Silas made a gesture and the Spirit Matrix Orb floated down the platform until it was fifty feet ahead of the prospects. He focused on the hopeful below, “From the lowest rank, this Bead would glow red to signify a grade one talent, then yellow for grade two, green for grade three, Orange for grade four, purple for grade five, white for grade six and black for the highest grade seven.”

Silas knew there were other colors apart from these seven for those monstrous individuals, but it was not common to see such an occurrence in tens of thousands of years, so he did not bother trying to declare it. Why should he relay information that had no bearing on anyone here?

“Now, the youngest of you, step forward and…”

Silas went mute in surprise when the Black Bead began to glow red. He paused and looked around in confusion, there was nobody close to the Spirit Matrix Orb and the test had not yet begun, why was it reacting?

He was about to retrieve the Bead before the glow it was letting out increased and it turned yellow.

This time he became curious and he looked to his side to the Alchemist, who was touching his Beard with a growing interest in his eyes.

There was no way the detecting device was damaged. This item was created by an Archmage, a planet would be shattered first before it could be damaged.

“Silas try moving it around, it seems to be detecting an Awakening Spirit Matrix,” Jonathan said to Silas as he craned his neck forward to observe the Orb.

“Daniel blanched, the young Acolyte turning to his fellow disciple, “Should that be possible, Senior? Is physical contact not the only way to detect a Spirit Matrix, even if it is currently awakening?”

“Well, that should normally be the case,” Silas replied, “But in specific circumstances, it is different.”

The Mayor and his daughter were listening intently. This was new information they had never known about the Spirit Matrix Detecting Artifact.

The exuberant Livia Bolfrey eagerly asked, “What cases would lead to such a change, Sir Mage?”

“I don’t know if I should dare to hope, but if my guess is correct…” Silas swallowed as he considered his next words, “It would be a Spirit Body,” Silas whispered. His words sounded unbelievable even to his ears.

The light in the eyes of Jonathan Melbrooks the Alchemist shone and he said, “Move it through the crowd and the children below, let us see where the reaction is coming from.”

Silas eagerly agreed to the task. If he could acquire a Spirit Body in this round of Talent Hunting, then it was possible to bring that talent under his wings and to his Master.

A Spirit body was worth a thousand Mages, and each was a valuable asset to every planet that hoped to reach a higher ranking in the Federation.

Of course, all Spirit bodies had grades the same way as a normal mage, but even a Rank One Spirit Body that had a Red grade evaluation on the Spirit Matrix Orb was still as valuable as an ordinary Rank Six Spirit Matrix.

At this time the Orb was glowing yellow, which meant this was at least a Rank 2 Spirit Body.

Yet a Spirit Body was so rare that only Silas and Jonathan here understood the true ramifications of such a find.

He sent the Bead up in the air and began moving it through the crowd. The entire hall had gone quiet as they all sensed the change in the entire structure of this yearly event.

A subtle tension gripped the crowd for such abrupt changes in affairs were unexpected and a sign that this year would be different. They could detect the excitement of those on the platform and they were beginning to develop speculations about what might be the cause.

The shining Bead also drew their attention, it was blazing yellow and it was so bright it could be easily seen in all corners of the hall, and then before their eyes, it switched to green. Yet before the crowd could settle, the color changed again, and now it was Orange.

The crowd was becoming restless, the crowd did not understand why the Bead was changing colors with no physical contact with any of the candidates but they understood the different colors and what it signified.

In their small town, the greatest talent they had ever seen was an Orange-grade Talent, that individual was now a respectable Rank 4 Mage. Murmurs began to rip through the crowd as speculations and inquiries about what was going on passed through the crowd.

The entire crowd went silent when the Bead went Purple, and a weird feeling began growing inside the chest of the spectators, everyone began looking around for whoever was the mysterious person who was triggering this change.

The parents of this year’s candidate for Acolyte positions were especially nervous, each of them hoping their child below was the one responsible for the change.

The Mayor sprang to his feet, shaking with excitement, if nothing else a Purple Ranked talent emerging from his town was enough to place them on the map, he turned to the young black-haired Acolyte beside him, “If I recall correctly, you should also have a Purple Rank Spirit Matrix?”

“Yes, I do.” Replied Daniel Redcliff, and then he sneered, “It is a great talent, only found in one among millions, yet it is nothing before my Master favorite disciple, she has a White Rank Spirit Matrix, in comparison to her, this my talent is nothing.”

Although he was speaking self-deprecatingly, the pride in his talent could be easily gleaned from his voice, the Mayor understood this and smiled secretly. Even if this was a genius, for now, he was still a youth, how much experience about the world does he have?

“Don’t say that.” The Mayor affectionately teased Daniel, “After all, this talent of yours is near the peak of the entire planet, and your limit cannot be quantified. Here, please accept this Spirit wine. It is from my stock and I will be honored if you could taste it.”

“Of course, the honor is all mine.” Daniel coughed, adjusting his position so he could stand a bit more comfortably, he opened the Spirit Wine and began sipping it. He grinned at the taste and the rush of soothing Aether that flooded his spirit Matrix and he turned to the Mayor, “Funny you should say that because I pufftt….”

He spat out the wine in shock spraying the face of the startled Mayor, as the Bead above them turned blinding white.𝙣𝙫.𝒈