Chapter 7: Affinity

(Eve Solaris POV)

I found myself walking through the stone halls of Kalan's manor. . Despite the two months and the warm welcome Kalan and Ryla were trying to provide me, I still couldn't bring myself to call this place home. It was missing something. Something I lost that night.

Everytime I think back to that nightmare, I can still remember it as if it had just happened: the smell, the sounds, the Menima flowers. I could still remember it all.

I had to pause and clear my head to calm the vertigo taking over my senses. Thankfully, before I could become fully engulfed by my thoughts, I found myself in front of Kalan’s door.

“Come in” a voice rang from the other side before I had even knocked.

I slowly opened the door,greeting him with the warmest smile I could muster. “Good morning old man, I see you still love using that trick!"

"One must always be aware of their surroundings, immediate and not."

"Uh huh… and what could possibly hurt you here?" I said, raising an eyebrow in question.

"Everyone and no one. You can never be truly safe." Kallan said wisely.

His words struck me like a cord. The attack on our village was seemingly so random and unprovoked… so accidental..

"Ryla said you wanted to speak to me? What’s the matter?"

I watched as he put down a stack of papers on his desk. He then met my eyes, returning my smile with a serious expression. “That’s correct, you remember your part of our deal?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Good, that makes things much easier. I'm going to have you join the Church officially."

“And how am I supposed to do that, exactly?”

"Good to see your first reaction wasn’t surprise or confusion. Well, in almost exactly a month from now, the Church releases the results for their semesterly selections, stating who'll go on to the second phase. The process itself is broken into two phases with the initial selection process currently ongoing."

"The early selection event took place about two weeks ago, but seeing as you couldn’t participate in that, to the best of your ability, I postponed your participation until the normal selections in two weeks."

"That being said, less than half of the individuals that pass the first phase of the selection survive the second phase. You need to be at least twice as capable as the requirements for the first phase to even survive the second phase.

I stood there, silently absorbing everything he was saying.

"So, wait! I get the general idea, but what exactly am I supposed to do?" I asked slightly perplexed.

"That's what I was getting to. As you know, I've been having you focus on polishing your bow skills and working on fully integrating your mana heart."

"The reason for this is because the first phase of the selection process is essentially weeding out the individuals who have potential from the ones that don't."

"You'll go through three different sections of the process starting with mana manipulation to practical skills and finally, situational awareness and decision making."

"Your practical skills in terms of the bow are, without a doubt, exceptional, even by the Church’s standards, so I'm not necessarily worried in that department. However you're severely behind in the mana section."

"We need to get you to at least just below average so that it can be weighed out by your bow and situational skills."

"This means that we'll have to test and see what mana arts you have a natural affinity towards and focus on getting the basics in those aspects down."

"Does that mean you're finally going to teach me how to use mana arts?!" I yelled, practically jumping at the thought.

"Yes and no. You will be getting taught how to use mana arts, however I will not be the one teaching you."

"If not you, then who?"

"Ryla will be the one teaching you. I, unfortunately, have some business I need to tend to until the normal selections, two weeks from now."

"Where will you be going?"

"I wish I could tell you, but I cannot. I apologize."

I looked at him with scrutinizing eyes, but gave up almost immediately after seeing how serious he was about this.

I hadn't known Kalan for too long as of yet, but I've come to understand that he rarely ever wears a serious expression over his natural, sort of, pleasant one. The times he did, however, were usually for good reason.

"Hmm, fine. I understand. I've been meaning to ask by the way, who exactly is Ryla?"

"She… is much like yourself to be honest. She's very diligent and someone who I'd trust with my life. There aren't many I'd be able to say that about either. Not to mention she's extremely talented and possesses a unique set of skills."

Kalan’s eyes seemed almost somewhat affectionate, not so different from the eyes of a father. They seemed to hide something deeper behind them. What that may be, however, I had no clue.

The silence had come and gone with Kalan being the first to break it.

“In any case, I want you to meet with her tomorrow, early in the morning, out on the training grounds. She’ll give you more information on what you’ll be doing and how you’ll be able to enhance your mana skills once you are with her. For now, feel free to spend this day however you feel is right.”

“Whatever you say, pops!” I said with a hint of sarcasm and a teasing tone.

He rolled his eyes before dismissing me with a wave of his hand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. I went and loosened up my muscles by practicing my archery skills and then returned to my room and continued to go through what little I had learned about mana use.

I circulated the mana within me out of my body and intertwined it with the ambient mana, eventually leading it back to me. One of the perks of having a mana heart formed is that the ambient mana was automatically circulated and assimilated into my body.

I repeated this over and over again, losing track of the time in the process. Before I knew it, night had overtaken the sky and the streets were lit with lighting artifacts.

The city was a stark change from my hometown. What was once torches in my hometown, was replaced with lighting artifacts here. It was daytime in the night; something I never thought I’d be able to say.

The sounds of laughter and life continued to ring endlessly, reminding me of the feastivities we once held back home.

I watched as a couple had just come out of a pub, the man most likely heavily drunk as he was relying on the girl to guide his path, wobbling back and forth after every step he took.

“...I wonder if I could have something like that one day.” I said more to myself than to anyone.

A sharp pang of sorrow struck me like a match at the sight unfolding in front of me.

I shook my head and began circulating mana again, trying to distract myself from the thoughts threatening to resurface. I soon enough lost myself in the process until my consciousness slowly drifted away from me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Kalan POV)

“I must try and resolve whatever it is that is currently happening.” I said as I gathered the last of my things.

I swiftly mounted my horse and led her out of the stable and towards the gates of the Church.

“The ride to the nearest Church in the Borderlands is about three days' time. Once I arrive, I’ll request the information on the different settlements that were attacked and any leads we might have. I'm not too sure what exactly is going on, but I’ll hopefully be back before the semesterly selections.”

“Yes sir, I understand. I will watch over your post while you are gone.”

“Oh, and one last thing. I’m leaving Eve to you. I have high hopes for her; I know there isn’t anyone more suited to help her grow than you.”

“Of course, I will ensure she’s ready for the selections.”

“Thank you, Ryla, I’m counting on you.”

I gave her one last glance, before hastily departing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Eve Solaris POV)

I woke up to the feeling, or rather lack thereof, in my legs. I began to panic as I tried to stand up, but inevitably fell back down and hit my head on the side of the bed.

“Oww…”

I once again tried to move, using the side of the desk to support myself as I lifted myself from the floor onto the bed. I began to stretch my legs in a last ditch effort to wake them up, the tingling sensation making me feel like a kid again.

After a few minutes, I slowly got up from where I was, hunger hitting me as a realization of the last time I ate.

I looked out to see the sun still barely visible, struggling to take over the night.

‘I guess I’ll see if I can find myself something to eat.’

I began towards my door and down the stairs to the main dining room. It was filled with many different soldiers of different ranks from basic infantry men to lieutenants and knights alike.

I made my way to the serving area and grabbed a plate of different assorted foods. My plate consisted of some eggs with some type of meat mixed in with some fruits, vegetables, and bread on the side. It was actually a balanced meal all things considered, something I hadn’t had in a while.

I grabbed my plate and sat down at the nearest open table. I watched as others began to do the same, filling up on both sides of me, though with food much less appetizing than the one on my plate.

“Hey, you’re that girl that Sir Kalan took in, right? Must be nice.” One of the soldiers called out.

“Haha, yeah, I bet life’s pretty good for you, huh?” another chimed in.

I rolled my eyes and continued to eat, taking another bite of my bread. The first one to talk was what seemed to be an ordinary foot soldier as his armor and sword were of the general quality as everyone else's. The second individual seemed to be no higher in rank than the last.

“Hey, I’m talking to you! Didn’t you learn to answer when someone speaks to you?” The first guy said, grabbing my plate and sliding it towards him.

“Could you not? I’d just like to eat in peace.”

“Oh, she speaks? Who would’ve thought some foster kid knew how to use words.”

That hit me deep inside. I felt as my patience began to wear, anger swelling from inside. I felt as my hands tightened around the fork and knife. Everyone was muttering, some entertained while others were annoyed by the conflict, mainly the older soldiers.

“Ayle! Hayes!” A voice suddenly called out from behind me.

“Leave the girl alone.”

All the soldiers stood up immediately and began to salute their superior.

“Yes, sir! Sorry, sir! We were merely introducing ourselves. No harm done, sir!” The first guy who I identified as Ayle said.

“In case you didn’t know, she could mop the floor with your face before you could even ask her to stop. I suggest you stop trying to test her patience.”

“Yes, sir! It won’t happen again, sir!”

“Good, now take your food and find somewhere else to sit.”

“Yes, sir!” The two grabbed their food and walked halfway across the dining room to an empty table and sat down, glaring daggers towards me. The rest of the soldiers returned to their seats and resumed their meal, no longer interested.

I looked away and grabbed my food and began eating where I left off, taking another bite of my bread.

“Don’t worry about them. Assholes like them don’t last. They either learn to change or get swallowed up by the torrent.” The man said after sitting down across from me.

He was obviously of a higher rank than the previous two. He wore armor like the rest, however seemingly polished and made of a more durable and expensive material.

His sword followed suit with the rest of his armor, longer and seemingly sharper than the rest. He held this dignified and reserved air about him, completely different from the others.

“Name’s Cain Agaust, you can call me Cain, though. What’s yours?” He said after he took a bite of his food.

I contemplated whether I should speak, but eventually gave in to my curiosity.

“Eve. Eve Solaris.”

“Well nice to meet you, Eve. Not too sure how you ended up here, but happy you could join us nonetheless.”

“If I may ask, what’s your relation to those two?”

“I’m their general, actually.” He said, tapping an emblem shaped brooch on his shoulder. “A bad one obviously. It seems like I didn’t discipline them enough.”

“Ah, it’s nothing, really. I understand.”

“It didn’t seem like “nothing”. That look in your eyes seems to say otherwise.”

I sat there silently chewing on my food, contemplating what he had said.

“Well, either way, they shouldn’t be of any trouble to you anymore. Rest assured. I will be on my way now, I’ve got some stuff to take care of.” He said as he stood up, grabbing his plate in the process.

“Nice meeting you, Eve. Hope to be seeing you around from time to time!”

He began making his way to the plate dropoff area and then out the doors to some unknown area.

I continued eating my food in silence, still dwelling on what the two had said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I made my way through the courtyard walkways like I had many times already. I rounded a corner onto the training grounds where Ryla was waiting for me.

“Well well, look who decided to show up. I was starting to think you wouldn’t come.” Ryla said with a smug grin.

“On my dead body. This is all I’ve wanted ever since getting here. It’s also the only way for me to get stronger right now. I wouldn’t miss it for anything.” I retorted.

“That's good, you’re going to need that persistence. Learning how to use magic isn’t a walk in the park. Creating a mana heart is child's play in comparison to what’s in store later on and that’s an understatement.”

“I know, I know,” I said with a sigh, “I wasn’t expecting it to be easy.”

“That makes things easier, then. Here, hold this.”

She handed me some type of white, opaque crystal that seemed lighter than it looked.

“What is this?” I asked, still trying to figure out what she had given me.

“That there is an Affinity Crystal.”

“An Affinity Crystal?”

“Yes, this crystal, when imbued with your mana, will tell you your magical affinity for every basic element of magic in order of strongest to weakest. This will help us decide on your training going forward. Why don’t you give it a try?”

“I thought you’d never ask” I replied with a smile emerging on my face.

“Alright then, focus on the crystal and picture your mana flowing through you and into the crystal.”

I listened to what Ryla was telling me and closed my eyes, then slowly pictured my mana flowing through me and into the crystal.

I could feel as the crystal began warming up, increasing in weight as more and more of my mana poured into it.

“It’s ready Eve, open your eyes”

As I opened my eyes and saw my affinity show in the crystal, I couldn’t help but smirk and let out a single word.

“Perfect.”