Talent Crystal

"I Ellora Laga Nephele, greet my mother the Queen of Stratus"

The Queen also known as the Witch of the Cloudy Seas looked at her daughter bowing from beneath the throne and waved her hand.

"You may stand Daughter of the clouds"

Standing up the Queen of the skies waved her hands together, clouds slowly flowing in from the surroundings.

"Do you know why you are here Ellora?"

"Yes mother" Standing besides a group of people she recognized to be the children of nobles.

"As you know, today we are testing your inherent physiques and your talents"

Moving the clouds away to reveal a large crystal that reached to the air

"This is the talent Crystal" Gingerly touching the giant crystal that was nearly double her height the Queen of the skies continued.

"It has been in the possession of the royal family since it's discovery a century ago"

Pulling her hand back and generating a visible ball of mana that swirled menacingly in her palm as the clouds seemed pulled to it.

"It works by infusing mana into the crystal like this"

Pushing the mana ball into the crystal, it was followed by silence before the crystal reacted.

It first started when the transparent crystal only outlined by the shining light started to glow from the middle.

Blue lights mixed with green and white filled the crystal in the core as it soon exploded outwards.

A giant aura that contained the mixture of Blues with the grey ballooned outwards as it showed the full extent of the power.

As the aura ballooned outwards, the children who were obstacles to this aura were faced with the full brunt of the powerful blast of power.

Although it was intangible, to the young children who just reached ten, it might as well have been some natural disaster had befallen them.

And it might've as well been as the aura of the Queen felt like the children had been dumped into the middle of a storm on the Sea

And it might've been like that as the Witch of the Cloudy Skies Mana was just that powerful.

The aura just as abruptly as it arrived disappeared into thin air as the crystal stopped outputting the powerful aura that touched the real world and influenced it.

"As you can see"

Pulling her hand back and stepping back to admire the now pure crystal devoid of anything within it, The Witch of the Clouds and the Queen of Stratus turned to the young ten year old nobles.

"This special crystal measures your potential through your soul and shows itself on how much the core of the crystal is filled"

"The aura you just felt was an aura produced by my potential crystal"

With a sharp glint in her pure blue eyes that were of the deepest parts of the Seas dark blue color, a smile danced on her lips.

"So... Shall we begin the talent testing?"

---

Darren gulped down his fear as he looked at the giant crystal that looked like the glass he looked out of at the windows everyday.

Fear dominated his head as he couldn't help but compare himself to the Queen of the Kingdom.

From birth, he was taught that the Queen was the greatest witch that this kingdom had seen since the founders death.

And the mana was incredibly influencing on the Childs mind.

'But I must not show my weakness'

Having been taught that a noble mustn't show weakness in the face of power, the young child of nearly eleven gulped down their fear and stepped forwards.

And was instantly subject to the gazes of all the nobles in the room.

From the side, his father smiled grandly as he sensed the impact that his son had made on the rest of the students present in the hall.

'Hah! It seems that I didn't teach my son wrong!'

Grinning at how his son was already showing signs of confidence at a young age.

His son was soon followed by other nobles children as they filed behind the child named Darren.

Without even knowing it.

Darren had already stolen the initiative of the room

Not that Ellora cared.

'It's slightly amusing'

Looking at the boy with glowing blue eyes, Ellora stared at the boy who she recalled was named Darren's hesitant steps to the top of the stairs where the talent crystal was located.

Although it was commendable that a boy had this much confidence to step up first, and they definitely had the makings for a good leader.

The pressure of being first is also great and it showed.

The boy slowed their steps near the crystal as they hesitated to put their hand on the crystal.

The Noble who was most likely the father frowned at the sight of his sons hesitation.

But there was little the man could do to solve it as that meant interrupting the monthly talent tests.

And although the significance of the event was small as all it did was flaunt the talents of the noble children.

It was an event personally held by the queen.

And no one.

No one goes against the Queen.

Oblivious of his father's thoughts.

Darren.

The son of the Count.

Pressed his palm against the crystal.

The Queen had shown how she had inserted mana into the crystal for practical purposes so that the children could understand what it did.

But in reality there was no need to do something like that.

Mana permeated all life forms unlike a few other energies that only swelled in certain physiques.

And the mana within the living body.

No matter what would naturally leak from the body and would enter the crystal.

Thus showing the potential heights they could reach.

So without making a show of putting in a visible ball of mana.

The talent crystal lit up.

---

"It seems your son is quite talented, although I think my daughter will be much better"

The noble class standing on top of the banisters and overlooking the hall stared at the noble children who were of ten years old this month.

Whispering at each other, the children made a small line as they disregarded each others backgrounds and got ready for their turn to test their talent.

'Although I'm more interested in the young princess'

That thought was common amongst the minds of the noble classes as they stared at the young girl who stood at the back of the crowd with an impassive face.

The young princess.

The youngest of her two other siblings, she was a strange girl who seemed...

Removed from the world.

But, making a name for herself with her intelligence.

It didn't take long for rumors to spread and thus.

She was dubbed the young genius with a terrifying mind akin to an adults

So, of course.

The attention placed on her was second to none.

As Darren placed his palm on the crystal.

A blue light filled the inside of the crystal as a small pillar that could be held with one hand like a spear filled the middle.

The tall pillar was a far cry from the green, blue and white pillar of the Queens, but to compare the child to the queen was an unfair comparison in the first place.

A mellow blue aura came out of the crystal as it calmly moved out and hugged the child, blue light exiting out of the sides.

"Darren Gorcester, Water Affinity and medium Mana Potential" Those words left the Queen's lips as Darren made his hand leave the crystal's surface.

Following Darren Gorcester who had shown his ability as a boy who might become either a mage or warrior in the future in the middle tier.

A small girl who was much smaller than the boy who stepped up followed next.

Green light came out of the crystal.

"Amanda Porga, Wind Affinity and High Mana Potential"

And the following noble children's talent testing went by as time went on.

A small amount of children had reached the High Mana potential but none higher, an even smaller amount of children getting the low mana potential and one even getting the lowest mana potential.

Hushed shouts resounded the hall for a while before subsiding, as mana, although is the most widely used energy for magic.

Wasn't the only one that could be used to do supernatural things.

It was just a matter of finding out a crystal that could test these energies.

Ignoring the small interlude of brief tensions rising.

The Talent Crystal had never gone past a certain point, the mana within the children making the talent crystal's light barely reach the top as the quality usually stayed in a small circle that could be held with one hand.

And finally.

It was the Rumored Geniuses turn, the child of the Queen.

Ellora.

Ellora Laga Nephele stepped up the many steps that many of her peers had also gone up before with a confident look on their face.

Stepping up to the talent crystal and placing her hand on it.

For a moment nothing happened.

That moment stretched on long enough that doubts had started to surface in the minds of the nobles.

But that moment didn't last long as a blinding light filled with Light White (Hah!), Vibrant Yellow and Light grey instantly exploded in the room.

Engulfing the room in it's light as the people within felt that they had been engulfed in the middle of a typhoon.

Astonishment filled the faces of the people in the room as the feeling of being engulfed in a thunder storm covered their bodies.

Moving her palm away with a grin, the Queen put up a gentle smile to wipe away the astonishment from her face and opened her mouth.

"Ellora Laga Nephele, Thunder, Wind and Water Affinity and Extreme Mana Potential"

---

Tree