Next to me, a child began to sob.
At first he tried to hold it back, but perhaps because he was finally free to move, the sound of his ragged breathing grew louder and louder.
"I–I want to go home…"
His voice trembled, perhaps fearing the consequences of his actions, perhaps because he still didn't understand the situation he was in.
None of the three men responded to his words.
Like a dam breaking, the child began to cry.
"I want to go home…"
Still no reaction. The guards didn't move, while the man I assumed was a scientist looked annoyed.
Seeing the men in front of them so passive gave courage to the other children, who began shouting along with the first.
"I WANT TO GO HOME!"
"I WANT MY MOM!"
"YOU SAID YOU WERE TAKING US TO THE CITY!"
Finally, one of the two men standing by the door moved.
When the soldier took a step forward, I realized how enormous he was compared to me. He looked like a walking mountain.
He wore dark leather armor, and a long sword hung at his side, resting in its sheath.
The first child who had complained looked at him with hope in his eyes, but I could already tell it wouldn't go the way he expected.
Who would ever kidnap children just to kindly take them back home?
The soldier stopped in front of him.
For a moment there was silence, and then a slap came that sent the child flying to the side without mercy. It reminded me of Daren's blows.
After that display of violence, no one moved anymore. No one protested, and the room returned to absolute silence.
The soldier simply went back to his place by the door, as if nothing unusual had happened.
I was scared, but at least for the moment it seemed they intended to keep us alive, so I felt partly relieved.
After letting the oppressive silence hang in the air for a moment longer, the man in the coat began speaking again.
"I imagine you have many questions."
No one spoke.
No one even dared to move after what had happened just moments earlier.
The man took a few steps toward the center of the room.
"But I'm not here to give you answers, only to tell you what you need to know."
He opened a briefcase already placed on a stone table and showed its contents to all of us.
Inside was a crystal sphere.
It was as large as a human head and crossed by thin silver lines that intertwined like a net.
At the base of the sphere was a metal structure engraved with symbols I had never seen before. Perhaps an ancient language?
The man brushed the crystal with his fingers.
"This is a **Mana Astrometer**."
His voice echoed through the silent room.
"You all come from villages isolated from the rest of the world, so you probably have no idea what it is. The Astrometer is a device developed to measure an individual's magical potential before the Union, by measuring how much and how the mana interacts with your body."
He took a ledger and continued speaking in a neutral tone.
"The classification of potential follows the same system used to measure the power of the Awakened: the star system."
With one finger he drew small circles on the surface of the table as he continued his explanation.
"From one to eight stars."
My stomach tightened as he kept explaining. I was finally learning new information about the world of the Awakened, but why did it have to be in a place like this?
"One star indicates extremely low potential. No matter how hard you try or work, throughout your life you will never surpass the level of a one-star Awakened."
"Two stars indicate low potential. The same reasoning as before. At most you will reach the level of a two-star Awakened."
"Three stars… low-medium potential."
"Four stars… medium."
"Five stars… medium-high."
"Six stars… high."
"Seven stars… extremely high."
Then he pointed at the last circle.
"Eight stars. Legendary potential. In known history, the people who have reached this level are very few and can be counted on one hand. But don't worry—none of you will have to worry about remembering this level, because it's impossible for you to awaken such potential. But if by some miracle it happened…"
The scientist stopped and smiled.
"Then I would be happy to invite you to my laboratory. Mmm… although you would probably be immediately taken to the main base to be cut open, dissected, your organs extracted and studied individually to uncover all their secrets. Your eyes would end up in glass containers filled with preservation fluid…"
I couldn't describe the disgust I felt. For once, I was glad that during the transport in the wagon they had given us only the minimum amount of food needed to survive.
"…Ah, but now I'm digressing. My apologies. In simpler terms, potential will determine your destiny."
He pointed to the sphere.
"Those of you with one-star potential are not suitable to become fighters. Technically speaking you could become one, because even a one-star Awakened has a certain level of power, but we already have enough one-star fighters in this base and you are not worth the investment of resources necessary to make you useful. Besides…" he smiled again, "…you will be far more useful as perfect laboratory test subjects."
A shiver ran through my body. Around me everyone had the same reaction.
The man either didn't notice or didn't care enough, because he kept speaking without any change in his tone.
"Those who possess two-star potential or higher will be trained."
His gaze slid over us.
"You will become soldiers in service of our organization."
He tapped the table twice with his finger.
"Let's begin."
One by one the children were called.
They had to approach the sphere and place their hand on it.
When the first child touched it, the silver lines inside the crystal began to glow.
A light appeared.
Then another.
The scientist observed carefully.
"Potential… between one and two stars."
He wrote something down.
The child was taken away.
The second test.
Only one light.
"One star."
The child began to cry as the soldier dragged him away.
The process continued.
"Two stars."
"Three stars."
"One star."
"Two stars."
The scientist's voice remained detached even when faced with potentials that, until today, I had believed to be extremely high. I knew the village couldn't compare to the cities, but the difference was truly overwhelming.
After a few minutes, it was finally my turn…
My legs felt like they were made of stone. In a single moment my destiny would be decided.
I slowly approached the table.
The crystal sphere was in front of me.
"Place your hand."
I obeyed.
For a moment nothing happened.
Then the light exploded.
One star.
Two.
Three.
Four.
The fifth light began to form, but then it went out.
The scientist tilted his head slightly.
He wrote something in the ledger.
"Potential… fluctuating between four and five stars."
The soldier pushed me away before I could say anything.
Should I be happy to have such high potential?
In any other situation I would have been.
If everything had gone well, maybe at that moment I would have been in a city tavern, celebrating my future with a mug of juice in my hand.
But now… the power I would gain would not belong to me, but to this organization.
When the last child had also been tested, the scientist looked at the ledger for a moment and spoke to himself.
"Eleven with one star… seven with two stars… seven with three stars… four with four stars… one with five stars. Some still to be defined. Not bad."
Then he turned toward us.
"Of course, these measurements are not completely precise. The real result will only manifest during the Union."
He gestured to the soldiers.
"Take them to their temporary rooms."
They made us walk through long, damp corridors.
The lamps illuminated the stone with an unsettling blue light.
Eventually we arrived in front of a series of iron doors.
"Groups of five."
The door in front of me opened and we entered as we had been told.
Inside there were five iron beds. A table. A lamp. A hole.
The door closed behind us with a heavy thud.
For a few seconds no one spoke.
Then a boy scoffed.
"So... does anyone know where the hell we are?"
Another boy was trembling.
"I… I miss my home…"
A third boy was leaning against the wall. He didn't speak.
The fourth scratched his head.
"Maybe we should introduce ourselves. I'm Liam."
The first boy who had spoken continued.
"Victor."
The trembling child spoke quietly.
"M-Milo…"
The silent boy said nothing.
Then they all looked at me.
"Kian."
Honestly, I wasn't in the condition to talk. I was tired and traumatized. Without saying anything, I took one of the beds in the room and fell asleep without listening to what the others were saying.