"Sometimes all you need is a ridiculous amount of determination" quote from a sage.

“Holy shit, was I murdered?”

Before Andros could truly absorb what that meant, Frederick continued briefing him.

“The natives of this world only have one magic affinity. It may grow and transform over time, but stays in the same category.”, Frederick said, “But, for the reincarnated, like us, they gain two. One comes from our souls and the other is left over from the bodies we inherited. They’re labeled your primary and secondary affinities respectively.”

His expression grew grave.

“Listen, it is forbidden for us to use our secondary affinity. They view it as disrespecting the dead.”

Andros let out a sigh of frustration.

“So let me get this straight. We enter a random person’s corpse through a process we have no control over, get labeled as monsters and be tortured, and then what? Forced labor?”

“Depends on your awakened affinity”, he responded, “If you’re lucky, you’ll manifest a healing power. You might even live comfortably. Most likely, you’ll be sent to the front lines. The kingdom has been at war with neighboring countries for a long time.”

“I don’t even know how to fight!” Andros objected, “Let alone how to use magic.”

“You’ll receive some basic instruction once you are sent to your assigned post.”

He held his hand up. After a few seconds, the hair on his hair thickened, his fingers grew shorter and small claws elongated from his fingernails.

“I was fortunate to gain a [Mouse] affinity myself.”, He shook out his transformed limb and it shifted back to normal. “It allowed me to take on some secretary work.”

Frederick looked Andros straight in the eyes. “I’m sorry that you got dragged into this world. But, for what it’s worth, good luck.”

Octavius P.O.V.

Now that the prisoners were briefed on their new lease on life, they shouldn’t put up too much of a fuss. The remaining four were brought to the Sorting Chamber, a circular room with a large mana crystal installed in the center. His secretary, Jacob, diligently prepared the paperwork needed. Something Octavius thought was below his own station.

He had memorized the reports given to him of the remaining four. Three of them had seized the bodies of commoners. Two of which had different colored hair from the original shade, green and red. The tell-tale sign of potent affinities manifested.

“Start with the stolen noble”, He commanded.

The guards directed the prisoner to touch the crystal and start the ritual. As soon as his hand made contact, the crystal grew translucent. The center started to glow with hues of red and orange, turning into an image of blazing fire.

“Fire affinity, rare grade.”, Jacob called out as he was jotting the information down.

Octavius shook his head in disgust, “Of course, he barely spent any time in this world and he’s already skipped past two stages.”

“Sinner.”, Octavius began,

“My name”, he interrupted, “is Andros.”

“Sinner.”, Octavius continued, “For the crime of stealing the body of Bartholomew Barcrest, third son of Count Maxwell Barcrest, you are hereby sentenced to repent under military service on the frontlines.”

“Ironic.”, Octavius thought, “Count Barcrest has a reputation of being soft on skin thieves, this must have been his punishment for trying to undermine church teachings.”

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Before the beast could form any sort of protest, Octavius continued with the process with the next three. The teen with green hair had shown a weak affinity for plants and would be sent to work growing crops. While a gruff looking prisoner, whose test had shown the image of a badger, was also sent to fight.

The final prisoner was a woman with blue eyes and a changed hair color of fiery red. When she touched the crystal, the image was similar to what Andros had, a large flame. But then it shifted, it grew form and shape. Wings sprouted and the outer edges twisted into feathers. There was a large gasp from all the members of the church.

“It… It can’t be.”, Octavius whispered, not trusting himself to speak, “The mighty Phoenix.”

Andros P.O.V.

When the final image had formed in that crystal, it was like time had frozen for his captors. Expressions of awe and uncertainty etched on their faces. Eventually, the man in charge regained his senses.

“Take the rest away.”, He commanded, “Send them to their posts.”

For two weeks, Andros was put to work. Luckily, the camp he was assigned suffered no attacks, it was located near a large forest close to the country’s border. Andros thought about trying to make a run for it, but worried he wouldn't make it far with so many guards on lookout. He was given all the menial labor the soldiers didn’t want to do, from digging latrines to hauling heavy boxes. He was given 30 minutes a day to practice magic. He wasn’t given any advice on how to actually use it, so it was always tense. The guards seemed to hate him even more for wasting their time. One night it appeared that the colonel in charge received word that the kingdom had won a significant battle and allowed some of the soldiers to drink some cheap booze as he wanted to boost morale.

Andros had tried to be as quiet as possible while doing the last of his work, to avoid drawing anymore of the guard’s ire. A plan he knew failed as soon as he saw three particularly drunk patrolmen wander towards him.

“It’s the skin thief, boys!”, the one in the middle said, “Don’t get too close, or he’ll try to wear your face.”

The other two laughed like it was the funniest thing they’ve ever heard. Andros just tried to keep the frustration inside.

“Apologies if I’m in your way.”, he placated, “Allow me to fetch you more drinks”.

As he tried to step away, the one on the right pushed him back, his features growing bestial.

“Look at it.”, the middle one snickered, “Acting all nice, when all it really wants is to kill us all while we sleep. It’s what they all do.”

Rock grew around his hand and he threw a punch at Andros. He managed to move out of the way a little, but it still made contact, hitting him hard in the shoulder. He grunted in pain and tried to backpedal. He only succeeded in tripping and falling on his back. Causing the soldier to chuckle.

“Ya know boys, it's a shame that it decided to run.”, He said with glee, “It’s a good thing we were here to catch it, before it escaped, we might even get a reward!”

“Come on Andros, now or never”, He thought as he thrust both of his palms toward his harassers.

The torrent of fire he was expecting to unleash proved nonexistent, causing even more laughter. Andros felt the heat of embarrassment adding to his fear and frustration. Anger surged within him, all of his emotions mixing together causing his body to shake as he got back to his feet.

“ENOUGH!”, he roared, as he threw a punch at their leader.

Inebriated surprise slowed his reaction. This time heat cloaked his fist as fire burst forth hitting the three of them, making them yell with the sudden pain. The soldiers collapsed to the ground with fresh burns. Andros felt a spike of exhaustion hit him and fell to one knee. After a few seconds, back up and started running as fast as he could towards the forest.

“There’s no way I can stay here, soldiers should be drunk so they might not notice me, I have to take that chance.”, Andros hoped.

He managed to reach the tree line before he could hear a bell ring behind him. Drunken madness sowed confusion in their ranks as the camp tried to restore order. But Andros wasn't going to wait for that to happen. Ordinarily, moving through a forest at night should be avoided but this was his best bet. After hours of fleeing, Andros decided to try to find a place to hide and rest. The soldier likely wouldn’t have followed him this far outside their borders, but he couldn’t be too careful.

Eventually, he saw a soft glow of light through the trees. He crept closer to try to get a closer look. He managed to spot a makeshift campsite, seemingly occupied by one person. An elderly man with a heavy cloak was facing away from him. He was focused on stoking a fire beneath a hanging cooking pot. A worn walking stick was lying by his side.

“That stew smells really good.”, Andros thought, “But it's best I leave this guy alone. I’ll have to forage something else.”

As he began to sneak away, he heard a gruff voice call out.

“Young man, you seem hungry, come help yourself. There’s plenty to go around.”