A week later, my parents and I got into the car and we drove to the facility where they could get me tested.
Walking into the large official-looking building, my parents led me over to the front desk. The lady looked at us and, seeing my age, correctly assumed what we were doing. She smiled and directed us towards the testing area. We followed her directions and ended up in a large gathering room with a bunch of other families.
Everyone was waiting in line to get one or more of their children tested. However, the line was moving quickly as those who went up to the machine got their result seemingly instantly. So we just joined the line and decided to be patient.
After just ten minutes or so, it was our turn. I walked up to the machine and looked over to the man operating it.
"Alright, all you've gotta do is place the palm of your hand on part here, and your result will show up on the screen," he explained in a bored voice. Doing as instructed, I put my hand on the machine. It beeped and took several minutes before the result popped up. When the operator saw it, his eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"What? What is it?" Arthur asked, practically shouting.
"Uh, uhm, I, uh, I've never seen this result before," the operator replied. "The machine says [Error, unreadable] about your son."
"But what does that mean?!" Arthur yelled.
"I have no idea, sir," the man admitted. "I'm going to go get my boss. He should be able to figure this out."
The operator then ran out of the room. He came back several minutes later with a tall, lanky white-haired old man. The newcomer looked over both me and the machine, rubbing his chin. He then grabbed hold of my hand.
The man held my right hand by the wrist, then placed his other hand over mine. He muttered a couple words under his breath, then his eyes glowed blue for just a moment. When the glow faded, his eyes also widened.
"I-I'm sorry, but I also cannot read your son," the man replied. "I do not know why, but I cannot read his current strength level, nor his future potential. I don't know if it's because his potential is just that great, or because he has a new type of power never seen before. Either way, even though I can sense that he does have power within him, I cannot measure it."
"Well, thank you for your time," Vanessa said with a smile. She kept keeping Father from speaking since she knew he would just cause a fuss. I then walked over to my parents, ready to leave since the results of my test were unreadable. However, as we were about to leave, the old man stopped us.
"Wait, I'm very sorry that your testing was unsuccessful. However, since your son has some type of power, he still deserves a rating," the man said. "Now, has he performed any magic already? Normally, I wouldn't ask such a question, but since your son is such a unique case, I'd hate to discount any possibilities."
"Our son was already able to fly at just ten days old," Father replied, speaking before Mother could cut him off. Everyone heard this and began whispering, staring at me and my parents. However, most of the looks were ones of doubt and ridicule.
"There's no way that's true! Even high-level mages still require a few years of training before they can learn to fly! The youngest mage to ever learn flight magic was fourteen when he did so!" Someone from the line behind us shouted out. However, the old man didn't have the same skepticism that everyone else did.
"Well, boy, can you fly?" He asked, giving me a serious stare.
"Yes, I can fly," I answered. I then began floating off the ground, slowly getting higher and higher until I was above everyone else. Everyone in the room was left dumbstruck other than my parents. Arthur had a smug look on his face as he looked around at everyone else. The old man was the first to recover. He asked me to come back down before looking me over again.
"Boy, I'd like you and your parents to follow me. I'm going to give you a personal assessment test to give you a potential rating based on your capabilities since we're unable to test you the regular way," he finally said. He then gestured for us to follow him, and as we left the room, everyone just stared after us, still speechless at what they saw.
* * *
Once we were in a different testing room, the old man turned to look at me.
"This is room is how we test new recruits. However, today, it's how I'm going to give you a proper potential rating," he explained. "A training dummy is going to pop out of the floor over there, and I want you to hit it as hard as you can. Now, don't worry about breaking it, it's designed to take hits from mid-level mages, so go all out with whatever you've got."
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"Understood," I replied. The old man led my parents to what looked like a control room. He then closed the control room door and pressed a button. A section of the floor opened up and a platform raised, a shiny metal robot-looking thing standing on it.
As soon as the the platform was even with the rest of the floor, the robot's eyes glowed red and it whirred to life. The robot began stomping towards me, but I wasn't afraid. Taking a single step forward, I activated
"Take this!" I shouted. Activating
I flew backwards about forty feet before slamming into the ground. Coughing once, I then stood up, relatively alright. Taking a deep breath, I activated
"
[Combat protocol initiated.] The robot said in a mechanical voice. It then charged towards me, its fists raised. I ducked under its first blow, but the second one still caught me. However, right before the punch landed, I activated
I skidded backwards, the punch launching me away. However, I managed to remain standing despite the robot's powerful blow. It began advancing towards me again, but I used
If I'm gonna beat this thing, then I've gotta not hold back anymore. I'm gonna hit this thing with everything I've got! I thought. Inhaling deeply, I then activated
"Kaaaa...meeee...haaaa...meeee...HAAAAAAAAA!" All four of us shouted. We each then activated
However, all four of us then collapsed to the ground, panting and gasping for breath. The three clones then vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving me by myself. I tried to get up, but the pain and damage from what I did hit me all at once. Straining to stay conscious, I watched as my parents and the old man ran over to me.
The old man tried to say something to me, but I couldn't hear him. I watched as he pulled out a syringe of some kind and jabbed it into my forearm. The contents of the syringe felt cold as it entered my arm, but I stared to feel a little better in a few moments.
"How're you feeling, boy?" The man asked. Concern was evident on his face, but I could also see interest and curiosity in his eyes. My parents, however, both looked worried and terrified as they leaned over me. My father tried to pick me up, but I shooed him away.
Sitting up, I then sat in a meditative position and activated
"I can use magic to heal quickly," I replied.
"You...can use healing magic?" The man asked. I nodded in response. "So, then, on top of being able to fly, teleport, and use such high-level magic, you also are a rare healer on top of it. And all of this at only four years old."
"I don't teleport, I just move really fast," I replied, trying to explain the
"Regardless of how it works, you can do it and so much more. Can you heal other people, or just yourself?" He asked.
"I don't know, I've never tried."
"Hmm, then let's put a pin in that for now." The man then turned to face my parents. "Your son is clearly very gifted. I would like to recruit him, once he's old enough to join."
"Oh, well, uh, I mean, he'd have to be willing to join," Father replied. "For now, let's just stay in contact, that way we can get ahold of you when he makes a decision after he's old enough."
"Right, right, my apologies, I just got carried away," the man said. "Here, take this."
He handed what looked like a business card to Father before turning to look at me.
"You are very special, boy, and I want you to train hard and work hard, that way you can continue to become stronger. Also, I shall give you your rating now," he said. "Given what you've shown me, I'm going to give you a SSS+ rating, which is the highest rating that can be given to non-mages. You are the first to have this rating at your age, so be proud of yourself."
He then walked us out of the building, bidding us goodbye. As we drove away, I continued watching the old man. However, as I watched him, he smirked and vanished. Eyes widening, I recognized that what he did was actual teleportation, unlike what I did during my fight with the robot.
So, I now have my goal. To become strong enough to live up to that old man's expectations and become a member of whatever group or organization he works for. Then, from there, I'll become the strongest in the world, I thought as we drove towards home.