The result

The three who passed before Xanther each produced one stable head-sized orb of energy along with some extra sparks. The first boy made a blue orb, the second boy made a white orb, and the third girl also made a white orb. These seemed to signify that the first boy had a talent for mana, while the other two had a talent for qi.

These thoughts ran through Xanther's head as he was analyzing what to use as a general baseline for judging his own talent that would be displayed soon.

He made his way up to the stage while feeling cold sweat form all around his body. He saw the wide white plate and began approaching it before being stopped by one of the assistants that called his name.

"As you seem to have some special circumstances, we will require you to wear these bracelets on both wrists before using the plate."

They slipped the two grey bracelets on his wrists immediately after informing him and stood beside the plate once again.

As Xanther's hands got closer to the plate, he felt it almost trying to pull him towards itself. Once they were both placed on it, five orbs quickly formed around him. The blue, white, purple, and grey orbs were twice the size of his own head, while the red orb was larger than his body. The red orb stopped growing at roughly two meters in diameter.

The crowd watched in awe as the orbs slowly floated in the air. It was quiet enough that you could hear the faint wind blow through. Xanther was mesmerized by the red ball of energy in front of him. It almost resembled a miniature star. He was pulled out of his trance when one of the assistants pulled him away from the plate and to the seats with an odd look of pity.

As he looked around, most of the people that seemed to be overseeing this test seemed to be both surprised and pitying him.

"What's the problem with all of them?"

[Your results showed that you have a very high aptitude for Vigour energy. Most Vigor practitioners are brutes who have to train their bodies so harshly that it's viewed as a form of torture by others.]

Xanther's face looked like it had lost most of its color.

"...And you made it so I have to train with them now..."

[Yes.]

"...Do you mind explaining why I couldn't have just posed as any other practitioner?"

[The other kinds are usually more about hierarchy and rules, Vigor practitioners are more about might is right and give more freedom. You also will need to train your body like hell since every other stage relies on your body's strength, so there is no better place to start.]

He wanted to retort that there would have been a better way but found no way to come up with a better solution. As he began to come to terms with what he had gotten himself into, he remembered that he had already trained his body quite a bit, so it shouldn't be too hard on him.

While Xanther was trying to talk himself into thinking that it couldn't be too bad, two more people passed. It was a boy and girl who passed with roughly head-sized red orbs. They received similar looks of pity, just without the slight look of surprise that Xanther got.

Nobody else seemed to pass after the last two and soon enough, everyone that hadn't passed had been thanked and told to go home.

The supervisors then turned to the six that passed and lead them to where they would be able to decide which clan they wanted to join.

They were led down a long underground hall to meet the representatives of the six clans who decided to join this recruitment. Once they had arrived, they were brought into an oddly fancy-looking room with luxurious red sofas. There were six people seated on the sofas who were clearly hostile to each other. Upon seeing Xanther, they collectively focused their attention on him and became silent.

The old lady who brought them began speaking.

"Now, I shall explain each clan and their specialties to you; There is the Magistar clan, which specializes in battlefield magic, the Plum clan, who specializes in the qi arts, the Magos clan, who are well known for their deep research into the magical arts, the Odune clan, who seek to hold as much knowledge as they can and are known for their widespread influence, the Hundred Beast clan, who are well known for their strong Vigour practitioners and their beast-like ferocity, and finally the Divine Blindness clan, who are unrelenting in their pursuit of justice and accept all who wish to join. Please make your decision on which clan you would like to join or pay the fee of 1 silver for your test so that you can show another clan."

The others had already scrunched up their faces and one boy had paid the fee and left. Xanther already decided on which clan he wanted, but was waiting for any offers from the six representatives seated in front of him. He did his best to act like he was deep in thought until all of the others had decided. Once it had been a bit over 5 minutes, a chubby silver-haired man called out to him.

"Boy, we at the Magos clan can offer you an inner position if you join us."

A scarred woman wearing a witch hat stood up and glared at the Magos representative.

"Nonsense, you bookworms have no use for someone like him. The Magistar clan happens to have some instructors specializing in both Vigour and Mana who can teach him some good magical combat. We can also offer him a position as an inner combatant and direct tutelage under a master of his choosing."

The bulky woman with beast tattoos stood up and towered over both of them.

"He needs to focus on where his talents clearly lie and not dilute his work by focusing on where he doesn't need to. If he joins the Hundred Beast clan, we shall give him our undivided attention and train him until he can surpass even the beast's force we pride ourselves in along with a position that isn't worse than what you lot offer."

The lithe man who had his long hair tied in a bun looked like he wanted to fight for Xanther as well, but gave up very quickly.

A fit-looking man with a tired look in his eyes seemed pensive but stood not long after.

"If this boy joins the Odune clan, we shall offer him free access to our libraries, a core position within our ranks, the best instructors within our Vigour sector, and possible tutelage under the clan leader."

The other standing representatives look at him with wide eyes. None of them could even dare promise the hope of getting to learn under their clan leaders and yet he had done so. They didn't know whether he was calculating or whether he was going to die upon returning.

A stern-looking woman simply stood up and gave the others looks of disgust.

"If you wish to follow our ways under our blind god, you must give up your greed. All I can offer is fair treatment and discipline."

They all looked at Xanther patiently. The room was silent for a long minute before he answered.

"I think I'll go with the Odune clan, I quite admire their pursuit of knowledge."

The Odune representative gave a sigh of relief as the others angrily walked into purple circles engraved into the ground along with the rest of the people they recruited. Behind Xanther was the girl who had a Vigour affinity, she seemed roughly 30cm shorter than him and looked like she was about to cry any moment. He decided to pay no more attention to her and to just follow the Odune representative to their circle.

Xanther decided to make some small talk as they waited for what he presumed to be a teleportation.

"So, do you have a name Mr. Representative?"

"My name is Ferun. Make sure you remember it if you manage to become someone."

"It'd be hard to forget the man who is getting me such favorable conditions. I'll do my be—"

"I-I'm Kensley!"

An awkward silence followed until the circle activated.