Though the world had discovered and studied more and more attributes, sub-attributes and attribute synergies that allowed for a wide variety of applications and uses, the four elements were still highly regarded due to being the original four attributes of magic. They are the attributes that had always existed and were seen as the basis of magic.

They are the attributes most used and studied and the ones with the most applications even in today's world and are the easiest attributes to progress and improve in. It was only natural to react negatively when their child had zero affinity in any of the four attributes.

"As you might know, most humans would commonly have an affinity with a single attribute among the four elements they would be able to use to a proficient degree but due to our family that prioritizes any kind of magical talent over race and any specific attribute or sets of attributes. Our bloodline is mixed with I dare say, all of the sapient races in the world, which expectedly made our affinities to be impossible to predict." Doctor Statho explained to the couple who still had tense faces at the reveal.

"Thankfully, there is one thing we can predict, and it is the high total affinity of someone born from our bloodline. Whether it is an average family member who has affinities for ten attributes or one who has a high affinity for a single attribute and low affinities for multiple others, their total affinity will always triumph over the total affinity of an average person in Alcavia and even an average member of other prestigious magic families." He continued.

"Though I knew all of that internally, thank you for reiterating it again uncle. It's hard to be calm when your child has zero affinity in any of the four attributes, even with the knowledge pertaining our family and bloodline." Aereon said.

"It's only natural for a parent to want the best for their child, do not worry, that is why I am here. I can tell you confidently that the fewer attributes she has no affinity or low affinity for, the more likely it is that her affinities are condensed into fewer attributes. That would not only be good for condensing her studies and future life path but would also increase her prestige and influence in the family when she is older." Statho replied.

Aereon didn't feel too good hearing that as he would not want Astraea to be involved with the family, though having prestige and influence in the family would be good to get them off her back.

Paela rolled her eyes seeing her husband make a strange face, knowing that he was thinking about his family again.

"I will continue, Light Magic, zero affinity, Dark Magic, zero affinity, Nature Magic, zero affinity..."

There was no reaction this time as the parents waited for an attribute where Astraea had more than zero affinity.

"Metal Magic, zero affinity, Body Magic, zero affinity..."

Paela's shoulders slumped on hearing Astraea's affinity for Body Magic, as it was the attribute she had the highest affinity for.

"Weather Magic, zero affinity, Space Magic, zero affinity..."

"...zero affinity...zero affinity"

"zero, zero, zero, zero..."

At this point, the two parents were no longer calmly listening as the number of zero affinities Astraea had was highly concerning. Doctor Statho also had a concerned look on his face despite his earlier words. Though it wasn't strange for someone in the family to have highly condensed affinities in just one to three attributes, they would also have affinities for many other attributes that they would be able to use at a minimal level.

It was also strange as not only in the family, but in the world, even if one was talentless in magic, they would have a few attributes with a minimal affinity to cast the most basic of spells and very inefficiently. This minimal affinity had only been discovered after the affinity appraisal had become more precise, below that were micro affinities that could not even allow you to cast a single spell as the efficiency was so bad that the spell could not even form.

This affinity level would at most allow you to convert mana to that attribute albeit very inefficiently and give you a negligible defence against magic of that attribute.

As previously mentioned, humans had no attribute they had absolute zero affinity in, while all the other races had a random mix and number of micro affinities spread out among all the attributes, humans had at least a micro affinity in all attributes. Micro affinities were commonly seen as no different from no affinity and it was common for appraisal machines to be set to output micro affinities as zero affinities, though they are capable of detecting micro affinities.

It would mean that currently, Astraea had no attributes with an affinity that would allow her to cast spells.

The three adults were silent as the two parents had joined Doctor Statho's side as he went through all of the data to see if he had missed anything. He noticed someone worrying in the data he had previously ignored. The data was concerning the attributes that had micro affinities and he had just noticed it was at zero, it was a piece of data that he usually ignored as it wasn't important and never had any abnormalities.

"That's... impossible!" He stated in shock as he confirmed the data, at this moment, the data was telling him Astraea was void of any magical affinity.

"Uncle, what's wrong, though I'm not feeling very good right now after hearing all those zeroes, it only means Astraea would have very condensed affinities right?" Aereon asked unsurely, saying it more to himself than to his uncle.

"It is highly unusual for someone to not have minimal affinities in at least one or two attributes we had gone through as I had gone through most of them but that is not what I'm saying is impossible. Astraea currently has zero affinity for any magic and the data being outputted is currently not disproving it."

"Wait... what do you mean? Didn't you already say that she has zero affinity for all the attributes tested?" Paela asked.

"Yes, but it is not just a normal zero affinity, Astraea does not have a single micro affinity in any of the attributes tested," Statho revealed.

The worried looks on the parent's faces turned to shock, though they didn't understand what it really meant to have literally zero magic affinity, they knew it wasn't a good thing.

"What does that mean! Is magic and mana poisonous to Astraea, is she going to have stunted growth, will any sort of magic be extremely dangerous to her!?" Aereon spat out as he tightly held onto his uncle's shoulder.

"Calm yourself! I am unable to answer all of those questions as this is the first time I've ever encountered or even heard of such a thing, I worry for her health as well as the effects of mana and magic on her and will make sure the hospital does more in-depth tests. For now, let's wait until the machine is finished with the Appraisal, though I have great trust in our bloodline, the abnormality in Astraea makes me worry." Statho said.

"You don't think she would be magicless do you?" Paela asked anxiously.

"I rather wait for the results than give you my opinion as this is beyond my understanding as well."

As the data on the screen scrolled by with no positive change, it was nearing the end as the final attribute was about to be revealed.

Neutral Magic: Exceeded Threshold

The worry and anxiety in the two parents had lifted as they shouted in joy, it was in a mixture of relief and happiness that Astraea was not magicless and the surprising text on the screen only meant good things.

"Neutral Magic...affinity threshold exceeded..." Doctor Statho was also relieved that his niece was not magicless, but was in a state of shock due to the four words on the screen. The two parents not knowing the true significance of those four words.

The appraisal machine was not the most powerful machine of its kind and was very generalized in its capabilities, having a lower max threshold than other more specialized equipment. Though it had a much higher threshold in Alcavia compared to other countries.

Newborns that exceeded that threshold in Alcavia were automatically considered prodigies, though one did not need to exceed the threshold to be considered one.

While for the four elements, any newborn that exceeds the threshold would be considered a prodigy, for rarer attributes like Light and Dark Magic, they would not need to exceed the threshold to be considered a prodigy.

For Neutral Magic which is proven to be the attribute with the least number of talented users, even getting two-fifths of the threshold would make them a Neutral Magic prodigy.

"Our baby girl is a prodigy, though she has literally no affinity with any other attribute, being a prodigy in a single one guarantees her becoming a successful person!" Paela celebrated. She finally felt relaxed enough to speak her thoughts freely as she was usually quiet in stressful situations.

"It's a massive relief for sure, but now that we don't have to worry about her future and how to support her if she was magicless, we should do those checks on her nearly magicless constitution." Aereon had also become more relaxed, though he used that to now worry about the abnormalities concerning Astraea, already putting the blame on his family bloodline for affecting his daughter more abnormally than usual.

"I don't think you two truly understand the gravity of the situation, Astraea had exceeded the threshold for not any ordinary attribute, but Neutral Magic!"

"Is there something so special about Neutral Magic? I know it's a rare attribute to be talented in, but I know of a few examples of prodigies and talented users in the world and even in our own family and ancestors, what's so different about Astraea?" Aereon asked in confusion.

Neutral Magic was the one and only magic that even those who have been appraised to have zero affinity for it would be able to cast spells of the same power as those with low affinity for any of the four elements, though it was still very inefficient mana wise and much more dangerous to the user at a higher level.

Its power, danger and inefficiency made mages liken Neutral Magic to an untamed beast, only those who are willing to tame this beast through rigorous effort and hard work would be able to use it effectively but only through strict control and expertise compared to other attributes that would be disobedient dogs and cats at most.

"I don't blame you for not knowing much about neutral magic as even in our family it is lightly touched upon unless they have talent in it, I will tell you now that a Neutral Magic mage that can be considered talented and could match the average talented four elements user would have minimal affinity in Neutral Magic, while the four elements mage would have upper low to medium affinity in their attribute," Statho explained.

"That's... amazing, I always knew that Neutral Magic was powerful but I didn't know they could traverse affinity gaps that big, and you're telling me that minimal affinity is considered as talented?" Aereon asked, his eyes slowly widening in shock as he recalled Astraea's own affinity in the attribute.

"Yes, even those with micro affinity or even no affinity for Neutral Magic, if they had studied and practiced it, they would be able to match those with low affinity in one of the four elements. That is rarely done as Neutral Magic is very hard to master they would most likely have another attribute they have better talent in and would also be easier to study."

"The current Grand Mage of Neutral Magic has his affinity measured at only around two-fifths of this machine's maximum limit, which is the same as someone considered to have a medium affinity for one of the four elements. Those considered prodigies in Neutral Magic only need to have a middle-low and above affinity. The highest recorded affinity for Neutral Magic was from a previous Grand Mage centuries ago with upper medium affinity." Statho finished.

At this point, Paela had a grin that touched her ears and Aereon had a horrified expression as they both thought of the obvious implications regarding Astraea's talent.

"My baby girl is going to be a future Grand Mage!" She squealed excitedly.

"There's no way I can protect her if the family finds out about this...no! Worst! The government and military would do whatever they can to recruit her, maybe they'll take her away after concluding her a danger to society and they'll..." He rambled on quietly with his hands grasping his hair.

Statho looked at the two different moods of the two parents and shook his head, he looked at the monitor that had Astraea's image within the machine, peacefully dozing without a care in the world. To think such a little thing held so much potential.