inspect the minerals.

Sven woke up from pain and could still feel the pain lingered throughout his body. He still had his eyes closed as he wanted to continue to sleep, but things wouldn't go as he had wished for.

"Good morning! A new day, means new experiments!"

"Aren't you excited, cause I am!"

A happy Ludovic was talking in joy to his most prised test subject.

Sven didn't move an inch and continued to pretend to sleep. Ludovic's smile turned into something morbid, and he pressed a button on his controller.

Sven could immediately feel his heart being crushed and felt like he was about to die. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't move, he felt like was about to die at any moment, and in the next second that feeling had gone away. He now knew that they really didn't care much for Sven at all. Somewhere along the way he had hoped that he would be valued as a human to at least some degree, but it seems like they really didn't care, as long as the job got done.

He immediately rose up and greeted Ludovic. A big smile appeared on Ludovic's face.

"Now now, I guess we all have slow days. This time I'll forgive you, but don't pull that shit again." voiced Ludovic in a sinister voice.

Sven could feel his entire being shake, he realised that what he had gone through wasn't even considered a punishment. He didn't even dare to begin to imagine what would be considered a real punishment. He knew that if he were to survive this he couldn't act rashly.