The Affinity Crystal!
{North Entrance, Capital city of Efthimia, Kingdom of Solovok}
...
'Is that a fucking tablet?' I thought as I stared at the familiar-looking piece of technology. I, as Emilios Charis, had no recollection of ever owning one. I had tapped my pants pocket earlier out of habit to confirm that there was nothing there. All I had in my position was a backpack that contained a spare pair of clothes and quite a handful of money to take care of any lodging needs.
"You noticed it too, huh? I'm so excited to get one. I have heard rumors about the whole of Efthimia being connected to a massive network that allows anyone who can afford the Cubix to talk to anyone within the city in real-time," Alex said as his gaze was locked onto the handheld device the gate guard was tapping on.
"Just 8, huh? Alright, I have logged their names." The guard said to our driver before he turned to us. He held up the Cubix, and after pointing it in our direction for a bit, he spoke, "Every one of you has gotten a temporary pass with your mana signature recorded. Because of the admission procedures, you are given a day of free entry into the city- if you don't get admitted into the academy, you will need to come back to pay the entrance fee or leave the city. Any delays in following these instructions would result in heavy punishment from 30-90 days in the mine to imprisonment for years."
"Any questions?" the guard asked, but before he received any answers, he nodded to the wizard in charge of our cart, and the cart began moving.
'Kind of like the immigration laws, though they were a lot less strict in the entry requirements... then again, having magic itself was pretty impressive in this world.' I thought before I turned to Alex and asked, "What's this about the cubix? Why haven't I heard about it?"
'I had no memories about the device, and if it functioned anything like the one in my previous life, then that thing would soon become inseparable from society.'
"Why would you? You were almost inseparable from your books about magic. Don't worry. With me here, I'll teach you all about it!" Alex grinned as he gave me an excited smile and a thumbs up.
"Have you ever used one?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"...Ehhh, no? But I saw a merchant show it to me. It operates on mana, so I couldn't use it back then. But I'm going to buy one soon. I have been saving my pocket money for a few months, and I'll continue to save for a few more months, and I'll have enough." He grinned before going into a daydream about the device.
My focus shifted from Alex's ramblings to the bustling city. The capital city reminded me of some of the metropolises. The buildings were sleek and made of dark marble. The color was a lot different than what I remember seeing from far away. While green was still the primary color, instead of bright, vibrant green, it was a darker shade, almost bordering on black.
The road we took was lined up with shops that had plenty of people going in and out. After that, I focused on what I could tell, which was a wide market for a lot of stuff related to fantasy elements. The most crowded shops were those related to the most famous job in the world, beast hunting.
The world outside the human settlements was not safe. Traveling by land was dangerous outside of the roads managed by the kingdom. While sightings of dragons were still the stuff of legends, their existence has been recorded in history.
Because of all the books my predecessor had read, I had a good idea of the amount of danger the world was in. What Alex called magic books were more about magical histories and knowledge of the world. My musings were cut short as we arrived in front of a building that looked so much different than the rest.
Its white-brownish marble stood out like a sore thumb in between the city. My eyes traveled over to the castle-like structure before my eyes landed on one of the most beautiful women I had ever laid my eyes on standing behind the gate.
Her skin fair, her blond locks were tied together into a ponytail with a piece of white cloth. Still, bangs framed her slightly chubby face, and her blue eyes had a bored look on them as she stared at the book in her hand. Her eyes quickly looked at our cart and scanned the driver.
"You are late, Fenrir. The Custodians are not happy with the delay, especially since you were supposed to have the shortest path and start the ceremony..." She spoke, and my eyes moved upwards, remembering her name.
...
[Agathi Koralia]
[Tier-1 Wind Mage]
[9]
...
'That's a pretty name, even though it reminds me of a certain author from back home,' I thought, waiting for the now-identified Fenrir to reply.
"There were some complications," Fenrir shrugged. He handed Agathi another Cubix and moved on past her into the small castle.
Agathi sighed before she looked at us, still sitting in the cart waiting for her. A smile lit up her stoic face. It looked quite genuine, but I wasn't sure.
"Hello, everyone, please come down from the cart..." She waited for that statement to sink in. I was the first one to move. The cart was a little too cramped up for my taste.
"...Everyone of you has either gotten tested or talked to our satellite branches spread across the kingdom. While they do test you for your affinities, you only get tested by an inferior-grade affinity stone, so all of you get clubbed together. What are we going to do today before you walk through the portal to the academy? We are going to use a better Affinity stone to sort you into different groups, and you will get different priorities based on your affinity." She finished the dialogue before she began tapping on the Cubix. Her eyes roamed across the pages before her gaze locked onto something, and then she sighed.
"Emilios Charis?" She asked, prompting me to look at her with widened eyes before I raised my hand.
'Was this even the correct gesture in this world...' I thought, but it worked as her eyes scanned my face for a moment.
"You said you have a Tier-3 Earth affinity?" She asked.
I nodded to her question, and after a moment of contemplation, she smiled at me and nodded; I was a little puzzled by her behavior, but then she went back to her list. Everyone, along with me, stood still for a moment with nervous expressions, waiting for judgment.
While we waited, I studied the beauty in front of me further. According to my memories, most of the women in this world were better-looking. '...maybe the effect of mana on the skin?' I thought as I looked at her.
Her body was something to die for. A perfect hourglass figure, if not a little top-heavy, stood out as a tight white dress framed it. White stockings and high-heeled boots completed the image as I looked at her milky white things for a bit. Her skin looked unnaturally smooth and gave me a feeling of alien beauty.
"Alright, it will have to do, I guess." She swiped onto the tablet and looked at us, "Follow me..."
We crossed the threshold of the property, and other than a tingling sensation for a little bit that went away too quickly for me to get a feel for it, nothing happened. I looked around as I walked, trying to figure out if something was wrong, but upon finding nothing, my eyes found their resting place on the swinging ass in front of me.
'Forget about being Top-heavy, she's perfect'
We walked through the big brown doors. The building's architecture was a mix of a castle from medieval times and a sleek architectural marvel from modern times. The walls were sleek. The whole building looked like it was made from a single slab of marble, but at the same time, the walls were carved with various intricate patterns.
We quickly arrived at a large hall. It looked like the only place in the room because there was only one door leading into the room if you ignored the glowing blue symbol on an archway located at the other end of the room. My eyes were instantly attracted to the glowing pattern. Even though we had traveled through a magical city, this was the first bit of actual magic I had seen.
'I can't seem to sense anything from it, but from the looks of it, this should be the magical portal, right?' I thought as I looked at it for a moment longer before Agathi once again called out to me.
"Emilios Charis... come on, let's see if you told the truth or not." She spoke as she motioned me to walk forward. I was a little nervous, but having gotten a little more comfortable with my new identity, I walked forward with a skipped step or hesitation.
Her eyes scanned my face for a bit before she waved her hand, and a small table rose from the ground. Three pyramid-like structures were on the table, and in between them was a pure white crystal that gleamed as light reflected from it.
"This is an affinity crystal. It will determine your starting pecking order in our society. Now place your hands over the crystal and lightly tap it," she instructed, getting a nod from me.
I stared at the white crystal for a moment before I lightly extended my index finger and tapped on it. For a brief moment, nothing happened, and as I turned to Agathi with a questioning look, a bright brown light illuminated the room from the corner of my eyes. I whipped my head back to look at the white crystal that now was dark brown as it shone brightly.
From the corner of my eyes, I saw a flicker of movement, and when I turned to look at her, she was already pointing the Cubix toward the crystal as she tapped away.
After a moment of waiting, she sighed and said, "Emilios Charis. Tier-3 Earth Affinity."
She looked a little disappointed for a moment before she turned to me, smiled, and spoke, "Congratulations and welcome to the Mage Academy. Learn well and grow strong." She then waved her hand, motioning me to get behind her.
As she was about to go back to the list, I asked, "What does the difference in Affinity grade mean? There is a lot of news that circulates about the academy in the kingdom, but the Mage academy is pretty secretive."
She looked proud for a moment before she looked at the eager look in the crowd's eyes and explained a little more, "I can't say much because not all of you will gain entry into the academy. However, your affinity for a certain element determines whether you will get accepted into the academy or not. There are few grades of affinity you need to be concerned about, the basic grade or Tier-0."
At least three of my cart-mates flinched slightly at that explanation, giving away their affinity, even without the crystal.
"Tier-0 grade affinity are not allowed to study at the Mage Academy. There are a few academies that train Tier-0 mages, but they are situated quite far from here. Tier-1 Grade affinity is the lowest amount accepted into the academy, and that too if you have a rare element. With the basic 5 at Tier-1, you would be quickly left behind. Tier-2 and Tier-3 will make up most of your classmates, with a few Tier-4 and a couple of Tier-5 in your entire batch." Agathi finished. She looked down at the list and continued.
"Avra Karolos..." She continued, and she looked like she was in a hurry after scaring everyone into inferiority.
'I wonder what her affinity grade is, and can we improve our affinity?' I thought.
"Avra Karolos. Tier-2 Fire Affinity." The brunette slumped in relief, which was quite amusing to see, considering she should know her affinity.
"Alex Polyxeni..." She muttered as she looked at a smiling Alex with raised eyebrows. Her expression did stand out as her stoic mask was broken for the second time.
'Don't tell me that Alex is somehow a bastard child of a famous family or something...'
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AN—In the next chapter, I will introduce a few more Characters and explore the world setting a bit more before we move on to settling into the academy, where classes and the story will begin.