*WWWAAAAA!!* *WAAAAA!* *WAAA!*
"Congratulations Captain! It's a baby boy!" A woman - the midwife - rushed out while holding a bundle.
"Really!?" The man - the Captain - cried with joy as he rushed towards the woman, arms raised.
The midwife gave the bundle to the Captain, who held it carefully in his arms. Looking through layers of the bundle, he sees an adorable baby face looking intently at him. The baby had a head of black hair with the silver eyes that all Silverstones have. There's three marks on the baby's right shoulder that looked like a beast's claw mark, but the man dismissed it as an unusual birthmark.
The man looked at the baby and smiled, "Hello son, can you say dada?"
"Captain, the baby was just born...don't expect too much of him." The midwife laughed.
"Ah...sorry, I was too excited. Here, how's Elena doing? Is she alright?" The man asked as he gave the baby back to the midwife to take care of. He was worried because his wife Elena was a delicate woman and was considered physically weak. It was predicted by the village's healer that childbirth would be extremely tough on her.
"Don't worry, Mistress is safe. She just needs some rest. You can go see her."
The man already rushed into the house even before the woman finished speaking. Upon entering the building, he sees his wife lying on the bed, soaked with sweat. He rushed over to his beloved wife and sat beside her. He grabbed her hand and smiled, "How are you doing?"
"I'm fine. Did you see our baby?" Elena replied weakly.
"Yes. He is beautiful. I can guarantee he will have many girls chasing him in the future."
"Haha, true, he has your features. Have you decided on a name?"
"Ah!...In my excitement, I had forgot about it. Hmm...how about naming him after your father?"
"Really? Okay! Hmm...Aldred Silverstone...I like it."
..........
Nearly a year has passed....
..........
In the months that passed, Feng WangLang - now Aldred Silverstone - grew up carefree and happy. He liked his new life and the interesting magic that filled the world. Because he retained his memories, he was mature for his age and didn't trouble his parents much. Although his mentality is mature, his body is not and was still that of a baby so obviously he could not start practicing magic at his age or read for that matter. So, over the days, he learned many things by listening. His parents are Kyle Silverstone of the Silverstone Village - a small village in the countryside - and Elena Goldensol of Sola City - a third rank city. Cities are ranked first to fifth. The higher a city's rank, the more populated it is and the more power it holds. His father works as the Captain of the Border Guards at Sola City while his mother worked as a baker.
There are two general types of people in this world - Mages and Muggles. Muggles do not necessary refer to people with no affinities but rather to those with little talent and cannot breakthrough past the Novice Stages. His father was unable to break past the Novice Stages and decided to switch his career and become a warrior. However, for warriors - even a genius warrior - cannot be stronger than an early stage Meister. Nevertheless, his father's talent as a warrior can be considered good...having reached Warrior 1st Stage at the age of 35. While his father did not have the talent to be a mage, his mother on the other hand was able to breakthrough to the Apprentice Stages and reach Apprentice 3rd Stage at the age of 31. However, she loved baking and decided to become a baker instead of continuing her magic studies.
There are many stages for Mages and Warriors. For mages, people start at Novice stage and move on to Apprentice, Magus, Grand Magus, Meister, Grand Meister, Magus Demigod, Magus God, Magus Highgod, and then they become apprentices to the current Highgod of their respective element. As for the warriors, they too start out as Novices but they move on to Fighter, Warrior, Master, and Grand Master. No one has seen or heard of any warrior break through the Grand Master stage and so being a warrior is usually discouraged.
Anyways, in this world, many people have magic powers, and it was extremely rare for anyone to not have an elemental affinity. Every year, babies who have reached one year of age are sent to the Affinity Ritual in the nearest city to test for their elemental affinities. A few days from now, Aldred will also be attending his Affinity Ritual. He could not wait to find out what type of affinity he has. He had hoped to have Fire-affinity like his mother but he can settle with Earth-affinity like his father. Although his family was poor, they still loved him dearly and had saved a large amount of money for his school fees once he found out about his affinity. They wished for his best and Aldred hoped for his best as well.
The restless days went by slowly but finally, the day of the Affinity Ritual had arrived. Aldred's parents took him to Sola City along with a few other parents of the Silverstone Village and their babies. Upon arriving, they see a bunch of other parents with their one year old kids from other villages converging nearby.
"Attention! Everyone get in line...it is time for the ritual. All parents please provide a drop of your kids' blood for testing. Once your child has completed his or her ritual, have them moved to the temples of their respective element to receive their blessings from the Highgods." An elder spoke out as he stood on a podium.
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The parents all got in line with their children. The testing began and the first parent pricked the finger of his son, letting a drop of blood splatter on the Ritual Crystal. The Ritual Crystal absorbed the blood and multiple distinct colors started appearing and swirling in the crystal. One by one the colors disappeared until one color remained - a blue color.
"Water Affinity! Please report to the Water Temple to get your child's blessing." The elder told the happy parents. "Next!"
The ritual continued...many children received Fire, Earth, Water, and other elemental affinities...some even received the rare Holy affinity. Suddenly, an outburst resounded the air.
"Fire and Water Affinities! Dual-Affinity!"
Excitement filled and surrounded the stage as people discussed the extremely rare appearance of a dual-affinity. Dual-affinities appear one out of a million. To have more than one affinity, that child will become famous throughout the lands. The joyous parents of the lucky child hugged each other in tears and happiness. Many people stared at them with envy...even Aldred's parents flashed a brief look of envy. Though it was brief, Aldred was still able to see it. He was determined...determined to get a good affinity and make his parents proud.
Finally, after a long time, it was his turn. Kyle pricked Aldred's finger with a needle and let a drop of blood fall onto the Ritual Crystal. The crystal absorbed the blood and multiple distinct colors appeared. One by one the colors disappeared until finally a brown color remained. Will Aldred have Earth Affinity? Could this be due to his preference of Earth-style techniques in his past life? Smiles appeared on his parents face when they saw the brown color. Earth Affinity is a good affinity and it shows that Aldred is truly a descendant of the Silverstone family who all possessed Earth affinities.
However, life did not go as planned. The brown color remained for a few seconds before quivering and subsequently disappearing, leaving the crystal devoid of color. Gasps echoed as people saw the blank crystal. Both the elder and Aldred's parents gaped in shock at the unexpected results. Aldred...is a No-Affinity...an one in a hundred million occurrence.
"It can't be! Could the Ritual Crystal be broken?" Kyle shouted at the elder, his face revealing a slight panic and disappointment.
"No, there isn't anything wrong with the crystal. I'm afraid your son does not have an affinity. I'm sorry." The elder shook his head and apologized. He pitied the child. He knew that it would be hard for the child to survive in this magic world with no ability to channel mana.
The audience of parents and city people whispered continuously and pointed at Aldred. Some even laughed at his misfortune. Kyle and Elena grabbed Aldred and embarrassingly hurried off the stage. They quickly left the gossiping crowd. Aldred looked at his parents and saw the embarrassment in their faces and the disappointment in their eyes. Though he could not understand most of the language yet, he knows that something is terribly wrong with the Affinity Ritual. For the first time since he was born, Aldred felt very sad. When they arrived home, the village head and the elders of the village had already found out about Aldred's results. They heard about it from a transmission sent by another group of parents and child.
"Are you sure this child is yours?" An elder asked Kyle. This elder was an old, bearded man with dark gray eyes and silver hair. His muscular built contradicts with his age. This elder hated Kyle because of Kyle's talent as a warrior. In the past, his son and Kyle were both competing for the position of Captain of the Border Guards in Sola City, however, it was Kyle who defeated his son in combat and obtained the position. The embarrassment was hard to forget. Now, with a chance for revenge, the elder immediately jumped at the opportunity.
"Tyron! How dare you! He is my son." Elena pointed out in anger.
"Hmph! Who knows! How can someone be a descendant of our Silverstone Family if he doesn't even have an Earth affinity?"
"I...we...." Elena tried to reply but words did not come out.
"Even so, Aldred is my...our son." Kyle interjected. "Even without an affinity, I will raise him to be the strongest warrior."
"Hmph! Who knows...maybe he doesn't have any talent either." The village head grunted. This man was Kyle's granduncle. Although he had no grudge with Kyle or his family, he did not favor them either. He did not approve of Kyle's marriage with a baker and not a mage as the village had hoped.
"I'll swear it on my life that Aldred will become the strongest."
"Well, you can guarantee all you want away from this village."
"W-what do you mean by that?" Elena asked.
"Who knows if your son isn't contagious, I don't want any more bad things to happen to my village. Leave this village." Tyron shrugged as the other elders nodded their heads in agreement.
"Please don't kick us out." Kyle pleaded.
"Sure...abandon your son and we'll let you stay."
"You!...Fine, we'll leave." Kyle growled as he pulled his wife and son away. After packing some things, the family of three left the village.