About two hours had passed since the end of the first exam, and now it was time to begin the second exam. All the candidates stood in the corners of the room, their faces showing various signs of worry.
"Alright, everyone, get ready! We're starting the second exam. In this exam, you just have to transfer your mana to two objects in two forms. I won't give any more explanations. Whoever wants to go first, come forward."
Everyone looked at each other, waiting to see who would be brave enough to go first. After a few minutes, a boy from the corner raised his hand and declared his readiness. He was a boy with brown and pinkish hair, simple in appearance, still carrying the innocent scent of childhood, and he walked toward Abraham to take the test.
"Alright, kid, come here. Quickly transfer your mana into the crystal so we can see both your element and your core level."
The contestant followed Abraham's instructions and performed the test. It turned out that the boy had the talent for the Wind element, and his core level was in the middle of the red zone. Many others followed suit, but only Arion remained among the top candidates. Derikaron had the dual elements of Earth and Fire with a core level at the very end of the red zone, and Maro, with the Water element, also had a core level at the last stage of red. Now it was Arion's turn.
"Papa, calm down! Why are you so nervous? You're bothering me!"
"Oh, sorry, Shadolf, but can you feel my emotions from over there?"
"Yeah, I think it's because I've become stronger, that's probably why. Let me tell you something, Dad, I've never seen Zynarfil like this before!"
"Kid, you can tell me later. I need to go now, Daren is calling me."
After the conversation between Arion and Shadolf ended, Arion walked slowly toward the crystal. Everyone, even the kings, were waiting to see what his talent would be. Everyone expected him to have a dual-element talent like the others, but no one anticipated he would be even more extraordinary.
"Calm down, Arion... you've worked with the crystal before. Now you just have to repeat the same process."
Arion focused, closed his blue eyes, and observed himself. He could feel the flow of mana and guided it from his core toward his palms. But something was different— a hot surge of mana erupted within him, coursing from his heart to his fingertips. Arion's growth was exponential, and his power was increasing. The air around him became slightly turbulent, and the crystal kept shaking.
In the corner of the room, where the judges stood, a person who was blind was positioned. But his blindness was not ordinary; it was because of his Visionary Sight. In his mind, he thought: "This boy is a monster! Damn it, why didn't I realize sooner? The power sealed within him is beyond expectations! Why is the flow of his mana so strange? His mana veins— they're completely different from anyone I've seen before! God of the deities, what kind of monster have you created? Even among his kind, no one has ever been like him."
Everyone else was stunned, their mouths agape at this bizarre event. In a world where most people had a single element, and even the most extraordinary people could control at most three, this boy seemed to be the ruler of the elements.
The crystal kept changing colors: from blue to red, from red to green, and from green to brown. But that wasn't all— the most surprising part was that Arion's mana volume was increasing, and another crystal was on the verge of breaking under the strain. Warm winds were forming around Arion, and the ground beneath him turned red. The heat was even surpassing the heat test itself.
Arion had earned the title of "Ruler of the Elements," and with his mana volume and the crystal's threshold, it became clear that his core level had reached the mid-yellow stage— a level far beyond what one would expect from a first-year student.
Finally, Arion took a deep breath, cut off the flow of his mana, and opened his eyes. But what he saw before him was not the crystal—it was the amazed and perplexed faces of the kings!