The black ball, the flame and the magic formation all returned to their original state.

"Mhmm." Gregor approached two priests who had a scroll each in their hands. They folded up the scrolls and handed them to Gregor. Gregor nodded and neared Robert.

"Here are the certificates for the Elemental affinity test and the Mana pool test." He passed on the scrolls to Robert. Robert opened up the scroll; on the top was the symbol of the black dragon empire and under it was the motto of the empire -"In Dracones Nobis Confidimus".

Under it, in a beautiful hand, was written-

'By the authority granted by the Supreme Emperor of the Holy Black Dragon Empire, I, Hallowman Gregor Madal, officially pronounce Robert Wells as a Herald. Hereon, he shall have the rights to enter a magic academy and study magic, including the rights to buy/sell/trade magical items/potions/materials. This certificate, awarded to Robert Wells, shall not be allowed to be used by any other being.'

Under this paragraph, the symbol of the Holy Draconic Association and Gregor's signature was present.

Below it, Robert's name, weight, height and photograph were engraved.

'When did they start creating coloured photographs?'

His Elemental affinities were stated-

NAME Robert Avitus Wells - ELEMENTAL AFFINITIES Wind Earth Order - AFFINITY RATIO 2 1 3 - MANA POOL - - - 190 Herald Units ABILITY - - - NOT ASSESSED

"Nice," said Robert.

"Master Damien, would you please ascend the stage?", said Gregor.

"Y-Yeah," replied Damien. He walked upon the platform and he could feel his heart beating faster than usual. His arms felt heavy and his knees were weak. He was not used to being the centre of attention.

'Will I be able to keep up with Robert and surprise everyone too?' He turned his head to see all the people in the hall staring at him. 'too many people... my stage fright is kicking in...'

"Ah! Master Damien, I hope you know what to do; you look quite tensed.", said Gregor.

"N-No I am alright.", Damien replied. He bent and touched the magic formation. He took a deep breath and poured all his mana in.

The flames grew and the magic formation shined; the black ball started rotating as ripples disfigured its shape. The flames turned cyan and electric blue. They touched the black now-not-a-ball and the top turned cyan while the bottom was glowing blue. The cyan part occupied a little more than half of the distorted ball.

"It seems you will have to wait till you become a neomage, Master Damien. Divine Elemental affinities only display themselves when they are either equal to or more than your basic elemental affinities.", Gregor said.

'Damn', Damien sighed. He saw some shake their heads and embarrassment reddened his cheeks as he stepped down from the platform.

"Ah, Damien don't let it make you feel so sad.", said Katherine. "Remember, your ability test is still left."

"Yeah, I think that your ability would be something amazing," Robert added. He was feeling bad for his brother.

"Here is your scroll, Master Damien." Gregor walked up to them and handed the scroll to Damien. It was the same as Roberts', except for-

NAME Damien Avitus Wells - ELEMENTAL AFFINITIES Water Lightening DIVINE ELEMENT NOT ASSESSED - AFFINITY RATIO 6 4 NA - MANA POOL - - - 110 Herald Units ABILITY - - - NOT ASSESSED

(O: haha Damien and I have something in common- we're disappointing)

"Let's go to the second floor.", Damien said.

The second floor was empty, with large windows through which the sun's rays made visible to the naked eye even the most minute dust particles circulating in the air. As Damien and Robert entered the second floor with Hallowman Gregor, they saw at the end of the hall the apparatus for ability testing. It was a stone basin kept on a pedestal. They approached it, they could feel the mana grow denser.

"What is that?", asked Robert.

"That is the skill archive's access point.", answered Gregor.

"Wh-What?"

"Over the years, we have collected data about skills and an enormous library has formed, which has the data about the abilities we have been exposed to in the past 3400 years." Gregor smiled and said, "There are always minor variations in the abilities of individuals of races. Combined with the fact that humans have unique abilities, albeit many of them have similar effects and may seem same- wait, sometimes they are pretty much the same... Anyway, so much information caused the library to explode."

"Woah.", exclaimed Damien.

"Yeah, so for convenience we formed a large network with the ability library as the hub. This network, built by our dwarves, has great computing power so it could analyze abilities, thus saving us a great lot of trouble. We used this network for testing abilities and-" he came closer to the duo and whispered, " we also shared this network with the Blood haven empire and the Demius Archipelago, although those nature freaks- the Elv empire refused it, we gained immense benefits by trading with the formers."

"Awesome!" said Robert, "So Hallowman Gregor will you please tell us how this works."

Gregor turned, coughed and cleared his throat.

"So, moving on, this is a skill archive access point; 'skill archive' was the name given by Lord Orren." Gregor approached the pedestal and peered into the clear, blue-tinted liquid in it.

"What you need to do is drop a bead of your blood into this liquid.", he said. "You see the abilities are technically present in your genes, and when you pour a certain type of mana in a special way, your genome acts like a spell model or a spell formation. Thus, your unique ability activates... though there are passive abilities too."

"I see.", Damien nodded while Robert stood as confused as ever.

Gregor looked at Robert and said, "You will understand it once you are a neomage. Right now, just go drop a small amount of your blood in the basin."

Robert nodded and walked up to the pedestal. He peered into the basin, and to his surprise the liquid in it was extremely clear, having a blue tint. He gave his hand to the priestess standing beside the pedestal.

She was slightly taller than him and her black hair was tied in a complex mesh, much like a spider web. Her soft small hands held a sharp needle. 'She is kinda cute', thought Robert.

The priestess glared at him as if she knew what he was thinking. Robert lowered his gaze. 'Scary!', he shivered inside. As she pricked Robert's finger, a bead of blood trickled down his finger and fell into the basin. The drop of blood immediately diffused into the liquid, the liquid glowed green. Dark green light flowed out of the basin. In a darker shade, the following words appeared on the surface-

ABILITY CLASS WEAKEN A+

(O: I hate robert now R: pathetic)

"Oh my! An A+ ability! It has the rarity of one in five thousand!", exclaimed Gregor. This boy had surprised him quite a few times now.

"Master Robert, you are a prodigy. Such innate talent is very rare!", Gregor said.

"Well done Robert!", Katherine said and smiled. Seeing his brother's luck, Damien's heart crumbled- 'I should just go and hide somewhere', he thought.

"Great!" laughed Robert as he patted Damien's back and said, "Your turn."

Damien took a deep breath and marched up to the pedestal, 'I want to disappear.' He clenched his teeth as the priestess pricked his finger, and droplets of blood fell into the basin. The basin radiated with orange-yellow light.

'Oh great! Guess my ability also sucks.' he thought as he sighed. However, instead of the expected, what appeared on the surface was-

ABILITY CLASS POTENTIA SS

'Umm, that D looks like two Ss.' Damien furrowed his brow. He did not notice the tense silence around him.

He turned and asked the priestess, who was stupefied and looking at the basin with wide eyes that Damien had never thought she could have possessed, "What kind of a lame ability is potentia?"

"I-It is a-an SS r-rank ability." she stammered.

"OH MY GOD!!!" blurted out Gregor, "AN SS-RANK!" He could not believe his ears. He rushed to the basin to confirm.

"Amazing Damien!", exclaimed Robert as he clapped.

"N-No way." Nobody could notice the tears welling up in Katherine's eyes; an intense feeling of deja vu and nostalgia made her heart quiver.

"The chance to have an SS rank ability is almost one in a billion!" Gregor was overcome with excitement.

'So, will history repeat itself? Like begets like. He would be happy to know this, wherever he is, but I am afraid...', thought Katherine and seemed to remember some fond memories of the past, as she looked at Damien and Robert.

"Congratulations, Damien!", said Katherine as she hugged Damien.

'I guess I am not a failure after all... Still, it feels unreal.', thought Damien, and beamed with delight.

"Master Damien, Master Robert, this is an auspicious day indeed. You are both blessed with unimaginable fortune. The future of Triston is very bright indeed.", proclaimed Gregor as he walked towards the two young lords to congratulate them.

After the discussions, they parted and left for their residence, while Gregor was left to conduct the exams for others.

"Mother, can we roam around in the city for today? As it is we will leave tomorrow morning for Qrist.", Damien asked Katherine with dog eyes. They had the chance to roam about the day before but Robert and Damien had chosen not to leave because of the tests. Now they were in a perfect mood to enjoy.

"Alright, but do return before nightfall." The boys nodded and ran off into the distant marketplace.

As they entered, they found many shops full of food, clothing and magic, but the one they had their eyes on was the magic weapons shop.

'I may find assassination weapons in there.', thought Robert as he dragged Damien by the arm into the shop.

They entered to see an array of weapons lined up on showcases all around and a small counter bit farther from the door of the shop. There also seemed to be a workshop behind the store, out of which came a small dwarf with a hammer in his hand and a face blackened due to working in the fire for long. He had a long, auburn beard burnt on one side and they could see the sparks that still glowed in the dense thickness of this dwarf's beard.

"Ah-Ha young 'ads! what can I do for ye.", the dwarf said in a weird accent.

"Ummm," Robert took some moments to understand what he had said.

"We dunt 'erve any 'Ummm' here", he said.

"No! we want um- arrgh weapons." Robert hurriedly said.

"Blimey! me thought that ye come here fer 'ingerie!", he said in a sardonic tone.

"Gee Bobby, let me handle it.", said, Damien, as he pushed Robert back.

"Mr.umm- what was your name again?", Damien weakly laughed. Robert facepalmed in embarrassment.

"Sir, we are looking for some daggers and such would you mind presenting them to us?" Robert calmed himself and spoke.

"Ha! daggers and 'ssassination 'quipment?", he said as his face broke into a grin. "Me has got what yer lookin' fer!"

The dwarf turned and rushed inside his workshop.

"Bobby, why are we buying equipment again?", asked Damien.

"Well, we need to have some pieces of equipment for our training in the academy," Robert said.

"Yeah, but, I don't think Paladins use a dagger."

"Who said I am going to be a Paladin?"

"Eh? Well, they are one of the special classes which are in high demand."

"Pffft", Robert grabbed his stomach and laughed.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"No, dummy. Why should I care about demands? I am someone who will follow his own path. When I have my eyes on a goal I will follow it until the end... Even if I fail I will have no regrets for I would have made my own choice and would not have walked the path others set for me!" Robert puffed out his chest.

"Woah! So you are going to become a philosopher now? Great!", Damien said and clapped.

Robert made a poker face and said, "Are you stupid or was my speech too good?"

"Your speech was too good." Damien folded his arms and pouted.

"Just... Just don't pout. It looks really weird on you." Robert held back his urge to smack him.

"Fine! What is that you wish to become?"

"Still couldn't figure it out?" Robert began to ask himself, 'Should I really talk to him? I should stop lest my intelligence lowers to his level'

"Umm, a bard maybe?"

"You should hang yourself!"

"Ha! What a lovely verse!" exclaimed Damien.

"I want to become an assassin.", said Robert dejectedly.

"After hearing your replies, I want to kill myself."

"Woah! but, why though?"

"...", Robert looked in Damien's eyes. Damien stared back. He peered into his brother's eyes and "Oww! What was that for?" Damien massaged his head.

"Oof," Robert exhaled in relief after smacking Damien.

"Here me am 'ads!", said the dwarf as he came back with a crate of weapons in his hands.

After shopping for a while and spending loads of gold, Robert and Damien returned to their residence. It was almost evening.

"You two are back?" Katherine asked.

"Yes, Mother!"

"What's in those crates?"

"Some of our equipment we bought for our usual training during our time at our academies," Robert explained.

"You know we are rich, but you must not let money burn that easily." Katherine sighed. Damien stepped back and gestured, 'I didn't buy anything. It was all Robert's idea.' Seeing this, Katherine smiled.

"That reminds me: a lot of offers have come for you two from different academies.", she said.

"Cool!"

"We will board the train back to Qrist tomorrow. When you reach home you, your father and I can discuss the academy you wish to go in and what class you will choose."

"Okay, Mother!" The duo carried the crates into Robert's room.

'They are not going to use any of those and yet they bought it. What a waste.' Katherine shook her head. 'But at least they look happy', she thought and smiled.

(D: Orion was literary like 'Let's give Damien an insane power up!')