Solflare: The Painter's Secret-Chapter 33: The Assessment Orb

"We can see you’re already fit and strong," Feng smiled as he closed in with Mr. Lee and Leon.

A smile tore on Leon’s lips in response to Feng’s words, but shifted quickly to Mr. Lee.

"How are you feeling today, Leon?" Mr. Lee placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder and smiled.

"I’m... I’m,"

"...Don’t—can’t you see how strong he is, by walking to this window’s angle?" Feng interrupted, turning as he pointed to the empty bed.

Mr. Lee’s expression tensed the moment he turned and faced Feng.

"I can see it. But hearing from him will let us know whether to continue with the test."

’What test is Mr. Lee talking about?’ Leon said low in his thought, noticing a sudden change in Feng’s action.

"Oh, yeah. What you’re saying is true." Feng shifted the black bag at his side to his front and unlocked it.

Leon’s eyes flickered from Mr. Lee’s, Feng’s, and lastly on the black round object being pulled from the bag.

’WHAT IS THAT?’ Leon screamed in his thoughts the moment he saw his reflection drifting in the glass-like object.

Tilting his gaze aside, Leon saw still looks on the boy bound in bandages, who was also staring at the object being stretched toward Mr. Lee.

’Is that?’ The questions reeling in Leon’s mind paused when he saw Mr. Lee’s hands grabbing the rectangular two-inch platform on which the black object was fixed.

Forgetting how to close his mouth, Leon saw a still look on Mr. Lee’s face that made him blink twice.

"By the look on your face, I can clearly say you’re thinking about what this can do, right?" Mr. Lee added his right arm to the square board and stretched it a bit forward.

"This is the Assessment Orb." He paused, turned toward Feng, and raised his eyelid slightly.

’An Assessment Orb? Is that what they use to check the levels of soldiers in the history books?’ Leon’s expression changed as he focused his gaze on the black orb.

For two minutes, Leon stood there, staring at Mr. Lee and Feng as they also stood there staring at each other.

Though they said no word, Leon could imagine how their expressions would be if he turned out to have no grade, skill, or even an ability. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

For the ability, with the experience of the golden power he’d witnessed himself using at the crash site and the Shattered Land, he could clearly state it wouldn’t fail him.

"Leon," Mr. Lee turned toward Leon, breaking the thoughts and questions racing inside Leon’s mind.

The rays of the late morning sun fell on the orb, and at that instant, a light flashed from the orb and slammed into the wall.

Evaporated air gushed out from the spot at which the light fell the moment Mr. Lee pulled the orb from where the rays could touch.

"Shit!" he cursed under his breath and grinned. "I forgot not to let it touch the sun as instructed."

Feng moved and stood behind Leon, blocking the sun’s rays.

Leon swallowed hard as he felt as if his existence was being consumed by Feng’s presence that loomed behind him.

Sweat traced down Leon’s forehead the moment his right arm hovered on the orb.

"Are you afraid?"

A powerful voice slammed into Leon’s ears immediately after he felt Feng’s palm touching his shoulders.

His body shivered, yet he shook his head.

With two silent inhales, Leon closed his eyes and moved his arm downward, letting his palm touch the surface of the orb.

Feeling the air moving around his palms and face, Leon cracked one eye open and stared at his arm and the orb in shock.

’Nothing?!’ he said low in his thought, but the words lingered on the face of Mr. Lee, who also stood there with a shocked expression.

A flicker of gold light appeared and vanished in the orb the moment Leon opened his closed eye.

"Is that it?" Feng’s voice echoed in a shocked tone as he moved from Leon’s back and stood at his right-hand side.

"I thought I saw something," Feng squeezed his eyes and leaned closer to the orb.

Mr. Lee closed his eyes and exhaled.

"At least there is something in you that can be trained." Mr. Lee’s voice echoed in a sobbing tone, but had a face that looked as if he was pleased.

Leon’s chest hummed the moment he tried removing his arm from the orb, letting his hand tremble.

He gritted his teeth when Mr. Lee tried to pull the orb away from under the boy’s palms.

Behind Feng, the branches of the trees shook heavily, letting all the birds that rested on them burst into the sky.

A loud cry shot into the air the moment the last bird moved from the branch.

Strangely, countless birds shot up into the sky, flapping their wings hastily, then tilted toward the roof of the WinJi Central Hospital.

Managing to pull the orb from the boy’s grip, a loud thunderous sound erupted from the sky, followed by gold lightning.

Feng turned and stared at the blue sky and white clouds, now turning darker.

He tilted his gaze slightly to Mr. Lee. "Did the weather forecast state there would be rain?"

His face tensed when Mr. Lee shook his head.

There, a strange smile tore on Feng’s lips as his eyes fell on the shocked boy’s face.

The smile stretched slightly wider as he paused and stared at the sky.

...

"Close the windows!" a booming voice echoed from inside the room, drawing Leon and the two men standing beside him and behind him forward.

A force pulled Leon’s hair upward the moment he saw the face of a female doctor who seemed to be in her teens standing by the door.

A growling sound erupted as saliva slipped down Leon’s throat and entered his stomach.

There, a bright light shot out from the orb, gleaming on the skin and faces of all those standing close.

Tiny gold sparks flickered in Leon’s body, snaked through his face, and to his arm.

The orb hummed for two seconds, then blasted the moment the gold light snaked from Leon’s arm and into the orb.