5 Four Societypes

Alec didn't get any answers even after six months. He was now at a year old, and his birthday had been just yesterday.

Unfortunately for him, he still didn't have any answers since he couldn't say that he had seen the words that crystal showed. In fact, from what he had gleaned, the crystal only shows the results to the one who was holding it. He shouldn't have been able to see it, and the maids didn't stay long enough to leak any information.

His mother was no help either, her mouth tightly shut in regards to the words 'Sin'.

Luckily, he could now crawl around, and walk, however unsteadily it was, and he had finally graduated from the cursed crib.

Tonight was the night that he slept in a different room from his mother for the first time! There was a study nearby that he could (hopefully) sneak into tonight, whilst everyone was asleep.

As he was wracking his brains to think about the different ways he could sneak into the study, there were three heavy knocks on the door.

Alec raised a brow. That was someone who wasn't the usual maids who came. Everyone had a different way of knocking, and it actually showed a lot of a person's personality.

For example, one of the maids knocked just a tad quicker than the rest, but they were louder. That maid valued efficiency and did things firmly. The other maid knocked softly, with spaced out knocks. From what he could tell, they were a bit shy, a little introverted.

The person who knocked this time did so with firm, steady knocks. It was not soft, but neither was it loud.

Without waiting for an answer, the door opened on its own.

Annalise did not make a move to get up when she heard the knocks either. She already knew who it was.

Alec realized that the previously well-hidden nerves on her face had completely disappeared at the sound of the door. It was as if the emotions he had spotted were a lie. Had he not seen them earlier, he would never have known they were there in the first place.

Alec couldn't help but admire this woman's emotional prowess.

The man, who looked so similar yet different from the woman that was his mother, was definitely closely related to her. Where his mother was delicate, the man was firm. The two shared the same shade of brown hair, high cheekbones, and eye shape. Just like Annalise, this man had the same shade of blue eyes.

All in all, the man cut a rather dashing figure, but his expression was stern where his mother's was warm. He looked firm and unyielding, instantly raising Alec's appraisal of him by a notch.

"Brother," Annalise said, her expression warm.

Vincent nodded curtly, and had one not been looking carefully, they would not have noticed that for a split second, the man's expression slackened before going back to its usual indifference.

"I hear your son is an Every."

Annalise nodded; her expression serene. "He is. I thought he would be a Cher, like me, but it appears not."

Vincent's sharp eyes met Alec's.

Alec didn't flinch away, staring back almost defiantly at the clear scrutiny he was being put under.

Vincent let out a grunt. "At least he's acceptable." The man knelt down in front of Alec, holding out a hand.

Alec cautiously put his hand in his uncle's catching the gleam of approval in the man's eyes.

"Alec. I'm your uncle, Vincent."

"Hello uncle. Why haven't I seen you before?" Alec questioned, his curiosity bubbling to the surface.

Vincent gave a little smirk, but it disappeared quickly. He stood back up, but not before roughly patting the little boy on his head.

"Precocious, isn't he? Too bad he isn't a Bright."

Alec felt frustrated but didn't let it show. Hopefully, he could be able to get all of his answers tonight.

Annalise saw Vincent out the door, before turning worried eyes onto Alec, smiling faintly.

Alec felt a chill go down his spine at his mother's smile. Something told him this wasn't going to be anything good for him.

"Darling son," she started off, her smile still firmly fixed in place. "Smile for mummy, won't you?"

Alec stared at her, stunned. What was she going on about now?

"Smile!"

Alec, very hesitantly, smiled at his mother, having a bad feeling.

Annalise shook her head. She resisted the urge to gush over her son. She had to do this. She had to be strict, before it was too late! Right now, there still weren't too many people who had met him yet, so it had to be now or never.

"Look at my smile. Like this," she said, demonstrating for him.

Alec eyed her, pulling both sides of his lips.

Annalise softly thwacked him on the head. "Again!"

Alec tried again.

"No!"

"…"

"No!"

"…"

-

Alec cradled his head, speechless. What was going on with his mother today? After his uncle came to visit, she suddenly acted like she'd lost her mind.

Thinking harder about it, there had to be an explanation, but he couldn't make heads or tails of it yet.

Alec shrugged, putting the matter aside for the time being. This was the time for him to get some answers!

Without making a sound, Alec moved out of his room, making sure to leave the door slightly ajar so that he could easily sneak back in without having to turn the knob again.

Within a minute, he stood inside the study room, which was more like a mini library. Though it wasn't very big, it should contain some of the information he sorely needed about this world.

Walking as steadily as possible, he scanned the books placed on the shelf. History of the world. Theory of magic. History of the Neil Clan. Biography of Leonard Neil. Magic for idiots. Meditating for idiots.

Aha!

Common Sense of the World.

Though the other books were useful, what he sorely needed now was the information that everyone took for granted, that wouldn't be explained. He would read the other books later, but this was the one for him tonight.

Alec hesitated, but still pulled the book over to a source of light that had been left on in the room.

He didn't know if the study had anything to prevent books from being taken out, so he wouldn't take any chances. As long as he got back to bed before his mother woke up, it would be fine.

Alec quickly read the introductory chapter before scanning the index and flipping to a page.

What were Societypes?

The more Alec read, the more his brows furrowed. Apparently, in world Incantix, Socitypes existed as a way for people to classify the different 'types' of people.

'Societypes, or rather Society Types, are what we use to classify people in our world, just like how Magitypes are used to classify the different areas of magic talents. From the time when magic is first absorbed into the body, appraisal is used, commonly by an appraisal crystal, to determine the Societype of a person.

Societypes can be further broken down into 'Bright', 'Cher', 'Every' and 'Sin'. These four Societypes are the main classifications that society acknowledges.'

Alec skipped a bunch of irrelevant information, before his eyes landed on the explanations of the Societypes and how they were categorised.

Basically, a 'Bright' was a person who had exceedingly fast growth and were more likely to excel. Most Brights contained characteristics that made them excel, like leadership, kindness, empathy, etc. There was a whole page of details on Brights alone, practically gushing about them.

Alec smelled something suspicious just from this alone.

A 'Cher', short for Cherish, which was what his mother supposedly was, indicated a person whose existence revolved around love. They fell in love hard and fell in love fast. One glance was all it took.

An 'Every' on the other hand, were made up of people who seemed to lack any sort of fighting drive, and were classified as 'mundanes', which Alec thought was likely bullshit, but then again, everything had to be taken with a grain of salt. Everys were likely to be shuffled into administrative roles, doing the everyday jobs that didn't require any fighting.

And last but not least, the one Societype that had been on his mind for an exceedingly long time, 'Sin' short for Sinister.

Sins also experienced a fast growth, like Brights, but they were more likely to resort to violence over any sort of peaceful resolutions to resolve any conflicts. They had fewer morals and emotions that could be observed in other Societypes. Sins found it harder to make social connections, as well as emotional bonds.

Alec furrowed his brows.

According to the appraisal crystal that his mother had used on him six months earlier, he had shown as a Sin, so why was his uncle told that he was an Every?

Likely, there was some sort of stigma that Sins carried, so his mother had hastily covered up his Societype. Alec didn't know how to feel about that. It explained why his mother had suddenly forced him to smile a whole bunch in the afternoon.

He was a Sin, but did that mean that they didn't feel emotions? He called bullshit. Sure, he felt like he was more explosive than before, but did that mean… wait. He didn't remember being this temperamental before this, so… was it true? At least, part of it was true.

He couldn't make a proper analysis right now with so few examples, so everything had to be taken with a grain of salt. Until he could see and experience for himself, he would withhold his opinion.

Alec shut the book, heading back to bed. He lay on soft sheets but was unable to fall asleep.

He had some questions answered, but so many more new questions that had sprung up after getting those answers. For example, who was his father? Were Societypes inherited through the parent? Did that mean his father was a Sin?

Was this the reason why she wanted him to smile so much? Did Sins not smile or something?

What about Magitypes, then? Ah, he didn't have enough time! Maybe, he could head to the study during the day…

There were so many questions floating around his head that he never noticed when he fell asleep…