{East Wing, Mansion of Baron Adrir}
Two men walked through the corridors of a mansion. The hallway was inlaid with marble, and their steps echoed with distinct sounds. Their gait was the polar opposite. The Baron walked forth with unstoppable momentum, an aura remnant of his conquest through the Red Sea bursting as his eyes were locked onto the small room in the distance, his boots thundering against the floor.
A thin man walked silently beside him, his leather boots nearly inaudible as he gracefully matched pace with the Baron. His station in the crown's eye might not be the same, but the heaviness of the mana surrounding him commanded a deeper respect in some parts of the kingdom.
Both were locked into their own train of thought when the distant cries of pain leaked through the door. The Baron's face frowned at the apparent failure of the runes. He had paid a decent amount of gold for their installation. The Mage looked intrigued as his eyes glowed, tracing the unknown runic language, which didn't align with the one normally used by the Kingdom's mages.
The ornate gates to the room opened as they both looked inside. The Baron's red eyes scanned the room, only briefly resting on the sweaty, panting woman on the bed before he looked at his squire, one who, although he had become a Knight, had remained a retainer to his house.
"Karles," the Baron acknowledged, and the young man, who looked barely out of his teens, walked over to the two of them.
"Baron, Midwife Brenna says it won't be lon—" His words were interrupted by a loud cry of pain from the woman, which eventually turned into an expression of relief as she collapsed on the bed.
"Waaa waah Waaaiii!" A sharp wailing sound filled the room as the young boy appeared safe. The Baron was content in waiting, but the Mage beside him stepped forward. A clear, intent look of interest plastered on his face as he walked on a little closer, his eyes glowing again, but this time fixed on the boy.
The Baron wanted to know why his behavior was so radical, but he allowed the Mage to observe. Clayton stepped back into place behind the baron moments later. He was so caught up in the unnatural mana fluctuations around the boy that he forgot what he was hired to do. From the looks of it, at least this trip wasn't a waste.
"So I take it he has an affinity with mana?" the baron asked, his voice deep but still controlled so indisputably through mana that only the two of them heard it. Clayton suppressed a shiver when he remembered the tales of the Baron's achievements during the war. The sound vibrations held a more sinister tune as he thought about that.
"Yes, and quite a lot of it for a child who was born just moments ago," Clayton replied, revealing why his interest peaked.
"Hmm..." The Baron hmmed. He looked a little conflicted momentarily before he nodded to the mage and said, "Do the test."
Clayton shrugged and obliged the request. The baron had paid him to administer an elemental affinity test. However, the main reason behind the request was to test whether the child had the mana capacity and potential to be a mage. That wasn't a question anymore. It likely wouldn't hurt to know the boy's elemental inclination.
He approached the boy, who was now on top of a clean blanket. The boy's green eyes stared at Clayton as he pulled out a pure white crystal from within his space ring and placed it on top of the boy's forehead. The change was not immediate. Clayton frowned as he was sure an activation matrix would not be required because the boy had so much mana, but maybe his affinity towards the basic five elements was weak.
He pulled the stone away momentarily, collecting some mana at the center of his palm and injecting just enough to activate it. The stone fluttered with pure red as his own primary elemental affinity was laid bare for everyone to see, not that it was a secret. He waited for his mana to dissipate and the stone to go dormant once again before quickly placing it onto the boy's head again.
The stone glowed an earthly brown. His gaze, though, was stuck on how the boy's mana bloomed when he made contact with it. His green eyes stared at seemingly nothing in front of him. Probably, the boy had unlocked access to the guide, but he would not have any way to understand it. He turned to look back at the Baron, who looked at the boy in thought before he nodded. Clayton stored the affinity stone back into his ring and stepped back.
"What grade?" The Baron asked, his voice once again reverberating around them.
"Nothing fancy, Grade 3, enough for him to level up to a Tier-3 class purely as an elemental mage, but after that, I don't know..." Clayton replied. He hesitated before he continued, "Though with the amount of mana he has, I doubt this result is comprehensive enough. He likely has a better affinity with some other element, though that won't change his path... It's a pity."
Clayton expressed his regret, his interest had dipped down a little. While any other affinity would be exotic, the future of a pure mage in any element other than the primary five would be stifled with the basic rule of Magic. Magic was a field that used the effects of building more spells and progress based on the research done by predecessors, so the rarer the element, the higher the difficulty of making it far down a pure mage path.
'Then again, with the baron's inclination, he won't have to be worried about anything. Although he won't be a pure mage, he would make an excellent knight.'
The Baron nodded. Other than a rare affinity, estimating someone's potential was more difficult because of the existence of talents. Still, the boy had a decent starting potential. Even if he got a worse talent, like a messenger or scholar, his affinity toward mana was enough that throwing him away with the maid would be a waste, especially since her intentions were quite clear.
He looked at the tired-looking woman who was looking at him, and in her eyes, there was an undisguised hope to clutch at nobility, which he quickly shattered as he ignored her pleas.
"Karles, walk with us." The Baron spoke as he turned around and walked out of the room, not showing away the faintest care toward his newborn son and his mother.
The three of them walked out of the room as the mother began sobbing. The doors closed behind them with a dull thud as the Baron nodded to his head knight.
"Proceed as planned." The instruction went over Clayton's head as he couldn't understand what the Baron had planned.
...
"Baron Adrir, the boy has a good affinity, and with the amount of mana he has, he could become a good knight even if he's not suited to be a pure mage," Clayton spoke with some hesitation as they began walking away.
The Baron looked at him with a cold gaze, and Clayton sighed. Understanding that he could not put himself into the matters of nobility, he let it go. It's a pity if a boy with that amount of talent was discarded to justify the Baron's reputation, but he knew of many nobles who had done crazier things to maintain thier perfect visage.
...
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{7 Hours Later}
Verir Adrir sat in his office. He looked out of place as he scribbled down on some documents. His large body belonged on the battlefield, not scribbling orders and looking at the City's finances.
*Knock* *Knock*
He looked up as Karles walked in, a bundle of something wrapped in a blanket in his arms. Arthur suppressed a sneer as he asked, "How long?"
"She dumped him at the Orphanage at the farther end of the city and took a carriage straight toward Benildra. The Matron told me there was no gold left behind for the boy... Should I send someone to track her down?" Karles asked.
"No." The Baron denied it. He was a man of few words and didn't really need to explain the situation to Karles, who had followed him for almost a decade and understood the man as well as anyone else.
Verir's eyes turned toward the bundle, and Karles, understanding him, walked over and handed the boy over. The stoic visage of a military man crumbled slightly at the sight of green eyes staring at him. They contrasted his own and zoomed around his face, his pudgy hands waving at something.
'He's not crying. Ana and Theo cried all the time for most of the first few months,' Verir thought as he placed his finger on the boy's hand, which he held like a stick. He allowed himself some solace for a little bit before he sighed. The circumstances wouldn't allow him to explore this anymore, so he pulled his finger back, the boy's weak grip unable to hold against his pull.
"Take him," Verir said, his voice hardening again. Karles looked slightly worried but still followed the direction.
...
"Are you sure? Verir?" To anyone else, speaking the Baron's name might result in their head splattering on the wall, but Karles looked calmly into the Baron's red eyes as he nodded.
"Train him well," the baron requested. His gaze once again returned to the document dealing with a merchant who requested to acquire the plots of land next to his shop for further expansion.
"Name..." Karles finally spoke after a moment, his eyes staring at the boy who had fallen asleep.
"Nooa... Nooa Adrir"
...