Jonas scrutinised the boy before him and was forced to admit that his comportment was extraordinary. Perfectly dressed, well-mannered with a lofty bearing and purposeful grace he really was a little prince. Despite this, he was completely unspoiled. At least from what he had heard and seen. Aside from a penchant to be overly self-assured, he seemed to conduct himself quite well and even his Uncle Valan had nothing but good things to say about him.

He was curious because he knew little about this nephew of his. It was shameful but he really was quite busy. So he seized this chance to figure out the boy for himself rather than rely completely on what his brother said about him. Thankfully he was perfectly capable of doing that whilst focusing on the array he was setting up.

Nevertheless, he had an audience. One which included his big brother, his surrogate parents as well as several servants and guards. So he made it a bit showy. The crystal at the tip of his staff lit up with a bright red glow. As it did so he stretched his right hand out a bit, upturned his palm and made a motion that looked as if he was grasping the air. In response a circle of dull red light appeared around Valerian who to his credit, kept his surprise hidden, only glancing towards it once.

"The array I will be using is common and one I have used many times. There is no danger of it harming you so while it might look a bit bright there is nothing to worry about", Jonas said.

The fingers of his still outstretched right twitched and in response, a second circle appeared around the first. There were a few gasps in the hall whilst looks of pride appeared on the faces of the magistrate and his wife. Many would not know the significance of that but to those who knew, it was the sign of a second-tier array master.

Most prospective tests employed a series of arrays. These were all one-circle arrays but what Jonas was doing now was clearly a two-circle array. That alone cut the number of arrays need by half as each circle would handle a different part of the test, effectively doing two things at once. This was what separated the second tier of array masters from the first. The former could not only employ more powerful, more complex arrays but also do more in the same amount of time.

Jonas smiled to himself. This was the first time he was showcasing his skills before the old couple in a while. He wanted to let them see how far he had gotten. Becoming a second-tier array master had been his focus for a long time. He had studied like mad. Done so much research and practice he had nearly grown tired of it all. In the end, he had been vastly overqualified for the position, passing the test quickly and with ease as the most outstanding examinee in his batch.

Now looking at the pride on the faces of the people who raised him he could confidently say that all that work was worth it. Clearing his mind he focused on the circles in front of him and on the boy at their centre. His fingers twitched again and motes of red light appeared around Valerian.

There were at least fifty of them. Each of these motes of light shaped themselves into strange indistinct markings that slowly sunk until they were level with the circles of light. There they arranged themselves into larger shapes and configurations. Soon both inner and outer circles had these markings embossed on them as if they were carved into the air itself.

Seeing Valerian's curious gaze Jonas decided to elaborate a little bit about what he was doing. "The light markings are called glyphs. They are symbols of power that possess many qualities and are capable of an infinite number of things under the control of an array master. When put together with the circles in certain configurations they form arrays. The creation and control of these arrays is the job and passion of array masters like myself as well as the source of our titles and powers".

"The array surrounding you is a rather simple one. The inner circle would perform a checkup on your body. Making sure your body is physically fit for cultivation. The outer one will in turn check your meridians and vessel for obstructions and abnormalities".

Valerian nodded solemnly, digesting what was said to him and storing the information for later. Contrary to his outward appearance, his mind was racing as it tried to figure out how the array worked. Knowing that the pursuit was futile, he instead turned his thoughts back to the test.

This whole time Jonas had been observing the boy. So far he could say this for certain. The boy truly was very mature. He had watched when he came in and how he reacted when the news was broken.

Most children would be visibly excited when told that they would be allowed to cultivate and yet he remained calm the whole time. Whereas others would be yelling in joy he merely had a small smile on his face whilst trying to play it off like it was nothing really, just par for the course. At that time Jonas did not think much of it. Many noble children were adept in hiding their emotions as well. Not as good but close. However, watching him stand in front of him now was a little unnerving.

He had performed a lot of such examinations both privately and publicly, for the clan and for outsiders and yet he had never seen this. Valerian stood there, ramrod straight, an arm behind his back and his head held high a confident smile on his face. This was a test that pretty much decided a person's fate and future accomplishments. There was no one who hadn't been nervous when taking it. It didn't matter if the person was a genius and had awoken some latent talent before the test. He or she would still feel some apprehension when confronted with tests concerning his talent.

His eyes flicked over to the old magistrate wondering if the boy had been told that he was already at the preliminary phase of bone transformation. It was the only reason he could think of for why the boy was so confident. He acted like the whole thing was a forgone conclusion. Receiving no response from the old man he turned back to his charge only to look back at the magistrate. Jonas' eyes flicked from grandfather to grandson and from grandson to grandfather at least trice.

He had picked up on something that was so funny and startling that he nearly burst into laughter. Both boy and man were in the exact same pose. Arms behind the back, small confident smile, head raised high with a sleepy almost bored look. Everything right down to the small tilt of the head. How this happened he did not know but he guessed that the old man had finally trained himself the perfect heir.

Putting that aside he made one final motion and the circles lit up. They had been dull red before, and now they were a bright fiery colour. The glyphs looked especially eye-catching. The entire array fell to the ground. It hovered level with Valerian's soles for a moment before slowly rising over his head and then falling again. After three cycles of this, it came to a stop at his waist. Then the light of the inner circle began to dim.