Chapter 2. Destruction of Talent Seals

Eight years ago.

Britain

June 10, 2039.

"Jason's such an asshole!" complained Thomas Norton's schoolmate, Mike Davis.

Thomas was silent in response to the remark, with both eyes staring ahead. The Jason that Mike referred to was the gang leader at his school who had great control over the other students.

He had four loyal gang members from wealthy families like Jason. None of the students dared to confront them, including Mike.

Mike did have a terrible past with Jason's gang. They once beat Mike so badly that the young man had to lie helplessly at noon break with a bruised face.

That's why Mike no longer dares to fight them, afraid the same thing will happen again for the second time. However, Thomas was different.

"They're just a bunch of wimpy maniacs who try to attract women," Thomas snapped.

The young man was still sitting on a cafeteria chair, staring ahead, looking at Jason, who was still sitting and eating his food with his three gang friends. However, Thomas and Mike never guessed that behind them, one of Jason's friends was eavesdropping on their talk.

"Is that so? What if you try to fight him?" threatened one of the youths, speaking between the gap Thomas and Mike had been sitting in until their heads spontaneously turned to the right and left sides.

"Albert?!" cried Mike, startled.

Albert's hand firmly and swiftly grabbed the collar of Thomas's uniform, then pushed Thomas's body forcefully until Thomas fell down and drew a lot of attention from the students in the cafeteria.

"AKH!"

Thomas fell with the drink he was holding falling too, spilling over his white uniform. Jason and his gang members immediately focused their attention on Albert.

"Jason, someone called you a wimpy maniac," reported Albert.

"Really?" asked Jason, smirking.

Albert walked roughly towards Thomas; Mike tried to stay away and not interfere.

Jason, along with the other three members, began to walk closer to Thomas, clearly seeing the face of the student Albert said insulted him.

"Aren't you Thomas?" asked Jason, squatting right before Thomas with his right hand grabbing Thomas' hair.

"He said that you're just a wimp who only seeks the female students' attention," explained Albert.

"Hmm... that's a serious offense. I don't mind beating you up today!" Jason scolded.

Jason's right hand was clenched tightly, then slammed into Thomas' face violently until there was a shrill sound of the man's fist hitting. Not only Jason but also Jason's friends spontaneously did the same.

They punched, kicked, and slapped Thomas' face if they had the chance to attack.

Thomas couldn't do much; Albert and Jason's other friends tightly gripped both of the man's hands, while Jason could land painful punches on Thomas's body satisfyingly.

"AKH!"

"That's enough. I beg you, stop," Mike pleaded, worried.

Jason pushed Mike harder, causing him to fall on the cafeteria floor, "Get out of my way, or you'll suffer the same!"

Mike was certainly frightened after hearing such a thing because he was reluctant to endure the same suffering for a second time.

In the end, Mike could not do anything and left the cafeteria with his head bowed.

"You're making friends with a chicken," Jason insulted.

With one eye closed due to bruises, Thomas kept looking forward to see Jason, who looked pleased to torture him now, "At least he's better than a wimp like you who only dares to gang up."

Jason's face flushed red, and the young man's eyes flashed with anger. He continued to attack Thomas blindly, causing Thomas to vomit blood from Jason's blows.

Seeing Thomas already injured, some of the students in the cafeteria tried to break them up.

One of the girls stood before Jason, Jason's girlfriend. She didn't like seeing Jason torturing other students in a dirty, ganging-up way.

"That's enough! He's already in pain. Don't you see him puking up blood?!" the girl moaned.

"Why are you supporting him? I'm your lover!" snapped Jason rudely.

"You're no longer my lover if you're in jail for murder!" she snapped.

Jason was indeed powerful in the school, but it was a different story if he was reported to the police. After a long silence with both eyes narrowed, Jason agreed to end the persecution.

"Let the bastard go!" Jason ordered Albert and one of his men.

They released Jason by knocking the man's body to the floor. Several male students carried Thomas away and brought him to the infirmary, unlike Jason, who chose to leave the cafeteria with an upset expression, not because he wasn't satisfied beating Thomas but because his girlfriend stopped him.

Thomas' eyes were closed in unconsciousness. When he fainted, Thomas saw a mysterious flash that showed an old box hidden under the wooden floor of his grandfather's house.

Thomas was quite curious why there was a glimpse of the box because Thomas' grandfather never told Thomas about the box during the time he was alive.

Haunted by curiosity, Thomas was determined to uncover the mystery and discover what was inside the mysterious box.

Fainting for three hours forced Thomas to leave the remaining lessons. An hour after the last class ended, Thomas woke up with pain in his liver and stomach.

He opened his eyes slowly, looked up, and saw the room's ceiling, which was clear to Thomas. The young man knew he was in the infirmary.

"Akh!" moaned Thomas, wincing in pain as he tried to get up and sit on the bed.

The curtains opened, revealing a woman in a white suit, white shirt, and black knee-length skirt. She was the teacher-nurse in the infirmary, purposely not leaving first to wait for Thomas to wake up.

"If that bastard keeps beating you, your solar plexus might explode," the woman complained, carrying a bag of ice cubes and placing them on Thomas' stomach.

Veronica —the name of the infirmary nurse teacher— noticed a distinct change in Thomas' eyes. They were slightly reddened with dark gold pupils.

"What happened to your eyes?" asked Veronica, curious.

"My eyes?" Thomas had no idea what Veronica was talking about. The woman immediately handed Thomas a small mirror she used to do makeup, letting him see the changes in his eyes.

Thomas received the mirror and looked at it clearly. Although it looked faint, what Veronica said was true. Something had happened to Thomas' eyes.

"Is this the effect of Jason's blow?" asked Thomas, not worried.

Veronica was silent with her arms folded before her chest, her sharp eyes directed forward, watching Thomas' eyes intently.

Surprisingly, Veronica walked out of Thomas' vicinity. She stepped to the left to close the window and draw the curtains, then walked to the right to lock the door.

Now, there was only Veronica and Thomas alone in the infirmary room.

"What are you doing?" asked Thomas, worried.

Veronica came back near Thomas. She was seen removing the white rubber glove wrapped around her right hand. Veronica's right hand stretched forward, right into Thomas' eyes.

Thomas was confused, having no idea what Veronica was going to do. Surprisingly, something out of the ordinary happened.

Right in front of Veronica's delicate palm, a mysterious circle appeared that kept rotating clockwise, a mysterious circle of light green color.

"Wh-What is that?!" gasped Thomas.

Veronica opened her mouth and chanted something that Thomas did not understand, more like a magic spell that he often read and heard from popular fairy tales or novels.

[Earth Magic: Talent examination!]

A sentence that Thomas did not understand, but Veronica did. With the help of her earth elemental magic, she could perform several magic related to the element, one of which was for talent examination.

"Talent?" asked Thomas.

Veronica didn't answer at all. She was still silent with her eyes tightly closed. In the visions, she saw the strength that emerged in Thomas after Jason's persecution.

The woman nodded several times, understanding the situation, "Is that so?"

"I don't get it."

Veronica's eyes opened again, staring forward at Thomas while deactivating the magic she was using, "I think you should be thankful to Jason."

"Thank him? He almost killed me, and you're saying I should be thankful?" asked Thomas, shocked.

"The heavy blow Jason landed on your solar plexus managed to break the talent seal that was locked away," replied Veronica, now smiling broadly.

"Talent seal? I'm completely clueless."

Veronica laughed loudly with both hands clasped around her waist.

She began to pull out a metal chair and sat down near the bed where Thomas was lying, "I hope you're not busy this afternoon. I'll tell you about talent and magic."