Yet another beautiful day. The mid-summer sun was beating harshly on the pedestrians, who seemed to enjoy the recent sunshine. Their forecasts had been filled with rain for so long that they thought the world would never shine again.
Of course, at least one person didn't feel appreciative.
Ark walked towards the government building, a grey brick upon a backdrop of a clear blue sky and reflective skyscrapers. Pushing open the glass double doors, he was met with a long queue waiting in an endless hallway.
With a sad sigh, he joined the queue of people being funnelled further into the building. The combined light of the marks above all their heads created a long line of ominous red glow as if a spectral snake was slithering above them.
***
Ark took a long time to reach the start of the line. By the time he was there, around an hour had gone by. Unfortunately, he wasn't comfortable in large crowds, so what felt like 3 hours had passed for him. He nervously shifted his weight from one side to the other.
"Next!" Shouted a voice from one of the plain-white booths processing marked people. Ark went to the booth and almost fell into the chair beside it. He was tired from being around so many people for so long.
His eyes went to the guy evaluating him. He was a middle-aged man, wearing a blue suit. He looked tired from registering all the marked people before him.
"Name?"
Ark shifted his position in his chair before the overworked clerk. The booth was pristine, with a large black orb being the only thing contrasting with the white plastic walls.
"Ark Vendum."
The clerk looked at him curiously.
"You do know that making up names is against the law, right? There's a thousand-dollar fine if you do."
"Yeah, I get that a lot. It's my real name."
The clerk gave him a wary glance but didn't press him.
"Guardian's names?"
"Ronald and Seth Lane. They're my step-parents."
Ark's real parents had disappeared not long after he was born. The police and detectives said such a thing wasn't possible - they just disappeared, no trace, no tracks, no message left behind. He didn't have any memories of them, yet he swore he remembered hearing an explosion when they disappeared. Of course, such a thing wasn't possible without leaving traces, let alone destroying the whole house they were in.
Unaware of his inner turmoil, the clerk tediously typed into the terminal in front of him.
"Alright, I see." He turned to him with a bored expression. "How much do you know about Empyros?" He said nonchalantly.
Ark shrugged. "Not much. I know there's the Door, and you get magical powers after passing through the first one. Also, there are monsters and stuff."
The clerk sighed. "That won't be enough to get by. I would recommend you take one of these." He passed a small travel-guide-looking book to him. "It's not a lot, but it will help you a ton."
After handing him the flimsy pamphlet, he motioned to the large black orb sitting next to his computer. "What do you know about Elemental Affinities?" He asked while pressing a few buttons on the strange machine.
"I know the basic ones - Fire, Water, Earth, and Air."
The clerk gave him another exasperated look and shook his head. It was the look that said: Why do I even bother? "Alright, I'll give you the full guide. There's almost an infinite number of elements in Empyros, but only a few are prominent. As you said, there are the most common ones - we call them T1 elements. They aren't the strongest, but they're elements anyone can gain control over."
The clerk continued. "Then there's T2-3 elements. Those include Lightning, Healing, Illusion, Enchantment, blah, blah." He waved his hands around. "You have to have a decent Affinity to these to use them."
"And then there are the T4 to 5 ones. Not many people use them because they are rare, but people know they're the strongest. Those include Astral, Chaos, Time, Divine, and a few others. Only a few hundred thousand people can use them. Might sound like a lot, but trust me, it isn't."
"This orb will detect which Magic Type you have the highest affinity for. Just put your hand on the orb and I'll power it up."
Ark hesitantly put his hand on the black orb. The smooth surface of it hummed with energy as it powered up.
"The orb uses a rudimentary version of the System to detect your mana signatures. It is said that the High Gods themselves made it." The overworked clerk said passively while flicking a few switches on a nearby control panel.
Ark felt the orb vibrate slightly before coming to a stop. The process only took a few seconds.
"Uhh… That's weird."
"What's weird?"
The clerk turned the screen around. "Don't worry, it's nothing serious. We encountered the same type of problem before, but it looks like you have the highest affinity to it."
On his screen, a long list could be seen:
+++
Affinity Rating:
97% - [undefined]
81% - Arcane
43% - Lightning
21% - Fire
14% - Light
…
+++
Ark turned to the clerk. "Wait, what's with [undefined]?"
"It's a common problem we've seen. Other Marked have received the same element affinity, but normally it's only 5% at most. We haven't gotten the chance to determine what it is, and the High Gods don't seem to respond either. For you… Welp, you're better off using Arcane magic… Come to think of it, try to be a knight or something. Those ratings are abysmal…" He muttered to himself.
Ark frowned. He didn't mind not using magic, but anyone could wield a sword or throw a spear. Magic wasn't something one could do in the real world.
Ark stepped forward. "But isn't there-"
"NEXT! Sorry kiddo, I don't have the time today to deal with anything else. If you have any questions, go ask Mr. Urhart. Now shoo." said the clerk, before waving him off further into the building.