Adrian

It seemed like a long time had passed since Leon passed out in the store, but today he finally regained consciousness. He felt weak all over, with no control over his limbs at all. It was as if a strange and powerful force had wrapped itself around him and was moving him around. He slowly tried to force open his eyes, but his vision was blurred. Despite that, he could see movement in front of him. When the vision finally started clearing up, he froze. Were they giants? Why was a giant lady cradling him in her arms like he was a baby?

Wait!

Leon looked down at his body and finally understood. It wasn't the lady who was a giant; it was him who had reverted back into a baby! Right now, he was being wrapped in a towel, in the arms of this lady who seemed to be a midwife who had just helped in his own birth!

This must be a dream! Leon didn't think twice before closing back his eyes, intending to leave this imaginary world. But who knew that this would cause the midwife to go into a panic state? The moment she saw him close his eyes, she hurriedly spanked him on his ass, trying to induce cries.

This woman! Leon was furious when he felt the spanks on his ass. It hurt as hell! As much as Leon tried to endure it, he was helpless against the savage onslaught of spankings. The midwife eased up immediately when she heard the loud wails from the new-born in her arms, letting out a light smile.

This humiliation! I will definitely repay this debt in the future!

Since he could not verbalise any words no matter how he tried, Leon was cursing in his heart. But he was soon brought before a frail looking lady. She looked breathless, and sweat dotted her forehead as if she had just greatly exerted herself. Despite that, she gazed warmly at Leon, a smile quickly spreading across her face. Just as she gazed at Leon, Leon similarly gazed at her, a strange and fuzzy feeling spreading out within him. He had already subconsciously acknowledged this woman as his new mother.

The following years passed uneventfully, Leon was still unable to fully control his body to do his bidding. All he could do was cry for help when he needed something, and his mother would run over religiously to tend to his needs. It was humiliating initially, but eventually even a proud person like Leon got used to relying on others for every need.

When he was able to speak and walk, Leon was quickly recognised as a genius.

Wait, not Leon. The name given to him by his new parents was Adrian.

Adrian far surpassed his peers in learning capabilities. Despite the language in this new world – known as the Human Tongue – being completely different from the languages he was familiar with, his brain capacity had not decreased in the least, allowing him to easily learn things that kids his age would take a long time to master. Moreover, non-language subjects like mathematics was basically the same everywhere. He was the subject of idolisation in the school that he attended, known as a one-in-a-million genius.

Adrian enjoyed basking in this atmosphere of worship, but he did not neglect to study more about this new world as well. Rather than school subjects, Adrian spent his time in the library reading more of books about general knowledge and the workings of this world. With that, he gained a fundamental knowledge about this new world that he ended up in, and what he learnt surprised him greatly.

This was a world of magic!

On top of that, humankind was not the only dominant race in this world. Multiple other races such as the dwarves and elves exist alongside humans, though the majority of each race generally stayed within their respective kingdoms. This excited Adrian to no end. It was magic! Who would not be tempted by the potential ability to cast magic?

However, Adrian quickly learnt that magic casters were not common among humans, and those with the aptitude to learn magic would attend magic academies for lessons. This ignited a new goal for Adrian – to be the strongest magic caster in the ranks of humankind! After all, only with strength can he obtain fame and influence! Should he achieve his goal, he could have everything he wanted, be it money, land, authority, or even women!

It was not difficult for him either. His parents had long decided to provide the best of everything for their genius of a son. And that was made easier by the fact that they were a wealthy family based in Eternal City, royal capital of the Noc Empire. So when he informed his parents about his wish to learn magic, his parents quickly brought him to the magic academy for a basic aptitude test. Fortunately for him, the results were satisfactory. With that, it was decided that he was to start taking magic lessons at the start of the following year.

He was 10 years old, an age unheard of for anyone to start taking magic lessons, but looking at his academic achievements, he was allowed to be the exception, going so far as to even enrolling him at the most prestigious magic academy in the empire – Gryphon Academy. Adrian was definitely conscious of how great his current achievements were, as he confidently strutted down the hallway of the magic academy. He was dressed in the apprentice robe that was given to him upon enrolment, a piece of paper in his hand detailing his class and instructions on where to report to on this first day of school.

He was not the first to arrive, and all eyes fell on him the moment he entered the reporting hall. He knew exactly why – he was the renowned genius who managed to enrol at the prestigious Gryphon Academy at an unprecedented age of ten. However, none of his pride showed on his youthful face as he smiled bashfully at the other students before quickly retreating to a corner. While his body was at the age of ten, he already had an adult's mind. Thus Adrian knew the importance of a reputation, and one's personality greatly influenced others' opinions of him.

"Hi there, are you Adrian?" a female student saw how nervous he looked and took the initiative to go talk to him.

Adrian blinked his big eyes a couple of times before nodding. He had practised this routine in front of a mirror countless times, just as he had practised how to act like a kid his age, and he found that this was the cutest expression he could make. His looks were in no way below average, in fact he was considered to be very good looking. Though considering how the girl in front of him was already 15 years old, she was not mesmerised by his good looks in any way. His cuteness, however, was her downfall.

"Don't be nervous!" the girl squatted down in front of him and smiled. "If you encounter any trouble, you can just approach any of the big brothers and sisters here! We will gladly help you along!"

More and more people came over to join in the conversation after the first girl took the initiative. Apparently most of them were curious about this young genius who enrolled along with them, and at the same time it was a great opportunity to get to know everyone else.

"Ahem!"

A loud voice from the front of the hall silenced the group of freshmen as everyone turned to look in that direction. An old bearded man was standing on a small elevated platform, holding a scroll in his hand. He was dressed in the iconic magician robe of the Gryphon Academy, a testament to his status as one of the instructors in the academy.

"I am glad I have your attention, my young ladies and gentlemen. Let me first introduce myself. I am Professor Xen, head of the School of Enchantments, and on behalf of all your professors here, I welcome you to Gryphon Academy!" his voice was strong and powerful, completely in contrast to his seemingly old age.

Short cheers sounded out from amongst the freshmen as they felt excitement broiling within them. They were about to start on the path of magic!

"Ahem!"

Professor Xen had to clear his throat loudly again as a signal for them to calm down, "Now then, I shall start testing your magic affinity to see what class of magic your body is the most attuned to. Bring in the Affinity Orb!"

As he shouted out, two young men dressed in apprentice robes walked into the room, sharing the weight of a table which they carried along. The table seemed to be nothing extraordinary, but on top of it sat a large and clear crystal ball which rested perfectly on a red cushion. The freshmen have naturally gone around asking about the academy before coming, and were not surprised as they watched the orb being brought in.

"You will now take turns coming up and place both palms onto the Affinity Orb, and it will reveal what class of magic your body is the most attuned to. After that, tell your name to your two seniors over there so they can properly record it down," Professor Xen instructed. "Who wants to go first?"

"I will!"

A young man volunteered as he walked up to the Affinity Orb. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath in front of the table out of nervousness. He knew that whatever results he obtained would follow him for life, possibly dictating the path that his magic will take. After a few breaths of time, he suddenly opened his eyes and reached out towards the Affinity Orb. The moment his palms came into contact with it, the Affinity Orb started to glow in a warm light.

Adrian widened his eyes as he concentrated on the Affinity Orb, just like the others in the hall. All of them were curious as to what result the young man would get.

It did not take long before the glow on the Affinity Orb faded away. In its place, a small flame appeared within the orb. It was obvious what the magical affinity the young man had just from looking at it – Fire! It was a class that was tyrannical and powerful, known as one of the most destructive elements!

"My name is Sam Richward!"

Obviously pleased with his result, the young man grinned as the joyfully reported his name to the two seniors who were waiting beside the orb.

Following his example, the freshmen went up one by one to get their affinity tested. Different classes were revealed – Fire, Water, Sealing, Earth, Wind, Speed, Life, and many more. Many of the freshmen were pleased with their results, but some were still a little disappointed.

Finally, it was Adrian's turn to step up.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, Adrian gently placed his palms onto the surface of the Affinity Orb. In that instant, he felt a spiritual energy from the Affinity Orb quickly surge through his body as the crystal ball glowed lightly. However, as that surge of energy neared his heart area, a sudden burst of energy erupted from within him, clashing with the energy from the Affinity Orb.

This is..?

Adrian didn't even have time to complete his thoughts as a sudden pain overcame his entire body. The pain resulting from a clash between the two powerful sources of energy within him was not something that a mere ten year old child could handle. He threw his head up and shouted in pain as the collision of energy continued within his body, shocking everyone present.

"What's wrong?" Professor Xen's eyes turned serious as soon as Adrian shouted, and he immediately flew down from the stage and landed beside Adrian.

The process should have been calm and simple, completely different from what was happening to the young boy before him. In fact, that had never been a case of a freshman suffering any sorts of side effects from getting their magic affinity tested by the Affinity Orb, not in the entire history of the Gryphon Academy!

But thinking further, there was another precedence here. There had never been a freshman who was only ten years old!

With that, Professor Xen started to worry if there was a bottom limit to the age of people who the Affinity Orb could test, just that they had never discovered this rule.

"Pull him away from the Affinity Orb!" a voice shouted out from among the freshmen.

Hearing that, the two senior apprentices hurried forward, ready to pull Adrian's hands away from the Affinity Orb.

"Stop!" Professor Xen hurriedly shouted out in response, causing the two to hesitate. "The energy within him seems to be running amok in his body, if you were to forcibly cut off the link to the Affinity Orb, we have no way of deducing what effect there would be on his body. Worst case scenario would be that upon losing an exit, the accumulated energy in him would self-detonate, destroying him from within!"

Hearing his words, a chill ran down the spines of the apprentices present. How did a simple magic affinity test turn out this way?

Of course, Professor Xen did not have absolute confidence in his conjecture. How could he? Never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined that deep within Adrian, there would be a source of energy so powerful that it would far surpass the greatest treasures he had ever seen.

Upon the probing by the energy from the Affinity Orb, deep within Adrian's inner soul, an object in the shape of a card had been awakened from its slumber after ten years of inactivity. Determining the foreign energy as an invasive attack, it automatically released large amounts of energy as a countermeasure, clashing with it to prevent it from entering further into Adrian's body. If Adrian had been trained in the magic arts, he would have been able to probe into his inner soul and recognise the card as one of those he drew from a small store back in his old world.

What felt like years to Adrian was actually over in a few seconds, after the energy from the Affinity Orb was forced out by the card. As his pain faded away along with the glow from the Affinity Orb, Adrian lost consciousness and slumped down, almost falling to his knees if not for Professor Xen grabbing him from the side and gently laying him down on the floor.

Just as everyone was pondering over what just happened, sparks started to form around the Affinity Orb, shocking everyone as they took a step back warily.

Affinity class – Lightning.

Moreover, it was even at an affinity level that resulted in the manifestation of the element outside of the Affinity Orb instead of the norm of being contained within it! This was something that was only theoretically possible for someone whose affinity in the class of magic arts was beyond extraordinary, never seen before even in proficient magic users!

Professor Xen stared at the Affinity Orb with his eyes wide open, before turning his eyes back to the small frame of the boy lying on the floor. It had been a long time since he felt exhilaration such as this! How he wish that the welcome ceremony could end right now, so that he could quickly see the faces on the rest of the professors as he tell them this piece of earth-shaking news!