The Affininator, otherwise known as the Identifier, is used worldwide. It isn't a secret kept from one faction or another.
Knowing your affinities was considered your right in this world. The lower class people could even go to a shop; if they had one, they would test you for free.
They may be unable to pinpoint all of your affinities, but the basic ones were no issue.
--Kaiser's Room--
The old man walked closer and handed Kaiser the Affininator.
"All you have to do is inject your mana into it. I assume you've played around with mana, yes?"
He nodded.
Kaiser had some time within the void worm and previous weeks.
He learned that he could will the mana to go where he wanted within his body. Even exerting it out of his body could be done, but when he did that, nothing appeared. It was a loss of mana and time, so he stopped doing that.
The old man continued, "Transferring it into an object is also possible, like the bright light from your ring. That was your mother's mana. You try it."
So he did. He pushed mana out of his body into the Affininator, causing it to vibrate in his hand.
A few moments later it looked the exact same.
"Interesting." The old man looked at the iron bar in contemplation. It had since stopped vibrating.
"Is there something you see Teacher?"
The teacher looked at Kaiser, unsure of how he wanted to explain the results.
"You see, generally the mana within the Affininator is mainly one type with various smaller amounts of other types. However, yours consists of three main ones and then the other ones."
"I thought people only had one main one?"
"Right. Think of it like this, a typical person who excels in poison mana will have the Affininator fill 85% poison, while the last 15% is all the other mana. On the other hand, your 85% is split between 3: fire, earth, and darkness."
"So… I don't excel in anything specifically?" Kaiser asked.
The old man didn't seem disappointed at all. To Kaiser, the old man appeared happier than normal.
"Child. That may be true, but that also means if you work hard, you'll be great at using fire, earth, and darkness mana types. You'll even be able to combine them to create even more powerful magic. Do you understand this?"
Kaiser was unconvinced. His time had to be spent training as fast as he could. Now his time had to be split three different ways.
"I guess so."
The old man knew what he was thinking, so he added, "The devil won't be killed if you use just one type of mana. They're superior beings from hell while we're simple humans. Use your advantages to their fullest."
Kaiser finally understood his teacher's feelings, he was happy about this development so he would have a higher chance of surviving against the devil.
'Almost excelling in three types of mana should be fine. All I want is for that devil to die and to find my mother.'
He responded, "Yeah, but I hope it isn't too time-consuming."
The old man laughed at what he said.
"Of course it will be."
A couple of moments passed in silence.
"Well Kaiser, you have 2 days to fight Taz. Try to find out what makes his magic so deadly."
With that, he walked out of Kaiser's room.
'I wish he would act more kid-like,' the old man thought.
Over the next two days, Kaiser fought Taz trying different strategies but found them to be futile. The flames would burn whatever plans he made to ashes. If he wanted to stay as far as he could, the flame released from the hand got him, and if he got close the fire pillars.
Learning to fight magic was difficult, but so was the question the old man gave him.
After their last fight of the month, he lay on the ground, the lower half of his body burnt to unimaginable degrees.
'How am I supposed to know what makes it so deadly? It's hot so It burns.'
Taz walked over and took a seat next to him.
"You know, I'm actually a 9-star magic user. So even though the amount of mana I used is 10 stars, my proficiency in the skill makes it more powerful. Considering that, you did okay."
Kaiser looked at his legs and then slowly looked back at Taz.
"Thanks," he said sarcastically.
Ignoring the sarcastic response Taz said, "Whenever you can use magic, let's fight again. I need to learn from genuine fights, so grow stronger already."
"Yeah, yeah." Kaiser's attitude towards Taz had become more friendly. He didn't want to beat him up for no reason now.
The healers arrived and got to their usual business.
Taz left to pursue his cooking hobby.
All the while, the Guard Captain finished making preparations.
"Guards. We leave two days from now at dawn. Those annoying demon bastards will die, giving us an edge over the other main branch families!"
"Yes sir!" 23 guards said in unison. The past year their training had tripled and they were further taught how to fight multiple demon beasts at the same time.
It was time to reap the rewards of their training.
--The Next Day--
Kaiser and the old man were sitting at a table outside. The sun was shining brightly in the sky, only interrupted by the occasional cloud. The wind stayed at a tolerable degree to keep you cool, but not give you whiplash.
"Kaiser," the old man started, "Did you figure out what made Taz's fire burn so fiercely?"
He'd tried to think of the reason all night, but he came up with nothing.
"No, I did not."
"Well, that's okay. When you transform mana into magic you're turning an invisible source of power into physical reality. You have to conjure it with your mind."
The old man stood up and walked away a few feet.
With no words said, a marble-like cup materialized in front of him. The old man grabbed the cup from mid-air and handed it to Kaiser.
Kaiser was baffled and didn't know what to do with the cup, but as soon as held it, he understood what happened.
Somehow, without him feeling anything different, pieces of rock formed so fast that, a cup was manifested.
No magic was being used to maintain it. It simply existed.
"This is earth magic in a utility form. It's not complicated and takes very little effort to achieve once you get the hang of it. Turning your imagination into reality is the essence of magic."
Kaiser started to understand a little bit, "So you have to imagine what outcome you want, and then actualize it?"
"Precisely. Now you try."