Affinity

The next scene showed a woman with short red hair running across a battlefield. She had two magical guns, one in each hand, and she wreaked havoc wherever she went, decimating enemy troops left and right. Sometimes, some spells managed to find target on her, but her amulet shone in a blue light, protecting her from any damage. It was clear that the sole woman would be the responsible for the defeat of the whole army.

That was until I looked up. Casting a growing shadow on the ground, a hummongous mass of rock was falling straight into the battlefield. Everyone aroud me noticed it too, and the war came to a standstill. The red-haired yelled in desperation as the meteor-like object fell onto their heads.

"Crazy bastard! He's willing to destroy the whole moo-" 

*BOO-*

I fell to the ground. I saw a tatami floor mat, but I couldn't pay attention to what was happening. When I came back to, I was already somewhere else.

...

The test took me through a plethora of different scenes, one scarier than the other.

The only thing in common among them was that it involved two crazy strong parties, and that one of them was crushed mercilessly by the other.

By the time it was over, I had a stark headache, and was gasping for air while clutching my chest.

I slowly left the room, and I struggled to bring myself back to reality. This last test was the toughest mentally, it somehow drained me dry. I decided to take a break and eat something at the cafeteria.

I chatted with my friends for a while. I really wanted to share what I had seen in that test, but I recalled what the slender girl had told me, to not cause a ruckus. I might be misinterpreting her, but I decided not to tell them about it. Except for this one test, my experience so far had gone similarly to theirs, after all.

...

The rest of my Appraisal went well. When the afternoon of the last day came, I took the transport back home, fully intending to sleep for the rest of the day.

And that's exactly what I did.

...

Back to the present.

That is how my first two Appraisals went like. 

Right, before I forget (not like I could, really). There is just one more important thing I wanted to let you know at this moment, so I'll try to be brief.

...

Yesterday morning, 21st of May.

Today was a Saturday, like every 21st days of the month. Me and my parents would probably go out for dinner since today is my anniversary, and I could look forward to a nice gift from them. Luckily for me, they weren't the type to organize big parties or anything, so it would be the dinner and the gift.

Mom and dad went away for some errand, and I waited for them to come back in my room. We would probably have homemade lunch today.

I looked over to my desk, where a 200-pages report on my Second Appraisal laid open. Everyone was telling I had to read it, and that it was important to know myself better, but since the public announcement of the results came in (I believe it was the week after the Second Appraisal), I didn't feel like reading it much.

It was the first time I got so disappointed over something in my life. I don't even want to write it down... I have no outstanding affinities. There is still hope, though. If I'm not mistaken, there is one more Appraisal later during education, and it would be my last chance at receiving a nice affinity.

I don't really know what I'd like, to be fair, but Accountant and Guitarrist were considered common-grade affinities to have. My only uncommon affinity was Astronomer, but it barely made to my top 3. It seems I'm good with numbers, and I have good hand dexterity (I don't know what it takes to be a good Astronomer). I did have affinities for a lot of other things, though, unlike my coleagues, who usually had a select few.

But what use were they, when the good money-making ones weren't in the list? There were some basic STEM stuff, some social studies like Philosophy and Language, but nothing truly special.

I got in a bad mood so early in the day, what a bummer...

Suddenly, my phone rang.

"Hello?" I answered.

[Is this Leaf?] An unmelodious voice came out, not one I recognized.

"Yeah, who's asking?"

[I'm Jacob Wynter, from the Institution of Developed Education. Can I talk to you for a sec'?]

"Oh, uhh, yeah, sure."

[Cool, I'm sitting in a cafe near you house, can you meet me here?]

"Right now?" That was a surprise. "I can. Just send me the address, I'll be there in a few minutes."

[Alright, see you soon.]

...

As I was getting there, I asked him if he was wearing the same suit as the other staff that I saw during the Appraisal, to which he just sent a selfie of his upper body. He was a younger man than he sounded on the phone, barely thirty years-old (at least he looked to me), and he had a disheveled, but short dark brown beard. His hair was similarly short, and somewhat wavy. He wore something close to a formal shirt, clearly of high quality, some sort of silk, and of a whitish-pink color.

I saw him as soon as I entered the cafe. He sat in a table on the far side, partially obscured by the arrangement of potted plants and quaint décor that separated it from the other tables. The man observed the other customers with calm and confidence, that in turn just made me even more nervous.

When I reached an appropriate distance, he looked at me and smiled.

"Thank you for accepting my sudden invitation on a Saturday morning." He said as he stood up. "Especially since it's your birthday."

Apparently, he knew everything about me.

I shook his hand and responded: "Not a problem at all, Mr Jacob."

The man smiled even more, content, and signaled for me to take a seat.

"Please."

"Thank you."

"Would you like something to drink?"

"I'll have lunch with my parents in a bit, so I'm good."

"I see. It's rude to use the place without ordering anything, so I'll just order something for me."

Jacob ordered a coffee and a slice of tart. He then looked at me.

"Alright. You are probably wondering why I invited you to chat in a cafe, right?"

I was currently thinking that he didn't congratulate me at all, which was a bit unusual, but I just nodded. 

He briefly glanced at the bar and said:

"Actually, I am here to bring you a very good piece of news. You might even consider it a present, from us at the Institution, to you."

I raised a brow and waited for the man to continue. Jacob gave a quirky smirk and dropped a bomb...