Derrick woke with a start. His room was bland but packed with different items, the most numerous of which were books. After dressing he left the room and promptly saw his cousin, Marisa.
“Finally up Derrick?” She inquired with a bit of laughter in her voice.
“Yeah, at the crack of 2:30 as well, life is horrible sometimes,” replied Derrick with what could only be taken as terror in his voice. “I’ve been considering becoming slightly more lax on my schedule,” he continued, “You wouldn’t believe how tired I am in the mornings.”
“Indeed, your life is awful, how can you stand putting up with your timing? I will have to ask your father about it. Maybe he will have a solution.” She looked at Derrick with an amused, devilish grin on her face.
“You wouldn’t do something so awful to your nice little cousin, would you?” Derrick asked with a bright smile. “Plus, tomorrow is my testing day as well. If it turns out bad……” Derrick trailed off with a hint of trepidation in his voice. “Still, I will get to find out my affinities. I just hope its money.” Derrick smiled brightly as he said something which none nearing their sixth birthday would usually say.
“You know that money isn’t an affinity! Stop saying that!” Marisa reprimanded Derrick for his behavior. He had shown an odd talent for irritating her when he wanted to, although it could be said that his talent extended to more than just her.
“I know, I know.” Derrick paused, “Marisa, do you like being able to live happily here?”
“Of course I do, but Derrick, but how does that relate?” Marisa replied, expecting him to elaborate.
“Then, by extension, would you say that you like the life of a noble? Is it wrong to say you like living in comfort? Money is the thing which allows you to do that. It is extremely useful and important. Some say money has no meaning, is so, then why do some spend the majority of their lives trying to earn it? Yet, you never hear anyone complaining about how people value life too much. Each person has things they like. For example, I like money. So stop trying to stop me from exploring my passions!” Derrick showed large capacities for arguing and high intelligence by a young age, and for others it could be fun, or simply tiring, to be around him. His personality was fairly good, aside from the way he would sometimes rant. Like most children, he had a jovial smile plastered to his face most of the time.
Derrick’s family lived as minor nobles in the Kain Empire. It was one of three major kingdoms and was a strong power with a good standard of living. Derrick continued to talk to Marisa and the day passed by quickly. Derrick was exuberant the next day as it was a deciding factor in his life. He would find the level of his abilities for the future. He was young, but he knew how important this day was.
“Come on,” Derrick’s father called out. They were outside in the town square with around twenty children. As usual in the Kain Empire the area was lush with greenery but abated by the settlement of the town. The weather brought warm air and the shine of the sun down on Derrick.
Today, Derrick thought, I will never forget. He smiled under the warmth of the light as the testing began.
Any given entity was comprised of multiple different parts. The most important pieces are the physical body, the soul, the aura, and the mind. Each could be used in a multitude of different ways and each had its own intrinsic value. The body was, of course, the most obvious in its importance and usage. The soul would function in conjunction with everything else; it acted as the central unit and would unite the different pieces as well as produce the aura. The aura itself would sit like a haze around the soul and was the way one could interact with the world without the body. The mind was also fairly self-explanatory in its capacities however it would function very closely with the soul.
The soul and aura were the deciding factors as to what one could specialize in. The soul and aura would both resemble the abilities which one could use. Take, for example, an aura which would generally specialize in fire. The aura would contain different properties of the fire which that person would use. Personality and mood would play a part in specialties as well. Fire itself usually shows an impatient and explosive person. Each aura would have its own unique quirks and they would then manifest as a personal ability. The personal ability is unique to each person and is pivotal for their future.
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I really hope I have a good ability, thought Derrick. His mind was full of hopes as he aspired toward someday being someone with power, a great man who could elevate himself and his family to astounding heights. Ambition was a quality Derrick did not lack, indeed, he had it in abundance. As Derrick walked toward the man who would judge him, a man who possessed an air of nobility and power, he examined him and held expectation deep within his eyes. The man was tall and of a medium sized build, he had blond hair, blue eyes and was the type that would be idolized by many. Derrick was no exception.
The man gazed at Derrick with indifferent, placid blue eyes. “Kid, your aura is weird; it’s unlike any I have ever seen.” Generally the test would consist of showing ones proclivities and the strength of their aura. “It has a smooth white color. The only thing I could think of is mist, and even that is a stretch, as there are none of the accompanying factors associated with that type of aura. Even then, because of the relation to the water element, there is at least some blue mixed in. It doesn’t seem to be accented in any of the normal ways. It has a texture which doesn’t resemble any I’ve seen before. Sorry, but I can’t give any advice as to what you should do to train. Nonetheless, your soul is powerful, uncannily so. Unless your abilities manifest or you talk to someone more insightful than I you probably will not find what you tend toward. With such a unique aura I might think you would have a special type of affinity. I once heard in a far off kingdom there was a man who could manipulate gravity. You might have something good, I’m not sure. Unfortunately, with something so odd you can only try to gain understanding yourself, without anyone else’s help.”
Derrick was a naturally optimistic person; however he didn’t know how to take the new. Instead, he just sighed and said, “Alright, thank you for your advice.” Derrick then turned and walked away. No one tried to stop him, as none knew any way to help and any that said they did would, at most, have a few superficial words of comfort. The young man was from the imperial army and was much more suitable to give a diagnosis than any others there. Most couldn’t even see others auras, only those who were trained could. His father walked away with him as other children began to be evaluated by the young man who remained puzzled by Derrick. As they approached their home, which by most accounts would be regarded as large, derrick inquired, “Dad, I know you have some different books regarding different methods of practice, could I look through them and try to find something that suits me?”
His father, Edward Lock, looked at him worriedly and said, “Fine, you can read them but do not forget that some of their contents are dangerous. Be careful, do nothing that could be dangerous.” Edward gave his son a look of warning to caution him. The books held multiple different types of magic and some were very potent. As nobles, albeit minor nobles, they had quite a collection of texts. Given that their heritage as nobles went back for multiple generations there was a surplus of content which could be accessed. “. These early stages will act as your foundation. You cannot build to anything significant if you don’t have a beginning.”
Edward followed Derrick up to the main library. At this point, he was unsure of how his son’s life would turn out. On one hand, there was no way he could give any counsel on training, but on the other there existed possibility for something powerful, as Derrick’s aura was strong. He decided that letting Derrick decide his first abilities would be the best, as generally the personality would influence the different affinities an aura could possess.