'Magic affinity huh?'
Zareth curiously thought to himself, situated inside of his small wooden baby-basket.
He, along with his parents, were currently traveling by carriage to the inner parts of Bolnuir where the boisterous market constantly serviced the hundreds of people that crowded the main street of the town at all times of the day.
Due to this bustling environment, this main street quickly became the center of attention in town and was a prime location for an adventurer's association building to be built.
While on the journey, Zareth had constantly been thinking about the concept of magic affinities.
They had not existed in the immortal realm. As long as you were skilled enough and had enough dedication and prowess, anyone could master any element of magic without a hint of concern.
However, in this world, Zareth quickly learned from his parent's conversations that many people were not born with the ability to conjure magic.
In fact, even fewer were born with the ability to use external magic - magic that was summoned outside of one's own body, in contrast to magic only being able to be used to strengthen one's body or weapon subsequently.
'Although anyone could use whichever element in the Immortal Realm, that didn't mean it was easy. Not in the slightest. Controlling more than one element was incredibly tasking on one's mind, and I expect the same to be the case in this world.'
Zareth thought to himself.
'However, if that rule applies the same in both worlds, then the fact that I was able to command all different elements and sub-elements of magic in the Immortal Realm should mean that I would be able to do the same here as well. Afterall, although my body has changed, my mind is still the same as it were before. I am still the Sovereign of Wrath.'
...
Zareth's family lived much farther in the town-side, so it took them quite a while to arrive to the town center.
After about a good hour or so, Zareth began to hear the busy sounds of the market outside of the carriage and noticed the sudden drop and travel speed as well.
He could hear the loud but undiscernible murmur of the buzzing crowd walking by his carriage, along with the shouting of shop vendors on the sides of the streets.
As the carriage slowly continued on, Zareth's parents greeted random people that walked by, those that he couldn't see because of his small stature.
Eventually, the carriage came to a steady and creaking halt.
After getting off, Zareth immediately noticed the buildings all around him.
They were all quite small and shabby, most just being shops and such.
He then detected the larger building right in front of him. It looked to be made much more luxuriously, like a diamond in a pile of coals.
Above the entrance was a large sign that read, "Vanir Adventurers Association".
The interior of the building was even bigger than what it looked like from the outside.
His parents walked into a wide room with a long help counter at the very opposite side of the entrance.
The help counters were filled with multiple workers of the association, all separated by a thin pane of glass.
Although there were many workers, not many peopled seemed to be lined up in front of the counters.
The atmosphere was calm and almost anticlimactic.
In between the entrance and the counters were many tables that were generally spread around, accompanying only a few different people.
On the left side of the room looked to be an entrance to another room, and on the right side, a large bulletin board which held hundreds of different papers, large and small.
"Drufus? Is that you?" A short woman suddenly yelled from one of the counters across the room.
She looked to have a smile on her freckled face.
"Freya! You as well? What kind of special occasion is this?"
She had brown hair that flowed to her ears and thick glasses on the ridge of her nose.
On seeing their old friend, both Freya and Drufus made their way to her counter.
"Haha! Long time no see Reena. It's great to see you so lively again." Drufus replied delightedly.
"Yea, yea. Look, if you both are here for a quest-" Reena paused before looking left and right and leaning towards the counter.
"None of them are really that profitable right now." She whispered, covering her mouth with her hand.
"No, that's fine Reena. We were actually here for a different reason this time." Drufus said.
Reena leaned back to her original position.
"We wanted to see if our little boy here had an affinity towards a certain magic element." Freya chimed in.
A confused expression was drawn on Reena's face.
"Your... boy?" Reena paused, looking at the small baby in the basket Freya was carrying.
"Your boy! How could I forget!" She suddenly spoke with joy.
"Aww, how cute! What's his name Freya?"
Zareth's mother looked at him before speaking.
"His name is Zareth... Zareth Vanaheim."
Reena's face seemed overwhelmed with love. "That is truly a beautiful name Freya..." She said with utmost sincerity.
"Come this way, let me not waste your guys' time any longer." Reena stepped away from her counter and led Zareth's parents toward a door on the left which Zareth had seen earlier.
However, just before they could enter, the door abruptly flew open before slamming against the wall.
A boy who looked to be no older than five furiously stomped out of the room with an angered expression on his face, heaving along a chain which was bound around the neck of a girl who was being dragged across the floor behind him.
The girl looked to be a couple years younger than the boy and wore nothing but a large and dirty cloth rag over her body which had multiple small tears in it.
In contrast, the five-year-old boy wore fancy clothing which looked to not have a single blemish.
As she struggled to not be choked by the chain, she suddenly locked eye contact with Zareth through her dark-bagged eyes, who witnessed all of this go down.
While the boy stomped out, he cursed under his breath
"Damn whore... why don't you have an affinity to anything?"
Both Reena and Zareth's parents paused for a slight moment.
'Slavery huh? I suppose it is only natural.'
This was all Zareth thought.
Finally, his family made their way through the door.
"Wasn't that Eustas' kid? I swear, where did he ever learn manners like that?" Freya said as they entered the room.
"That's what happens when you delude your children into thinking they are more important than others. Sadly, no punishment awaits that brat at home. Hell, I had to restrain myself from giving him a beating right there on the spot." Drufus said, slightly clenching his teeth.
This room was a good bit smaller than the main one, however, was far more crowded.
It had several filled chairs lined up against the wall, and a helpdesk at the front which had another door next to it.
"You guys can sit here, I will let them know of your arrival." Reena said as she pointed to some seats before leaving.
Immediately, Zareth sensed the tense feeling in the atmosphere.
Looking around, he saw that almost everyone was either twiddling their thumbs in in nervousness or their faces were pale from anxiety.
Only some looked to have enough confidence to sit up straight. Two of these people were sat right next to Zareth's family.
One of them looked to be a pride-full looking, tall young man with a well-developed body, and another young man who was shorter and on the skinner side.
With his arms crossed and his chin in the air, the taller young man sat there with a wide grin on his face.
"Look at all of these pathetic losers, they have probably been praying to Mother Gaia each and every night to have a slight affinity to an element. Haha!" He laughed arrogantly.
The other young man beside him couldn't help but smirk. "Don't insult them so openly in front of their face man, one of them might just kill themselves!" He joked.
Their word's made the nervous tension even worse, and people in the room looked to be even more anxious now.
Eventually, a woman at the front desk spoke from the small speaker to everyone inside of the waiting room.
"Test 204 and 205, Bildo Losan and Sail Losan, have both failed in connecting any affinity to an element of magic. Tests 206 and 207 please enter the testing room." The woman spoke nonchalantly.
"Alright that's us! Let's go." The taller young man next to Zareth's family said as he stood up.
"I'm going to get an earth affinity; I can just tell." The other young man said.
"Nah, I'm going to that earth affinity. You will probably get a fire affinity, ahaha."
They continued to chat as they walked into the room.
Moments later, the woman from the help desk spoke again with her emotionless voice.
"Tests 206 and 207, Joah Faus and Hie Kan, have both... failed in connecting any affinity to an element of magic. Vanaheim family, please enter the testing room." The speaker cut off.
On saying this, two shocked young men walked through the testing room door.
Immediately, vicious glares were pointed towards their direction. However, they couldn't muster up the courage to repay those gazes with gazes of their own.
With their head drooped low, they shamefully walked out of the waiting room in utter defeat.
"Hahaha! Stupid pricks, that's what you get for acting so cocky." Drufus suddenly laughed whole heartily, breaking the tense atmosphere that surrounded the room.
The two heard Drufus say this but did not dare respond.
As Zareth's family walked into the testing room, no one questioned why they were called before other's that had been waiting either.
Drufus and Freya were quite popular in their prime days before the birth of Zareth.
Everyone knew of their faces and respected their status, as they were known as a legendary duo that helped in protecting Bolnuir from several dangerous beast attacks in the past, earning them name "Duo of Twisting Love" by the public.