"Indeed. I will now test you, young man. Place your hands on the side panes and forhead against the one closest."

This young man's soul shines like a bonfire. There is much strength in him, but his vessel is lacking. I see why he was brought directly to me, his affinity will determine his fate. I place my fingertips over his knuckles and prepare to infuse the smallest wisp of mana into one hand and retrieve it from the other one. Lowering my forehead to the focus, I consider the young man's tranquil acceptance of the process. A good temperment for a future mage. Just as I engage the focus, I feel something is wrong. The young man convulses and I feel more than see him lose consciousness. I am not in control of my mana!

"Galivan! What is happening!" The man's father shouts in fear and desperation. His focus going between his son- now limp on the floor and bleeding from his ears and nose- and myself, wheezing from mana depletion. I open my mouth to speak, but taste metal and belatedly realize that what I feel is not limited to mana depletion. I raise my hand to my nose and feel the sticky presence of blood flowing freely. Desperately, I lurch to my feet and fall to my knees. My vision begins to narrow. Was this all an elaborate attack? From whom? No longer able to persevere, I lapse into unconsciousness as my disciple lays both the boy and I on the ground and calls for a healer.

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Galivan slowly opened his eyes and groaned as his head ached beyond measure. Noticing his awakening, the three adults in the room rushed over to check on him, each doing their best to avoid trampling the ancient man still comatose beside him. The healer reached him first and, after a quick inspection, assured the other two that there were no lasting issues before turning his full attention back to the ancient man. The man who led them here stood by awkwardly as Galivan's father tried to comfort him and assit him in sitting up.

"What happened? My head hurts so much right now..." Galivan looked around for some clue and noticed the ancient man still unconscious on the ground. "Oh no! Is it my fault? Did I fail the test and make it backfire?"

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The ancient man's disciple, although still worried, laughed lightly at Galivan's concern. "It's an affinity test, young man. You cannot fail! Oh, but in all the fuss, we never inspected your resu..." The man never completed his sentence as he turned around to inspect the focus and his jaw dropped. Inside of the focus floated NINE wisps of color. NINE!

"This doesn't make any sense," the man began short of breath. "The elements are arranged in groups of four between the basic elements and the advanced elements. The basic elements of earth, wind, fire and water are very common among mages, but the advanced elements of light, dark, life and death are so rare that you could go your entire life and only meet a handful." At this point the man turned and stared at Galivan as though looking at a demon, "But that still only adds up to EIGHT".

Long moments began to grow more and more tense as none of the four men in the room knew what to make of the results. Luckily, the ancient man began coughing and woke up not long after the world shattering revelation. Sensing the atmosphere, the ancient man hurriedly assured everyone that he was merely overdrawn and with the assistance of the healer, moved back to his seat by the focus.

"Young man, come here." The ancient man stared intently at the focus as Galivan returned to his seat across from him. "Look here, these wisps are your affinities. Our episode earlier was due to your body not being able to project them properly with your limited mana, in fact, all of my mana was drawn out and that was with the aid of this focus to share mana and project your affinities." The man explained the situation matter-of-factly. Then he grew much more somber. "Young man, you are a gifted genius never before seen in history. But, you are also a cursed existence. Possessing so much affinity means endless possibilities for you, but it also poses a very serious limitation- you will never be able to cast a spell on your own." The man stared at Galivan with pity and sadness.

Galivan's father stared at the ancient man before appealing to him, "Is there nothing we can do? He is unable to practice the 1st rank warrior foundation, magic is his only hope! It's everything he worked for!"

"Of course there is something we can do. Young man, become my disciple."