A young boy was born to the old duke and his beloved wife. It was a miracle. The old duke, Abo von Bergstadt, had long tried to sire an heir, but many things went wrong. His wife had only gotten pregnant thrice throughout their 30-year marriage and the first two times were miscarriages. He had even adopted a son from another family to take up the role of heir. But now it was different.
A beautiful, healthy baby boy was born and much joy sprang up in his heart, even if it was clouded a little with worry. His wife was no longer young and the birth took quite a toll on her, but the smile on her lips brought by this miracle assured the duke her life was not in danger.
Even then, he gestured for the priest, who aided in the delivery to continue his healing spells. Better safe than sorry, ran through the duke’s mind. As he saw how the faintly glowing hands laid upon his wife soothed her, he could not help but feel a little jealous… After all, his own skill could only hurt others, and though he only intended to use it to protect his loved ones, his estate and the kingdom, he had nary an opportunity in these peaceful times.
His focus returned to the boy. What manner of skill will he hold? He couldn’t fight the idea that his skill would be impeccable and bring him to the forefront of the world, even if he realized such ideas were planted merely by the irrational love he already felt for the tiny being. Ah, so this is what it is like to be a parent, he thought.
It was customary for the skill only being read at the naming ceremony, but the duke could not wait. And what is a little bending of customs and rules for the powerful anyway? So he ended up sending for someone of the analysis skill, who held the key to learning about all manner of effects.
A skill was a promise of the future. A child had no way to utilize them, but it would slowly grow stronger till it fully manifested in their teenage years. Having a remarkable skill was a mark of prestige. While he found his skill, “Greater Warrior” useless, it gathered much attention in his youth as he bested all the other nobles in various competitions. It granted him remarkable ability with any weapon. He remembers how he effortlessly bested most, even while skipping out on training.
Not that it was that bad to have a bad skill. In fact, most people had skill that were only minor boons to their everyday life. His wife, for example, had a skill called lesser balance. It only served to keep her from tripping and being slightly better at certain physical activities, most of which ladies did not participate in anyways.
He made up his mind and covertly asked for an analyst to be brought to the estate in secret. He might bend the rules, but it would be unwise to let people know. In the meantime, he spent much of his time ignoring the duties that came with position and thought of names for their dear son.
A few weeks later, the duke had returned to his duties, when the analyst arrived. They had also settled on a name, for their little bundle of joy. He was going to be called Darl, meaning beloved. They realized they could not give him a name, that didn’t contain the love held for him and thus ended on a seldom used one, that captured their feelings perfectly.
The analyst was sent to his bedchamber, where his wife still cared for their son. He wanted to go immediately, but he had racked up much work by abandoning his duties and was obligated to work the rest of the day, but as soon as meetings were over late in the afternoon, he darted off to hear the news.
He didn’t understand what the analyst was telling him. A gift not seen before, but of grave implications. Peak affinity for humans. He understood “Peak” and was happy, as it was the highest grade of gift. He had heard of “affinity” gifts before. Monster tamers often held an affinity for the particular monster they were grooming and specialists for husbandry often become so via an “affinity for cows” or “affinity for horses”, but for humans? Unheard of.
Eagerly, already having decided it was some immaculate gift, he asked the analyst to elaborate as best he could, but as the explanation progressed both the color and smile on his face faded.
Affinity gifts work in a peculiar way, the analyst explained. The leading theory is that whatever the skill denotes affinity for, will see the holder as an object of great affection.
Due to the rarity of affinity skills, it was long assumed that the higher rarities merely meant a higher chance of the skill working on any given being, but in the more modern times, it was obvious that it was the duration and intensity, not the chance that took hold. One with “lesser affinity” could lose the skill’s effect if not seen by the affected for a few hours, while “greater affinity” could be gone for days and still have the skill take hold.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
But the analyst had worse news still. Affinity for humans may never have been seen before, but it had been theorized. To see monsters betray their usual behavior for the benefit of mankind was a delight, but what if that same twist happened for humans? It would be horror to lose your previous self in favor of serving another, completely involuntarily. And what if a king was affected? Would a whole country be charmed by one man’s skill?
The only possible saving grace for Darl was another quirk of how affinity worked. While Jorm might have had a good chance of affecting any given passing bird, the more powerful the creature, the rarer the chance for the affect taking place was. Perhaps human would be ranked so highly it would never take hold.
The tamer of minotaurs, Byron, was said to have encountered more than a thousand of the species for each of the three members in his team, while those with affinity for pixies often ended up slightly charming all of them.
Since no affinity for humans had been observed before, they did not know how likely it was. The analyst ended the tale by giving the grim recommendation.
Kill the child.
Should the power take hold over humans, the entire world could be sent spiraling into catastrophe.
But that was a bad choice, for the analyst at least. The duke immediately unsheathed the sword and decapitated the man who had recommended to hurt his child. His wife was baffled and the child started crying, but he could not help it. He had threatened the child he had wished for more than anything else.
But the duke was not blind to the threat the child posed. What was he to do? After deliberation, it was announced that the child died after a few weeks. It was not uncommon for young children to pass away, but that was only among commoners. The saving grace, that made the rumor plausible was the history of the mother, who had two miscarriages beforehand. Many thought it was only natural something would be wrong with the child then.
The child was removed from the parents and placed in a faraway house, constructed to meet his every demand. While the duke and his wife anguished at the thought of not seeing his own child, it appeared more palatable to him than the alternatives of ending his life or being charmed by interacting with him every day and losing all sense of reason.
They initially wanted to hire a small army of attendants, but they couldn’t. The boy’s circumstances would inevitably spread through rumor and if his skill took hold, chaos would break out. The solution the duke ended on was to provide him with only a single maid, and should she be affected, then all the less chance she would betray the child. They needed a woman who could both breastfeed the newborn, and whose loyalty could be bought.
A suitable woman was found. Annika was her name. She had served under one of the counts under Duke Abo, whom had gotten her pregnant, where after she was taken off duty and disgraced for siring a bastard, as was the fate of many maids under more lustful lords. She was from a poor family and was given the offer of the duke providing for both her family and her child, should she take up the task of living in the middle of nowhere and tending to the young Darl’s every need. She agreed readily.
For the first many years of Darl’s life, he lived in this little slice of heaven. Annika breastfed him, played with him, taught him what little she knew and was around him all day. She was given plenty of resources, regularly delivered from the estate. Not only were there plenty of ingredients for delicious food, luxuries such as soap and shampoo, spices, fine clothes and even jewelry was brought to her. It was the duke’s hope to keep her happy, to stop her from gaining any discontent towards her situation.
Darl was now 11 years old, living with the only other person he ever knew, the 28-year old maid, Annika. Darl was a weird boy.
He loved Annika as any boy would love his mother, and obediently followed her every command, as she was the source of all he knew. His favorite pastime was when Annika told him stories of heroes and legends. The brave warrior Andrew, who singlehandedly fought the monsters of the world, and carved out humanity’s own slice for living. The wise sage Sophus, who bested the God of Death in a match of wits, and allowed humans twice as long to live. The cunning Jenner, who stole the skills from the gods and gave them to humans.
The weird part, however, was that the young boy never emulated these tales. Many time Annika had suggested they played Andrew and monsters, a game most young boys played, but the young Darl held no interest. He only wanted to play tag, hide or seek or one of the many board games provided to them.
He was interested in the outside world, though, but Annika had warned him never to leave or inquire about the outside world and the boy obeyed. The greater threat to their quiet and peace was Annika. While she was grateful she could help her family like this, she missed them. And she wanted to see the boy she barely held in her arms before ending up here.
The only thing that kept her going was the idea that her family was much better off if she didn’t come back, and that Darl, whom she had come to adore, would be helpless without her.
But one fateful day, she gained another reason. The boy’s skill finally took hold.