Mike slapped his palm on the metal device, the affinity tester, lightly dusting the thing off before lifting the top half of it up, revealing several colored gems surrounding a center gem “Alright then, Ria, we will start with you.” He then pressed down on the center gem, causing it to compress and then shoot up on a metal rod, towering over the other gems “Simply grip this rod in the center, and then the other gems that represent the elements will rise depending on your affinity.”
To demonstrate, Mike gripped the center rod, causing it to briefly light up, a moment later the green gem rose from the central device on a green rod, stopping when it was halfway up the height of the central rod. “See? Simple! The green reacting at all means I have affinity for wind magic, and the height represents how much.” He pointed to the midpoint “about here is decent, and usually means you can use it in combat regularly.”
He then lowered his paw to about 1/4th the height “anything below this is low affinity, not the end of the world but… well, might mean you have affinity in a non-basic element, or apparently you got it from a title or skill.”
“Hmn” Mia raised her hand, while still stuck sitting in Ria’s lap “what if it’s at the top?”
“The top?” Mike smiled, tapping the top of the central gem “Expert level, you’d be doing yourself a disservice not specializing in magic at that point.” He then gave a wistful sigh “can still do that with average, and we can’t test for high affinity in other elements but…well, trail and error.” He then scooted the device forward, making it easier for the girls to grasp it “If you really want a more thorough test, seek out a magic guild, school, or organization.”
“…Mia?” Ria stared at the device, her face dotted with worry “I’m not so sure it’s worth it for me…”
“It’s fine.” Mia waved her hand “It’s free. Can do anyways.”
“But auntie said-“
“Auntie lies.” Mia bluntly stated, crossing her arms in front of her. It was a fact she was still trying to come to terms with herself, but one she understood enough to not take everything they say to heart, which made it all the more confusing to her. But with this, right now, they can confirm it. “If none, oh well, if have some then it is only good.”
“easy for you to say…” Ria mumbled under her breath, she stared at the device, heavily conflicted and worried. She then closed her eyes “Fine. Whatever.” She quickly reached out and gripped the rod “How is it? Nothing? See, told you! Pointless. Why would they lie about this anyways! It’s silly.” Ria protested; her eyes still closed.
The two remaining people watched, ignoring Ria, as the central gem lit up, and after a brief pause one of the gems reacted “Ria~” Mia called.
“What? It’s nothing, isn’t it. Told you.” Ria shook her head rapidly, in denial about the whole ordeal.
“No, look. One did.”
“Huh? Really?” Ria slowly opened her eyes, a red gem on a pole raised into the air a little below 1/4th the total length of the central rod stood proudly “…red? I have, affinity?”
“Red, fire.” Mia nodded “see? Lies.”
“Hey, not bad. A bit of magic is always better than none.” Mike chimed in.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“I have…magic?” Ria leaned back, letting go of the rod causing the red gem to slowly go back down “I have…huh…” she chuckled, still not believing it.
“My turn!” With that settled Mia, who could wait no longer, reached out and gripped the rod. She knew she had wind and water because of her ice magic, that was 2, but she was curious to see if she had any others. Fire like her sister would be nice, darkness would be cool, and maybe she also wanted earth to maybe make more weapons…well, any element she did have would be stained with ice, but to her right now that didn’t matter! More is better!
With her excitement at an all time high, she watched the center gem light up, then watched as other gems slowly rose up.
First was water, that was to be expected and was obvious. She had ice, which was a combination of water and wind. What she didn’t expect was the gem only raising to slightly above the 1/4th mark…
Next was fire, and while she was excited about sharing the one element with her sister, it also meant she shared it with her aunt, it was also shocking when it rose above the halfway mark “Above decent…” it went all the way to 3/4ths before stopping.
She suspected wind to be next so brought her attention to it, only for it to not budge, instead the gem representing light shot up all the way to the top “eh?” Mia sat there, staring at it in disbelief, why did she have such a high affinity with light?
[Ahem.]
‘…Ami?’ she thought for a moment, then it dawned on her ‘the title, time magic… it’s light?’
[Correct! Time is light, for time does not exist without light! Everything moves because of the light! Without it everything stands still in absolute darkness! Without light, nothing exists! For e- Assist Mode disabled]
Mia disabled her, giving her a time out ‘that was…’ that was the most excited she had ever heard her ‘So, time is derived from light, or is it a combination?’ she re-enabled Ami to ask her.
[-Light illuminates and allows people to perceive time, without it you cannot tell how much time has passed, how many days, hours, weeks you ha- Assist Mode disabled]
‘She didn’t even realize she was disabled…’
“Fire, water, light, aaand dark.” Mike whistled “That is a lot, even if dark is abysmal”
“Hm?” Mia snapped back to the board, seeing the rod for dark barely poking out of its slot “That little?” she frowned.
“That little? Mia, you have four, and two are super strong… plus ice!” Ria pouted, leaning back on the couch.
“She’s right, that is impressive.” Mike then tapped the top of the light gem “Especially this, and with fire being high and if your ice is anything similar, I highly recommend focusing on magic.”
“…mhm.” Mia nodded, she’d settle for that “Wait, no wind?” she double checked the board, but the wind gem was still locked into place “But I have ice?”
Mike chuckled “Did you just skim the books?”
Mia looked up at him, not getting what he meant “No, why?”
Mike shrugged “Combinations can be twisted, isn’t always set in stone.” He then pointed to her elements she had “Another common one for ice is water plus…” he motioned towards her, wanting her to get it.
She stared at him, then glanced down, if it wasn’t wind then…”Fire?”
Mike clapped “Right! And that is because?~”
Mia frowned “I don’t get it, tell me.”
“Nope, combinations work on the user’s logic, even if you don’t think you know, you know.” He then poked the fire gem “Going off what my teacher once told me, what is fire to you?”
“Fire.” Mia bluntly said.
Mike fell slack “N-no, like what IS it to you? What does fire mean when you think of it.”
Mia groaned, leaning back against Ria “Fire…flames? Heat…warmth?” Mia blinked, surprising herself when she found the words popping in her head “And ice is, water…” She sat up, her eyes dancing “ice is cold, melts when hot, so ice is… ah” It suddenly hit her like it was the most natural thing in the world “My ice is water and fire, water with no heat.”
“There, see? Comes naturally if you think on it.” He chuckled “It’s just the opposite of fire to you.” Mike leaned back “Bet you lived somewhere cold, met a lot of magic users and let me tell you, ice magic being cold water, so it is fire and water instead of water and wind makes a lot more sense than someone getting steam out of earth and water.” He gave a short laugh, followed by a quick look of disgust “or magma out of earth and wind…”
“Isn’t ice weak to fire though?” Ria chimed in “Since ice melts when it gets warmer?”
“Ah,” Mike snapped out of his thoughts “Well, yes, still should be. Maybe more resilient?”
Mia gave a short, pitiful laugh. If her title had anything to say about it, she was not more resilient to it. “Test it later.” She dryly said, knowing it was pointless.