Chapter 8: Didn't go as planned

The next day, Caleb woke up a bit later than usual and realised his sleep today was much better than the ones of the past week.

It could be because he doesn't feel this dark storm of guilt floating above him, or maybe because he knows what he has to do with his future. However, the most important thing to Caleb was that he didn't feel heavy inside, and woke up in a decent mood.

"Mum, what's for breakfast this morning?" Caleb said walking down the stairs still in his sleeping clothes.

She was in the kitchen frying bacon, while her husband was in the living room on his newspaper.

"You start by greeting people first young man, don't forget your manners!" Mary retorted.

Before going to the kitchen, Caleb walked up to his father to check on what he was doing.

"What'chu reading on that piece of paper?"

"Oh well, Kylian Guapo scored a hat trick in the continental finals, can you believe that?"

Caleb raised his eyebrows and walked away uninterested in what Mark had just said.

"I'm not interested in sports unless it involves women," He replied heading to the kitchen.

On the kitchen counter, were already fried eggs, and cooked beans with several slices of bread.

"Smells amazing," Caleb said attempting to reach out for a slice of bread but a slap on his hand prevented his arm to move any further.

"You wait for everything to be ready, and you didn't even wash your hands!" May shouted at him, "you filthy little scum,"

Caleb raised both his hands and gave a nervous smile at May who was giving him a death stare.

"I was only checking how hot the food was,"

He then took a seat at the dining table waiting for his food to be served.

At the same time, he heard a loud knock on his door that nearly made Mark jump off his couch.

Before anyone could even open the door for the person, the door was busted open, presenting a short ginger-haired girl with a white shirt and her leg lifted up showing her pink underwear under her short skirt.

"I am here!" She shouted with a grin on her face.

May seemed quite pleased to see her and immediately welcomed her in.

"Lola, it is so nice seeing you, what brings you here at such an early time!" May said giving her a big hug.

Mark and Caleb on the other side seemed to have a rather unpleasant expressions when they saw her.

'Not her again...' They both lamented internally.

Lola, who was the same age as Caleb, was May's niece, or Caleb's sister. They both grew up together, and Lola had a nasty habit of often getting Caleb into problems and tormenting him when they were youngsters.

This is why, over time, Caleb began to acquire feelings of both affections as a family member and loathing as an individual for her.

"I heard that Caleb was going to pass the Ether test, so I had to come over and see him because I'm passing it too!" She exclaimed looking left and right around the house to see where Caleb was.

"There you are!" She exclaimed as soon as she saw him.

"I thought being a Magus was too dangerous for you and preferred t be an explorer, what changed your mind there?"

She sat down next to Caleb at the dining table, her legs spread and her arm lying on her leg, like a tomboy.

"How do you even know?" Caleb asked looking the other way.

"It's my parents who told me, but I had to come and confirm it for myself,"

Mary was already putting the food on the table and gave a plate to everyone including Lola.

"I just realised that as a Magus I might discover, and understand more things than if I was a simple explorer..." He said while serving himself the food.

Lola showed an unconvinced face and got closer to Caleb to see whether he was saying the truth or not.

Caleb was startled and moved his head backwards nearly making his dish fall.

"What are you doing creeping up on me like that?" He exclaimed with an annoyed face.

Lola shrugged and then moved away from him, "I guess you're right in some way,"

"So annoying" he whispered side-eyeing her while she was serving herself, "but I've got to admit, she's quite pretty... it's just that she has such a barbaric attitude,"

"Don't be shy Lola, this is your home, so you can eat as much as you want!" Mary told her.

"But not everything either!" Mark shouted throwing his newspaper on the couch and walking to the dining table.

In addition to her barbaric attitude, she also had a barbarians appetite, and Mark knew that by experience.

"Where's my plate?" He shouted angrily as he sat down.

"Well then, at what time is the Ether test?" Mary asked both teenagers.

"It's in about an hour and a half," Lola responded with her mouth full.

"Once we pass the tests, 3 days later, we will be at the Magus Academy,"

"It's that fast?" Caleb asked unaware of that information.

"Yes it is, unlike other years where they would allow about a month, this year, they have changed their process, and apparently, there will be drastic changes in the Magus Academy's way of proceeding in general for unknown reasons,"

Of course, he didn't care when he had to go, but he wanted to spend a little more time with his parents before he left. The Magus Academy only had two vacations a year, winter and summer, so they wouldn't see each other very often when he goes.

When he glanced at his mother, who was standing in front of her chair, she didn't appear unhappy or dissatisfied. When she received the news, her countenance was filled with delight and excitement.

"That means two of our babies are going to become Magi as soon as possible!" Mary said clapping her hands in excitement.

"You better make us proud Caleb, I don't need any average or good, I'm nearly excellent!"

Caleb merely smiled and chose to keep his worries to himself for the time being.

He completed his meal and prepared to take the Ether exam at the same spot where he had registered.

Lola was waiting for him downstairs while he was getting ready, and after he was ready to go, they said goodbye to Mary and Mark before leaving the home. A stunning silver McLaren 570gt was parked outside the home.

"Luckily I came with a car, otherwise we would've been late because of your dumbass!" Lola shouted.

Caleb also couldn't comprehend how Lola could have such bad manners since her mother is a rich entrepreneur.

His aunt owned BF tyres, which was formerly one of the top ten tyre brands in the kingdom. However, because of her high position, she was constantly on the move and never at home. Furthermore, her father died when she was a child, and she has no recollection of him. Perhaps this was the reason she lacked etiquette. She was never watched over or even educated to live up to her mother's reputation.

They both jumped in their car and sped to the checkpoint. Caleb didn't even know whether she had a driver's licence or not.

"We're finally here!" She said before stopping the car abruptly nearly causing Caleb to knock his head.

Because of how terrifying Lola was driving, his heart was racing fast enough for him to have a heart attack, but the most important thing was that they arrived at their destination.

"And we've got here just on time, people are already entering the place," Caleb whispered to himself.

The two followed the crowd and got to the entrance where two large robots with a screen instead of a face were blocking the entrance.

"Name and date of birth please," One of the robots said.

"Caleb Lance, February 24, 2077,"

The robot took a pause, and its screen changed displaying Caleb's name and a number below it,"

"Caleb Lance, number 268, you are welcome to enter," The robot said letting him go through.

"Hey, wait for me Caleb," Lola said as she was going for her turn.

Caleb began to speedwalk through the crowd without reacting or turning back in order to lose her.

He moved approached a big crowd that was watching up at a massive screen that had one of the applicants taking their Ether exam.

Right underneath the massive screens were ten separate entrance doors, each labelled with a number ranging from 1 to 10. The Etherium chamber is accessible through these doors. The screen listed the names of everyone who was now taking the exam, as well as their Ether Limit.

A woman's voice would announce a number to enter a specific entrance door to take their Test.

"Caleb!" A soft voice said in the distance.

"Maya... you're taking the Ether test too?" He said in surprise.

"Yes I am," she said sweetly with a smile, "my parents told me that the best explorers in this world are the Magi because unlike us, they experience the dangers of this world,"

"And they're right about it, the mysteries of the world lie in the dangers of it," Caleb responded.

As they were discussing, a large gasp of amazement came from the people watching one of the several screens.

"It's over 9000!!!!!!" One of them shouted pointing at a screen.

A young brown-haired man with a sleepy countenance and practically closed eyelids appeared on the screen. His hand was on the Etherium, and his Ether limit was shown above the screen.

If an Ether Limit is over 9000, it is considered high; whereas, if it is less than 5000, it is considered low. Most people understand that being in the middle of the numbers makes you an average person. If the individual does not have any Ether, the Etherium will not respond and the screen will display 'nil.'

* Leo Kasani,12 800 *

"12 800, how on earth do you get that much?!" One of the people in the crowd exclaimed.

"Another one!!!!"

On another screen, a lady with long black straight hair that reached her ankles, a white headband, a brown sweater, a white little skirt, and a menacing look indicated an Ether limit of 15 000.

* Jennifer Tale, 15 000 *

"The highest Ether limit in Tyggstral for the past 10 years was 12 500, and two people just broke the record in an instant!!"

Even Caleb and Maya looked surprised at the numbers. They weren't expecting anyone to go beyond the record, and in an instant, two of them had broken it.

"That was unexpected..." Caleb said in an astonished tone.

"Two of them already, and we still have about 700 candidates!"

They were both looking at the screens, still in shock after seeing the record broken in an instant.

'If they broke the record, I wonder how far I'll get...'

After around 20 minutes, more than 100 members had completed their exams, with no one scoring better or worse than average.

The audience was ecstatic to see two strong people right away, but they quickly realised that this would not guarantee them a high Ether limit.

Soon enough, the lady in speak announced a number.

"Please, number 257, take entrance number 3 for your Ether test,"

"I guess that's me," Maya said with a determined face, "wish me luck Caleb!"

"Just don't trip on your way," Caleb responded.

"That's a great way to wish me luck," Maya said sarcastically.

She entered the door she was directed to enter, and she was afterwards presented on one of the displays.

Caleb took a close look; the room was dark, but the Etherium's green light made it easy to see where she was going.

"Please get closer to the Etherium, and place your hand on its surface,"

Maya was a little startled by the lady's voice, but she did as she was ordered.

When she was close enough, she closed her eyes and looked aside, slowly moving her palm to the material.

The Etherium began to shine brilliantly as soon as she touched it, and it began to flicker slightly. The Etherium responded, signalling that she was in possession of Ether. Suddenly, the screen made a beeping noise, and a number appeared above it.

* Maya Lee, 11 095 *

"A third one!"

"I don't remember ever hearing Tyggstral having three people over the average in one year!"

'Even she got a high ether limit...'

Of course, Caleb was surprised that Maya, of all people, had such a high Ether limit. This increased his confidence that he would receive a high Ether limit score.

"Everything is gonna be okay... hopefully," Caleb tried to convince himself looking at the screen.

A few more candidates went by, until the voice finally shouted, "number 268, please walk through entrance no 9,"

It was finally time for him to go, and he could feel the stress and strain building.

"Don't worry you're gonna do great!" Maya said in an attempt to relieve his pressure.

Caleb took a few deep breaths and started to walk to entrance number 10. At the same time, the voice also shouted another number, "number 269, please walk through entrance no 8"

Next to Caleb who was heading to the entrance, he saw someone who looked familiar to him.

It was Maya's boyfriend Trent who was making his way to entry 8. His expression was lethal, as if he, like Caleb, had been through something that had transformed him.

'This isn't the time to worry about others...'

As soon as he went passed the entrance, he walked straight for a few seconds, until lights lit up from above showing that he was in an elevator.

"You are currently being transported to the Etherium Chamber," The lady said.

The elevator started going up and stopped at the 9th floor before the doors opened, and straight ahead Caleb could see the large green crystal.

"Please walk to the Etherium and place your hand on it..."

Caleb approached the crystal and, once there, glanced up and down to see how large and beautiful it appeared from a close.

He took one more long breath before placing his palm on the Etherium. The crystal began to light, as it had with Maya, proving the presence of Ether within him.

His heart began to race as he felt the Etherium crystal vibrate on his hand. He closed his eyes, waiting for the outcome, and his entire body began to shiver slightly in response to the vibrating crystal.

Suddenly, while waiting for something to happen, two results flashed on the displays, and the female voice spoke out.

"10 500, number 269"

"8700, number 268"

The crowd gasped in amazement as they saw another one go above 9000, and a second right below it.

"Tyggstral might actually make it in the top 10 this year!"

Everyone perceived this as an amazing score, and no one has beaten 8700 yet, making it an exceptional score; nonetheless, the only person who was dissatisfied in this circumstance was number 268, Caleb.

"8700, how the fuck did I get below the high Ether Limit score?" Caleb said his face puzzled as he heard his score.

"For fucks sake, how the fuck did this happen!"

Confusion, but also anger, could be evident on his face; he couldn't believe his score was this low, but as the rage consumed him, Alexa entered his head; "She knew this since the beginning!"

"Number 268, please make your way out of the chamber,"

He decided to take a deep breath and step out of the chamber. Once outside, he noticed Maya smiling and waving at him.

"You passed it too!" She praised him, "and you've got way above the average!"

In an attempt to not show his unhappiness, he simply smiled back at her.

"Thanks," He replied.

"I'm sure Roy would be super happy for you..."

Caleb looked at the ground without answering.

"I guess I can leave this place now..." Caleb said.

"Oh, well I'm just gonna wait for someone until then..." Maya replied.

Caleb chose not to respond and instead walked away. He was furious, but also foolish since the woman that serves for the Magus Academy read him like a book.

"I feel so stupid, everything that happened here, I'm pretty sure she predicted it. She probably knew of my arrogance and wanted to use the Ether test to prove something,"

As soon as he walked out of the building, he saw an unpleasant individual from afar standing behind the same black car as yesterday.

"How did the Ether test go?" She asked with a delighted smile on her face.

"I assume you wanted a high ether limit, a score that stood out from the crowd. Regrettably, your score was less than the high ether limit. Do you know how risky your current circumstance is? Everyone in the Magus Academy will get the same training, talents, and treatment as you. Don't go too far ahead of yourself because something is inside of you. Nothing will put you ahead of others, and nothing will put them ahead of you. You will start at zero and progressively acquire strength; there is no other alternative since it is either that or death. Remember that you are not unique.

Most importantly, I hope you see how perilous your situation is now. We do not expect you to be a typical Magus like the majority of the trainees. We want you to be the best, and it is a must. As a result, you must work harder than others,"

Alexa kept her usual enthusiastic smile and slightly tilted her head sideways.

Oh, and before leaving I almost forgot, welcome to the Magus Academy!"

*Meanwhile in the Ether test building*

The lady was once again announcing something over the speaker.

"We apologise for the inconvenience, however, we have some issues with the Etherium Chamber in entrance number 9, thus the Ether test will be slower, and will finish later than usual.

Lola, who was waiting for her turn heard the announcement including Maya.

"Wait, isn't the last person who went through entrance 9, Caleb?"

Inside entry 9, three men that seemed to be Magus personnel were in the Etherium room.

However, within the chamber, the Etherium crystal had chattered in bits, yet the shards of chattered crystals were glowing brightly.

"Unbelievable," One of the employees said looking above the pieces of crystals.

"I can't believe someone could have this much power inside him,"

"He has the potential to wipe this whole city in a blink of an eye..."

They were all staring up in the same direction, each with a different expression.

Above the crystals was a number, the preceding candidate's ether limit score. They were both stunned and couldn't believe what they were witnessing.

"It can't be possible, how can someone be this powerful, how can someone have such a high ether limit?"

"How could someone ever reach 34 500,"