Drewells976
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Chapter 66 - Elemental Affinities
🕑 Added 2023-07-06 16:39:59 +0000 UTCAuthor's Notes: Edited for clarity.
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After the ritual, Kai confirmed he had gained a level in Mana Sense reaching 51. It was the fastest level ever, but it didn’t come without consequences. He had never drunk more than a shot of tequila, but he had always imagined a hangover would feel something like this.
The idea of standing up made him queasy. If he closed his eyes, he could still see those flashing colors. It felt like someone had played volleyball with his brain.
It was a struggle to focus on what Virya was saying. It had gone well beyond his expectations. Both Elijah and Dora looked surprised as the lady of the estate communicated the results. The list was quite extensive, but only the first five truly mattered.
He had won the lottery. He had not one, but five elements he could use, and they were all viable, with maybe the exception of Space.
There was little he could do with the slew of minor affinities in the near future, but it was better having them than not. He was going to have enough kinship with the fire element to light a candle, eventually, but fireballs were not going to be in his future. That was a bit of a bummer, but it was nothing compared to the immense relief that flooded his being.
“Observing you continues to be an entertaining time, child.” Virya’s voice cut through his thoughts. “Not the highest affinities I ever saw, but it’s quite rare to have five major ones. You are lucky to have been gifted with this many choices. I’ll need some time to analyze the results and create an accurate chart.”
The mage turned back to scribbling in her notebook. Kai stared confusedly at her for several seconds before his brain put together that he had just been dismissed.
Standing up on unsteady feet, he tried to take a few steps. The headache was one of the worst skill overstrain he ever suffered. A splitting migraine cutting right through head. On top of that was the nausea. He felt like he could start puking at any second now. He didn’t think Virya would appreciate it if he vomited all over her nice ritual chamber.
Waiting for the world to stop spinning before taking the first step, Kai slowly made his way out of the chamber.
“Come, dear. One step at a time. Don’t worry it’s normal to feel a bit dizzy after the ritual, it will pass soon.” Dora offered him a hand and he gladly grabbed it. Elijah was nowhere to be seen.
Once out of the manor, the breeze blowing from the sea helped him feel better. He felt sure enough he would not fall over puking his guts out, probably.
“Are you going to be fine on your own?”
Kai nodded slowly. “It’s getting a bit better.”
“Then I should congratulate you! Having five affinities is not something you see every day. Most mages don’t get more than two.”
Kai tried to give her his best smile. Dora ruffled his hair. “I’ll go prepare something to help you recover. You can wait here or take a walk.” She said, leaving for her laboratory.
Following her advice, he took off his shoes and walked along the shoreline. He soaked his head in the waves to mitigate the heat and wake from his stupor.
Dora came back twenty minutes later carrying a vial filled with a transparent liquid with a blue hue. He was glad she had not used one of her experimental recipes. His stomach couldn’t have taken that. He already felt sick at the thought.
Taking the vial into his hand it was surprisingly cold. He could perceive a fair tingle of mana on his fingers. He did not dare activate Mana Sense to analyze it, but he judged it must be orange tier to create such an effect.
“This should fix most of the symptoms, except skill strain. I’m afraid there is nothing I can do about that. The only effective remedy is a good day of rest.”
Kai thanked her. A strong herbal smell filled the air when he uncorked the vial. He drank it without hesitation. It was quite sour but didn’t leave any vile aftertaste. He could immediately feel his stomach settling down and his thoughts clearing up. The pounding migraine became a bearable headache.
“I made Elijah agree to give you the rest of the day off. Try to limit skill and mana use as much as possible for today. Passive skills are fine, but no active use.”
“I promise not to do anything.” Kai solemnly said.
Dora smiled. “You can come to the garden if you get bored. Walking among mana plants can be therapeutic. I’ll call you for lunch.”
Now that he didn’t feel like his soul was about to leave his body at any moment, Kai could begin to grasp what happened. Excitement and joy bubbled inside of him.
It all had gone swimmingly. He had five major affinities with Nature, Water, Earth, Shadow and Space. His education on the topic was limited, but he knew that it was above average even among mages.
Musing over the results, he frowned. It seemed a big coincidence that his three highest affinities were so clearly linked with the archipelago. Either the environment conditioned the elements he got, or the spirits, and the blessing from Yatei had something to do with this.
Not that I have anything to complain about. It would have been cool to get something more explosive like fire or lightning, but I can’t say I’m disappointed.
With his specialized Mana Sense, he should now be able to perceive the elements he had a major affinity for. He needed to learn how to make use of them, separating them from the mana tangle. He was looking forward to that, his lessons had not gone into much detail about how it worked. Dora told him there was little point until he knew affinities, since each element had its own peculiarities.
One thing was certain. He was going to have to do tons of mana exercises.
***
The next day began like any other. He woke up at dawn, meditated for an hour and started his physical training. Elijah did not mention what had happened.
“Virya wants to see you.” He simply said when they were done.
Finally.
Kai walked to the pavilion alone, Virya had already finished her breakfast. She was looking through a small stack of papers in front of her, occasionally writing something down.
On his side of the table, there was a cup of mint green tea and pastries sorted in a circular shape. The mage acknowledged his arrival with a glance and went back browsing through her papers. Kai proceeded to have a very awkward breakfast, trying to munch as silently as possible.
“I had time to go through your results.” Virya started. “If I were to judge them based on the Merian Republic standards, they would be remarkable. Using my standards, I’d say you are slightly above average. Showing a major kinship to five elements is uncommon, but none of your affinities are especially high. More elements mean more choices and flexibility, but also more work on your part. I know many mages who consider having a single high affinity preferable.”
What a way to kill the mood.
Kai finished the last sip of tea and nodded at her. He was used to Virya’s ways by now. This was the highest praise he was going to get.
“Can I see my results?” Kai gestured to the folder in front of her.
“Later.”
“So… it’s having too many affinities bad?” He asked to fill the silence.
“Don’t ask stupid questions. Having more choices is naturally a good thing. You only have to mind the risk of spreading yourself too thin. Do you know the difference between having a major and minor affinity?”
I guess saying that one is better than the other is the wrong answer.
“Except for the obvious, I’m not sure about the exact difference,” Kai admitted.
Virya seemed to accept his answer. “That is because there isn’t one. Every human country uses its own scale, without even considering other races. You should learn the ranking of each land you visit, but it’s of no importance right now. While there is no unified definition, dividing affinities into major and minor is widespread. Often used on top of the local scales.”
This sounded like how numbers were used in multi-racial trades and deals. He had read a few books that used the term major, but he had never found a definition. It was taken for granted the reader knew already.
“So, Kai, can you guess what defines a major affinity?”
Dammit, why can’t she just tell me!?
He knew this was her preferred teaching method to force him to reflect, but it was frustrating sometimes.
If she asked me, it means I already have the clues to find the correct answer. If it’s something that everybody uses, it must be something very complicated either.
Unfortunately, obvious answers were often the hardest ones to guess. It would have been easier if he had some idea of how affinities were measured.
“I assume the definition doesn’t contain technical knowledge or numbers?” He asked.
“It does not. You could call it an informal or practical way to measure your kinship to the elements.”
Her answer contained several clues. Putting together the pieces, he started to form a vague idea of the answer. It was extremely obvious and stupid.
“Is this classification only relevant for magic professions?”
Virya curved her lips into a thin smile. “Yes.”
“Does major mean an affinity it’s strong enough to become the main elemental of a mage?”
“Well, you are getting close. People define major affinities as something you can build your entire path around. The second condition is that you can perceive them as soon as you evolve Mana Sense. Minor affinities are too low to achieve anything significant. They only become relevant after you’ve become an experienced mage. If you have no major affinities, it is more sensible to focus on unattuned mana fields.
“However, what is high enough in one place might not be in another. It’s a practical metric, but not very accurate. Magically advanced kingdoms use a 100 points scale. But it requires complicated rituals and equipment which is why many countries opt for simpler scales.
“The major threshold is around 30 points in the Republic. Lower than that and you’d have a very hard time perceiving the element as a novice. They are called minor because they aren’t strong to impact your path significantly. Most regions I visited put the threshold at around 35. The highest threshold is the one used by the elves at 50.”
Kai did not have time to wonder about the mention of the pointed ears fellows. His calm and satisfied mind had been thrown into turmoil.
What did I get? Virya said my affinities were not especially high. Surely, it’s better than 30, right?
His eyes stared at the pile of papers with deep desire. He wanted, no, he needed to know.
There was no way Virya didn’t notice, but she showed no intention of passing the folder to him. Kai used Acting to give her his best pleading eyes. He was not yet able to cry at command, but he must not be that far either.
Virya looked at him amused. “Close, but not quite. You should aim for a more natural expression, trying too hard is counterproductive. Maybe we could add training for Acting to the routine…”
You demon! Tell me what I want.
“Be patient, child. Your results will still be the same in a few minutes. You’ll have time to go through all the numbers later. If you focus, we’ll finish sooner.”
Kai cleaned his eyes on his sleeve, sitting straight on the chair.
With a lightning-quick movement, Virya's arm flashed forward to pinch his cheek. Kai looked at her offended, but she just laughed. “You are always so amusing, Kai. I’ll get quickly to the point as promised. The numbers in these papers are not everything. Personal inclinations and preferences can also make a lot of difference. You might find yourself getting better results with Water than with Nature, even if the second is higher.
“For the time being, you will study all five of your major affinities, but I advise you to drop Space. Not only is it your lowest affinity, but it has low synergies with your other elements. Eventually, it would be best if you choose two elements to put all your efforts into.”
Kai looked at her frustrated. What was the point of having access to many elements if he didn’t use them? Space seemed so cool. If he could not learn to fly, teleporting around was his second choice.
“Is there no way to use them all?”
“Nothing is impossible, but it would be suboptimal. Choosing three elements might still be fine, but I’d advise against more than that.”
“Why would one or more elements make such a big difference? I’ll only need to work harder.”
“It’s not a question of work and effort. The true problem will arise when you have to choose a profession. Unless you want to discard elemental magic, I’ve never heard of a red tier one that touches more than three elements. And even getting one of those will be hard.”
“Is an elementally aligned profession that much better?” He had learned more about how professions worked, but he was always eager to learn more.
“How important is learning combat magic to you?”
Kai thought for a moment. “Quite important.” He would not be powerless again. He was curious about many non-combat applications of magic, and he enjoyed practicing Alchemy, but knowing how to defend himself was a must. It wasn’t something he was willing to sacrifice.
“As I thought,” Virya said, her gaze had not moved, but Kai got the feeling she wasn’t truly looking at him anymore. “There are so many exciting branches of magical research, but everyone wants to become a battle mage. Maybe you’ll change your mind with time, but I doubt it will happen before you reach fourteen.”
Her orange eyes focused on him again. “If that’s what you want, elemental magic is the best path. There are professions geared towards unattuned mana manipulation or with no elemental preference, but they rarely have high combat potential.”
Virya offered him the folder. “You still have a lot of time before you have to make a decision. Just focus on your training for now.”
Kai accepted the papers. He was not as eager to know now that he knew he would need to choose between them. That didn’t mean he didn’t immediately look.
There were more details than he thought. Maybe he should ask Virya to write down her explanations next time. His eyes darted to the third page, and he finally found what he was looking for.
- Nature: 60
- Water: 54
- Earth: 51
- Shadow: 46
- Space: 38
- Air: 17
- ….
A large toothy smile grew on his face.
Comments
Morgan
Perhaps choosing a combat class limits the scope of his abilities. Where as choosing a non-combat class cleverly could be used combatitively
Novel Cat
Also makes me wonder what his fam's affinities are and if he'll ever do a ritual to let them know what they have... I can already see his competitive sister fighting to get get mana sense up just so that she could do magic like her brother in the future lol.
Novel Cat
Totally and Completely Agree with you 10,000%!!!!!!! I want to see EVERYTHING that you've listed and any other random tidbits we can find!!! Like, the mysteries of the archipelago, how much his father uncovered with his research, will this knowledge help him to get stronger and/or gain more favor, how much will his water affinity help him to explore the waterways, how much will his affinities affect his understanding of the world around him and his ability to interact with his world passively, will he actually get a pet to take with him that's low-key rich in potential growth like he is? And other questions along those veins lol. But seriously, the journey IS the story, so I FULLY Agree with you on Less time skips lol.
Novel Cat
I think we All had toothy grins on our faces and in our hearts after seeing his affinities. 😏🤣😁😊💖😊 Though I'm still partial to space due to the possibility of creating his own storage devices and even a possible portable garden for all of his alchemists crafting desires lol. Me thinks that could EASILY work well with his top 3 affinities lol. 😏👀😁 Especially of his earth affinity helps him to mold different objects into different shapes lol. There's also the possibility of creating mana storage devices so that he could then have back up mana for emergencies lol. 👀😏 But that's just me. 😁😊💖👀 I'm not fond of large time skips myself because when you skip to the milestone you lose the chance to enjoy the growth and edibles that helped one to Grow 😳😅😊. So in glad you mentioned no large time skips! ^~^ ^~^ ^~^ ^~^ ^~^ ^~^ Loved the chap as always. 😁😊💖
Andrea Pozzi
fixed
Zed
his laboratory > her?
Aezy Ken
Do you think she hasn't went through horrible stuff? Combat? Trauma? What is she doing out here, pretty much all alone with a student and whatever Dora is to her? I'm sure she's experienced much loss, being old as fuck as she is. And she understood why he wants to spec into combat. She thinks it's a mistake or wrong choice still.
Kevin Caffrey
Personal combat power is not the only kind of power. Look at Dora, for example. As far as we know, her combat capability is zilch. Yet who in their right mind would cross her?
Baconwargod
Virya’s statement about the combat magic felt slightly stupid on her part unless she just genuinely doesn’t know about Kai’s dad. It’s like yeah I wonder why the kid who watched powerless as someone killed his parent would feel the need to learn combat magic. Felt like it came from a place of privilege is all.
Guessed
oh no I meant in general, not for him in particular, I was thinking of Dora if indeed that is her situation.
Xsvimml
there is also a line with his father's research, it would be interesting how he can look at them from a different angle. And it seems to me that it would be interesting to do it before the profession. Considering that further experience from the exploration of the world will not come
Stephen Pearson
I strongly disagree with the assertion that there's nothing interesting until he gets a profession - what happens before that is _everything_ that's interesting in this story (at least that the author has set up so far). I want to know how he progresses: 1. What will he learn with alchemy, and what will the interactions be with the merchants who are likely to return yearly given what they've found? 2. How will running and swimming evolve? 3. What runes will he learn? 4. When will he start making temporary-ish magical items that will need to be charged with mana manipulation? Coolboxes for his family and Moui come to mind, as does dehumidification and airflow. Possibly mana accumulation, though that may cause complications and conflict. 5. When will he start to craft more permanent runes that use ambient mana to run, which can both increase quality of life in the village and make him and his family bank? 6. How will his racial growth progress? When will he get to yellow, and how far will he progress before the alchemical enhancements referenced in his initial interview come into play? 7. What additional skills will he gain after growing to yellow (and is it 7 more - most likely - or 14?) 8. When will Elijah move him from initial training to active beast hunting to improve his fighting capabilities, and what effect will that have on his weekly life experience? 9. How will his swordsmanship evolve? What sorts of exercises will he do with his mana affinities? Can they be further strengthened? What capabilities will they enable? 10. Now that affinities are known, what possibilities do they unlock? How can they synergize with his other skills? Plant processing and alchemy seem like they would benefit from nature, at the very least. I also want to know what he will do to help his family and community: 1. How will he utilize her competitiveness to help Kea to grow? Presumably he'll share skill growth choices. 2. How will he inspire or help Mel (the girl he helped in the blessing ceremony)? 3. How further will he help Moui, whom he likes? Seems like a coldbox to store meat is a minimum, especially since Moui has mana manipulation and could charge it. 4. Will he help his other nascent friends (mostly from the ceremony) to grow beyond the normal limitations of the village? 5. When will he meet girl from the POV? Will they be friends? Friendly rivals? Normal rivals? Will she be green with envy / have issues with someone else surpassing her when she has been groomed to be the standout of her generation in the archipelago? 6. What will he do, if anything, to counteract the elder's transparent efforts to create a caste system in the village? 7. How will the growing prominence of his family cause conflict with the elder's goals of the aforementioned caste system? These things to me _are_ the story; they're the people and interesting bits we've come to care about and really enjoy. By contrast, post-profession is so far away that the author has barely any setup or context for anything after that. This story will hopefully last for a very long time and become that story naturally, but just jumping to that point would be _a_ story, but not really this one; it would be a near-complete reboot if it was a simple jump, as all the setup would be skipped right past.
Thomas Stewart
Looks like he'd do really well in a druidic role - Nature is obvious, but most of nature is Earth and Water which are his #2 and #3 affinities. Even the minor affinity with Air helps with weather magics, moving rain where it does the most good. Blasting opponents with lightning looks cool, but having massive roots reach up and drag your opponent under the soil is not only a solid win, it's tidier. (Says the gamer who gives his characters the "mold earth" cantrip so they can hide bodies...)
Andrea Pozzi
Good point, but it was basically impossible for Kai not to get any affinity at all. There are other ways to roughly judge someone’s mana talent, so Virya was sure he would have something. Even if it was far worse than what he got it would have still been worth it to invest in it.
Andrea Pozzi
That’s just the definition they use, but comparing him to an elf is more complicated XD
Vamsi Yerraguravagari
Does this mean 3 of his major affinities are comparable to an elf?
Guessed
Dropping space sounds like a non-starter, what earthling doesn't want to be able to teleport? Also, unlocking mana affinity sense before doing the ritual seems like a misplay, if you're someone who has no affinities wouldn't it be better to know that first and be able to concentrate your mana sense on going deeper rather than being able to see elemental alignments that you have no way of interacting with anyway?
Stephen Pearson
Thanks for the chapter! :-)
Kris Boxall
Thanks for the chapter! This is very interesting especially since it seems like his affinities have been shaped by his experiences so far it makes me wonder if affinities grow naturally or can be increased some other way
Andrea Pozzi
We’ll move quickly through the next years. I prefer to do many little jumps than a huge one to avoid the need of an info dump of all that happened. These are still very formative years for Kai so I want to show a little bit.
Derek Walker
I wonder if we will get a time skip again soon. It feels like an end of volume thing, but a skip of several years soon might be beneficial. This chapter more or less laid out his gameplay for the next 6 years until he can finally get a profession. The only reason for a shorter one would be if he unlocks a profession early
Derek Walker
I am thinking he might ultimately go the mana manipulation way, especially if he can get sense mana high enough. Which seems plausible given he still has about 6 years left to do so.
Mohammed Sheekh
Maybe he can be a jack of all trades, but a master of none
