Stars

Goal achieved: 50 power stones = 1 chapter!

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"Keep moving, rookies!" The mage's command echoed in front of us, his words laden with authority. I, along with the others around me, did not hesitate to obey.

Without wasting time, we continued to follow the mage until we stopped in front of a peculiar tent, shaped like a giant mushroom, with shades of green and red. Strange patterns of numbers and letters adorned its facade. Looking at them, a strange sensation ran through my being.

Curious, I approached the tent while mentally ordering my chip: "Chip! Start analyzing!"

"Beep! Calculating..." The AI in my chip promptly began processing the information. But then something even stranger happened. The patterns of letters and numbers, so vivid before, disappeared before my eyes as if they had never been there.

"What...?" I was perplexed, looking at the tent in disbelief. But then, as if defying logic itself, the patterns returned, twisting and transforming before my eyes as if they were alive.

Suddenly, an unimaginable sensation began to shake my nerves, sending waves of dizziness and faintness through my body. It was as if my mind was being pulled into an unknown dimension, a distorted reality that defied any comprehension.

Under this extreme stimulation, the world around me began to dissolve into a shapeless blur. The figures of the people nearby distorted, their outlines twisting into strange and unrecognizable forms.

I looked at Mavia beside me, but what I saw shocked me. She, with her dark skin and yellow hair, seemed to transform before my eyes. Her body elongated and shrank as if it were pasta being manipulated by invisible hands. The movements of her lips were accompanied by a screeching sound, like the static of a broken radio.

A tremor ran through my body as I raised my hand to try to steady myself. But my palms were no longer smooth and firm as before. Instead, they seemed full of folds, as if they were slowly melting, dripping like hot wax from a candle.

And then, without warning, my entire body began to transform into a liquid substance, as if I were dissolving into the very darkness that surrounded me. A feeling of complete surrender took over me as I disappeared into the darkness, losing myself forever in a sea of uncertainty and the unknown.

"Charles... Charles, your supreme queen is speaking! What's wrong with you?" The voice called my name again, but this time with a tone of concern. I felt Mavia's small hands on my waist, as if she were trying to bring me back to reality.

My whole body suddenly shuddered, as if I were emerging from a deep sleep. I looked around, seeing the youths still standing, the mage who had brought us before this tent was saying something, and everything seemed to return to normal.

"Could it be that the previous vision was an illusion?" I asked myself, feeling a chill run down my spine.

"Chip, what happened?!" I called my chip, hoping for answers.

"Beep!" A faint blue light flickered, and a sequence of images from the previous event appeared in my mind.

"An anomaly in the cerebral vessel, immediate inspection recommended!"

"Anomaly detected in host condition!"

"Beep! It is advisable to maintain distance from this location!"

"Host body has returned to normal!"

The emergency messages and data flooded my consciousness, making it clear that what I had experienced before was not a simple illusion. A sense of discomfort settled in my chest as I processed the magnitude of what had happened.

"Damn it... Mages, they're always so sinister?" My thoughts echoed fearfully in my mind, while I still tried to recover from the previous events. Cold sweat continued to drip down my face, a constant reminder of the lingering fear I carried.

"Is the king of this supreme queen feeling cold? Your skin is white, but now it's so white that it surely must be very bad! Could it be that you've fallen ill?" Mavia's voice beside me pulled me out of my dark thoughts.

No matter who it was, I doubted their expressions would be better if they had gone through what I experienced earlier.

"I think I need to eat, you know! I'm a bit hungry?" I quickly changed the subject, averting my gaze from Mavia, who was watching me with a keen expression.

Before she could say anything, the mage who was explaining interrupted our conversation.

"All of you now need to fill out a form and take the aptitude test! And then choose a school to follow, but I think you already knew that last part!" His voice echoed loud and clear in front of us.

"You only have 1 day remaining, and during this time, I advise you to think carefully before deciding your paths." The mage ended his words, letting us absorb the gravity of the situation before us.

"Now, all of you line up and come to me, one by one, and then enter for the test!" The mage announced while sitting behind a wooden table, organizing a stack of forms in front of him.

As I waited for my turn, I cast a brief glance at Mavia beside me, thinking to myself, "I hope everything goes well and this total nutcase doesn't irritate any mage, otherwise..." I sighed, leaving the sentence unfinished. "Because if she irritates a mage, not even she, painted in gold, will escape trouble."

"Yes, I will be a mage!" I heard Mavia talking to herself once more. "What? You think this is dangerous?"

I decided to ignore her comment and soon it was my turn. "Fill in your details on this form and then enter the tent and follow the instructions of the person inside!" The mage instructed from behind the table.

I took the form and noticed it was made of yellow parchment paper, something unusual, but I wasn't surprised given the magical nature of the environment. The required data were simple, just name, age, place of birth, and some other basic information.

With a goose quill pen available on the table, I filled out the form quickly, without wasting time.

The faint and colorful patterns in mushroom shapes covered the yellow parchment in black and seemed very beautiful; I think no one among the youths would have such a beautiful handwriting as this.

"How interesting, you have good handwriting; the quality of this script is truly exceptional. I thought someone of your size would be brainless, like most muscular creatures!" The mage said.

I just nodded and thanked him, after all, even if he insulted me, I wouldn't be crazy enough to offend him.

After finishing filling out the form, I took the yellow parchment and entered the mushroom-shaped tent. Being taller than average, I had to stoop to pass through the entrance.

"Come!" An ancient voice echoed inside the tent.

The interior was surprisingly spacious, with only an old woman with white hair sitting in a black chair. A crystal ball rested on the table in front of her, while a long witch's hat adorned her head.

The witch looked me up and down, and I realized she seemed disappointed with my height. With an audible sigh, she muttered without caring if I could hear: "Uff~~ Another brainless giant..."

Encountering the peculiar appearance of the woman, an urge to laugh came over me, but I held back. "This woman looks like she came straight out of a fictional cartoon?" I thought, observing her strange witch hat with a touch of humor.

"Hello!" I greeted the mage with a polite smile. "It's always a great pleasure to meet noble ladies like yourself."

"Shut up, giant! Bring the parchment here!" Her response was curt and cold, making it clear she wasn't interested in conversation.

I decided to avoid trouble and simply obeyed, though I swore to myself that when I became stronger, I wouldn't accept insults like that.

"Charles?" The witch read my name from the parchment and then observed me closely. "You don't seem to be 18 years old, but that doesn't matter at the moment. Place your hands on the crystal ball; we will begin the test."

I followed the witch's instructions and placed my hands on the crystal ball.

"Uuu~~" As I touched the vibrant ball, it felt as if I were holding pure ice, but it was different from when I touched Maria's spiritual body in the airship bathroom.

A strange tactile sensation spread from the tips of my fingers, coursing through my entire body until it finally reached my head, which began to throb as if there were a glass agitator inside.

"Bzzz~~"

A buzzing echoed in my ears as the environment seemed to tremble around me. The crystal ball began to shine intensely, enveloping me in a magical aura that I couldn't comprehend.

And then, the surroundings changed, and my mind clouded as if I were entering a fog, almost like a distant dream. My entire body shivered as I found myself plunging into an immense space, so vast that there was no way to see the end.

The space was dark, illuminated only by a few extremely bright stars scattered around. I floated, engulfed by a feeling of insignificance before the vastness of the cosmos. Then, an excruciating pain erupted in my head, as if something were trying to split it in two.

I gritted my teeth, fighting against the pain, and looked at the stars one last time before the agony became unbearable. I opened my hand, still holding the crystal ball, and then the environment changed again.

I found myself in front of the witch, whose sinister smile seemed wrinkled and marked by the lines of age. "How many stars did you see in the space you were in?" she asked, as if she already knew the answer.

Still recovering from the impact of the experience, I calmed my racing heart and responded, "There were four stars!"

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1746 Words

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To motivate you, I have established some simple goals:

50 power stones = 1 chapter / (ACHIEVED)

100 stones = 2 chapters

200 stones = 3 chapters

500 stones of power = 5 chapters

- 20 - Golden tickets = 1 extra chapter!

Thank you all!