No Affinity?

Fenrir opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted as a loud clap echoed through the hall, quieting the two groups.

A middle-aged man dressed in the same uniform as the Guild official stood behind the counter, and he regarded them with a cool gaze, "Hello, Cadets of the Heros Academy. My name is Trevor, and I will be overseeing your registration process before you are transported to the academy. Today, you will receive a Focus and be tested for your exact magical aptitude and magical affinities. I will clarify that everyone has an affinity, even if your sigil during the awakening ceremony did not display it. I will now have my colleagues call out groups of ten. When you hear your name, please follow them into the testing rooms."

"Oliver Sun"

"Alicia Highfal"

"Trent Albi."

Fenrir and Freya waited in silence as both groups grew smaller and smaller as names were called and people followed the Guild Officials into the Hall. It wasn't until the last twenty that their names were called.

"Freya McAliston."

"Fenrir Gray."

---

When Fenrir stepped up to the attendant who had called his name, she gave him a once over before turning around, "Follow."

Fenrir bristled internally at being ordered around, but he was content to simply glare at the woman's back as they walked down a long corridor until they reached a plain wooden door.

When the woman turned the doorknob, however, a magical sigil lit up across the wood, flashing a green light before it disappeared. The guild official walked into the room without preamble, and Fenrir was quick to follow her inside.

The room was a small bare cell decorated by a thick wooden desk with two chairs facing each other and a large uncut crystal sitting on a satin pillow.

"Please take a seat," The woman gestured to the chair across from her as she moved behind the table. Despite her asking this time and saying please, Fenrir could still feel disdain rolling off the woman.

Once again, Fenrir swallowed his rising anger and took the offered seat.

The woman then produced a clipboard from seemingly thin air with a small quill, "Please state your age and name."

"My name is Fenrir Gray, and I'm sixteen years old."

The official didn't react beyond writing something down on her clipboard, "Place both hands on the aptitude crystal and inject a thin stream of mana."

Moving the crystal closer to him, Fenrir did as instructed and placed his palms flat against the orb. It was cold to the touch, to the point where Fenrir could feel the frost creeping into his bones.

Focusing, Fenrir recalled the only lesson Mordecai had given him and Freya that evolved actual magic. Imagining a pool of glowing blue mana just below his sternum, Fenrir funneled a small trickle down his arms, out of his hands, and into the crystal orb.

After a short delay, the crystal began to warm and emit a strange, muted light that seemed to bleach the color of everything it touched.

"W-what-what are you doing!" The shrill scream of the attendant broke Fenrir's concentration, and the small stream of mana slipped out of his control, and the crystal flickered before becoming inert once more.

"W-what did you do!" The guild official asked again, clearly blaming Fenrir for something.

"I…imbued the crystal with my mana," Fenrir answered plainly.

The woman's face blanched, and she slowly started to shake her head back and forth, "T-that's n-not possible, y-you don't have an affinity!"

Then, before Fenrir could utter a sound, the guild official stood up and ran out of the room, which shut behind her with a heavy thunk.

---

In a circular room lit by glowing crystals that pulsed in synch, sending out waves of a dense blue mist, Mordecai floated in the air with his legs crossed and his eyes on a large silk pillow.

The serene moment was shattered as Mordecai's pocket watch began to vibrate. Not opening his eyes, Mordecai let out a very long and very tired sigh as he reached into his jacket and pulled out his watch, "I was promised ample recovery time Yerlo."

"I know, but there's a problem with a particular student's guild registration." The headmaster said his usual joking tone was completely absent.

Mordecai opened his eyes which shone like stars with an intense orange light, "What happened now?"

---

Fenrir was considering his chances of surviving whatever kind of ward was on the otherwise plain wooden door when the knob turned, and Mordecai strode into the room.

"Am I free?" Fenrir asked in a joking manner as Mordecai roughly grabbed the chair across him and sat down with an unamused grunt.

"You were never not free technically," Mordecai said as he fixed Fenrir with a blank stare, "Do you even understand what happened?"

Fenrir shrugged, "Something about me not having an affinity. Is it really that much of a big deal?"

"Very," Mordecai grumbled, his eyes shining brighter than normal, "You are the first person in history to be born without any affinity whatsoever."

Fenrir blinked as he took a moment to respond, "....Well, that's not good."

Mordecai let out a sigh as he fixed Fenrir with a calculating stare, "Perhaps, but even with my magical knowledge, I don't know for certain, and there are only a few people in the world that I would consider more knowledgeable than me when it comes to magic."

"So…what now?" Fenrir asked again, still working through his own thoughts at the revelation of him being a magical enigma.

Mordecai reached into his jacket and pulled out a simple black cube that Fenrir recognized instantly, "You go to the Academy pretend nothing went awry, and keep a low profile until me, the Guildmaster and the Headmaster can get a handle on this all. It won't be more than a week before word gets out or someone connects the dots, but hopefully, by then, we won't have rogue wizards trying to kidnap you and take you apart to see what makes you so special."

"I can't tell if you're joking or not," Fenrir replied as he took the small cube and injected a small stream of mana into the device.

The metallic cube hummed before it vanished, merging with Fenrir as a familiar screen popped up for his eyes only.

[Name: Fenrir Gray]

Level: 1

Class: Not Selected

Traits: None

AC: 8

[Skills]

None

[Spells]

None

[Abilities]

None

Willing the screen to disappear like he had been taught, Fenrir glanced back at Mordecai, who had already gotten out of his seat, "Come on, you need to get to the Academy. Orientation is about to start."

"Alright, how far is the walk?" Fenrir asked as he also rose from his chair.

Mordecai smirked as his Focus appeared above his open hand and shot out a bolt of blue light that splattered against the air, transforming into a portal, "All Guild-issued Foci are able to open portals to key locations. Now stop staring."

Mordecai walked through the portal, and Fenrir was quick behind him. The moment he stepped through the portal all of Fenrir's senses were muted as space and time bent, and his mind failed to make sense of it all.