Adam's talent awakens

Soon Adam's name was called out, causing his heart to beat a thousand miles an hour.

He felt all eyes on him, his hands trembling slightly.

In no time at all, he was up from his chair, down the amphitheater and onto the stage before everyone's eyes.

With hesitant steps, he placed himself in the circle of light in the middle of the stage.

The light began to dance around him, at first intense, then paler and fainter.

Simultaneously, Adam felt an energy bubbling up in his chest, but the intensity was nowhere near what he'd observed in the others.

When the light finally faded, a small, blunt sword appeared before him.

And given its size, it was more of a dagger than a sword.

Except that daggers normally appeared in pairs.

His looked worn, dull and lacking any particular sheen.

Murmurs filled the room, tinged with laughter and muffled mockery.

The director frowned slightly, visibly embarrassed.

"A... training dagger?" he murmured in surprise.

He'd seen weak talents before, but weak to this extent was just as rare as someone awakening an affinity with an element.

Adam's cheeks flushed red.

A training weapon represented an extremely weak talent, almost useless in a world where talent determined future and status.

It couldn't be a sword, due to its minuscule size, so it could only be considered a dagger.

And having only one dagger instead of two, its compatibility with dagger techniques was bound to be extremely poor.

He quickly grabbed the dagger that had materialized in front of him and silently descended the dais, under the half-mocking, half-appealing gazes of his fellow students.

Soon, all the students invited to the event had their talents awakened.

As the last student left the circle, the principal stepped to the center of the stage.

His gaze swept the room, lingering on the happy or sad faces of the students in the crowd. He raised a hand, and the hubbub immediately died down.

"I congratulate you all on your successful awakening."

"Now we'll move on to the compatibility tests."

"Please bring the first-generation alphus."

Adam felt particularly devastated as he touched the dagger in his hands, but he still retained enough concentration to watch the staff bring in a huge oval-shaped machine with a door.

This machine, called alphus, could measure compatibility between talents and techniques existing in the kingdom, as well as affinity to the elements.

However, affinity for the elements was very rare, since very few individuals possessed one.

Clearly, the stage was too small to accommodate both a magic circle and an alphus.

But in his memory, Adam knew of alphus that were so small they could be carried anywhere.

However, this technology was prohibitively expensive, so only the rich or powerful martial artists could carry them.

The murmuring resumed when the Alphus was installed.

The imposing machine gleamed with a metallic glow, its circuits emitting a steady hum.

The oval door opened slowly, revealing an interior filled with glittering crystals and analysis screens. The director turned his head to the students.

"The compatibility test will measure the suitability of your talent to various fighting styles and your affinity to the elements. Those who score well will have a better chance of getting into a good university in the future."

Adam felt his stomach knot. If his "talent" was already a source of ridicule, what could he expect from this test?

He clutched his small, blunt dagger, hesitating whether to put it away or keep it visible.

The first student entered the alphus. Through the screens outside, everyone could observe the process.

A young man advanced towards the Alphus. He held in his hands a bow glittering with golden light, its wood engraved with patterns that seemed to ripple like waves in a gentle wind.

He now exuded confidence.

As he entered the machine, an invisible wind seemed to stir inside, for the machine was moving a great deal.

The holographic projection of the bow appeared outside, beautiful and shiny, while numbers began to flash on the screens.

Compatibility:

Bow mastery: 36

Elemental affinity: Wind: 15

A murmur of approval ran through the room. These results were impressive.

"Oh, an affinity with wind has appeared! Even if it's a mediocre affinity, it's still an elemental affinity - this boy has potential."

Wind, a rare but extremely valuable element for an archer, enhanced his potential by making his arrows faster, more precise, and almost impossible to avoid.

And what made this possible was the ability to practice the martial arts that required this element to be practiced.

Obviously, with such low compatibility, his mastery of martial arts requiring wind as an affinity could only go so far.

But at least archery techniques that didn't require the wind element as a condition for practice would progress more rapidly than his compatibility might suggest.

In practical terms, the wind element could be considered a small plug-in for archers, its power depending on the individual's compatibility.

The director nodded in satisfaction.

The student, modest but visibly satisfied, saluted politely before going back downstairs. The students around him looked at him with a touch of envy.

The second student to pass was a young girl with short-cropped black hair.

She carried the two gleaming, perfectly balanced daggers, with slightly curved silver blades, that she had just awakened.

As she entered the Alphus, the numbers soon appeared:

Compatibility:

Dagger mastery: 39

Stealth arts and close combat: 34

A respectful silence greeted these results. Her compatibility predestined her to excel in the art of close combat and assassination, a discipline requiring precision, agility and discretion.

An instructor, visibly impressed, whispered to the director:

"It's rare to see such high compatibility with the stealth arts."

The young girl nodded slightly to the instructors and director who stood to the side of the dais.

Then she stepped down from the dais, and met Adam's gaze.

She was a little surprised, but said nothing.

One by one, the students passed through the machine. Some got average results, some pretty good, but nothing exceptional.

When it was Adam's turn, there was a tense silence.

He walked towards the machine, his steps heavy and uncertain.

In the center of the space, a sphere floated, surrounded by a vibrating field of energy. It emitted a gentle, almost imperceptible melody that seemed to resonate with something deep inside him.

Adam stepped forward cautiously, his boots echoing lightly on the reinforced glass floor.

He looked up and saw dancing holograms above him, projections of numbers and complex geometric figures that constantly changed shape.

A soft, synthetic voice rose up, seeming to emerge from this strange sphere of energy:

 "Welcome, Adam. Prepare for synchronization."

He swallowed, impressed as much as intimidated.

He placed his hand on a metal support that stood directly in front of the energy sphere.

A shiver ran through his body as the machine made contact with him.

A flow of energy seemed to envelop him, and he felt both tiny and immense, as if the Alphus were scrutinizing the very essence of his existence.

"It's like... it's reading my soul", he thought, fascinated and slightly worried.

The screens around him began to display graphs, complex diagrams he didn't understand. The runes lit up faster and faster, and the hum of the machine intensified.

Adam couldn't help smiling despite the tension.

This machine wasn't just a tool; it was a masterpiece, a miracle of combined technology and magic.

"How smart do you have to be to invent a machine like that?" he thought, fascinated.

He knew that this machine had begun to be built during the invasion with meager resources by hundreds of scientists assembled over 3 different generations.

There were stories of grandfathers, sons and grandsons working on the machine at the same time.

The synthetic voice resounded again:

 "Synchronization complete. Talent analysis in progress. Please remain still."

Adam closed his eyes, letting the machine do its work. For a moment, he forgot the jeers of his comrades, the mocking glances, and his own fear. All that mattered was this moment when he stood at the heart of a technological miracle, facing the unknown.

"Talent analysis completed. Determination of compatibility in progress. Please stand still."

Outside, everyone could see his dagger, true to form, small and lacklustre.

Then, patterns scrolled by... no technique seemed compatible.

There was muffled laughter.

The director frowned again, visibly embarrassed.

"This must be a mistake..." he muttered. He motioned to a technician to examine the data.

Shortly afterwards, the answer appeared.

"Mr. Director, there's no mistake. This boy's talent is just too weak to have sufficient compatibility with martial arts or magic arts," replied the technician, with pity for the young man who had just taken the stage.

30 seconds later, the compatibility results were finally displayed on the alphus' main screen, projecting figures that seemed to extinguish all energy in the room.