All Elemental Affinity

Wu Bao went back to class. The teacher scolded him for being late and handed him a piece of paper.

"The test has already begun. Even though you're late, you won't get extra time."

'Ooh, he's late. Now that meathead will get an even worse score,' some of the students thought inwardly.

Wu Bao took the paper and sat down right away.

Of course the teacher knew he was in the nurse's office. That was just the kind of treatment Wu Bao received. Still, it didn't matter.

The teacher gawked at the speed of Wu Bao's hands flying across the page.

Wu Bao started the test late, but finished earlier than everyone else. He rose from his seat and handed his test to the teacher. He was certain he had answered everything correctly. With that, he was fairly confident of placing in the top ten.

"Teacher, since I'm done, may I leave early?"

"No. Sit back down."

"Yes, teacher."

Wu Bao sat back down and waited with nothing else to do.

Soon, the second student to finish got up and turned in her test.

"Teacher, I have finished. I don't think I missed anything, so thank you for your instruction."

"Good job, Min Ye. Since you are always such an attentive student, you may leave early."

"Thank you! I want to get to the next class early because Mr. Jong is testing our natural affinities today."

"Mr. Jong is your Spiritual Combat Education instructor, yes? I haven't met him yet."

"He's very nice. I can introduce you later! He would surely wish to meet an esteemed person such as yourself."

"I'm very grateful to you Min Ye. Good luck."

Wu Bao watched as Min Ye waved and left the room. However, he himself didn't stand up. It was clear what was going on. He stayed seated and waited for everyone else to finish their tests first. Finally, he left the room.

The next class was Spiritual Combat Education. It was very similar to primary school's Physical Education, except that now they were trained to use their spiritual power as well.

"Today we are doing an elemental affinity test," Mr. Jong announced.

A student raised their hand. "But sir, I already know my affinity because of my base seal. It's water."

"Yeah. Mine is earth."

"Haha. My base seal is dual elemental. I have an affinity for fire and air."

Mr. Jong held up a hand. "Yes, yes. Your seal determines what elements you have access to, but what I am about to teach you is your natural affinity. The affinities you already know are those associated with your seal, not your body.

"When you are born, you naturally have your own affinities, maybe only one or two. Thankfully, we can expand our affinities using a seal. Even so, it is helpful to know your natural affinity because it is easier for you to use. It might come in handy for when you pick your next seal."

"Oh. I see Mr. Jong!"

"So how do we test our natural affinity?"

"It's actually very similar to how we would test a seal's affinity," Mr. Jong directed their attention to a crystal ball on stage. "This is a container filled with spiritual energy of all the different elements. When you are called up, just place your hand on the sphere and absorb the energy inside. If you have an affinity, that element will be absorbed and the machine will be able to tell."

The students surged forward as they wanted to test their affinities.

The first student to step up was a boy named Tang Jia Lu. In fact, this was the very same boy that bullied Wu Bao every day.

"Place your hand on the measuring device," Mr. Jong said.

Tang Jia Lu did as instructed and closed his eyes to concentrate on absorbing the spiritual energy.

On the inside of the crystal ball, there were several swirling lights for each element. Suddenly, the orange light for fire got slightly dimmer. It was incredibly subtle, but the machine buzzed and spit out a result.

"That's enough. You have an affinity for fire."

Tang Jia Lu took his hand off the ball and blinked. "Sir. Is that it? What about the lightning element? That is the element of my base seal and my family's specialty. It is the element I've trained since I was born!"

"I'm sorry. Your natural affinity is for the fire element, but that is fine since you have a good base seal. However, perhaps in the future you should consider fire-type seals. You would progress quicker and soon be able to master-"

"No! There must be a mistake! I refuse to believe that I don't have an affinity for the lightning element. I will try again!"

Tang Jia Lu tried to put his hands back on the crystal ball. Mr. Jong frowned and his form suddenly blurred.

"This machine is too expensive for you to hog it all to yourself. Get off the stage and learn some humility." Then he slapped Tang Jia Lu who went flying off the stage and out of the gymnasium door. Mr. Jong smiled and turned to the rest of the class, who gulped at the casual show of power. "Who's next?" he asked.

The class had their natural affinities tested one by one. Some students had affinities that completely contrasted their seal's affinities. This would allow them to cover their weaknesses in the future. Others had the same affinities as their base seal. Min Ye, one of the most talented people in the school, had a natural affinity for water and ice which perfectly matched her base seal's affinities for water and ice. People like this could specialize and have more power.

Some time during all this, Tang Jia Lu walked back in with a red mark on his face and his pride slightly damaged.

Despite all the people being tested, the elements inside the measuring device only dimmed a little.

Finally, Wu Bao was the last one who hadn't gone.

"Bahaha. That cripple couldn't possibly have an affinity, he has no spiritual power."

"Mr. Jong shouldn't waste his time on him."

"Let's pack up early and play a game of powered basketball!"

"Now, wait just a minute," Mr. Jong said loudly. "Wu Bao may not have any spiritual energy, but he could still have an affinity. Everyone else already tested, so it's only fair. Come on up."

"Eh? Why is Mr. Jong testing that trash?"

"I don't know. Maybe he wants to humiliate him and show us what bad luck really looks like."

Wu Bao walked onto the stage and looked at the crystal ball. He raised an eyebrow at Mr. Jong.

"Well… Go ahead." Mr. Jong suddenly had a malicious smile on his face. He really was trying to humiliate him.

Wu Bao sighed as he resolved himself to his fate. He placed his hand on the measuring device and closed his eyes.

Swirling storms of energy appeared inside his mind.

A great waterfall crashed and ran endlessly. An enormous fire roared. A vortex of destructive air swirled. A great body of rock and soil exuded a pressure full of ancientness as it rotated. Lightning crackled and threatened to split everything in existence. Wu Bao looked with astonishment as snow storms, poisonous clouds, leafy foliage, a torrent of metal swords, and hundreds of other elements that he couldn't recognize, were arrayed before him.

'What do I do now?' he wondered. 'Do I just take whichever one comes toward me?'

Wu Bao moved his consciousness toward the lightning element to see what would happen.

The vortex of lightning energy started to scream, as if in joy. Just as he was about to reach toward it, the other elements started to move on their own and surround Wu Bao, as if in jealousy. Soon all the elements, every single one, were coming toward him from every direction.

Suddenly, a pair of eyes opened in the black space. They were red and oppressive, overshadowing everything that was happening.

The first thing to come to Wu Bao's mind was that a dragon was looking down on him.

["No matter how much talent you have, I will suppress it, just as I was designed to do."]

In the black space an even blacker abyss suddenly appeared. Illusory chains shot out and locked around all the elements before Wu Bao could say anything.

Wu Bao opened his eyes back in the gymnasium.

"That's enough… WHAT!"

Mr. Jong pushed him aside as he stared into the measuring device.

All the elements were gone.

"What did you do?" Mr. Jong said before slapping Wu Bao across the face.

He was sent flying out the gymnasium door in a similar manner to Tang Jia Lu. Of course, Wu Bao didn't have any spiritual energy, so he couldn't protect himself and immediately broke something, preventing him from standing up.

"Ah, he touched it for barely a second and it broke."

"Look, all the elements are gone! They must have escaped from it."

"The school must've spent a fortune on that. How will the trash repay them?"

"Where is he? Get him back here to explain what he did!" Mr. Jong said.

Someone looked out the door and saw Wu Bao on the ground. "Mr. Jong, he's sleeping outside."

Mr. Jong roared, "Such insolence! I'm calling the headmaster!"