Special Talent

Angel had originally planned to wait until this journey was over and find an opportunity to ask Moro. But since a suitable chance had presented itself—and the person answering was a Formal Wizard—Angel did not hesitate before recounting the strange things that had happened to him.

"A few months ago, Lord Moro tested my talent. When I touched the Eye of Abyras, I suddenly found that the entire world had changed. I was floating in midair..."

As Angel spoke, everyone's expressions turned strange. The Abyras Talent Compendium Yearbook recorded many accounts concerning the Eye of Abyras, but not a single one resembled what Angel described.

Yet based on Angel's account, everyone reached one conclusion: Angel's talent was certainly unusual. Perhaps it was a special talent—no, it should definitely be a special talent. They simply did not know what kind of special talent it was...

Moro's eyes widened as he stared at Angel. Wasn't the phenomenon during his test floating?!

Only then did Moro recall what had happened. After the talent test that day, Angel had indeed first mentioned "floating," but he had seemed to have more to say. At the time, however, Moro had just advanced to a level-three apprentice. His magic power was in turmoil and his mood was somewhat restless, so he had interrupted Angel without listening to the rest.

Thinking of this, Moro rubbed his temples in frustration.

A person with such a special talent had been overlooked right under his nose! If he had known earlier, perhaps he could have used Angel's talent to gain some benefit!

Moro let out a regretful sigh.

At that moment, Moro felt a cold gaze slant toward him.

Moro secretly glanced over and saw Heloline looking at him with an icy expression.

Outside Barbie Restaurant earlier, Heloline had asked about talented individuals with special talents. He had sworn up and down that there were "none," only for reality to slap him across the face before an hour had even passed.

Moro felt terribly wronged.

Although Heloline glared angrily at Moro, inwardly she was quietly wondering what sort of special talent Angel possessed—

"This youth has good fortune and some opportunities. He does not panic when things happen, and he has remained calm throughout the journey. Now it seems that he also has rather good talent." The more Heloline looked at Angel, the more satisfied she became. She had originally intended to observe him for a while longer, but now it seemed that securing him first was the most correct course.

Heloline had already decided to take Angel in, but she did not immediately interrupt him. Angel was already certain to enter White Coral Floating Island Academy; it would not be too late to discuss it with him after they left the restaurant.

With that mindset, Heloline relaxed considerably.

"...the woman whose face was sewn full of dense stitches scratched my back. Luckily, I had already run into the storeroom by then..." Angel continued recounting his experience. Every transcendent present was pondering what exactly Angel's talent might be.

Sanders and Flora, standing outside the curtain, naturally heard Angel as well. Flora pondered for a long while without reaching any conclusion, but Sanders frowned, vaguely feeling that he had heard of circumstances similar to Angel's somewhere before.

"After that, I often felt an itchy sensation on my back. But every time I looked with a mirror, there were no wounds at all, and it felt no different from anywhere else when I touched it." Angel scratched his head, then added, "Just now, I was bewitched by a food illusion aboard the Bauhinia. My back began itching fiercely again, so badly that it even overwhelmed my appetite. That was why I broke free from the illusion's control..."

When Angel reached this point, Gloria said, "That was Mirage. Such a thing only appears when us food wizards prepare food. Those without a spiritual power structure in their bodies can hardly escape Mirage's erosion. You say that itch made you break free from Mirage, then... the thing that caused this 'wound' on you is not ordinary..."

When Angel mentioned the word "itch," Sanders's brow twitched slightly, as though he had recalled something. His expression suddenly became strange.

"May I see your back? I seem to have read of a similar situation in some ancient book." After pondering for a long time, Heloline suddenly asked Angel.

Angel froze for a moment. After hesitating briefly, he still removed his shirt under everyone's watchful eyes.

His lean, fair upper body seemed faintly translucent beneath the brilliant lights.

Unfortunately, Angel was still too young, and his body had not fully developed. When everyone saw his half-naked body, they looked at him as if he were a child, without a trace of anything improper. Gloria even pinched his arm, which barely had any flesh on it, in a teasing mood.

Angel himself lowered his head in embarrassment, awkwardly covering his stomach with one hand. During these past months of life aboard the ship, he had had no chance to exercise. His original eight-pack had begun to soften; now he could at most be called lightly muscled, with only a faint trace remaining of his once lean physique.

When Angel turned his back, everyone saw his bare back.

It was fair and flawless, without even a single mole. But that was not the point. Everyone's gaze focused on the area near the "shoulder blades" Angel had mentioned.

There was no visible abnormality.

Gloria used a minor trick—Eye of True Sight—to examine him again, but reached the same conclusion: there was nothing unusual.

The wizards interested in Angel's story also used several transcendent methods, yet none discovered anything amiss.

Gloria then used a spell that only a Formal Wizard could cast: Truthbreaker.

It was a level-one spell. Broadly speaking, it could trace all truths that had been concealed. In reality, it was a spell that followed clues as slight as spider silk to revisit the truth of the past.

Yet even so, Gloria found nothing improper.

How strange... Gloria wondered. Could Angel be lying? But if he truly was lying, how had he escaped Mirage? Besides, Angel had no reason to lie before so many wizards.

The wound Angel claimed had been inflicted by the "woman with stitches all over her face" could not be found.

The Wizard Apprentices whispered among themselves, exchanging their opinions.

The Formal Wizards, however, each had their own thoughts.

"How about this? I'll conduct a formal test for Angel to see what his talent truly is, then deal with the matter of the 'scratch marks.'" Heloline stepped forward. "After all, Angel will be a student of our White Coral Floating Island Academy in the future. Testing him sooner or later makes no difference."

Heloline placed particular emphasis on the words "a student of White Coral Floating Island Academy."

Unless something unexpected happened, Angel's talent was certainly a special talent. A special talent did not necessarily guarantee becoming a Formal Wizard, but once someone with a special talent became a wizard, they would certainly be extraordinary. Heloline's emphasis on Angel being a prospective student of White Coral Floating Island Academy was also meant to ward off the covetous eyes of other wizard organizations.

Among the Formal Wizards from the three major organizations present, Poku of Gravity Forest was absent and did not need to be considered. Sabo was a wizard from Sky Mechanical City and would not involve himself either. Thus, Heloline's words were clearly directed at Jeral of Hurricane Tower.

Jeral naturally understood Heloline's implied meaning and nodded noncommittally.

To Formal Wizards, special talents could at most draw a second glance. If one did not become a wizard, decay was still all that awaited them. Hurricane Tower had already received a student like Isley, who possessed high spiritual power, this time around. There was naturally no need to covet someone else.

Only after seeing Jeral nod did Heloline smile and walk over to Angel, preparing to conduct a formal talent test for him.

Every gifted individual, upon arriving at their respective wizard organization, would have one chance to undergo a formal talent test. This kind of test was naturally different from the broad examination of the Eye of Abyras; it would evaluate the gifted individual in every aspect. Generally speaking, after such a comprehensive test, the gifted individual could be considered formally connected to the wizard organization.

This was because the wizard organization would draw blood from the tested individual during the process. Once the examination was complete, the blood would be made into identification bearing the wizard organization's emblem and returned to the tested individual.

Through this back-and-forth, the tested person naturally came to belong to that wizard organization.

Angel did not understand the significance behind this, but everyone else did. Florent and Moro both looked at Angel with considerably more intimacy.

Just as Heloline was filled with the joy of believing she was about to take in an apprentice, a violent crash shook the entire hall!