Affinities

Silas found himself drifting through a void of dark empty space. A voice broke the silence that surrounded him, resonating with power. "Greetings, Silas Blackwood. I am the consciousness of the altar you placed your hand upon."

"Who are you? Where am I?" Silas continued to drift, currently feeling like he was upside down despite there being no up or down in this place.

"Not who, but what. I am a magical item, created with the mana cores of the greatest mages to ever live," The altar explained. "You are currently within a realm of shared consciousness."

The altar spoke again, "I'm curious, for what purpose are you draining my mana?"

"I'm sorry, sir, I can't control it. My body just does it automatically when I touch magical things." Silas said, apologetically.

"It's fine. It's a such a slow drain I can barely feel it. Like a mosquito sucking blood from an animal." The altar replied. "I can't have you calling me sir though. Just call me Al."

"Ok, Al. What did you want to talk about?" Silas asked, still feeling like he was hanging upside down.

"You have great potential, but even at your maximum potential, you still won't be strong enough to defeat the Unseelie court of the Fae. Each one of their soldiers are Tier 00 and they've been training for hundreds of years." Al said, somberly.

"Then what am I supposed to do? Just give up?"

"You need to increase your potential. And increase the potential of others," Al replied.

"How do I do that?" Silas asked.

"There are techniques and resources available now that did not exist during the time of my predecessors. Magical beast weapons, mana core fusion, magic items, and alchemy can all help aid you in your growth," Al explained.

"How am I supposed to get those things?" Silas questioned.

"Search the Grand Athenaeum and you will find your answers," Al said, its voice fading as if the connection between them was weakening.

"Well, thanks. Why are you telling me this?"

"I am a product of my predecessors, and they don't want to see Eldoria fall," Al's voice echoed, a final message before the void began to dissipate around Silas.

As the altar's words faded, Silas felt a sudden jolt, his consciousness rushing back to his body. His eyes snapped open, and he found himself standing before the altar, his hand stuck fast to the stone. The altar's voice rang out once more, this time for all to hear.

"Silas Blackwood, your affinities lie in Neuromancy, Biomancy, and Essomancy. Your maximum tier is 00, and your current tier is 10."

Professor Vance, Nadia, and Rowan had looks on their faces ranging between surprise and shock, while Jace and Lyra smiled as if their suspicions had just been confirmed.

"What are those affinities? Tier 00?" Professor Vance shook his head, cleared his throat, and adopted his normal emotionless expression and deep voice. "Very good, Blackwood. You'll do well here."

Silas felt a surge of power come out of the stone and into his body. With significant effort, he wrenched his hand free of the altar.

[System Notification: 1,000 mana drained! (1,239/25,000)]

[System Notification: New skill learned: Essence Inspection upgraded to Essence Revelation!]

[System Message: Essence Revelation allows you to learn the target's maximum tier, current tier, affinities, and current status.]

As the initial shock of Silas's assessment wore off, Vance said, "Jace Sterling. You're up next."

Jace stepped up to the altar and place his hand upon the stone. The altar's voice rang out, "Jace Sterling, your affinity lies in duplication magic, the ability to create copies of yourself. Your maximum tier is 4, and your current tier is 6."

Jace grinned, clearly unsurprised by the revelation. He stepped back, making room for the next student to approach the altar.

"Lyra Voidwalker, you're next," said Vance.

As she placed her hand upon the stone, the altar spoke once more, "Lyra Voidwalker, your affinities lie in spatiomancy and chronomancy, the manipulation of space and time. Your maximum tier is 7, and your current tier is 9." Lyra nodded, a satisfied smile playing across her lips.

Next, it was Rowan's turn. The broad-shouldered young man stepped forward, his expression stoic as he placed his hand upon the altar. "Rowan Summers, your affinity is summoning. Your maximum tier is 6, and your current tier is 8." Rowan simply nodded, his face betraying no hint of surprise or emotion.

Finally, Nadia approached the altar, her dark eyes gleaming with anticipation. As she placed her hand upon the stone, the altar's voice echoed through the room, "Nadia Sinclair, your affinity is lumomancy, the manipulation of light. Your maximum tier is 5, and your current tier is 7." Nadia's expression remained unchanged.

As the assessments concluded, Professor Vance stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over the assembled students. "Well done, all of you. It seems we have a particularly talented group this year, with a wide range of affinities and impressive current tiers."

This group had some particularly high max tiers, current tiers, and unique affinities. For most people, their maximum tier ranged from 8 to 10. This was due to the nature of how tiers worked.

In the beginning there were only 5 tiers. Tier 1 was what tier 6 is now and tier 5 was what tier 10 is now. A human couldn't be born with a tier higher than tier 1 ( tier 6 now).

Everyone's max tier ranged from tier 1 (tier 6 now) to tier 5 (tier 10 now). There were no exceptions. Most people ranged from max tier 3 (tier 8 now) to max tier 5 (tier 10 now).

Being born as a tier 1 or 2 (6 or 7 now) was a rarity, a privilege, and an honor. People born with max tiers of 1 or 2 were celebrated throughout Eldoria as rare talents and magical geniuses.

Then mana core fusion was invented. Shortly after mana core fusion was introduced, the tier system slowly expanded into what it is today. Tier 1 eventually became tier 6 and tier 5 eventually became tier 10.

Mana core fusion is a process where a person's mana core is fused with the mana core of another person. This required surgery, a lot of rare and expensive components like mana crystals, various herbs and extracts, health potions or a healer, and sometimes a magic item or magic circle depending on how the surgery went.

It also required a spare mana crystal, which people can't really give freely unless they have passed on. This is why mana core fusion was usually a generational thing. Grandparents and great grandparents would often pass down their mana cores to their grand children and great grand children, respectively.

Mana core fusion pushed someone's maximum tier up. The way the tiers work is every successive tier is roughly twice as strong as the previous tier. So tier 9 is twice as strong and has twice the mana capacity of tier 10 and so on.

This is how the tiers slowly expanded. When tier 1's (6 now) started fusing with other tier 1 cores, the maximum possible tier went up one, then when the new tier 1's (5 now) started fusing with other tier 1 cores (5 now), it went up again and so forth.

Eventually, there came a cap beyond which humans didn't seem to be able to fuse their cores any higher, but that could just be a resource thing. It took generations on generations on generations of core fusing to reach the current tier 1.

No one had risen above it, but it was entirely possible someone could. Tier 1's just didn't fuse with other tier 1's. This was because of the practice of keeping fusions within families.

Families didn't give out their mana cores to other families. It just wasn't done. The families that were rich enough to afford core fusion in the first place, were rich for a reason. They didn't share their resources. They hoarded them.

And this is what led to the currently massive disparity of power between rich families and poor families. The maximum tiers of rich families ranged between tiers 1 and 5, while the max tiers of poor families ranged between 8 and 10. 6's and 7's were rare.

This is is what led Professor Vance to make the comment that he did. Rowan with his max tier of 6 and Lyra with her max tier of 7 were incredibly rare talents.

Next, is the uniqueness of their affinities. The most common affinities were the big four. These were fire, water, air, and earth. Electricity popped up every so often, but those 4 elements were by far the most common.

Silas watched his fellow students, noting their reactions to their affinities and tiers. It was clear that they had all trained extensively to reach their current tiers. His challenges were of a different nature entirely.

He spent nearly his entire life never being able to master a single spell due to his disability. It was only now with the system created by his mother, he would be able to progress his skills beyond that of tier 10.

Professor Vance led the group out of the assessment chamber and into a sprawling, obstacle-filled training ground. The course stretched before them, a daunting gauntlet of towering walls, treacherous pits, and maze-like corridors. The air crackled with tension as the students eyed the challenges ahead.

Professor Vance's voice cut through the air, "Begin!"