Perfect boy

As soon as the light faded, Michael found himself back in the church, staring at the statue of the Goddess he had just spoken to.

Suddenly, a golden beam of light descended from the domed ceiling, striking the ground at Michael's feet.

Upon witnessing this, the priest felt all the fine hair on his stand up. His eyes widened in disbelief, but even that couldn't express the surprise in his heart.

Whenever a kid underwent their Talent Awakening, a ray of light would always come down towards the child and give an indication of the talent they had awakened.

He was used to seeing a dim red light, which indicated a fighting talent, a blue light indicating a talent for magic, or a green ray to show a talent for crafting.

However, he had never seen a golden ray of light before. He almost couldn't believe his eyes.

"Golden…golden! That's the rumored… Supreme Talent!" the priest declared, his voice trailing off from surprise. "Your son has a Supreme Skill!"

Lylia and Bart gasped. 

His mother expressed surprise, but she wasn't shocked. It was as if she had always known this would happen. Bart, on the other hand, couldn't close his jaws after hearing the priest confirm the world-breaking talent awakening.

"I knew it!" Lylia immediately pulled her son into a tight hug. "My son is a genius!"

Regaining his composure, Bart turned to the priest. "Do we know what kind of Supreme Skill it is?" His voice was calm, but the impatient tapping of his feet betrayed his true excitement.

All eyes turned to Michael, who simply shrugged his shoulders and uttered the truth.

"My talent is called Harbinger of the Future, the Supreme Skill: Gift Bestowal."

Everyone looked at the priest for some kind of explanation, but the man was none the wiser. After all, the world had only seen ten people with Supreme Skills, and all of their wielders were extremely secretive about their true powers.

And even then, Michael's Supreme Skill could be completely different from the other Supreme Skills.

"We don't know the true extent of that Supreme Skill," the priest admitted. "Only the Goddess knows that. Michael will have to discover it by himself."

"It doesn't matter!" Lulia beamed. "It's a Supreme Skill! I'm sure that it would only propel my son to heights greater than the world!" 

She couldn't help but smother Michael with love as she tried to rein in her excitement. All her bragging about her son's genius was vindicated at last.

"Son, if you need any help. Any at all. You can come to us at any time," Bart said, ruffling his hair.

But something was off. Bart noticed that Michael wasn't as excited as he should be after getting such an amazing talent. Instead, his son looked troubled.

"What's wrong?" he asked Michael.

"There is one thing that I need help with, Dad," Michael said to his parents. "The Goddess told me that a plague will come to Kingsbridge unless the problem with the river Dames is fixed."

Bart, Lylia, and the Priest all looked at Michael with a strange expression.

"Son, you… you spoke to the Goddess?" Bart repeated, his voice a mix of worry and disbelief.

"That's impossible," the priest denied. "Us mortals are not worthy enough to speak to the Goddess. All kids who undergo their Talent Awakening recall different things from their childhood. You must have been dreaming."

"It's true. I spoke to her," Michael said with a straight face.

And just as the priest was about to scold Michael about how bad it was to lie about such things, the candles lining the walls were suddenly extinguished by a non-existent gust of wind, swallowing the entire place in darkness.

After a few seconds of pure darkness, the flames re-emerged from the wicks, illuminating the church's interior once more.

The priest's mouth opened, then closed, unable to bring any words out of his tongue.

And before he could explain it as nothing but a coincidence, a deafening CRASH echoed through the sky as a bolt of lightning struck, shaking even the heavens.

If that wasn't a sign from the Goddess, then what was?

"Ha… haha…" The priest let out a nervous chuckle, his face turning pale. "I guess things are different when a kid is given a Supreme Talent, hahaha… I, uh, I need to go!"

Without another word, the priest immediately excused himself and imprisoned himself in his quarters. He intended to spend the entire week praying to the Goddess for forgiveness.

If Michael was special enough to receive a Supreme Talent, then it should have been obvious that he was favored by the Goddess. The priest had forgotten that and almost offended the kid.

_____

Back to Michael and his family.

Bart turned back to his son, his expression serious.

"Are you sure about this, Michael? A plague?"

Michael nodded. "Yes. The disease spreads because people are drinking water from the polluted River Dames which is full of human waste."

"But the Mages make sure that the river water is clean. They always filter the water for any waste."

They probably don't know about microscopic diseases, Michael thought. Even if the entire river is boiled, it won't be completely safe to drink.

"It's not enough," he said. "We need to build a sewer system."

Bart raised his eyebrows, curious as to what his son was cooking up this time. "Is that the same thing as the one you installed in our home?"

"Yes," he replied. "Here's my plan…"

Michael lifted his hand and cast a simple 2-star spell called [Rock Bend].

Stone particles emerged from the Earth mana stored in Michael's cores and hovered on the top of his palm before they gradually began to shift, molding themselves into a miniature figure of the River Dames, the bridge that crossed it, and even the buildings along its banks.

Michael's proficiency in his magic spells had reached enough mastery to allow him to command the stones to recreate Kingsbridge City with accurate representation.

Then, with a simple 1-star [Water Ball] spell, he demonstrated how the sewer system would work in the River Dames and how everything would be connected throughout the City, directing the waste away from the river.

Bart's eyes flashed with surprise and astonishment at the ingenuity of his son's plan. 

If this worked as Michael planned it to be, then it would negate the need for Mages to cleanse the river every week.

There could even come a time when people would be able to swim in the river!

"This… this is brilliant!" Bart uttered in complete amazement.

"Oh, my dear Michael is so talented yet so kind-hearted! You're the perfect boy!" Lylia exclaimed, pulling him into a tight hug again.

Where else would anyone find a boy with a Supreme Skill, a genius mind, and a kind heart but her son?