Chapter 66   - Elemental Affinities

After the ritual, Kai confirmed he had gained a level in Mana Sense reaching 51. It was the fastest level ever, but it didn’t come without consequences. He had never drunk more than a shot of tequila, but he had always imagined a hangover would feel something like this.

The idea of standing up made him queasy. If he closed his eyes, he could still see those flashing colors. It felt like someone had played volleyball with his brain.

It was a struggle to focus on what Virya was saying. It had gone well beyond his expectations. Both Elijah and Dora looked surprised as the lady of the estate communicated the results. The list was quite extensive, but only the first five truly mattered.

He had won the lottery. He had not one, but five elements he could use, and they were all viable, with maybe the exception of Space.

There was little he could do with the slew of minor affinities in the near future, but it was better having them than not. He was going to have enough kinship with the fire element to light a candle, eventually, but fireballs were not going to be in his future. That was a bit of a bummer, but it was nothing compared to the immense relief that flooded his being.

“Observing you continues to be an entertaining time, child.” Virya’s voice cut through his thoughts. “Not the highest affinities I ever saw, but it’s quite rare to have five major ones. You are lucky to have been gifted with this many choices. I’ll need some time to analyze the results and create an accurate chart.”

The mage turned back to scribbling in her notebook. Kai stared confusedly at her for several seconds before his brain put together that he had just been dismissed.

Standing up on unsteady feet, he tried to take a few steps. The headache was one of the worst skill overstrain he ever suffered. A splitting migraine cutting right through his head. On top of that was the nausea. He felt like he could start puking at any second now. He didn’t think Virya would appreciate it if he vomited all over her nice ritual chamber.

Waiting for the world to stop spinning before taking the first step, Kai slowly made his way out of the chamber.

“Come, dear. One step at a time. Don’t worry it’s normal to feel a bit dizzy after the ritual, it will pass soon.” Dora offered him a hand and he gladly grabbed it. Elijah was nowhere to be seen.

Once out of the manor, the breeze blowing from the sea helped him feel better. He felt sure enough he would not fall over puking his guts out, probably.

“Are you going to be fine on your own?”

Kai nodded slowly. “It’s getting a bit better.”

“Then I should congratulate you! Having five affinities is not something you see every day. Most mages don’t get more than two.”

Kai tried to give her his best smile. Dora ruffled his hair. “I’ll go prepare something to help you recover. You can wait here or take a walk.” She said, leaving for her laboratory.

Following her advice, he took off his shoes and walked along the shoreline. He soaked his head in the waves to mitigate the heat and wake from his stupor.

Dora came back twenty minutes later carrying a vial filled with a transparent liquid with a blue hue. He was glad she had not used one of her experimental recipes. His stomach couldn’t have taken that. He already felt sick at the thought.

Taking the vial into his hand it was surprisingly cold. He could perceive a fair tingle of mana on his fingers. He did not dare activate Mana Sense to analyze it, but he judged it must be orange tier to create such an effect.

“This should fix most of the symptoms, except skill strain. I’m afraid there is nothing I can do about that. The only effective remedy is a good day of rest.”

Kai thanked her. A strong herbal smell filled the air when he uncorked the vial. He drank it without hesitation. It was quite sour but didn’t leave any vile aftertaste. He could immediately feel his stomach settling down and his thoughts clearing up. The pounding migraine became a bearable headache.

“I made Elijah agree to give you the rest of the day off. Try to limit skill and mana use as much as possible for today. Passive skills are fine, but no active use.”

“I promise not to do anything.” Kai solemnly said.

Dora smiled. “You can come to the garden if you get bored. Walking among mana plants can be therapeutic. I’ll call you for lunch.”

Now that he didn’t feel like his soul was about to leave his body at any moment, Kai could begin to grasp what happened. Excitement and joy bubbled inside of him.

It all had gone swimmingly. He had five major affinities with Nature, Water, Earth, Shadow and Space. His education on the topic was limited, but he knew that it was above average even among mages.

Musing over the results, he frowned. It seemed a big coincidence that his three highest affinities were so clearly linked with the archipelago. Either the environment conditioned the elements he got, or the spirits, and the blessing from Yatei had something to do with this.

Not that I have anything to complain about. It would have been cool to get something more explosive like fire or lightning, but I can’t say I’m disappointed.

With his specialized Mana Sense, he should now be able to perceive the elements he had a major affinity for. He needed to learn how to make use of them, separating them from the mana tangle. He was looking forward to that, his lessons had not gone into much detail about how it worked. Dora had told him there was little point until he knew his affinities, since each element had its own peculiarities.

One thing was certain. He was going to have to do tons of mana exercises.

***

The next day began like any other. He woke up at dawn, meditated for an hour and started his physical training. Elijah did not mention what had happened.

“Virya wants to see you.” He simply said when they were done.

Finally.

Kai walked to the pavilion alone, Virya had already finished her breakfast. She was looking through a small stack of papers in front of her, occasionally writing something down.

On his side of the table, there was a cup of mint green tea and pastries sorted in a circular shape. The mage acknowledged his arrival with a glance and went back browsing through her papers. Kai proceeded to have a very awkward breakfast, trying to munch as silently as possible.

“I had time to go through your results.” Virya started. “If I were to judge them based on the Merian Republic standards, they would be remarkable. Using my standards, I’d say you are slightly above average. Showing a major kinship to five elements is uncommon, but none of your affinities are especially high. More elements mean more choices and flexibility, but also more work on your part. I know many mages who consider having a single high affinity preferable.”

What a way to kill the mood.

Kai finished the last sip of tea and nodded at her. He was used to Virya’s ways by now. This was the highest praise he was going to get.

“Can I see my results?” Kai gestured to the folder in front of her.

“Later.”

“So… is having too many affinities bad?” He asked to fill the silence.

“Don’t ask stupid questions. Having more choices is naturally a good thing. You only have to mind the risk of spreading yourself too thin. Do you know the difference between having a major and minor affinity?”

I guess saying that one is better than the other is the wrong answer.

“Except for the obvious, I’m not sure about the exact difference,” Kai admitted.

Virya seemed to accept his answer. “That is because there isn’t one. Every human country uses its own scale, without even considering other races. You should learn the ranking of each land you visit, but it’s of no importance right now. While there is no unified definition, dividing affinities into major and minor is widespread. Often used on top of the local scales.”

This sounded like how numbers were used in multi-racial trades and deals. He had read a few books that used the term major, but he had never found a definition. It was taken for granted the reader knew already.

“So, Kai, can you guess what defines a major affinity?”

Dammit, why can’t she just tell me!?

He knew this was her preferred teaching method to force him to reflect, but it was frustrating sometimes.

If she asked me, it means I already have the clues to find the correct answer. If it’s something that everybody uses, it must not be something very complicated either.

Unfortunately, obvious answers were often the hardest ones to guess. It would have been easier if he had some idea of how affinities were measured.

“I assume the definition doesn’t contain technical knowledge or numbers?” He asked.

“It does not. You could call it an informal or practical way to measure your kinship to the elements.”

Her answer contained several clues. Putting together the pieces, he started to form a vague idea of the answer. It was extremely obvious and stupid.

“Is this classification only relevant for magic professions?”

Virya curved her lips into a thin smile. “Yes.”

“Does major mean an affinity is strong enough to become the main element of a mage?”

“Well, you are getting close. People define major affinities as something you can build your entire path around. The second condition is that you can perceive them as soon as you evolve Mana Sense. Minor affinities are too low to achieve anything significant. They only become relevant after you’ve become an experienced mage. If you have no major affinities, it is more sensible to focus on unattuned mana fields.

“However, what is high enough in one place might not be in another. It’s a practical metric, but not very accurate. Magically advanced kingdoms use a 100 points scale. But it requires complicated rituals and equipment which is why many countries opt for simpler scales.

“The major threshold is around 30 points in the Republic. Lower than that and you’d have a very hard time perceiving the element as a novice. They are called minor because they aren’t strong enough to impact your path significantly. Most regions I visited put the threshold at around 35. The highest threshold is the one used by the elves at 50.”

Kai did not have time to wonder about the mention of the pointed ears fellows. His calm and satisfied mind had been thrown into turmoil.

What did I get? Virya said my affinities were not especially high. Surely, it’s better than 30, right?

His eyes stared at the pile of papers with deep desire. He wanted, no, he needed to know.

There was no way Virya didn’t notice, but she showed no intention of passing the folder to him. Kai used Acting to give her his best pleading eyes. He was not yet able to cry at command, but he must not be that far either.

Virya looked at him amused. “Close, but not quite. You should aim for a more natural expression, trying too hard is counterproductive. Maybe we could add training for Acting to the routine…”

You demon! Tell me what I want.

“Be patient, child. Your results will still be the same in a few minutes. You’ll have time to go through all the numbers later. If you focus, we’ll finish sooner.”

Kai cleaned his eyes on his sleeve, sitting straight on the chair.

With a lightning-quick movement, Virya's arm flashed forward to pinch his cheek. Kai looked at her offended, but she just laughed. “You are always so amusing, Kai. I’ll get quickly to the point as promised. The numbers in these papers are not everything. Personal inclinations and preferences can also make a lot of difference. You might find yourself getting better results with Water than with Nature, even if the second is higher.

“For the time being, you will study all five of your major affinities, but I advise you to drop Space. Not only is it your lowest affinity, but it has low synergies with your other elements. Eventually, it would be best if you choose two elements to put all your efforts into.”

Kai looked at her frustrated. What was the point of having access to many elements if he didn’t use them? Space seemed so cool. If he could not learn to fly, teleporting around was his second choice.

“Is there no way to use them all?”

“Nothing is impossible, but it would be suboptimal. Choosing three elements might still be fine, but I’d advise against more than that.”

“Why would one or more elements make such a big difference? I’ll only need to work harder.”

“It’s not a question of work and effort. The true problem will arise when you have to choose a profession. Unless you want to discard elemental magic, I’ve never heard of a red tier one that touches more than three elements. And even getting one of those will be hard.”

“Is an elementally aligned profession that much better?” He had learned more about how professions worked, but he was always eager to learn more.

“How important is learning combat magic to you?”

Kai thought for a moment. “Quite important.” He would not be powerless again. He was curious about many non-combat applications of magic, and he enjoyed practicing Alchemy, but knowing how to defend himself was a must. It wasn’t something he was willing to sacrifice.

“As I thought,” Virya said, her gaze had not moved, but Kai got the feeling she wasn’t truly looking at him anymore. “There are so many exciting branches of magical research, but everyone wants to become a battle mage. Maybe you’ll change your mind with time, but I doubt it will happen before you reach fourteen.”

Her orange eyes focused on him again. “If that’s what you want, elemental magic is the best path. There are professions geared towards unattuned mana manipulation or with no elemental preference, but they rarely have high combat potential.”

Virya offered him the folder. “You still have a lot of time before you have to make a decision. Just focus on your training for now.”

Kai accepted the papers. He was not as eager to know now that he knew he would need to choose between them. That didn’t mean he didn’t immediately look.

There were more details than he thought. Maybe he should ask Virya to write down her explanations next time. His eyes darted to the third page, and he finally found what he was looking for.

Nature: 60

Water: 54

Earth: 51

Shadow: 46

Space: 38

Air: 17

….

A large toothy smile grew on his face.