Boshi stared at the grey slate, her heart pounding a million beats a minute. This was it. They were going to find out what their affinities were. Boshi'd been waiting for this moment for years.

The characters started to form, slowly growing clearer, spelling out her future. She wasn't surprised when the first part showed, revealing that she had arcane affinity, one of the base affinities for healing. A little more rare than water but not unexpected. If she had anything other than arcane or water, she'd have needed to question her mother on who her real father was.

Boshi shifted in place nervously as she waited for her specialization to reveal itself. She was hoping for something rare, like regeneration or illness. She could see Samus' encouraging smile and Cody's confident gaze as they all watched.

When the word finally resolved itself it took Boshi a moment to read it. At first she thought it was wrong. Once she read it through three times though, her brain shut down.

…….

When Boshi recovered she was on the floor, looking up into Samus' worried face. Why was she on the floor?

And then she remembered.

"No one can know," Boshi blurted out, "we can't tell anyone. Not even my parents. Especially not my parents."

"Boshi it's fine. We won't tell anyone. You know we won't," Samus said, reassuring her.

"Promise," Cody said, extending his pinky down to her.

"Sorry guys. I know. It's just. I don't even know. You know?" Boshi said, causing Samus to groan and Cody to smile.

"Yep, she's fine," Samus said as she pushed herself to her feet.

"So…" Cody said, looking at the ritual circle.

"Oh right. We need to do your initiations too," Boshi said, scrambling to get feet, then taking up her place on the edge of the circle as she shooed Samus into position as they started again.

Boshi followed Cody's lead as he took them through the ritual again, this time with Samus as the focus. She'd never say it aloud, cause Cody would hate her for it, but she was so proud of how good he was at this. Her mind kept trying to drift back to what her initiation had revealed, but she clamped down on it.

Concentration during magic was essential in healing. It was a skill she'd developed a long time ago. Even as Samus' affinity was revealed, Boshi kept her thoughts controlled. Samus would likely be as distracted as Boshi had been.

"Uhm, guys. Are we sure this thing works correctly?" Samus asked as her specialization was revealed.

"Why? What does it…." Boshi trailed off as she read Samus' specialization. The fact that she had an animal affinity was no surprise. Just like Boshi's family specialized in healing, Samus' family was all about the great dragons that kept the tower safe. What was a surprise was that Samus was apparently a draconic enkindler.

While limited to dragons it was both versatile and powerful. Not only would she be incredible at increasing the effectiveness of any dragon she touched, Samus would be able to 'borrow' her bonded dragon's power. It was almost as rare as Boshi's own specialization. Which Boshi still wasn't going to think about.

There were going to be so many complications.

Putting it out of her mind, Boshi gave Samus a quick hug of support, "nonsense, this is hardly a surprise. After all, you're more in tune with your dragons than riders that have been flying twice as long."

"Yeah. Looks like it's working to me," Cody said as he squeezed Samus' shoulder.

"Okay, okay. Thanks guys. I just thought I'd get lightning, ya know?" Samus replied before looking over to Cody.

"I guess it's your turn," she continued before Boshi could comment, indicating Cody as Samus settled back into her position.

"I guess. It's really not that important. We could wait if you guys want," Cody said, shrugging.

"Oh no. Not a chance," Boshi said while grabbing his hand, pulling him back to his spot before hurrying back to her own. They'd already had two incredible, if not necessarily simple, reveals. Everyone said that the ritual didn't matter. That your affinity was set no matter what. But Boshi didn't agree. Magic was rarely that simple. There were always different factors that changed things. Boshi suspected you could even change your affinity with the right rituals. She'd read about stranger things.

"Yeah. We're in this together. No backing out now Cody," Samus said, peeking up through her less than tidy electric blue hair. No matter how much Boshi tried to convince her otherwise, Samus only had two styles for her hair. Work ponytail and free. And her work ponytail was almost exclusively reserved for tending to her dragons.

“I’m not backing out. You guys both unveiled pretty amazing abilities, I thought you might want to reflect on them, that’s all,” Cody replied defensively while reinitiating the ritual.

This time when the ritual started up they could all feel the tension in the air. They’d already had two nearly impossible results, what would Cody get. Even his original affinity was completely unknown. Though Boshi suspected it had something to do with plants. Or at least she was hoping it did. Otherwise his ability with plants would just be unfair. Boshi was only a little jealous of Cody’s aptitude with flora. She didn’t really have patience when it came to glorified vegetables anyway.

When Cody’s affinity showed, Boshi was surprised to see it was the common air affinity. Cody hardly used any air magic. They all waited in anticipation for his specialization. When it finally appeared it didn’t disappoint.

“Djinn?” Cody asked, while looking at Boshi. Which made sense. While Cody knew the history of the tower, probably better than anyone, he knew next to nothing about the world outside. Except for the parts Boshi told him about, that is.

“It’s a summoner specialty,” Boshi answered. “They're intelligent servants that are bound to you for life."

"Damn. Why couldn't I have gotten something useful, like you guys did. Or even a regular fire affinity."

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"Look on the bright side Cody," Samus said while putting her arm over his shoulder, "you'll never have to worry about your Inhalius spell failing."

Boshi watched as Cody's face practically lit up like a beacon.

"You're right Samus. This is the best initiation ever," Cody exclaimed as he spun her around excitedly. Boshi thought the shock on his face when they both lifted off their feet was pretty understandable. They bounced off the wall then hit the ceiling, before finally coming to rest on the floor. It looked like Cody's specialization might have given him a special benefit.

"Whoa. I can fly now," Cody said once he'd set Samus down. Then he pushed himself off the wall, drifting back and forth across the room.

"Float, more like," Samus said while looking down at the ritual circle, "Is there anything else we can do with this stuff? Seems like a waste just to throw it out now that we're done."

"Actually yes, I was thinking about it, and with Boshi's new specialization we could craft her a focus," Cody said as he pushed off another wall. Boshi was far more excited about Cody's new affinity than she was about her own specialization. His was going to make his ability to wall run so much better. Hers was just going to make life complicated.

"That's awesome. What do you think, Boshi?" Samus asked with enough enthusiasm that Boshi was able to forget the headaches that were sure to come later, at least for the moment.

“Definitely awesome. What do you need from us?” Boshi said, pushing her worries to the side as they all started reclaiming materials from the circle while Cody explained.

“I’ll need you to channel your essence so we can properly attune each piece as we assemble it,” he said as he started working at the table. Boshi was familiar with the basics of what Cody was doing, but wasn't paying much attention because Samus was making faces with the foci he wasn't working with.

While Boshi smothered her laugh, Cody kept working, plucking the earth foci right out of Samus' hand.

Once he was done, half the foci had been combined into a circular talisman with three symbols in the middle, and the other half had been robbed of their essence to strengthen the bonds. Each of the symbols were familiar, corresponding to the first letter of each of their names. When Boshi gave Cody a questioning look, he explained.

"Okay, now it's your choice, but I thought we might all be able to link to it together. Kind of like one of those old soul links the inspectors used to use," Cody said as they all stood around the table looking at the talisman. Boshi thought it was a great idea. That would let her use it even if they hid it here in their clubhouse. It would be limited to just her, Samus and Cody; but Boshi suspected that was for the best anyway.

"Excellent idea Cody," Boshi said smiling. Being able to share her specialization with them was a wonderful idea. In fact it might make it worth all the hassle she'd have to go through. Boshi had no hesitation as she put her hand on the circular talisman, willing her essence into it.

"I can't believe we're doing this," Samus said with a nervous smile on her face as Boshi felt Samus' essence join hers, "I feel like a hero from one of Grent's old stories."

"Ha, we're too young to be in one of his stories. And our teeth aren't crooked enough," Cody said as his hand joined theirs, his essence following shortly after.

"Only his heroes have crooked teeth. All his villains teeth are perfect," Boshi said as she directed her affinity into the talisman, creating the record. It was funny. She'd never realized how easy this could be. She knew logically that was how specializations worked. You hardly had to try. It was more work to figure out how to use your specialization to its maximum effectiveness than it was to manifest it.

It was one thing to read about, and another to do.

Once they were done with the talisman, they tucked it away in the back corner, hiding it under a couple of the spare mattresses. It would be best if it was hidden in case of emergencies. With the talisman safely hidden away, they started talking about Cody's specialization.

"Okay, so what kind of summon is a djinn?" Cody asked while breaking out soap to clean the ritual circle off the floor. The initiation ritual was pretty unique, so it was unlikely they'd need the same markings again. Boshi left him to it as per their usual arrangement. Boshi put in the time to mark out the ritual then Samus and Cody would take turns cleaning it up.

"They're pretty diverse. They can take on any form you want. In general, they're not very strong physically, but they're fast and smart. Unlike most other summons, their memories are continuous, even if they're destroyed. If you resummon one, it will retain the memories of the original. Which means they're able to learn," Boshi explained excitedly.

"Okay. That's kind of cool," Cody said as he focused on a particularly resilient line on the floor. As Boshi watched she realized he was using his magic. Cody was going to summon the djinn right now!

Directly in front of Cody, the air started to swirl, a barely visible green tinge whirled, slowly coalescing. It took on the shape of a quadruped, sleek and smooth. It was no larger than her cat. When it looked around with its pale blue, glowing eyes, Boshi could see its curiosity. Before she got a chance to inspect it further it spun in place then started scrubbing at the floor, scouring away the remaining lines one nose swish at a time.

"You summoned an air weasel of cleaning," Samus said while gasping for air. Boshi'd only seem Samus this out of breath when Boshi had accidentally painted herself orange and red then walked all the way to Samus' place without realizing it. That had been more embarassing for Samus than Boshi, but she'd still lost it.

The three of them watched as the little weasel-like djinn managed to clean not just the remains of the ritual circle but also the horribly resilient stains under their crafting/coffee table. Once it was done it settled back on its haunches, looking up at Cody.

Cody cautiously extended a hand out to the air-weasel, which took the proferred hand in its cute little paws. Then, fast as a blink, it ran its way up, winding around behind his head while rubbing up against his hair.

"I guess he likes you," Samus said while looking at the much cleaner floor. Boshi understood her impressed look. Boshi'd been trying to get those stains out for months before eventually admitting defeat.

"I guess he does," Cody said with a small smile as he stood up before he added, "I don't know about you guys, but I'm feeling pretty tired."

"Yeah," Samus agreed as she yawned so wide she could've eaten a Bob whole.

"Are you guys sure? Don't you want to try out your specialization Samus?" Boshi asked, with a hint of desperation.

"Nah. I'm pretty beat. Besides, I'm sure I'll get plenty of opportunities at work tomorrow," Samus said as they moved the furniture back into place, dashing Boshi's hopes to remain distracted.

"Yeah. I should really be getting back myself. I've got a run tomorrow. If we head out now I'll have enough time to take a couple practice runs with my new friend here," Cody said, further diminishing Boshi's dreams.

Boshi didn't make them squeeze their way out. She sidestepped the three of them, as easily as ever.

As they made their way towards Samus', Boshi couldn't help but reflect on her power. Samus and Cody were both quiet, but that was normal for a night when they'd all been up so late. They'd both gained amazing abilities today. Abilities none of them would have expected, to see in their lives, never mind receive.

It was all pretty amazing.

"So, I know it might be silly. But I think I need to manuevre myself out of the public initiation," Boshi said just before they reached Samus and Cody's sidestep point.

"Really?" Samus asked as they all stopped in place under the dimmed flow lamps. It was never really dark in the Zazzle district, but the glow did ebb for several hours during what was night on the surface.

Cody was nodding as he spoke, "It makes sense. Her specialization doesn't have great history in the tower."

Boshi actually choked on a bitter laugh at Cody's understatement.

Putting a hand in her shoulder, Samus as he, "it'll be okay Boshi. Well figure something out."

"Definitely," Cody said, nodding along, the air weasel on his shoulder nodding along with him.

"Thanks guys," Boshi said giving them both a big hug before side-stepping them down.

As Boshi walked towards her family's manor she thought how it was probably ironic that people would kill and die to have access to her power.

But then again, what's death when you have access to a resurrection specialist.