Chapter 7

I awoke the next morning to the sound of birds chirping. I got out of bed and stretched. I tended to start the day by doing some calisthenics. This ensured the remainder of soreness that my body felt from the previous day’s farm work, eased.

After finishing up my morning exercise, I got dressed and made my way downstairs to meet up with Astoria and make our way to the village head’s house.

I slid down the stair banister and reached the bottom with a thud, I spotted Gladus, scrubbing tables and preparing for the working day.

“Morning Gladus, is Astoria up yet?”

“Cal? What’re ya doing back here lad? I thought ya left for Eamonn’s?”

“Eh?”

“Astoria said that ya were already waiting outside when she left.”

My initial confusion was replaced with complete understanding. She left without me. Damn, that girl’s attitude is becoming less and less endearing by the day...

I explained the situation to Gladus and promptly left for the village head’s home. Gladus claimed that Astoria left about 15 minutes ago. I didn’t peg Astoria as the type to run, so if I sprinted and took the shortcut through old lady Muriel’s land, I might be able to catch up to her.

I made my way through the brisk morning breeze and felt the wind press against my back. It was a beautiful day for farm work, however, my precious seedlings would have to fend for themselves today.

I clambered over one side of old lady Muriel’s fence, making sure to avoid waking her by making too much noise. I sat at the top of the fence and spotted Astoria walking briskly toward the crossing that led to the village head’s home.

From what I observed in my elevated position, Muriel was still in bed, so it was safe to drop down onto her property and sneak toward the crossing. I entered into stealth mode and hastily crept through Muriel’s land. If I was quick enough, I may even reach the crossing before Astoria.

I arrived at the other end of Muriel’s land and waited. I peered over the fence and saw Astoria walking toward the crossing. A few moments went by and I heard her footsteps. I jumped up in an attempt to surprise her and even potentially scare her, she ignored me.

I climbed over the fence and caught up to her.

“You left me.”

“...”

Before I could continue to question her in relation to her antics this morning, we arrived. Well, we arrived to the back of the queue that is. There was a long line of people, leading to the front of the village head’s house.

I could just make out the blond mage from yesterday, giving villagers a clear crystal to hold and then apologising to them after taking it back. What was he doing?

The soldier was standing a few feet to the left of the mage, however, there was no queue leading to him. Just when I was about to drown in the monotony of waiting, I heard the blond mage shout something at the top of his lungs.

“Step right up folks! Come and discover if you have the required level of affinity to learn magic!”

I finally understood what the line was for. Having any sort of affiliation with the Order of the White Mage was considered to be a huge plus. I could understand why there were so many people here. I turned to Astoria and spotted a look of impatience on her face.

The queue was long and I could also make out a group of village girls, huddled to the right of the blond mage. They were giggling amongst themselves and pointing at him. Occasionally he would smile at them and wave. I don’t know what is was, but there was something about this guy that made my skin crawl.

Time passed and the queue thinned. From what I gathered from watching the body language of the mage and my fellow villagers, there wasn’t anyone that managed to demonstrate the level of affinity required to be recruited.

We finally reached somewhere near the front and could overhear the conversation that the mage was having with the villagers that took the eligibility test.

“OK, let’s see what we have here. According to the White Azurite Crystal. You have a 5% affinity with the water elemental Undine, Congrats! Ahahah.”

“D-does that mean I can learn magic?”

“Sadly no, but a beautiful young lady such as yourself, will have no problem in finding success elsewhere.”

“Y-you really think so?”

“I swear on the Pendragon name!”

It seems the blond mage was named Pendragon and was softening the blow of failure, by complimenting and motivating villagers that had failed. Although, I noticed that he only offered this service to women below the age of 30.

The day dragged on further and it was finally time for Astoria and I to take the test. Before Pendragon made eye contact with Astoria, I stepped between them, Astoria grumbled but decided to let it go, I’d like to believe that it was her way of apologising for leaving without me this morning.

The sun flared, I took the crystal and waited for instructions on how to test my affinity.