Stage 1 - First Step to Become A Mage (2)

Mage Association HQ. Its a place where Mages from all over around the world gather. There, you would be able to take missions, buy items that aren't available to normal citizens, and much more.

There, I would get my first Affinity Core. The item is something that everyone would get once they reached to a certain level, everyone would first get it once they reached Rank 1 Novice Mage like me.

The Affinity Core is something that would enable you to use stronger magic, such as the one I saw yesterday before. The problem was… The Affinity Core would choose you, not you choosing them.

If one would choose an Affinity Core that isn't suitable for them, they would be weaker than average mage with the same affinity. The stronger connection the Affinity Core has with you, the stronger you would get once you fully absorb it.

It didn't take long before we could see a huge building with a nametag, 'Mage Association HQ' on it.

Getting out of the car, I could already see tons of peoples walking in and out of the door. Seems like a busy place. We walked inside where we have to wait in line for one of the receptionists.

It took a while before it was our turn.

"Hello and welcome to Mage Association HQ, what can I help you with today?" Said a receptionist lady, who looked at us with a professional smile.

"We would like to buy an Affinity Core, please."

"Ah, then okay, let me send one of our personal to guide you to the room."

Not long after, a man in a researcher suit came to us as he guided us to where we could buy one of the Affinity Core.

All kinds of Affinity Core here would go from at least 100 Credit to over 1 million. That's because of how rare each affinity is.

There are three different categories of affinity you can get. Element, Transform, or Ancient.

Element Magic is magic that enables the user to use the power of nature. An example of it would be Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth, which are some of the common Magic you can get.

Transform Magic is a magic that would transform the user into a certain species, such as Chicken, Snake, or even a Dragon. There are two forms in it, which is hybrid, and full transform.

Ancient Magic. It's a category that is a bit rarer than the other two. Ancient Magic would enable one to use magic in what would consider being, unnatural… You can bring back the dead with Necromance Magic, or even stop time itself if you have an affinity with it.

If I had to say which one of the three categories is most used, it would be Element, Transform, and Ancient Magic.

Arriving at our destination, the guide opened the door with a keycard.

"This way please."

We walked inside and saw several stones, some were red, some were blue, and others in different colors.

"As you can see here, we have several different types of Affinity Core your son can get. All he has to do is walk around and see if any of them react to him."

With that explanation finished, I walked around the room as none of the stones react much to my presence. Some of the stone glowed a bit, but I wanted to check every stone here in the room before choosing one.

As I've walked around, I saw a beautiful aqua colored stone that seemed to shine very brightly to my nearby presence.

"It seems like that Affinity Core wants to be your first affinity, how about taking it?"

My mom said as I went to grab the stone. When I grab a hold of it, it seemed to shine even brighter before going back to its original state. Looking closer, I can see that it was formed like a teardrop. The size of it was half almost half of my hand, so it was quite big.

"I'll take this one then," I said with a smile, my parents nodded as we went to pay for the stone, which cost 1000 Credits. It was not too cheap nor expensive for an Affinity Core.

When we arrived back, I was so excited about getting my first affinity that I instantly ran to my room when we arrived back home.

I have already read and know how to absorb the Affinity Core, so it would be fine. All I have to do is to locate the mana from the Affinity Core and absorb it to my Mana Core.

So for hours, I was in meditate position while absorbing the stone. While I was doing so, I've felt peaceful, like a calm wave that was moving around the peaceful ocean.

A few hours passed by as I suddenly felt a chill in my body, the calm wave in the ocean feeling was gone and got replaced by a cold feeling. It felt like I was naked in the middle of North Pole!

I grunted a bit and trying my best to concentrate and finish absorbing the last mana of the Affinity Core.

When the last mana of the Affinity Core got fused with my Mana Core, the cold feeling stopped as I fell down on my bed as I've felled asleep. Seems like the Affinity Core I had absorbed depleted all of my energy.

***

It has been five hours since Arno went to his room and started to absorb the Affinity Core. His parents didn't disturb him as it would take normally from four hours to a whole day to absorb an Affinity Core.

His mom left a plate of food for him inside his room in case he got hungry when he finished the process.

A few more hours passed by before it was dinner time.

"I'm a bit worried about our son, honey."

"I think we should go and check his condition out. Maybe something went wrong?"

When she heard that, Lyla immediately started to run to her son's room at a quick pace. Her husband, Leon, followed from behind as he walked there like a normal person.

"Honey, I-"

"Shh!"

The door was opened as both of them peeked through the door and saw Arno sleeping figure.

Seeing this, both of them sighed before they saw a food plate that hasn't been touched. Lyla sighed as she covered Arno with a blanket while Leon took the cold plate as both of them left the room.