Before joining an official academy, every child was compulsorily tested to determine their affinity and type of training suited for them.
It was also imperative for them to join formal training post affinity testing, especially if they had great potential.
With the human race on the brink of extension, this compulsory training and the enlistment which followed were unfortunately no longer optional, mainly to ensure sufficient combat experts among the human race.
Different academic institutions were set up in different parts of the human civilization, to provide children with all different affinities sufficient training and tutoring.
Eluraa's tamed panther didn't escape the expert's eyes and he had recommended her parents to join her in the academy.
It would be a shame to let such a raw natural talent go to waste.
So, Eluraa's parents dutifully took her to the testing center in the capital city the next day.
They didn't want to leave her alone in the capital city, without even confirming that their child would be accepted to the academy.
The trio entered the huge hall of the testing room and Eluraa's mom and dad waited for her outside.
It was a simple and clean building without much adornment. Compared to the other adjacent buildings, this place wasn't even crowded.
Eluraa's mom kissed her cheeks and gave her a thumbs up.
Eluraa smiled helplessly and walked in. Her mom had always been like this since she could remember.
For some reason, she was convinced that her child was special from the minute she had laid eyes on her.
Eluraa entered the affinity stone testing arena by herself.
A guard informed her that the tester was currently on his tea break, and asked her to sit by the side bench and wait for a few minutes.
Though testing the natural mana affinity would essentially determine her fate in this world, Eluraa was not in the least nervous about it.
Till now, she didn't have any particular problem with cultivation, but these people apparently had some special way of quantifying it!
So she hurriedly gathered some information from the inn folk about the current energy grading system.
It looked like as long as she could get a blue or higher affinity, she should be able to get by.
So she just sat there cooly taking in the ambiance.
Though, as more time ticked by, something else popped up in her previously calm and serene mind.
If she recollected correctly, the inn lady mentioned something about red or black grade being the highest affinity and then told her not to bother with it.
It didn't matter much if she ended up with a low-grade affinity, but what if she had the highest affinity possible?
Wouldn't that immediately result in irreparable chaos?
Anything in excess always, and without fail triggered people's jealously and attracted unwanted negative attention, even resulting in catastrophic disasters.
This was a lesson that Eluraa had painfully suffered and learned.
If humans saw something special, they either wanted to dominate it or destroy it. This was the norm.
Sigh... This is going to be a troublesome day.
Eluraa racked her brain thinking about what to do with her situation.
She looked around and it seemed like the tester was going to take his own sweet time for the tea break.
Eluraa wondered if she could potentially use this time to her advantage.
She wandered around the testing area and soon found the main testing room.
Eluraa went straight ahead and stood near the affinity crystal.
The crystal was a strong magical object, that top red affinity experts and scientists created together.
As such, there was nobody guarding it.
It would be impossible for anyone to even touch the crystal for more than ten mins.
One minute was the required testing time.
Since she was alone right now, Eluraa decided to quickly test herself first before anybody walked in.
If she knew the result beforehand, she could then prepare for the consequences accordingly.
She swiftly placed her hands on the crystal and waited for the one-minute time point.
But just after 30 seconds...
Crack!
A small crevice appeared on the side of the affinity crystal accompanied by a loud noise.
Thankfully the testing room was soundproof and nobody heard anything.
It was only for a few seconds but the whole crystal was shimmering with a bright white glow.
It even almost looked translucent, a shade above white.
And then the crystal returned to its previous neutral grey color.
Eluraa at first was extremely overjoyed.
This meant she had an unknown grade of mana affinity! Just how fast would her cultivation progress with an affinity like this!
But, the joy was soon followed by extreme panic and anxiety.
Because, this result, in fact, did not bode well for her.
Damn it!
She did not want to stand out in any way. Not right now. She just wanted to blend in and be invisible.
She was so weak and vulnerable like a helpless little chick. She could not afford to stand out just yet.
Her heart was thumping loudly and her mind raced to find a solution.
Anything? What should I do?
She then double-checked if the crack was still visible.
Forget about affinity testing, who knows how much this thing costs.
It must surely be insanely expensive. She didn't want her parents to be held responsible for her breaking this up.
Luckily for her, the crack wasn't all that visible.
After checking it a couple more times and confirming that the crystal still looked intact, Eluraa then proceeded to check the functionality of the crystal.
After all, there was a loud sound.
That usually meant something was broken.
Calming herself down, she placed her hands gently on the affinity crystal as if it was made of dust, and patiently waited for the result.
30 secs later...
Yellow!
Success! Eluraa heaved a huge sigh of relief and tried it a couple more times.
Yellow, yellow and again yellow!
Eluraa was floating on the clouds! Her insane affinity was completely masked, and the crystal seemed to function despite the crack.
Finally, some of that luck, which she was due for!
Well, it might give out some inaccurate affinities for future students...
But, she seemed to have conveniently forgotten about that. After all, every once in a while, one needed to have a thick skin.
"Ahem ahem".
Amidst her mini-celebration, Eluraa heard someone clear his throat loudly and immediately turned around.
"Having fun, are we?" a somber-looking middle-aged man asked her sternly.
He looked like he was going to skin her alive and Eluraa just stood there rooted to the spot.