***
"Everything going well, Tia dear?"
A warm, silky voice woke Tia from her meditative state, and she turned her attention toward the garden's stone entrance.
A woman well into her forties dressed in clean sun-yellow robes strolled in, approaching the young woman sitting on a flat rock in the middle of an artificial pond. Large colored carp lazily swam in the crystal-clear water, calming one's mind.
"Mother! How did you get away from your work this time?" Tia exclaimed, watching her mother meander through the garden, looking over flowers and fish.
"Don't nag me, young lady. You know very well I hate looking over those documents."
"Of course you do. You hate dealing with matters in person; why not hate anything that deals with nobles?" Tia asked, shaking her head. This mother of hers hated to do any job, which always led to situations like this.
Tia's mother waved her hand dismissively. "You still haven't answered my question, young lady."
"Sigh. Everything's going well. I'm just as strong as the others, if not stronger, and the people of Blackwater like me as well."
Her mother nodded energetically. "That's good, that's good. You must show those sticks-up-their-arses. After all, I must brag to those arrogant moms how perfect of a daughter I have."
Tia just smiled, but she must've let something slip on her face; her mother squinted before asking. "You're worried about Fedal, right?"
Tia looked at her mother, surprised.
"Oh, don't give me that look. I carried you for nine months, then raised you to become this fine woman you are now. I know you inside-out - better than you know yourself.
"Don't worry about that douche of the main bloodline. He has the majority of the family backing him, sure, but he's also short-sighted and dismissive of others. If you play your cards right, you just might become the next Heir."
"Would the main family allow us to become Heirs?" Tia asked. She moved to the edge of the pond and sat down, running her feet through the cold water.
Her mother snorted in response. "If those pure-bloods dare do something against you, they will have the entire family turn against them. What will happen next won't be pleasant."
"Yea."
"Oh, come on, girl, cheer up. You are famous and well-liked in our estate and are as powerful as others 2 years older than you. I am sure you will do fine, no, win this small competition."
The mother's words finally seemed to get to Tia as her expression lighted up, and she nodded.
"Come on," Her mother grabbed Tia by the arm and pulled her up. "It's already late, and we must not miss the talent measuring test."
Walking through the round stone entrance, Tia watched as citizens poured into the arena - the place where the testing would be held.
Her mom looked over and squeezed Tia's hand. "Don't worry about them. You won't even hear all those people."
"Will there be barriers?"
"Of course, silly. We can't risk candidates getting hurt. Plus, we made the barriers soundproof for candidates to feel more at ease."
Tia and her mother entered the arena through a different entrance and walked right into the hard-packed clay ground.
In the center, a wide but shallow pond was dug into the ground, and similarly colored carp were swimming lazily in the clear water.
In the middle of the pond, a large, clear crystal stood on a short gray plinth, causing the water to ripple underneath its pressure. Calm winds whirled about, rotating the crystal around its axis, casting rainbows across the water's surface.
Six round, flat stones surrounded the crystal. On five of these stones, young men and women sat down in meditation.
Whether by coincidence or not, every youth breathed in complete sync, creating a push-and-pull effect on the air and pond water, creating continuously rising and falling waves.
Besides the rotating crystal, a dark-robed man stood upright with the help of a gnarled and bent cane.
The man saw Tia approach and extended a withered arm, pointing at the last empty flat stone. "Come, child. Sit." Not only was his hand wrinkled and cracked like dry plaster, but the skin itself resembled an oak's bark, dark and inelastic.
Tia let out a tense sigh, reached the stone, and sat down. She didn't even blink when her feet stepped on the water as though it was solid ground.
The other contestants opened their eyes at the same time, training on Tia's lithe figure. If they were displeased with her being last, these youth hid their thoughts well.
Not that Tia cared much about their thoughts. What she did worry about was their talents and abilities.
Sitting in a meditative stance, Tia allowed herself to glance beyond the slightly opaque barrier that seemed to flow like dense fog to the people she could eventually rule.
Although she could not hear them, she could see their joyous expressions. Some screamed at the top of their lungs, others wagered with each other, their eyes not leaving the contestants even for a moment, while the rest seemed more interested in the events following this testing.
No matter what happens and whoever wins this round, a test with no actual dangers wouldn't excite a crowd for too long.
The following test would prove to be more exciting for a blood-thirsty crowd such as this, but that test was yet to start.
Pushing the spectating crowd out of her mind, Tia focused her attention on the black-clad priest standing in front of all the youths. Entering a meditating trance, Tia synced her breathing with the rest of the contenders, waiting for the ritual to start.
Rumbling words left the priest's lips, each syllable crashing against the atmosphere itself, reverberating throughout the arena, inside and outside the so-called soundproof barrier, pushing and pulling on mana itself as though it heeded the priest's every word.
Raising his bent cane above his head, the priest slowly lowered it before touching the floating crystal.
A loud *TWANG* resounded across vast distances as the crystal pushed against the air surrounding it, vibrating as though hit by a mallet. A moment later, the crystal froze to a complete stop, and everything in its near vicinity stopped alongside it.
The priest lowered his cane and lightly tapped the plinth underneath his soles, releasing the built-up pressure in vicious winds.
"We will now start the Affinity Test."