178 years had passed after the nuclear war, as inside "Bunker 43" within the west coast, a vast expanse of buildings unravel, as the city lights brighten the dark underground. Many people gather in front of a podium, where a man with shades, in a suit, with a composed, yet mysterious expression on his face. The man's facial features remain neutral and unexpressive, walking towards the center of the podium with an exuding aura of a mystical air that some people in the crowd notice.
"It's the head of the bunker's magic association, Earl Powell!" One person from the crowd said, as they awaited Earl's yearly speech.
"A pleasant day to all the citizens of Bunker 43," Earl said in front of the microphone stand. "As you all may already know, we will be holding the annual magic assessment tomorrow,"
People in the crowd seem ecstatic, "Mom! Please let me sign up for the assessment!" a child said, nagging his mother, grabbing her finger tightly, shaking it.
"Alright, young man." The mother said, as she let out a small chuckle. "I'll let you go this year."
"Despite the fascinating results from last year, it seems that this generation has more expectations." Earl said, his mouth letting out a small smile. "Two well-known mages from our beloved shelter, will allow their offspring to participate in the assessment on behalf of our bunker."
"By doing this, they have entrusted our bunker to discover the potential talent that their offspring may have." Earl said, speaking with dignity. "So they can represent us in the future, and to set themselves as examples worthy to be looked up to, like their parents."
The people's eyes widened, as two mysterious figures from the back of the crowd emerged, walking towards the podium.
"On the left, we have Charles Radtime, who stands at the pinnacle of Morimancy, one of the country's most powerful mages." Earl said, directing his hand towards the people's left, as a man walks towards the podium.
"Hello everyone!" Charles said as he grinned, with his blonde hair and youthful, handsome face that allured the crowd. Many women amongst the group scream in joy, as their hearts flutter. "Although I'm in my late thirties, it seems like I get the same reactions when I go on stage a long time ago." Charles chuckles, "My son, Alrdrich, will be participating in the assessment, and I hope he will bring glory to Bunker 43 just like I did."
"And to the right, we have Presine Aucorium, the savior of lives, standing as one of the country's most critical healers." Earl said, making the crowd face towards the right, as a woman with green-blue hair walks towards the podium with dignity, her eyes sparkling with youth, however, her facial features, like her luscious red lips, her gaze towards the crowd, it makes her seem mature.
"Good day to you all. I hope to see all of you in the assessment, as my child will also participate." Presine said, as she waves to the crowd, "Not only do I yearn for my child's awakening of magic, but I also seek someone who awakens to become strong enough to help everyone in need."
"And that concludes our program for today. Before the program ends, we would like to thank the presence of our two influential mages" Earl said with a smile, as he dismisses everyone with a wave, as they all gave the mages a round of applause.
"Mom! You gotta let me try!" A young boy said, pulling her mother's dress, as his green eyes sparkled with excitement.
The mother, Penny Ravencroft, sighed. "John, if you keep nagging me, I won't bring you there." John's mother said, her eyes looking away in annoyance.
"So is that a yes?" John said, his hands jittering as his lips made a small grin.
"Fine, I'll let you go." John's mother said, with a warm smile, as she looked towards John. Her palm lands on John's fluffy, curly black hair, as she pats his head. However, she looks around the group of people and spots a few guards in the shade taking someone to an unknown place, with their mouth completely unable to move, yet their eyes are wide open.
"W-what did that person do?" John's mother mumbled under her breath, her gaze skeptical of the man's actions.
"Oh, I forgot!" John's mother thought, "I still have to cook dinner!" Her eyes widen, as she grabs John's hand, running home.
Five hours pass, as John lays resting on his bed, while many guards start to patrol the area. A man is seen walking outside, however he gets caught by the guards and dragged to somewhere unknown, without anyone noticing, as he was quickly silenced with a cloth before he noticed.
John's mother, who was sitting by the window notices it, her eyes focused on the man's unconscious face. "Another one bites the dust…" Penny whispered. "It could've been my dear if he weren't a mage."
"But, I still wonder…" Penny mumbled to herself, holding a picture of her husband. "When will he return from the surface?"
Penny sighs, "I had to rely on you before because you're strong…" She said, holding the picture even tighter, her hands fidgety.
"But there are things up there that are stronger than you." Penny whispered under her breath, rubbing the photo. "Yet you always manage to defy them."
"That's why I fell for you," She sighed, looking towards the photo, stroking her luscious, brown hair as a tear forms on her eye. "Honey…" Penny stammered, her voice slightly shaky. "W-when will you return…" She hugged the photo tight, as she sobbed silently, cradling it towards her bedroom.
The night passed peacefully, as the day of the assessment came. "John, Lianne, breakfast is ready!" Their mother said, as she put down the plates filled with a light breakfast of eggs and bread.
"Thank goodness, the bunker managed to get farm animals before the apocalypse." John's mother said, as she wipes the sweat off her warm face, as she smiles.
John eagerly rushed towards the living room, where he sat on a chair and immediately ate. John's older sister, Lianne, around 4 years older than him whose hair is still messy, walked down, rubbing her eyes.
John quickly finished his food, while Lianne ate her food lazily, taking a few seconds before she put the spoon filled with the food into her mouth. "Why so slow, sis?" John asked, as he makes a slight grin.
"Why so jumpy, John?" Lianne said, her tone pessimistic, glaring straight towards John's eyes. He shakily stood up, with his teasing smirk turning into a slightly scared frown. and put his plate on the sink. "T-today's a special day." John said, scratching the back of his head, looking down. "I will go take a bath and change into my clothes now." John said, as he left the dinner table. "Seems like my little brother really has something important today." Lianne sighed, "I wonder if he'll end up like dad when he grows up."
As John got ready for the assessment, Lianne finished eating and took a bath, getting ready for her school. An hour passes, as Lianne changes into her uniform, while John sits in the chair, patiently waiting for his sister.
"Mom, I'm ready!" John said, as stars sparkle from within his eyes. "Me too, mom." Lianne said, as she combed her wavy, long and luscious brown hair with her fingers, walking towards the dinner table to take a seat.
The two stood up, stepping towards the door, and looked towards their mother, "Wait, you two!" Their mother said, as she grabbed her bag as quickly as she could. "Alright! Let's go!" John's mother said, taking her two children's hands, as they left the house.
As the family walked towards Lianne's school, the bright, artificial morning light shone over everyone, with smiles on everyone's faces. The family stopped, as they stood in front of the majestic building of "The Underground National School", or UNS.
The school seemed to be packed with students, as each bunker has at least one school where students are given a chance to represent their bunker in competitions against other bunkers who they have contact with, allowing other bunkers to associate with each other and allowing students to meet more people.
John's eyes fill with interest, as he stares at the size of the campus "Woah… This place is massive." He remarked, looking around at the sheer amount of students that were entering the school.
"Alright Mom, I have to go now." Lianne said, as she left her family, waving goodbye; her face expressionless.
In a dark alleyway, near the school, two people rest on the walls of the alley. "Garett got caught sneaking out last night…" One of the people said, as he sighed. "If only he had magic…" The other person said.
"I wonder what they do to the people that get caught anyway…" The person asked his companion. "I heard they never escape the magic authority's building." The other person said, as he was about to leave. "I gotta go now, see you later."
Inside a building that stood tall amongst its neighbors, the magic association's building stands proud and mighty. Inside, John sits in a chair inside a white hallway, as he waits nervously for his assessment. "Next! Number 45." A person called out to another child with their guardian, as they walked towards the examination room which was a turn to the left.
A few minutes pass, as they finish, with the child being excited, yet their guardian is slightly bothered, as something unsettling seems to bother, as his gaze faces downwards. "It's quite hard to choose…" The guardian mumbled, "I was offered something after, but…"
"Next please, Number 46!" A person said, as John and his mother stood up, walking towards the room. Beads of sweat trickle down John's hands, as he visibly shakes. "John..?" His mother said, a concerning look forms on her face. "Calm down, whatever result you get, I'll still be proud of you." With a reassuring smile, John's mother pats him on the back, pushing him towards the room.
"I'll be waiting for you here, John." his mother said, with a dismissing wave.
John enters the room, where the white paint, bright lights and the unnerving gaze of the examiner shut him up, as if there was a stifling air that was preventing him from letting out a single word. "Stand near the ball." The examiner said, as she scrolls on her tablet, adjusting her glasses.
John looks towards the side, seeing a large ball with a metal-like property coating and something that can put out numbers in the center, which seems to gauge something. "Woah! It's a magic measuring device, I think!" John remarked, as he looked towards the sphere with interest.
As he approaches, the numbers start to go up, as the metal ball starts to react. John comes closer, as the ball's gauge stops to count, turning off. "What? Why'd it turn off?" John mumbled, as he shrugs his shoulders, tilting his head slightly. The examiner finally looks towards the boy, "No magic?" The examiner remarked, "I heard the ball reacting earlier."
"Huh?" John mumbled, taking a few steps away. The ball starts reacting like earlier, "Woah…" The examiner said under her breath, her eyes widening, "That's odd…"
"I see…" The examiner said, "You do have magic, but it seems like the machine does not register it if you're too close"
"Interesting, your power is above average even when you have a slight distance away from the ball." The examiner said under her breath, writing down a four digit number on the paper.
As John steps away to sit in front of the examiner, she stands up. "I see that you were interested earlier." The examiner said to John, with a reassuring, calm tone. "How it should work is there is a radioactive material in the center of that ball," The examiner said, looking towards the ball. "People are safe from the radiation, as it is covered in the many layers of this material which should negate the effects of radiation."
"But the effects of magical presence can still be sensed when touched, however…" The examiner looks towards John, with a curious gaze. "It seems that you're special…"
"I have to report this to Mr. Radtime and Mr. Powell." The examiner mumbled, grabbing her phone, as she typed as fast as she could. "You can stay in the waiting room again, but don't leave, because we aren't done with your examination yet."
John nods, as he leaves, however, he takes a wrong turn and walks towards a dark part of the building. On the doorframe of a room that had a door that was wide open, it said "Restricted Area", however, John couldn't see it.
"Huh..?" John said, "What is this place?"
John walks down the dark hall, as he sees a stairway going down. "Should I really go down here? This doesn't seem like the right way."
He walks down the stairway and sees something odd. "Non-Magic Children?" John thought curiously, as he walked towards a door that had that as its signage. "What is this?" John asked himself.
John steps into the room, as he sees multiple test chambers with children around his age inside it. "W-what… Why are they trapped here?" His eyes widened in shock, as sweat dripped down his face. "I'm pretty sure I'm in the wrong room," John mumbled, his hands fidgety, "I need to leave quickly."
He leaves the room in a rush, accidentally stumbling himself into another room. "Experimentation Lab" The signage said, as he saw a man behind a one-way glass about to get hit by a sharp syringe, with multiple doctors inside the room.
John immediately hides behind a box, as he sees two men in front of the glass. "This is the wrong way, again!" John mumbled, as he looked to the right, seeing more boxes, then he looked towards the left, where the two men seemed to be observing something. John's curiosity piqued, as he checked what the two men were talking about.
"Interesting… Inserting magic inside non-magic users…" A man said, his blonde hair standing out, as he talked to his assistant, who seems to be an old researcher.
"Indeed, Mr. Radtime." The researcher said, rubbing his hands on his beard, "This seems to give the patient some magical abilities for a while, however, they turn unstable and make their heads burst."
As the researcher said that, the man's head started to swell, while he tried to escape using his magic, trying to remove the shackles that bound him, however, his head exploded, as blood filled the room.
John, who was watching the whole situation while hiding behind a box, was breathing heavily, eyes widening, and shaking rapidly, while sweat hit him like pouring rain. "W-What…" John's heart sinks, as he looks towards the blood that spilled across the room. "WHAT ON EARTH!?" John internally exclaimed, wincing, as a wave of disgust hit him from the core, sending what he ate for breakfast straight towards his esophagus.
John holds his mouth, trying not to puke, as tears flow from his face. He looks towards the men with a disdainful gaze, as his vision starts to become slightly blurry. "W-Why did they let him die!?" John silently pondered, his heart rate increasing as he thought.
"Oh right! I need to leave, quick!" John mumbled, as he immediately ran back, trying to escape without making a noise by making every step deliberate and silent, the adrenaline rushing towards his body to activate his fight or flight senses, "Those men… They experiment with weaker people for their own good." John whispered under his breath, remembering the faces of the two men who showed no remorse.
"Oh?" Charles remarked, sensing a magical presence near the entrance of the room. "Did someone enter?"
Charles and his researcher looked towards the entrance of the room, "Hm?" His researcher looked towards Charles with an inquisitive look. "It's okay, on to the next experiment…" Charles replied, putting his hand on his researcher's shoulder.
"Though that seems odd, I thought this place was off limits?" Charles said to himself, as his shoulder started to tense a bit. "Oh well, it doesn't matter. The word will be silenced before it can be spread." Charles sighed, as he stretched his straining shoulder.
John tries to sneakily escape the room, however, he trips on the stairs and hits his head. A loud thud scared John, however, it did not bother the two men downstairs.
He winced in pain, as a bulge appeared on his head. "I need to get out, quick!" John whispered under his silent breath, trying to conceal his presence. He then runs towards the door that seemed to lead back to the hallway, as his panting got more heavier.
"How will I say this to my mom…" John mumbled, his pupils dilated, with sweat dripping down his face, as the feeling of anxiety, adrenaline, panic and confusion fell on John's face, as his mouth desperately gasped for air.