“You’re familiar with how jewelers test the authenticity of elemental gems, Bios?” Master Zoe spread her right hand, each finger shining with the color of their respective element.

There was yellow for the Earth Gems, blue for the Water Gem, gray for the Silver Gem, and red for the Fire Gem glistened on her bony fingers as she stretched them on her hand like the finest jewelry.

“When the gems make close contact with a magical force the corresponding gem will respond to awaken other gems within the close proximity.” Anthony explained. “In the hands of a mage high ranking mage, it can even deflect and negate elemental attacks of the same elements. It’s why elemental weapons and armor are used when facing demons or other mages in combat.”

“An answer worthy of a scholar.” Master Zoe praised. “In the second era, it was also a way to establish a mage’s training at birth. They used elemental gems to identify certain forces and then nourish that quality to reach the highest potential. It was before the third age that it was realized that higher elements required a diverse collection of elemental forces to achieve unity. That is why it’s recommended training all four inner forces instead of one particular trait to create a stronger breed of Mage.” She clenched her hand like a fist and gazed at the four gems on her right hand as they lit up like candles. “There is something to be learned from our past, because in medicine this was also found as an effective way of identifying the core of all magical abilities and any imbalances within the body. Being trained as a soldier you’re familiar with four major elemental organs I’d wager.”

“Heart for the soul, the stomach for spirit, the head for mind, and the spine for the body.”

“Correct, and if I were to apply all four forces in these gems at once I can track the sources of each internal force to every exact organ related to its elemental property, maybe even discover the source of the ion.”

“So you’ve going to wave these rings over my head?”

“For all we know that glow in the middle of your head has nothing to do with the true source of the ion. The only way to be sure is through thorough examination, by examining every pathway of your body. If you would just lie down flat on the floor for a moment, I can try scanning a few points and see what I can find?”

Anthony did as instructed, taking off his knife, amulet, broach, ring, and every other piece of his hunter’s gear until he was down to his bare shirt and pants to lie flat on the floor of the carpet of the room breathing easy and calm.

“What exactly do you expect to find Master Zoe?”

“Not sure, but just relax and let me work my wonders.” She waved her hand around his feet and started working her way up.

There was no reaction at first until she reached the center of Anthony’s stomach. Selene, who had been watching this procedure, watched as the Water Gem on Master Zoe’s middle finger began to glow a bright blue.

“I’m tracking your spirit force on the right track, starting from the stomach leading to the kidneys, liver and gallbladder.” She spoke loud enough for Anthony to hear. “All these tracks indicate the perfect spiritual synergy enough to break fifth circle water magic, but...” She waved her hand up again to move it close to his solar plexus as the fire gem on her little finger began to glow bright red. “...Tracking from the end of the line, we find the pancreas, the spleen, the arteries leading to the center of a heart, indicating the completed track of fire mage.”

“What does that mean for us who haven’t studied medicine?” Selene was curious why any of this mattered.

“Spiritual forces is the second step of fire mastery, it allows fire mages to enter the third circle and control lightning. By all accounts Anthony you have the perfect both to be third circle fire mage.”

“Then why until a week ago, was I only able to control even a spark?” She didn’t answer but continued doing her examination, moving her hand slightly above his heart until the silver gem on her ring finger began to glow with bright silvery gray.

“From the source of the lungs, to the throat, ears I’m getting a strong indication of mind force, the element of wind magic, the third step in achieving thunder magic, the fourth circle of fire mages. Once again, perfectly intact, but still inert and...” She moved her hand down his face as the last gem on her index finger began to glow an amber yellow. “...from the end of the jaw, to the neck, shoulder, and spine indicates the power of an Earth Mage, the final step in achieving light magic.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“What does this all mean?” Anthony asked.

“It means you have all the makings of Grand Master Fire Mage, but for some reason can’t produce a outer element without some kind of catalyst.”

“Could it be in the dagger I possess?”

“If it were that easy I’d be scanning that dagger instead of you, I believe it has to be a unique catalyst, somewhere on your body. I’ll try intensifying my inner forces and see if I can expose that area on your body.”

Zoe continued to scan his body, again each time asking him to move his arms, legs, back and practically every crevice of his body. The results were the same, the paths were connected, perfectly but nothing in the rings seemed to indicate any differences. By now Selene had practically fallen asleep, but Master Zoe continued with Anthony without question hoping that eventually she would find what she was looking for. Master Zoe grabbed her head in frustration as if all this testing had been pointless from the start.

“Master Zoe, perhaps if you increase the intensity of the forces in the gems.” Anthony suggested. “It might yield better results.”

“We’d need high quality amplified gems for that, ones with more than these two percent. I could probably do something about a fire gem, but we’d need all three gems of quality to get accurate results. That would cost more than the money we have.” She sighed before looking at Selene resting peacefully. “Maybe we should call it a night and try again in the morning.”

Anthony got up from the floor and started gathering his gear to put aside for the night. The moment he touched the blue silky amulets in his possession, a sudden pinch went through his nerves. It was as if a bolt of lightning shot up from his hand and into his very heart and soul. His body became as stiff as stone, as he felt a warm feeling reach up from his hand into the middle of his forehead. Master Zoe saw this as she got up from the ground, wondering why he had stopped so suddenly.

“Bios?” The moment she spoke, she saw him drop to the floor like someone had knocked him over the head. “Anthony!”

Zoe rushed over to him quickly, she called, waking up Selene from her peaceful sleep.

“What’s going on, what’s happening?” She was confused and tried to get her bearings.

“I don’t know, but he suddenly fell unconscious.” She gently slapped his face trying to wake him up. “Quickly help me get him to the bed.”

Together the women pulled him to the bed while Master Zoe checked his vitals and gave him a physical examination to see what was the problem. From her examination of his eyelids, heart, and temperature, everything indicated he was in the state of normal sleep. However, no matter how hard they tried to wake him, it seemed that he could not be disturbed. It was during the midst of this shaking that Selene noticed a peculiar anomaly.

“Come on Bios, wake up, wake up!” Master Zoe called.

“Ms. Gaia, your hand!” Selene pointed to her right hand that was placed on top of his head.

She had been caught up with examining the young man’s state, but she had not noticed the rings on her finger were having a strange reaction. All the colors of silver, yellow, blue, and red were glowing at a strange vibrant state. As their color intensified they stopped being their own color and started to glowing a strange white luster. At the same time, Master Zoe lifted her hand above his head and saw the mark in the middle of his forehead appear as bright as day.

“The ion...” Zoe looked in awe as she started waving her hand up and down Anthony’s head and shoulders.

“What’s going on, Ms. Gaia?” Selene was worried as she stopped her examination and started moving her hand up and down his body once more.

“I was wrong...so very wrong.” She did not even recognize her words seeing the elemental stones of her hands glowing like pale lights fluctuating bright and dimmer at random moments. “I can’t waste this moment, I’ve got to do another exam, every part, every piece, every path...”

“Ms. Gaia, get a gip you’re startling to ramble.” Selene tried to calm her down.

“I’m perfectly sane Ms. Menander, grab a piece of paper and pen something and write down everything I’m about to say.” Selene rushed to grab some writing tools while Ms. Gaia started running her hands up and down Anthony’s body.

Through her ranting and raving, Selene tried to make notes that added up to what she was talking about. However, it all sounds like gibberish as the master traced the path of his glowing forehead down to every limb and organ it is connecting like a long running maze. Just when she had reached his stomach the rings on her fingers began to glow bright white and vibrated like shaking glass.

Using all her strength, she tried to hold the crystals stable but the forces of Anthony’s body were so strong that the crystal could not handle the strain. Master Zoe reached her hand back as the elemental gems on her fingers cracked one by one, releasing particles of rainbow colored dust into the air. They flew through the air like fine powder and fell to the floor as black dust against the carpet.

“No!” Anthony yelled as he sprung back to life.

“Bios, are you...” She was interrupted as he jumped off the bed.

“No time Master Zoe, we have to leave right now!” Anthony reached out to grab his combat gear.

“Kid, what’s got you so spooked?”

“I’ll tell you on the way there.” He said, strapping his knife to the belt. “You’re not going to believe what I saw.”