Chapter 95: Affinity Test
Once Charles stepped into the tower, he glanced at the vast hall for a moment and soon zeroed his focus on his right side.
There, he saw a woman in a grey robe sat behind a wooden desk and appeared to be in the middle of writing something. She had silver hair, monolid blue eyes, fair skin, an oblong face, and seemed around 25 years old.
Although she didn't look like a receptionist, Charles felt that she might have some similar job. Nodding his head, he first adjusted his surcoat, held the black cane's handle tightly, and started walking with slow footsteps. In the meantime, the kids looked around curiously and soon followed him obediently.
Soon, he arrived in front of the wooden desk, cleared his throat, and asked in a polite voice.
"Little girl, can I have a minute?"
Upon hearing his old voice, the silver-haired girl looked up with a surprised face and soon nodded her head.
"Please have a seat, sir." She said, and soon her charming blue eyes moved towards the four kids. In a moment, she made a possible guess and asked in a curious tone.
"Are you here to take the affinity test?"
Meanwhile, Charles pulled over the wooden chair, held the cane's handle tightly, and sat on the chair with much difficulty.
"Yes. These kids are my disciples." He said in an affirmative tone.
"Disciple?" The silver-haired woman wore a surprised look as she placed the quill on the table and soon raised her eyebrows in suspicion. In this magic world, only a handful of mystics would take some slum kids as their disciples, and that was only after checking their affinities. But when she heard the old man's words, she was indeed stunned inside. At that moment, she also felt skeptical about his real identity.
Within a second, she turned her face to normal and asked in interest.
"What is your Class, sir?"
A chuckle leaked out of his mouth as he raised his hand and spoke.
"Call me Oswald, and I'm a roaming mage. As for my class, this should give you some answer, right?"
Saying so, he conjured a red flame on his palm, controlled it to the shape of a human, and then let it dance.
'Real Ember Wizards can do much better, so don't show off too much and expose your real Rank. Although you can fool Rank-3 mages with this trick, Rank-4 Mages are a troublesome bunch, and they always have some unique way to distinguish one's real Rank.' The Holem's Crown said in a cold tone.
'I know that.' Charles grumbled inwardly and silently observed the other party's facial expressions.
Upon seeing the dancing flame, shock and awe appeared on the woman's face as she instantly stood up from her seat and bowed her head.
"Forgive my rudeness, My Lord." She said in a very polite tone.
"Hoho, you didn't say anything rude, my child." Charles waved his hand and added with a smile.
"Sit down and tell me more about the procedure about how to take the affinity tests for my disciples."
Upon hearing his calm words, the silver-haired woman nodded her head and sat down with a hint of nervousness on her face.
"What's your name?" Charles took the initiative and asked.
"My name is Rebecca, and I'm a Rank-1 [Apprentice Wind Mage], My- Mr. Oswald." She paused for a moment and soon added while standing up from her seat.
"As for your previous question about where to do the affinity test, it is in the Alchemy Laboratory, so please let me guide you there."
'Alchemy Laboratory?' Charles raised his eyebrows and slowly stood up before nodding his head.
In the meantime, Rebecca first closed the ink bottle and then put the quill and the ink bottle in a separate box. After that, she closed the notebook which she was writing and led them deep into the hallway on their right side.
Along the way, Charles also saw some classrooms, spell practice rooms, reading rooms, and so on and felt that this whole layer looked more like a school.
"What are they teaching?" While they were walking, Noel overheard a teacher's lesson and asked in curiosity.
"The students are having a class about the Theories of Mana and Soul. It's is Professor Milton's class." Rebecca gave a short reply and soon moved towards the staircase that led to the second floor.
Due to Charles's slow walking, they took some time to reach the second floor and then went to the Alchemy Laboratory at the other corridor's other end.
A few minutes later, the group entered a gloomy hall filled with different kinds of equipment like alembics, retorts, strange and rare ingredients in vials and jars and soon turned their attention to a particular blue crystal.
'That's the Element affinity checker.' The Holem's Crown also said in his mind.
Nodding his head, Charles walked towards the blue crystal which was placed on the wooden table, and soon arrived in front of it.
"Rhea, you should go first." He said in a solemn tone.
"Yes, Teacher." Rhea nodded her head in enthusiasm, took three steps forward, and then placed her hand on the blue crystal.
A moment later, strange energy invaded her soul, and soon words appeared on the outer part of the crystal.
"Water affinity- Good, Wind affinity- Average."
A surprise expression appeared on Rebecca's face and soon turned into an understanding one. She felt that this old man might have checked their affinities using other means.
"Noel." Charles glanced at the chubby-faced kid and gestured him to step forward.
Nodding, Noel arrived in front of the crystal ball and placed his right hand on it.
"Hmm, Low metal affinity," Rebecca said in disappointment.
At that moment, the Holem's Crown spoke in his mind.
'Ask her if they have a Complete Affinity Checker.'
Charles squinted his eyes and soon nodded.
"Do you have a Complete Affinity Checker?" He asked in a solemn voice.
"Y-Yes, I will bring them in a minute, Mr. Oswald." Saying so, Rebecca hurriedly ran off to the right side storeroom and soon returned with another head-sized crystal in her hands.
But unlike the other one, this was red and had various runal letters inscribed all over it.
Rebecca then went near the wooden table and placed it beside the Elemental Affinity Checker.
"Try it in this one, kid," Charles said.
In the meantime, Noel took a deep breath to calm his mind and then placed his hand on the red-colored crystal.
A moment later, the red crystal shone brightly, and soon words appeared on the surface.
"Wow, his sword affinity is Genius level!" Shock appeared on Rebecca's face. Even though it was just a sword affinity, Genius level affinities were very rare in any kingdoms that caused her almost to lose her calm self.
Even Charles became surprised by this and soon nodded his head in understanding.
'The Blood Priest must have picked the best ones for his plans.' He thought to himself and soon waited for the other twos' result.
Titus had 'High' level affinity in shadow affinity, and Jessie had a 'High' level affinity for a unique affinity called 'Knowledge.'
Although they were just okay, Charles felt that if these two kids work harder, they might find a way to break through this affinity shackle in the future.
"Mr. Oswald, these three kids are more suitable to walk on the other class-gem paths."
Charles also thought of the same, so he simply nodded his head and posed a question while pointing his finger at Rhea.
"What about her?"
"She has 'Good' affinity in water elements, so she has the full qualification to become a mage of the Tower of Elements." She paused for a moment before looking around and then continued with a suppressing voice.
"But to get the class gems for free, she needs to sign the contracts and become a member of Moon Church or Amber Church. I would suggest buying the class gem with your own money and let her become a non-contracted mage."