Chapter 2 – The Affinity Test
1129 Words
"Alright, the test begins now,” Mara announced. “The purple ball will test your elemental affinity, while the red one will test your celestial affinity. Betta Lee, let’s start with you."
The girl sitting in the first row stood up and stepped onto the podium where Mara’s desk was located.
All the students held their breath as they watched her.
Betta stepped towards the purple crystal ball, stretched her arms, and placed them on the sphere.
As she closed her eyes, the surface of the ball shined a dim blue. The light grew brighter, and four blue hexagrams appeared on the surface. The stars shined brightly and dazzled the students.
Alex was baffled. What does that mean?
After a while, a fifth star appeared. It was not as bright as the others, but it was a full star.
"Water affinity, level 5. Looks like you’ll become an outstanding water magician in the future," Mara said in approval.
Betta breathed a sigh of relief. She opened her eyes and patted her chest with a pleased look on her face.
A level 5 affinity in water was impressive. And becoming a magician was already remarkable enough. A magician was respected anywhere in the world.
"Jacob Smith, it's your turn," Mara announced.
Jacob stood up and walked towards the podium. Unlike Betta, he bypassed the purple crystal ball and went straight to the red sphere. It was as if he knew he had a celestial affinity rather than an elemental one.
"Whenever you're ready," said Mara.
"Yes, ma’am." Jacob rubbed his hands and covered the ball. He closed his eyes as he heightened his senses.
Soon, the ball lit up. In contrast to the purple crystal ball, it glowed softly. Four stars appeared on the surface. A fifth star was forming, but it eventually disappeared.
"Celestial affinity, level 4. You’re qualified to become a Dou Qi warrior, Jacob," said Mara.
Unfortunately, it was not the result Jacob had hoped to achieve. Four stars were not enough to get him into his ideal school, which required a minimum affinity of five stars.
But he still had ten months to go. He had time to improve.
"Next, Jack Wilson," Mara called.
Jack went up to the podium for his turn. Alex was so absorbed in the process, that it took him some time to realize that someone was poking his back. Until now, he hadn’t noticed that there was somebody behind him.
Alex was surprised when he turned around to see a small boy crouched on his desk behind him.
The boy was cowering like a scared mouse. He looked frail and weak. The black-rimmed glasses on his face had thick lenses.
"A-Alex, after school… y-you have to... you have to run away," he stuttered, trembling with fear. He was bent so low, that his head was almost beneath the table.
Alex frowned. "Who are you?"
The boy looked so timid, he didn’t look like he would answer.
"I... I'm Logan.” When Alex continued to stare dumbly at him, Logan added, “Logan Davis." He raised his head and stared at Alex in disbelief.
“Logan? Are we friends?" Alex asked again. His memories were all about his previous life. He had no memory of this world.
"Alex, don't scare me like that!" Logan straightened a bit and started to panic. "W-we’re good friends! Did you forget? You forgot to bring toilet paper with you yesterday. I was the one who sent you some!"
"Oh my god," Alex groaned. Logan’s definition of a good friend was humiliating. "Never mind. Why did you tell me to run away after school?" he asked impatiently.
Logan's beady eyes widened. He pressed himself against the desk and said in a low and serious voice, "D-didn't hear what Justin just said? He’s already a novice warrior, and ranks the top in our class! Do you want to get beaten up?"
"Is a novice warrior powerful?" Alex asked.
"Justin can lift you up with one hand. What do you think?" Logan hissed fearfully.
Alex agreed that Justin was powerful enough to beat him up. It was a piece of cake for him to raise him up like he weighed nothing. Alex was definitely weaker than him.
Logan was right. Alex needed to run away the moment classes ended. But he didn’t even know where he lived.
Why don’t I know anything about this life?
Forget it! I’ll worry about it after school!
While Alex made up his mind, Mara suddenly announced, “Justin, it’s your turn.”
Alex immediately perked up and turned towards the front of the classroom. He needed to know how powerful his opponent was.
He watched Justin like a hawk. The tall and burly boy went to the elemental crystal ball first. Only one green star appeared on the purple sphere.
Then, Justin tested his celestial affinity. To everyone’s surprise, seven stars appeared on the red crystal ball. The result caused an uproar in the room and shocked even Mara.
"Level 1 wind affinity, and level 7 celestial affinity! Justin, you’ll become a powerful warrior!" Mara said excitedly.
A level seven celestial affinity would let Justin enter the best high school in the city.
Level 7, Alex thought in awe. He never expected Justin to be this strong!
Until Justin’s turn, the highest affinity was level 5. Justin’s result meant that he was the most powerful student in the class.
Students took the test one by one. Most tested their celestial affinity. Only a few tested their elemental affinity.
Magicians were a lot rarer than warriors.
To Alex’s shock, Logan had a level 5 affinity in thunder, a rare element.
"Good job, Logan! Looks like you’ll become a thunder magician in the future!" Alex praised when Logan returned.
After observing everyone, Alex finally understood how the tests worked.
The seven elements were represented by yellow for earth, red for fire, green for wind, blue for water, purple for thunder, white for light, and black for dark.
Logan chuckled nervously, face flushing at Alex’s praise.
Alex was speechless. He couldn’t reconcile Logan’s personality with his affinity.
What kind of affinity do I have? Will I become a magician or a warrior?
Alex stared at the two crystal balls on the table in anticipation. He was excited about his turn.
After thinking about it, Alex preferred to become a magician. He found attacking with magic than brute force a lot cooler.
But first, Alex had to test his affinity.
- Writer
