"I only know that there are nine ranks and I also know a little bit about the difference between Warrior and Mage," Alex answered with an unsure tone.
The grand duke nodded. "I will explain it then. The difference between Warrior and Mage is simply in the way they utilize their strength. Warriors use their weapons and attack their opponents in close combat while Mages use their magic as their weapons.
"As for me who has a job as a Magic Warrior, it's the combination of Warrior and Mage. I am a warrior who has wind affinity and I am fighting with both weapon and magic. That's why I am a Magic Warrior and it also applies to others who have the same condition.
"There is an exception to this classification. In the Holy Kingdom, there is a more specific Magic Warrior called Paladin. It only appears when someone is a warrior with light affinity."
Alex pondered for a moment and asked. "What is Element Affinity?"
"Each person has an element from birth, but not everyone can awaken it. Even I only managed to awaken my element when I was twelve years old. If not, I might already become a rank 2 mage." This time, Alicia was the one answering his question.
The grand duke nodded in agreement and added. "The same applies to the Magic Warrior. Not everyone who can awaken their elements and use weapons would be able to be a Magic Warrior. After all, you need to know how to fight with weapons while maintaining the magic. This is the hardest part and the reason why most people will choose to stay only as a mage or a warrior."
The look on his face made Alex's expression soften. Raymond wanted to boast about his achievement, but the way he did it was hilarious. Everyone chuckled while Raymond rolled his eyes.
"Then how about the Rank itself?" Alex couldn't hold his curiosity and ask.
"You already know about the nine ranks, right? There is a special thing when you reach rank 4 and rank 7. It's a big qualitative leap. For example, if you reach rank 4, you can start manipulating your element. It's not exactly like a magic thrower, but you can literally control it.
"After reaching rank 7, you can start manipulating your elements even further. You can start controlling the elements not only in your body but also the elements around you. That's why many people with rank 7 can fly." Raymond explained.
Alex nodded, understanding the explanation.
"Have you awakened your element?" Raymond asked.
"How to know if I have awakened it or not?" Alex asked.
"It's easy to check it. Usually, you can test it in the Adventurer Guild. They have a small ball crystal called Mana Crystal. If the Mana Crystal shines, it means that you have awakened your element."
"I… will try to check it in the Adventurer Guild soon." Alex nodded.
"How about you check now? We have Mana Crystal in the house." Raymond suggested, thinking he could treat this as compensation for helping Alicia.
"Can I do that?" Alex was a bit unsure.
"It's fine. Nobles usually have one standby in their house all the time." He shrugged.
"I want to see it too." Alicia raised her hand excitedly as she hoped Alex would have an Ice Element too. That way, she could teach Alex about magic and she thought he wouldn't be able to disobey her during the learning period.
"We will excuse ourselves then." The madam smiled while taking the other two daughters away. However, Mia didn't budge as she said, "I will stay."
This immediately piqued the interest of everyone in the room, even though the person in question was only curious about the man invited by her younger sister. After all, he was a year younger than her, but she felt like he was stronger than her. There was an indescribable pressure coming from Alex that piqued her interest.
Meanwhile, Raymond and Vera looked at Mia with dumbfounded expressions. This second daughter never had any interest in men since she was a child. Yet, the sudden appearance of Alex seemed to have changed it.
"Alright. You can watch it too." Raymond sighed. He didn't know whether Alex's appearance would change her or not, but it was better than nothing.
Seeing Raymond agree, Vera left the room with her eldest daughter who was stunned for a moment while the other four went to Raymond's study room.
Raymond quickly took out a round crystal from his drawer and placed it on his table. "This is a Mana Crystal. You just need to place your hand on the crystal, and it will do the rest."
'What is my element? Have I awakened it?' Alex was wondering in his mind as he stretched his hand toward the crystal without any expectation.
Alicia's eyes were glued on the crystal as she was hoping the crystal would shine in blue color. Unlike her, Mia simply watched from afar without any change in her expression.
The moment Alex's hand touched the crystal, it started to get dyed in red.
"This is Fire Elem… Wait!" Before Raymond finished, the crystal shone in glowing bright color, brightening the whole room. His heart skipped a beat because he would never expect this element would appear. "Pu-Pure Fire… Element!"
Looking at her father's expression, Alicia was puzzled. She thought, 'It's only a Fire Element. Why did he show such an exaggerated expression?'
She didn't hear a single word from her father, especially the 'Pure' word, because her mood plummeted when she saw Alex's element wasn't Ice Element.
Different from Alicia, Mia's eyes opened wide as her jaw dropped to the ground. She clearly knew the real element that Alex possessed.
"You have a Pure Fire Element!" Raymond grabbed Alex's shoulders. "A normal element would only dye the crystal with dull colors and won't glow. But the crystal would shine if it detected a Pure Element."
"Pure Fire Element? What is that?" Alex tilted his head in confusion.
"There were only two people who had Pure Element in our kingdom's history. One of them had ascended, and one of them was the founder of this kingdom, Acacia Kingdom. And you are the third one who possesses the element! Do you know how amazing it is?" Raymond shook his body in excitement.
Alex was still trying to understand his words before Raymond continued to talk. "Luckily, I offered you to check your element in this mansion. If you checked it in the Adventurer Guild, there would be a huge scene, and your name would be spread all over the world."
Alex tensed up when he heard that. It was the last thing he wanted because there was no telling what would happen if the Zircodina Kingdom knew about it.
"Then what should I do?", he then asked the grand duke.
"Your Element is the purest form of Fire Element called Pure Fire Element. In the legend, it has another name and people usually call it Absolute Element. Do you know what it means to be Absolute? Normal Fire won't be able to win against you. Do you know what this means? It means that you need to be careful and you have to hide your element for now." Raymond hurriedly explained.
"Umm… Yes. I think I understand what you're talking about." Alex looked down.
"Alexander. How about my daughters? Aren't they pretty? That's right. You have traveled for a few months with Alicia, right? How do you feel about her? Do you like her?" Raymond suddenly didn't care about his policy anymore. In fact, he thought it would be nice if Alicia stayed with him, realizing that his daughter seemed to have a certain degree of affection for him. It was two birds in one stone.
"What do you mean? Alicia and I are just a travel companion." Alex was still ignorant about it. On Earth, he never had a nice relationship, including his love life. Sandra did just break his heart but she also destroyed his entire self-esteem. Alex thought his life was over the moment she broke up with him.
That was why Alex unconsciously viewed everyone only as a friend and didn't want to step any further. He was afraid that Sandra's case would happen again.
He created a barrier in his heart to prevent him from being hurt. However, deep inside his heart, he also wanted to start trusting people again.
Different from him, Alicia was blushing as she covered her cheek with her hands. "Father! What are you talking about? I don't love him. He is only my travel companion."
"Yes, I know that." Raymond didn't buy it, especially with that face of her. He also noticed Alicia said 'love'. In other words, there was still a certain degree of like since love was supposed to be one step further than like.
Raymond shrugged. "Anyway, I will inform your uncle about this. And for Alex don't try to show your fire in front of a Fire Mage. Although it won't affect different elements too much, it would be visible in front of the Fire Element. So make sure to hide it from the time being."
"I understand." Alex nodded.
"Since Mia has Fire Element, how about you train the basics from her tomorrow?" Raymond glanced at Mia.
Mia nodded her head repeatedly with a tinge red appearing on her face. Whether it was excitement or another type of blush, no one paid attention to it anymore.
Looking at her sister and father, Alicia felt uneasy in her heart as she pouted. "I am going to rest."
Raymond looked at his daughter's action as if he had predicted this. If one paid attention to his mouth, there was a slight curve on it.
"Anyway, you can rest first. Mia, can I ask you a favor to bring him to his previous room? I am going to the castle after this." Raymond looked at Mia.
"I'll do that, father." Mia nodded and glanced at Alex.