There are eight different types of Magic Affinities in the world.
They were Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Yang, Electricity, Ice, Spirit Arts, with the last four mentioned being less common than the former..
Many different persons were called up after Daizen Shizaki to demonstrate their skills in order to pass the elections. Being able to see all these other various Affinities in action was an interesting experience.
Electricity that came out of their fingertips, Telepathy on rocks, fireballs, hardened flower petals used as missiles. The Affinities being put on display were endless. It was truly a sight to behold.
As each person was called, Ari and the other assistants changed their instructions by random, but sometimes, they kept their commands. It ranged from, "Try to get a clean hit on me via physical contact", to, "Do your best in an attempt to incapacitate this mystical beast artifact."
As a candidate was able to avoid and counter the consecutive strikes of the tail from the Hyperconda artifact, Ari quickly recalled the red and venomous snake.
A Beast Artifact in action…like the Timberwolves in Sekoto Forest.
It slithered back to him with its figure towering over its master, a frightening sight indeed. However, since it was a beast artifact, Ari had complete control over it, and ordered it to dissolve. It encircled around him, and immediately dissolved into beautiful black markings of fangs and rose petals on his face before they all slowly vanished.
Advancing toward the girl in front of him, Ari kept a calm face.
"Not bad, Iyashi."
The girl turned away from his stare and pouted.
"Yeah, yeah, thanks..."
"Look forward to tomorrow. Alright, next on the list?"
He eyed the chairman as she looked through the sheets of paper and tried to pick a name that was not already scratched off as finished.
She looked up and raised her voice to the many people who sat in the stands.
"Yuki Haidara!"
Shizaki's eyes instantly bolted up and looked around him, searching for the young woman.
In no time, he easily eyed the long blue hair that drifted silently through the slight breeze and Haidara ascended down from his far right.
Haidara....san....
As she arrived at the field below, she had a quick checkup with Ari, and on the confirmation that she was healthy and ready to undergo the Selection, she got into position. Ari then loudly declared her task to the crowd.
"Haidara-san will now attempt to defend herself against us three instructors and ensure that she doest get hit by a clean strike by any of us for one minute!"
"Oh?"
"This will be interesting! A three versus one???"
"Oooohhh, this is gonna be crazy good!!"
Shizaki looked at the reactions of his peers, and then redirected his focus to the woman who entered a battle stance.
Just how good are you, Haidara-san?
It was time to find out.
"Let's begin."
He kicked off of the ground along with the two men beside him who were the instructors.
However, in that instant, Haidara flashed a devilish smile as she merely turned around with her back facing them, her voice whispering just a single word.
" [Hydra.] "
Ari narrowed his eyes.
"What's-"
A tremendous blue jaw clamped down on his body as its humongous neck surged forward, slamming him into the earth with its jaws still locked tightly on him.
Blue scales flashed as a lengthy body nearly the length of the Arena itself appeared, and the other two jaws pummeled the two instructors who were next to Ari into the hard earth, with its first head holding the body of Ari in midair from its teeth.
"Wha-?!?!"
Everyone stood up in disbelief and shock.
Yuki Haidara remained on the field, in the same position that she was standing before.
However, from her back, three blue, crystallised, thick lines formed, and from there, three giant wingless serpents emerged from her spine.
One of them had immediately taken down Ari, while the other two had easily snatched her other opponents and held them down tightly in its jaws as they now all soared into the sky before becoming stationary..
King, squinting, could see the roots of the serpents from her back dripping with a blue liquid.
"Those things....are made up of....extremely solidified....water...."
The Magic Affinity of Water - [Water Hydra] had been revealed.
Haidara placed her right arm to the left side of her back and smiled while wincing, as if in a bit of pain with the skin from the location of her back where the thin base of the serpents emerged from ripped apart and bleeding.
"So....we're done here, right?"
She said this with an arrogant tone, looking up at the three incapacitated individuals still held tightly by the jaws of the three dragon-like beasts.
Water that takes the form of three gigantic solidified dragons that emerge from the spine of her back and can act at her will.
This was the terrifying power that the young woman named Yuki Haidara possessed.
Such power struck fear and awe into most if not all who were present. Even the chairman was caught aback by the sight unfolding before them.
"...Incredible indeed...."
Ari, terrified, shouted down to where Haidara stood.
"U-Um, I think you passed the instruction pretty easily! So please, can you, I don't know, put us down now?"
"...As you wish."
The serpents lowered their bodies to the ground and released them from between their sharp, silver fangs, after which it slowly retreated into Haidara's back.
Shizaki had no idea that she was this incredible, this strong. How could he have known? But now, the more he looked on at her, the more he could realize just how capable this woman was at initiating power.
"Well, next up....Satou Yukino!"
"Th-That's me!"
Hearing the chairman's voice, Yukino pulled up his hood that covered his ears and made his way down, while the rest of the group cheered him on, especially Shizaki himself.
"Good luck out there, Yukino-kun!"
"You'll do well, just keep calm and do your best!"
Thankfully, it was much harder for the people around him to realise that Yukino was a half-elf instead of an elf due to the only notable difference was his ears merely being pointy. Still, despite nobody except his accomplices being able to notice this about him since he arrived at the Royal Guild, he still covered his head and ears tightly with a white hooded cloth, afraid of prejudice that could occur anytime.
***
Having to survive against a clean hit from an instructor for a minute, while being granted a flimsy wooden sword for defence, Yukino displayed a good performance in dodging and parrying most attacks, although not knowing much of swordsmanship. Although his reaction time was a bit slow,he had passed the one minute timer, and his test had ended with him being completely relieved.
Thank goodness. That was hard as [Premonition] only works against attacks that are guaranteed to injure me majorly or kill me. Ari-sensei went easy on me, so I couldn't use my Affinity at all.
In due time, King and Neo also did their tests, as well as Aya, giving Shizaki a glimpse into their abilities and skills.
He could tell that Neo was extremely perceptive and powerful, King sometimes displayed speed and strength that questioned if he was truly human, and Aya was able to use her [Vines] in very effective ways in order to protect herself.
They're all so amazing…
Seeing them made him compare their skills to his, but he shook those thoughts away from his head.
Although he had a time limit on preparing for what was to come, he had to take things one step at a time, and become stronger and more versatile in his own way.
After many other candidates came and went, it was a specific woman's turn to shine.
"Hmmm....I wonder when it will soon be my turn. It's sooooo boring just sitting here and having to wait for your turn. Can't we somehow split up the candidates and test half here while the other half take the indoor arena?"
Kamazaki, full of boredom, suggested that idea to the people beside her, and Neo tilted his head in response.
"....It has an indoor arena?"
"Yeah, in the back by the Living Quarters or somewhere around there. Hey, hey, don't you think my idea is reasonable guys?"
"I overheard that some knights and mages of the Kingdom are being trained there right now, though."
"I see....so while they are doing theirs there, while we are stuck with this….bummer."
"And they have split the arena so that more than one could be tested at a time, but it still takes long."
"Ugh."
Thankfully, for Kamazaki, she did not have to wait any longer.
"Okay, next....Bella Kamazaki!"
Xulpeca, the chairman, called out her name, and King gave her a strong nudge with his elbow.
"O-Ouch! What was that for!?"
"Oi, you're next."
"Wait, seriously? O-Oh, okay!"
"Good luck, airhead."
The final person of the Kiyotai's passengers to the Royal Guild, Bella Kamazaki stood up.
….Let's get this over with.
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(Chapter 29: Three-Headed Serpent.)