In the patch of forest near his home, Orion lifted his crude imitation of a sword and swung. For years, he has been swinging to his mother’s taught style. a basic sword style taught to children in her old home.

He fell to a rhythm, swinging and swinging until his arms were numb, but he didn’t stop. ‘ I feel it, my mana!’ Though sluggish, he felt the energy move through his channels, making their way to his arms to alleviate the fatigue.

He continued swinging till his arms gave up. He fell down on the soft grass, panting heavily. Once he regained his breath, he stood up and faced the sheathed Katana planted on the ground. It was his mother’s blade, or what he had left to remember her by.

His father, a high affinity for light and a renowned warrior. Who fought in the Frontline with his spear and shield, protecting his allies and slaughtering his enemies.

His mother has a high lightning affinity. She comes from a nation across the sea to the north. Before meeting his father in a human nation to the east and falling in love with each other, she told him that she used to be a traveling swordsman. She wielded a Katana and dispatched foes with speed and precision.

She, alongside his father, died in the war; they didn’t manage to recover their bodies, a soldier said, as he delivered their weapons. His father’s spear got handed over to his uncle, as the new head of the Heliora clan. However, this katana refused to be wielded. Only allowing him to carry it around.

That was five years ago. He remembered hugging the sword, crying till he fell asleep.

He bowed to the honorary grave he made for his parents. He headed to a stream to get washed and prepare for the ceremony. Despite him barely feeling his mana, every 15-year-old needs to attend. The ceremony is when the elves assess their affinities.

It was a necessity to attend the event. After all, it was a requirement to be accepted in the academy.

‘I need to get admitted before uncle kicks me out’

His uncle never liked him. He was jealous of his father for being more ‘talented’ than him.

As the Heliora clan head, he made it clear that he kept him solely for legal reasons.

‘ they can go to hell for all I care. I’ll prove them wrong, I’ll prove him wrong and become the greatest swordsman in the Federation, then I will take over the Heliora clan and reclaim everything they took from me and…’

After washing and drying himself, Orion walked along his usual path, through the forest. The chirping of birds and the rustling of small critters quieted down his thoughts.

Soon, the manor showed itself from behind the foliage. It was a wonderful construct, made from weaving trees imported from another continent, and crowning the building with a roof of green, blue, and red leaves.

Orion quietly made his way through the yard. Climbed a wall to the roof, then sneaked into his attic room. Then he changed his clothes from his worn out robes to a much nicer costume, a white linum tunic bearing some embroidery on the sleeves and collar, grey pants.

He quickly sneaked around the manor, grabbing a quick bite, and walked to the front gate, not wanting to alert anyone of his presence.

‘ what route should I take? There will be a crowd at the central plaza today. Maybe I should take the route passing by old joe’s shop, few people pass there and even fewer because of the occas-’

A punch interrupted his thoughts to the back of the head. He stumbled down, a little disoriented, but managed to pick himself up. He turned to the aggressor, glaring at him with a hate filled gaze for a split second before lowering his gaze.

“Looks like the rat has finally shown himself,” said Evan, his aggressor, with a smug expression. “I thought you ran away, with how hard it was to find you “

Orion didn’t respond. He knew from experience that falling for his provocations would always land him in trouble with his uncle.

Evan chuckled. “What? Cat got your tongue or something?”

‘ I need to get out of here. Why is he here? He is supposed to be attending the academy ‘

Orion readied himself to run and hide, ears orienting backwards. his cousin is a year older and has been attending the academy as a high light affinity mage

Compared to him, he stood no chance in a one-on-one confrontation, plus he didn’t want his clothes to get dirty. That would be an embarrassing sight over at the assessment.

Evan's eyebrows twitched, annoyed at the lack of response, and started saying something. But Orion took that momentary distraction to bolt towards the gate.

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Surprised, Evan tried to give chase. He started running behind him a second later, but by that time, Orion jumped at the gate bars, quickly climbing them and jumping to the other side, and started running towards the central district of the city.

All the while, his hateful cousin chased him just beyond the estate gate before giving up and heading inside.

“What an idiot! Even though he completed his first ring, he is still as brainless as ever.” In fact, Orion has learned from five long years of living with this buffoon, most of his habits; his tendency to talk a lot, his tendency to lose himself in others’ praise, his overreliance on his father when things don’t go his way …

But sometimes, like today, he still manages to catch him off-guard.

Thankfully, all the hiding would end today. Orion is confident he is going to inherit one of his parents’ affinities.

The Heliora clan manor was situated in the southern district of the capital city of Enor. and as he passed other manors and courtyards. The scenery slowly transitioned to more closely packed buildings from manors made from exotic plants and trees, to more uniform three story buildings woven from the common emerald leafed trees of the nearby forests.

Soon Orion reached the central plaza. He did eventually decide to head straight for the town hall, where the assessment would take place. He reckoned that taking a different route would take too much time and it would make him get here late.

it’s getting crowded, more than the usual, Orion thought while slithering through the crowd. Elves from all walks of life gathered here, families gathered to support their children, words of encouragement heard from all over, vendors taking advantage of the number of people gathering around, the smells of foods and flowers filling the air, and guards clad in silver armour patrolled the area to ensure order.

Orion stopped walking. He watched the crowd with a look full of longing. It was at times like these he missed his parents the most. He stood there for a few minutes, dreaming of what could have been; of the life he could have had had his parents survived the war. a house full of warmth and happiness.

Orion got woken up from his daze by a child bumping into him by accident. He strode towards the assessment location where it was crowded the most. The city hall was a big building, large enough to house a few hundred adults. It was a three story building constructed by using several large trees as support and weaving their branches with a myriad of smaller specimens into the walls and floors.

As he walked through the large entrance, he was greeted by the site of a dozen examiners at the far end of the room. each overseeing a circular device, shining with tiny runes that covered the whole of the construct.

Each examiner wore a formal robe and a welcoming smile, to his sides stood two assistants, each holding a box full of ring shaped objects. in front of them was a line of 15-year-olds awaiting their assessments, some excited, others nervous.

Soon he picked the shortest line and waited his turn. while doing so, he observed the examiner of the line to his right

“put your hand in the centre of the runic array”, the kid obliging and doing as he was told, the examiner then put his hands above the kids’, faint sparks of lights flowing through his palms, flowing like snowflakes toward the device, getting infused and subsequently producing a small orb of water a few centimetres in the air.

Then he told his assistant to bring him one of the ring like structures, placing it on top of the measuring device he told the kid to repeat the procedures and this time nothing happened

“ Congratulations, you have a lesser water affinity… Next!”

the kid turned away with a slightly disappointed expression and another took his place, and the process repeated again.

As the minutes turned to hours, Orion was lost in thought. Most examinees had one or two lesser affinities while some had an intermediate one with a small percentage of these boasting with one or more lesser affinities to go with it.

“ Congratulations, you have a high wind affinity, what's your name child? ”

“ Adrian, sir”

“ Adrian,,,” said the examiner as he pulled a paper, writing the name in it “ here is a recommendation to the central academy, you can choose to bypass the entrance exams by handing in this letter. May you bring fortune to the federation”

The kid, Adrian, took the letter with both hands, hugging it close to his chest, not believing what happened. He bowed deeply to the examiner “Thank you sir.” then left quickly, nearly jumping from happiness.

Orion was confident that he was going to have a high affinity, after all, both his parents had one, and he was sure he was going to inherit one of them.

“Next!” the examiner said as his turn came. He took his place and put his hand on top of the artefact. The examiner activated the runic array, motes of light flowing from his hand, igniting the magic of the device. A few long moments passed, and a buzzing ball of blue electricity, as big as the device, appeared in the air. Orion knew it was a high affinity, but nonetheless, his heart thumped loudly inside his chest and a wide grin appeared on his face.

the examiner turned to his assistant and said “ give me the lightning inhibitor” the assistant obliged and handed the obligatory, handing over the ring-like object. He placed it on top of the array. Orion was told to put his hands on the device for a second time, while the examiner activated it again. This time, a ball of ethereal energy that seemed to disturb the space around it, half as big as the lightning one appeared.

the examiner said with a hint of amusement “hmmm, an intermediate space element, how rare “ he then turned to his other assistant “ give me the space inhibitor. “

Orion was surprised. it was rare for one to have a higher affinity, and rarer still to have 2. ‘What if I have a 3rd?’ the excitement was getting to his head. the talent he possessed was sure to guarantee him renown if he attended the academy, and then he would surpass his uncle and cousin, just to spite them…

The examiner placed the second ring on top of the first and they repeated the procedure again, this time. Orion wasn't prepared for what was coming. a ball of darkness appeared, slightly smaller than the space ball. Orion’s face paled, cold sweat trickled down his back. his muscles tensed and breath became shallow.

‘why? Of all elements, why does it have to be darkness?’