Chapter 7:Personal Testing

The gorge that he had selected seemed perfect. It was some fifty kilos away from the nearest human habitat and there weren't any animals close by. Damien had trekked deep into the Beast forge the previous day,choosing to miss the first day at the Essaf School of academy,to test his power. Naturally, like any seven-year-old boy, he was keen to see the extent of his power. He had explained this need to his parents, who had reluctantly agreed, on the condition that he got accompanied to wherever he intended to go. Damien staunchly refused,pointing out that his full blown power in their presence would likely be fatal,since they were not strong enough. This was a fact that the Snows knew to be true, but they still argued he was still a young boy regardless of his power. Eventually, Damien had managed to make them see sense, and promised them he would return in time to attend the first lesson at school. So Richard proceeded to send his luggage to the school while Damien made his way to the gorge where he had now arrived.

He inhaled deeply and let the breath go,relaxing his mind,just as his father had taught him. Ever since he was born, he had always been holding himself back in every regard. He had felt a restlessness that clung to his bones,demanding to be released. He even remembered his sparring with his father: his dad was always so slow when he was attacking,relatively. Damien knew that this was because of the difference in power,his body was stronger and faster than his father's, but he feared to bruise his ego, and so he had to be deliberately slow in order to match Richard's speed. But today,no one was watching....or so he thought.

High above him,hidden in the clouds,the high deity Deanna was looking on with curiosity. She had simply been flying enroute to her home ,tired of teleporting all the time and had decided to go the manual way. That's when her keen eyesight noticed a single dot deep in the gorge. She had looked at the dot,which turned out to be a young boy,barely seven years old,standing and doing nothing. But her focus was immediately drawn to his mana pool. It was absurdly overgrown for such a young child. Not only was it large, but it appeared to be even more purified than any pool she had ever laid eyes upon. As the boy was preparing his intent,she noticed a sudden change in the atmosphere,even high up in the sky where she was hiding. The air appeared to bend in, warping as the boy focused on his intent.

Damien breathed in one more time,eyes closed, the rocks around him already shaking,then a pulse of energy erupted from him. Deanna was almost blown away by the force of the energy that she herself had to fully power up to prevent herself from being blown away by the intent. The clouds which were shielding her disappeared as pulse after pulse radiated from the boy.

A crater had appeared within the gorge,eating at the rising wall of earth that made up the large valley. But apparently the boy was just starting,Deanna was shocked to realize. The pulses were growing stronger and moving out faster from his standing point so that the ground began to shake.

Exactly fifty kilometers away, at the Snow's cabin, Theresa was holding onto Aldwin,trying to steady herself as the ground quaked.Even at this distance she could feel that this was her son's monstrous aura. The fact that the quake was reaching them there meant this was merely feedback. Had he been closer, she would definitely have been destroyed by his intent. She felt grateful that they hadn't allowed their feelings to cloud sound reasoning by letting him go alone.

Deanna was grimacing against the force,and was about to fly down to the boy,lest he destroy all of Shilock with his full intent,when the boy suddenly withdrew. All the rocks around the gorge had been reduced to fine dust and Damien was standing in a deep crater five kilometers wide. He still hadn't opened his eyes,and was now flexing his fists. It appeared he was about to attack,she thought,but who? The answer came immediately as Damien took one step forward and disappeared from the spot. Deanna couldn't even capture his movements. He blurred from view and appeared at the immediate wall of the gorge and his fist buried itself in the hard surface. A huge energy pulsed from the impact and the wall split,the momentum of the punch creating a large second gorge cutting through the landscape some ten kilos long. The impact blew a powerful wind that spread into the atmosphere,

reaching Deanna from her perch.

Damien withdrew his fist and breathed out,then opened his eyes. His eyes widened in shock as he saw the ground lying waste and damaged. He suddenly sat down on the dusty ground, surprised by his own power. He wanted to just see a glimpse of his power,since he was certain that he hadn't gone all the way. Luckily, he had withdrawn in time,otherwise the damage could have been more serious. Not that the damage wasn't already serious.He then moved his gaze upward,appearing to notice the beautiful being floating high above him. As if on cue, the deity slowly descended towards him, astonishment written all over Deanna's face. Since existence she had never come across a mortal this powerful. She was sure that his power could even surpass the Deities' power as well. Maybe even Orpheus-.

She stopped herself right there. No one is as powerful as the supreme god himself.

"What's your name,young man?", She asked as she lightly landed on the ground. Damien had heard the stories of the high gods who were powerful beyond measure,and the detailed description that they bore of their appearances. This is the high deity Deanna,the god of Shilock!

"Da,..Damien Snow ma'am," he stammered, throwing himself on the ground in obeyance.

"You can stand up child. How powerful you are,young mage,and for such a young mortal!" She exclaimed.

The boy didn't know what to say and made an incoherent mutter.

"Tell me,have you taken the intent test yet?", she inquired ,still reeling from the intent. She was sure if the boy were to release his full intent,the whole continent would have been destroyed at the least,let alone that testing colosseum.

" Yes I did, ma'am,"he responded, " but I released only a very small portion of it" he hastily added.

Glancing at the somewhat flattened gorge," I was afraid something like this would happen."

The deity nodded in acknowledgement. " That was a wise choice",she said "I will take you to your home.I will speak with your parents. I'm sure they can explain your power better than you can. I'm sure there is a very interesting story about you." She mused and drew closer to the boy. She asked him where they precisely resided and the boy explained, referring to the glades as a reference. She then opened a portal and nudged him in.

Richard had just returned from the city where he had left Damien's belongings before returning. He was the first one to feel the presence of the god as she appeared with Damien in tow through the portal. He flung himself to the ground and shouted" High Deity goddess Deanna!". Theresa appeared shortly afterwards,hearing the commotion from outside of the cabin. On spotting the deity with her son,she instantly knew what had transpired. Bowing down low, acknowledging the goddess, she turned her gaze to Deanna.

"Tell me about your son....or should I say,stepson?", She asked. Their faces fell at the sudden reveal and first looked at each other,before looking at Damien. The boy just shrugged, as if he had always known this truth....