Chapter 2: Affinity Check

Ian instantly touched his ring and took out a unique silver bracelet that had the symbol of a winged serpent out of thin air.

Without any hesitation, he put the bracelet in his right hand and recited a short chant in a mysterious language.

A second later, the bracelet shone brightly and shrunk itself before attaching it to the infant's hand.

With a pleased smile, Ian nodded his head and turned his gaze towards the empty corner of the room before uttering a word.

"Gavin."

Just as he spoke, the darkness seemed to have taken a life and formed into the appearance of a human, frightening Athena.

"G-Ghost!?" She cried in shock.

Without minding the frightened child's cry, the shadowy hooded figure walked closer to Ian and slowly removed the hood, revealing his rough face.

His long golden hair and unique silver eyes gave Athena a sense of familiarity.

Only then did she realize that it was the Prime Minister of this Empire!

'But what is he doing here? How did he appear out of thin air? Is he also a 'Wizard'?' Such thought appeared in her head.

"Greetings, Lord Gavin." Shirley's greeting broke her inner thoughts.

On the other hand, the Prime Minister walked closer to them, took out a unique head-sized white orb out of thin air like Ian, and gave it to him.

Meanwhile, Ian caught the orb and placed the young infant's hand on the orb.

A moment later, a mysterious wave came out of the orb, entered the young baby's body, and soon returned.

The next instant, a row of words appeared on the orb, causing him to furrow.

[Light- Nil, Darkness- Nil, Shadow- Nil, Earth- Nil, Water- Nil, Fire- Nil, Wind- Nil, Ice- Nil, Lightning- Nil, Metal- Nil, Nature- Nil, Space- Nil,...]

"Hmm? Doesn't he even have a low affinity for any elements? Has this happened to anyone?" Ian asked.

"I haven't seen a person born without any element, Your Majesty. Is it broken?" Gavin asked in a baffled tone before taking the orb and activating it on himself.

"Strange... My shadow element shows prodigy level as usual." While muttering, he slowly turned his gaze towards the unique child and asked in a solemn tone.

"Your Majesty, can I inspect his soul and check if something is wrong?"

Upon hearing those words, Athena felt a strange sense of uneasiness. Although she couldn't understand why, she thought that it was not a good thing. Before she could even say anything, Emperor Ian nodded his head and spoke.

"Go on. But be careful not to injure or invade Raven's soul realm."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Gavin bowed his head, placed his thumb finger on the infant's forehead, and started reciting a strange chant for a minute.

After that, he stood in the same spot for a whole ten minutes and finally opened his eyes.

"What happened?" Upon seeing the severe look on his face, even the Emperor couldn't hide his curiosity.

"His soul is severely damaged, My Lord. Although this infant's consciousness has taken shape miraculously, he might get erased out of existence itself over time. The best we can do is give this unfortunate baby a peaceful end." Gavin said in a low voice before widening his eyes as he realized Athena had also heard his words.

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On the other hand, tears started to roll down Athena's cheeks. For the past few months, she had been taking care of her mother and also swore to her mother to protect the child in the future.

"No!" Like a broken doll, she knelt on the floor and cried loudly. She soon crawled on Emperor's feet and begged.

"Please don't take him away, Father!"

Ian also stood in a grim look and slowly inhaled before speaking.

"Athena, face the reality. Even though I have been alive for hundreds of years, this is the first time I've seen such a case. As far as I know, a damaged soul can't be healed by any means. Even if there is such a medicine, it might be more costly." He pondered for a moment and looked at Gavin again.

"Gavin, take out the special affinity orb and check if there is a possibility of him having any unique trait."

'Aren't you the emperor?' Shirley scoffed inwardly. She felt like they had already discarded the child and felt pain inside.

On the other hand, Gavin hurriedly stored the other orb and took out another one. Unlike the white one, this looked blue and had mysterious words inscribed all over it.

Like the last time, Emperor Ian made the infant touch the blue orb and waited for a while as it started glowing.

A few seconds later, another row of information appeared on the surface of the orb.

[Unique affinities:

Sword- Nil, Spear-Nil, Archery- Nil, Dream- Nil, Wisdom- Nil, Blood- Nil, Mirror- Nil, Mind- Nil, Truth- Nil, Madness- Nil, Love- Nil, Fate- Nil, Trickery- Nil, etc.,]

"What a terrifying, unfortunate child! This child is beyond unlucky. I would be surprised if he lived past ten years! Even if he lived, his future would be nothing but hardships. Even the commoners will surpass him and give him a hellish life." Gavin said in shock and slowly looked at the unconscious woman before speaking.

"Your Majesty, if a word got out of this child's affinity result, the whole Royal Family will become a laughingstock in the whole Ivory Continent. Even if we let this baby alive, he will live only in pain for the rest of his life."

"It can't be helped then." As Emperor Ian gave the infant child back to Shirley, he noticed the small child was still gripping his leg like a lizard.

"Little girl, give up on saving this child and focus on your swordsmanship from now on. Tsk, I was too excited at first. What a disappointment." He shook his head as he released his leg from Athena's grip and quietly walked away.

Gavin also followed after him closely and soon stopped as he reached the wooden door before turning around.

"Someone will come to take care of this child at midnight. Until then, please don't do anything funny." Even though he said calmly, Shirley suddenly felt a powerful grip on her heart, causing her to tremble uncontrollably.

An eerie silence filled the room as the Emperor and the Prime Minister left.

"W-Why are they doing this?" Athena asked tremblingly and slowly turned her gaze towards her mother.

At that moment, Shirley also arrived beside Athena and said in a concerned voice while looking at the tiny baby.

"I'm more worried about my little sister. If this news reaches her ears, she might break down completely." Saying so, she slowly walked closer to the unconscious woman and touched her face.

Subconsciously, her tears started to swell up and fell on Jeanne's cheek.

"That father of yours sure is a cold man, Athena. No, all these nobles and royalties are like that! They only care about reputation and title, nothing else." She angrily mumbled and quietly placed the unfortunate infant beside Jeanne one last time.

"Athena, you should go and take some rest. We can't do anything." Shirley could only console Athena and tell her to face reality.

On the other hand, Athena slowly walked out of the room and moved to the room right next to it. She could hear the laughter and giggles of many people from a few ten meters away but didn't have any energy to even look at them.

Even though they were her brothers, sisters, and relatives, they were nothing but strangers to her eyes until now.

"Why should we have to go through this kind of struggle?" Anger and frustration welled up in her mind as she entered her room. She soon lit the room with the help of a magical lamp and fell on the bed while sobbing. She wanted to sleep and try her best not to think of the earlier incident, but it kept repeating in her mind, causing her to cry even more.

As time passed, darkness shrouded the outside, giving birth to a bright moon in the eastern sky.

But one sentence was repeated entirely in her mind multiple times.

"Someone will come to take care of this child at midnight. Until then, please don't do anything funny."

It was the Prime Minister Gavin's warning.

"I don't want to see my mother sad. I don't want my only younger brother to be taken away by them!" As she was thinking deeply, she felt darkness clouding her vision.

Before long, she fell into deep sleep.

No, she actually found herself standing inside the room where her mother and her younger brother were!

'How did I come here? Am I dreaming? Did I fall asleep and end up sleepwalking?' As she was mumbling, the door creaked open slowly.

A female figure walked inside. The woman appeared around 40 to 50 years old, had grey hair, and appeared a little fat.

'Head Maid? What are you doing here?' She asked, but the Head Maid didn't respond. No, Athena noticed that she wasn't even looking at her at all.

As Athena was baffled by her action, the head maid walked closer to her and soon passed right through her like a ghost.

No, Athena hurriedly looked at her own body and noticed that she looked more like an illusion.

But she didn't have any time to look at her situation as she noticed that the Head Maid had already arrived beside the bed and taken Raven in her hand.