Once they were situated in the study, Zereth got to work. He sat on one of the sofas and called Damon over to stand in front of him.
"The first thing we will do is test your mana sensitivity. Normally it's difficult to test this with the children undergoing the inspection. The best we can do is stimulate mana and see how much mana needs to be concentrated before they notice it. It's not the best test, but it's hard to perform a more accurate test with a toddler." Said Zereth.
Damon nodded his head in understanding. Children that young didn't have the best attention spans and asking them to close their eyes, sit still and follow mana was an exercise in futility.
"With a child as bright as you though, I think we can get more accurate results. How about it Damon, are you able to listen to me and follow my instructions?" asked the old man.
"I think so." said Damon.
"Good, I need you to close your eyes and tell me what you see, alright?" said Zereth.
Damon nodded his head and closed his eyes.
He had already decided that he would hide his mana level – he wouldn't come across like a cripple, but he did not want to be viewed as a budding mage.
For the sake of his plans, he needed to show overwhelming talent, but balance that with keeping the first Queen off guard. Because of this, he decided that he would bury his talent for magic until he entered the Academy and was under its protection.
Mana sensitivity, however, was a skill that helped both mages and warriors. Without any formal training in his past life, Damon had become capable of fighting and killing mages just based on his mana sensitivity.
When he closed his eyes, he did not activate True-Sight. He was curious to see exactly what Pinnacle level mana sensitivity would translate to in the eyes of this mage.
"Alright, I'm going to start. Focus on feeling the air around for the next few minutes." Said Zereth.
Damon nodded once more.
Once the old man stopped speaking, Damon felt the mana around him move. Seven vertical strands of concentrated mana formed in the air in front of Damon, they formed at eye level to Damon, each about the length of his head, but they were all whisper thin – barely one or two mana particles wide. They were spaced sporadically, some only one or two millimeters apart from one another, others a few centimeters apart.
Damon was amazed at the level of mana control this man had. Zereth had isolated these strands and completely held them in place without disturbing any of the other mana in the room. Unlike Damon's mana threads, these strands of mana were not in any stable configuration of structure, they were simply held in place by Zereth's will.
As time passed, Damon noticed that some of the mana threads were growing thicker. By the time Zereth was done, there were seven mana threads in front of him, some were gathered with very heavy concentrations of mana, whilst others were very faint.
Damon almost smiled to himself as he felt just how treacherous this old man was. Behind Damon's head was one last strand, this eighth strand was practically as thin as one of his mana threads, being only one mana particle thick.
"Alright child, can you tell me how many unique strands of mana you can feel in front of you?" Asked Zereth.
Damon now understood the purpose behind Zereth varying the distances between the strands. Someone with weaker mana sensitivity would confuse some of the closer strands as being the same strand.
"There are seven strands of mana." Said Damon, playing along with the old man's trap.
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"Here, here, here, here, here, here and here." Said Damon, pointing out each individual strand.
He opened his eyes and saw that Zereth's eyes were wide with excitement. His mother was also smiling widely, and his father's eyes were less grave, though he still maintained his deadpan expression.
Seeing their reactions, Kerron's face had grown sour, but he was still mostly calm. In his mind, Damon's mana sensitivity was irrelevant – his veins were destroyed so he would useless as either a warrior or a mage.
Beren on the other hand, was openly scowling at the display. A warning hand from Kerron made him adjust his scowl, but his eyebrows were still scrunched.
"Hahaha! Wonderful!" Exclaimed Zereth.
The old man clapped his hands.
"Your mana sensitivity goes beyond simply being high. For a child this young, this sort of ability isn't something one can see in half a millennium." He continued.
A sly, almost childish look came about his face as he continued.
"To be honest with you child, I expected you to be great, but not to this extent. However, as a mage you need to know that there is always room for improvement. As amazing as you are at this young age, never forget that you can't grow lazy." said Zereth.
"I think that's a bit unfair teacher! My Damon will never be lazy, besides, he pointed out all of the strands so who's to say that his talent isn't even greater than this test shows." Harrumphed his mother.
Damon coughed awkwardly at her vehement defense of him. It seemed that being around her teacher brought out some of his mothers' old personality. Suddenly, he understood how this woman had been able to stand against her family and forcefully take Lucy from them.
Zereth maintained his sly smile.
"What do you think Kane? Are you of the same opinion as your wife?" He asked.
The King sighed slightly but shook his head. As a level nine warrior, it was impossible for him to not notice the faint strand of mana behind Damon.
Even though Ariel was a mage of great talent, from what Damon had seen, it was likely that she was at level 5, at most level 6. She had yet to cross the barrier into level 7, so unless she was a mage who specialized in detection, or had ridiculous mana sensitivity like Damon, it was normal for her to not notice the strand.
"You! What would a muscle head like you even know about mana!" Exclaimed Damon's mother, glaring at Kane.
Apart from Zereth who kept his smile, and Kane who sighed and looked up, everyone else in the room was taken aback.
William and Lucy were mostly surprised to see Ariel speaking so harshly.
Kerron had his eyes wide, not sure if he was more surprised by the Queen's casual insult of the King, or the King's calm reaction to it. Kane was well known as someone that refused to have his dignity trampled no matter the situation or circumstance.
Kerron could not help but frown at this unexpected relationship between the two. It seemed that the first Queen would need to investigate the time the King had spent after the academy in more detail.
"Erm, actually mother, I don't think that they're wrong." Said Damon.
"Good, good. Humility and accepting room for growth is the perfect attitude child." Said Zereth.
He sighed heavily.
"If only all my students were so level-headed and humble." He said, looking at Ariel and Kane respectively as he emphasized 'level-headed' and 'humble'.
Damon could almost see the words form arrows that pierced his parents.
"Tell me child, do you want to know where you went wrong?" He asked.
Damon scratched his head, putting on an awkward expression.
"I'm not too sure. I think it might be the mana strand behind me, but you asked me to point out the ones in front of me, so I didn't mention it." As he spoke, he turned and pointed to the faint strand of mana that was floating behind him.
Damon felt the mana threads around him destabilize and dissipate. It seemed that the old man had lost control of his emotions.
Zereth's smile was gone, and his eyes were laser focused on Damon. Beside him, Kane had a similar expression as he looked at his son.
The room was quiet, and even Damon's mother wasn't smiling. It was clear that she understood just how high his sensitivity must be for him to sense mana that she had not, especially at his age.
"I will take this child with me." Said Zereth, in a tone that invited no discussion.
"Zereth." Said Kane, his eyes blazing as he looked at his former teacher.
Damon was inwardly taken aback by how boldly Zereth had declared that. Especially in the face of his father. Who exactly was this man?
Zereth and Kane looked at one another. Experience told him that they were communicating with thought projections – an ability that was only unlocked once one reached level 7.
There was silence for a few minutes before Kane and Ariel begrudgingly nodded their heads. The more he saw, the more astonished Damon was with this old man. To be able to bring someone who could not use thought projection into a thought projection conversation was something only a mage could do, and it required at least a Level 8 mage.
Whoever Zereth was, he couldn't be any less than a Vice-Tower master or Tower Elder.
Zereth looked at Damon and continued.
"I will check your mana pool now Damon. Come here and give me your arm" Said Zereth.
Damon nodded and walked towards him. He was sweating as he walked. His plan to hide his mana level had not factored in a Level 8 or higher mage. At this rate, he would be forced to follow this man to his tower.