"Whoa..."
In front of me is a sight that I'd will literally kill for.
We are currently in the nearby town of Kalifna.
The town is a border town where travellers from the Hamia Kingdom and Astrian Empire go to to cross the border between these two great nations.
The streets are filled with people wearing vibrant clothes, the air filled with merchants shouting over each other's voices to gather customers to their shops and of people bartering and buying items.
And that was just the outskirts just outside of the town walls which looked like it had trace amounts of Milthril added in. Well, that was not unexpected as Kalifna is a commerce town and is making huge money out of adventurers and tourists alike.
As I was admiring the sights we approached a long queue originating from what looks like the town's gate.
However, instead of queuing up behind Richard instead rode to the front. When a guard saw this he shouted at Richard to halt.
"Halt!"
My father being the wise man he is decided to continue and flashed the emblem of the Vastal family.
Seeing the badge which contains the emblem of the Vastal family ---It looks like my family produces powerful magus and warriors and is pretty influential. Don't ask me why my family owns a small piece of land even with that kind of reputation--- The guard stopped in his tracks and placed his fist on the left side of his chest where the heart is and did a slight bow and waved us through.
After all our carriage is the kind that you can see getting used by commoners instead of the lavish kinds used by the nobles instead.
Hmm... It seems that nobles get to skip the checks the guards does to one when entering a town.
Entering the town Richard and I left our carriage and horses with the town's stable and headed immediately to the magic guild.
Magic guild's building was pretty majestic if I must say so myself. The building was huge like mansion huge, it is also white pristine white not even a trace of dirt could be found its walls.
As Richard and I entered the building I gasped out in surprise as the interior of the building betrays the modest like feeling exerted from the white walls.
Inside, was a spacious hall filled with robed figures milling about a few glanced our way but other than that nothing much.
Also at the sides were statues of six robed figures and I assumed that they represent the six masters of sorcery. I read from a book from Richard's study that they were the six masters of the elements meaning each of the six masters has reached god rank in their respective elements.
Talking of elements there are six elements in this world and they are: Fire, Water, Earth, Lightning, Air and Light. There's the dark element but since the church which holds the most political power in this continent deems dark magic as heretical it is not included in the basic elements.
As I was admiring the sights and following my dad at the same time we reached what looks like the reception area just behind the bustle of robed figures milling about.
The receptionist which Richard and I approached looked like she is from the elf race which is pretty rare considering how elves themselves rarely travel out from their home. Much less working for us "lowly" humans.
The receptionist has long blonde hair reaching down to her waist, green eyes, slender legs, slim waist and her chest was just right not too big and not too small and finally the unique long ears of the elves.
"Good morning Miss Elf." Richard greeted the elf.
"Mary will do just fine." Mary replied with a gentle smile on her face.
"Well then Mary, we are here to have an aptitude test for my son here." Richard motioned to me.
"That will be 10 Gold."
My eyes popped out at the ridiculous amount. 10 Gold is more than enough to feed a normal family for at least 5 years.
To explain the economics of this world it goes like this. Bronze coin or more commonly known as copper coins are the lowest currency followed by silver and then gold coins.
Their worth goes like this:
100 Copper coins = 1 silver coin
10 silver coins = 1 Gold coin
Without even batting his eyelids Richard took out his coin pouch and took out 10 gold coins and gave them to the receptionist.
"Thank you Sir. Go down this hallway to your right and then enter the door second to the last." Mary motioned to a hallway to our right filled with people not wearing robes and instead normal clothings.
Richard nodded his thanks and proceeded down the hallway.
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Half an hour has passed and it was finally my turn for the affinity test.
The waiting area for the affinity test looks just like a clinic's or a hospital's. You've got rows of seat and a door at the end of the hallway where the test for the affinity test is held. The waiting area is also filled with representatives from various countries and academies to draw promising candidates to their sides.
"Lord Paul Vastal?" A nice looking lady pocked her head from the half opened door and announced.
"Here!" I raised my hand in the air.
"It's your turn now."
Hearing that I stood up from my seat and make my way to the room.
When I entered the room it was white and devoid of any furniture of the sort, four robed figures could be seen standing at the four corners of the room and there was a complex magical formation on the floor. The formation is a large circle containing smaller circles within. Between the gaps of the smaller and bigger circles were runes inscribed, in the middle was a triangle with a small dot in the middle.
"Lord Vastal please step into the middle of the formation please." The nice looking lady told me.
I obeyed her instructions and stepped into the middle of the formation.
How this test works is that if a person has good affinity with fire the formation will shine orange, so the respective colours for the elements goes like this.
Blue = Water
yellow = Lightning
Green = Air
Brown = Earth
White = Light
Black = Darkness
But since Dark magic is considered heretic magic you rarely see the formation shining black.
As I stood in the middle of the formation the four robed figures closed in on the formation and placed both their hands on the floor and willed mana into the magic formation.
Magic formation works by having mana being injected into them as being displayed right now.
I was expecting a bright flash of your element's colour but what greeted me was just a weak pulse of yellow and that's it. How strong your affinity and mana capacity is is determined by how bright the flash of your element's colour is but a pulse? Well, shit that's barely the minimum.
"Hmm.... A normal affinity with the lightning attribute but barely any mana."
I looked down in shame as the Vastal family usually produce mages and warriors with outstanding mana capacity. And I don't really wanna disgrace the Vastal family which has treated me very well and feels more of like a family than the one back on Earth.
"It's alright son, not anyone can become like your brothers or your sister. Even they surpass me in magic and warrior skills." Richard seeing my downed look offered words of encouragement to cheer me up.
"Mmhmm." I nodded my head.
"Come on let's get out of here."
Richard placed his hand on my small back and gently guided me out of the Magic Guild's building.
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Right now, Richard and I are in the town center making our way through to the town's stable to claim back our carriage when something shiny caught my eye.
I went and took a closer look and realised it's a barrel full of a mercury looking liquid.
"What are you looking at son? Hmm?"
Richard appeared over me and saw what I'm looking at.
"What's that Father?"
"Oh that? That's Liquid metal. It used normally used for crafting but much skill is needed to craft something from it."
"Oh?" I glanced at Richard.
"Shall I explain it to you?"
"Yes please!"
Richard began to explain why Liquid Metal is very cheap and why it requires skill to craft something from it.
Liquid metal is cheap simply because barely anybody uses it even though items crafted from it are stronger than dragon scales but here's the catch.
When forming something out of liquid metal one must be familiar with how the object they are going to craft is going to feel like or else they will form an object that is very brittle and deformed looking. Liquid metal is also favoured by assassins as they can sneak a small bottle of liquid metal and form a blade from it when no one is looking.
Hearing this an idea formed up in my head.
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A/N here! So, did you enjoy the chapter wll, did ya? Anyways my updates will be irregular and if you don't wanna miss a chapter please do follow. Also, this is my first time writing an FF in royalroad so I'm currently getting used to the various functions that I can use. Anyways, have a good day!