Verso didn't wait for a second invitation.
He stepped up to the large desk with his heart thumping against his ribs.
The crystal orb sat there, looking like a ball of solid ice and without hesitating Verso reached out and pressed his palm against it's smooth surface.
'It's cold!'
Verso has not expected the orb to be cold to the touch but this came without a surprise considering the temperature of the office.
Without wasting time over useless dialogue, he looked up at Headmaster Alicia, his wide eyes signally to her asking what to do now.
He had never done this before, and the cold was already making his hand feel heavy.
Alicia noticed his look and didn't move, instead her icy blue eyes stayed locked on his.
"Close your eyes," She said, her voice calm and steady.
"In a moment, you're going to feel a sensation, it will feel like something is trying to push into your body through your arm."
"That is my mana. Whatever you do, do not resist it and just let it enter."
Verso nodded as he took a deep breath and let his eyelids fall shut.
Everything went dark, which only made him more aware of the cold ball under his hand this amplified anxiety.
This was the moment he had been waiting for.
Everything, his future at the school, his dream of becoming a summoner, and his hope of finding out what happened to his father, all of it depended on what happened in the next few minutes.
On the other side of the desk, Alicia closed her eyes too. She raised her hand, pointing her fingers toward the crystal.
Soon a thin ribbon of white energy shot from her hand and entered into the orb.
'It's gotten colder!' Verso thought immediately feeling the sudden change.
The temperature hadn't just dropped. It completely plummeted.
The orb felt like it was turning into a block of dry ice. Verso knowing that Alicia had a talent related to ice made the connection that this was most probably how her mana. But knowing that didn't make it any easier to handle.
Suddenly, the cold moved. It wasn't just on his palm anymore as he felt a sharp and freezing sensation start to crawl up his wrist. It felt like his hand was being dipped into liquid nitrogen.
His survival instincts screamed at him to pull away and every muscle in his body wanted to yank his hand back.
'This must be the mana...' He told himself, forcing his body to stay still.
He tried to take another deep breath in an attempt to relax his shoulders.
He knew he needed to be an open door for the energy and not a wall. But as he tried to relax, a new wave of fear hit him.
'I can't feel my fingers at all.' He realized.
The numbness was spreading fast. This didn't feel like mana entering his body but rather like his hand was being frozen solid until it would eventually shatter.
He felt a lump in his throat and opened his mouth to tell Alicia that something was wrong. As he was terrified that his arm was going to end up ruined.
But before he could say a single word, a sharp sound rang out inside his head.
[Ding!]
The sound was followed by a flat, mechanical voice that sounded like a computer speaking directly into his brain.
[Foreign Mana Detected! Would The User Like To Absorb It?]
Verso's mind went blank for a split second.
A user? Absorb? He didn't know what the voice was or where it came from, but he knew he was going to lose his hand if he did nothing.
'OBVIOUSLY!' He shouted in his mind.
[Permission Granted!]
The change was instant.
One second, his hand felt like it was a block of ice and the next it felt like someone had turned on a heater inside his veins.
The freezing numbness quickly vanished, replaced by a strange and tingling warmth.
It wasn't just on the surface either. He could clearly feel something physical moving from the orb, through his palm, and into his arm.
'It's working!' Verso cheered internally.
He kept his eyes shut tight as the warmth quickly turned into a dull heat and then a burning sensation.
It felt like his hand was being shoved into a hot oven as the heat raced up his arm and started to fill his chest, making his heart race.
The feeling was intense and it hurt in a completely different way than the cold previously had.
"Ugh!" Verso groaned out loud, his face twisting in pain.
"Do not take your hand off," Alicia's voice warned him. "Hold it in."
Verso gritted his teeth.
He squeezed his other hand into a tight fist, his nails digging into his palm.
'I can do this.'
He had survived years of being bullied and had trained harder than any of his peers. He wasn't going to let a little bit of heat stop him now.
He stayed like that for what felt like ten long minutes as the heat eventually started to die down, turning into a cozy, heavy feeling that spread through his whole body.
It felt like he had just finished the hardest workout of his life. All his strength had left his muscles, and he felt like he could fall asleep on the floor right then and there.
"Okay, you can open your eyes now." Alicia's voice echoed in the room.
Verso slowly opened his eyes.
The room was still cold but he felt slightly different.
He looked at Alicia and blinked in surprise.
She looked exhausted. Her face was paler than before and she was now leaning on her desk as if she might collapse.
He could have sworn that he saw sweat on her forehead, which was strange considering her talent.
He wanted to ask if she was okay, but his voice wouldn't come out. He swallowed hard and finally managed to speak.
"Did-did I awaken?" He hated how much his voice shook.
Alicia looked at him, and a small smile appeared on her face. It wasn't her usual cold and distant look but instead she actually looked rather impressed.
"Well." she said, leaning back and gesturing to the empty space in the room.
"Why don't you show us if you did?"