PANT PANT PANT

'Whew, The forest outside this city is filled with bandit gangs. I just barely got past them thanks to my awareness and speed, just thinking about the rumors that they eat any human they catch gives me goosebumps'

A young man, with torn rags for clothes, a body and face riddled with scars, thought as he gazed upwards at the 10 meter tall city wall and the gate in-front of him.

"HALT! State your purpose of entry and show your identification, if you do not have an ID you must pay 2 mana shards to get an ID" Shouted one of the guards standing beside the gate.

"I'm here to take the affinity test, I have 2 mana shards to get an ID" The young man responded while rummaging through the pockets of his torn pants, pulling out all that he had but a few coins.

The guard knocked on the gate and shouted "There's a person requesting a new ID, get the supervisor."

A few minutes later, the gates opened and a man walked through dressed in an orange robe, signifying that he was a mage.

"Welcome to the city of Kasha, follow me to get your ID". The young man bowed in response and followed the supervisor. The supervisor and the young man walked through the gates as it slowly started to close behind them.

The officer walked into a small building, and entered a room with a sign above it that read 'Truth Formation'.

'Too bad I can't read' thought the young man. 

The room was like a small office with a desk that had a few papers and quills and a chair on either side.

"Take a seat, here is a formation that detects lies. I do not tolerate people wasting time, lie once and you will be thrown out of here immediately."

"I understand". Said the young man, while the officer grabbed a paper and quill and began writing on it.

"Name?" The officer asked.

"Nathan".

"Current rank?"

"Dormant"

"Age?"

"16"

"Do you have any harmful intentions towards the empire or this city?"

"No"

The officer then stamped the paper he was writing on, and the paper suddenly started floating in the air while releasing pulsing flashes of light aimed towards Nathan. Then, it flew towards his arm and merged with the skin on his forearm.

Nathan curiously inspected it and started to read what was written on his forearm

NAME: Nathan

LINEAGE: Commoner

RANK: Dormant

AGE: 16

HEIGHT: 188cm

"You're good to go now, don't get into any trouble out there kid." Said the officer as he lazily leaned back into his chair.

Nathan walked out of the building and headed deeper towards the city.

'Wow, I'm finally here... It feels surreal to have survived till now, I'm getting closer and closer to my goal. Time to find out my affinity.' Nathan thought as his eyes started to water a bit but he held it in.

'Never shedding a tear again' Nathan thought as he stepped forward with determination towards the center of the city.

**********************

"Hey teacher, why am I an orphan? You've never told me no matter how many times I ask! Isn't this unfair?" Nathan asked while frowning.

An old man with wrinkled skin and grey hair and eyebrows, paused before closing his book and placing it on a table.

"Sigh... You're probably old enough for you to know this now, The truth is--- I don't know, I just randomly found you at the entrance of the village 8 years ago while coming back from a hunt. You're a strong kid so you'll handle the truth, which is that your parents most likely abandoned you."

"Oh, okay good to know." Nathan said before continuing to clean around the house to help his teacher.

"...You're not affected at all?" The teacher asked in a worried tone.

"Why would I care? I was just curious. You're the best teacher ever and you take care of me just as a parent would. As long as I'm with you I'm happy!" Nathan said with a big smile on his face.

The teacher, feeling a little bit uncomfortable but also very warm from how much this kid cares for him, responded "Thanks kid, but I wont be around for much longer. This old bag of bones has been stuck as an awakened for the last 60 years.

"Don't sa-"

Suddenly the sound of a very loud horn spread throughout the village.

"Shit" Spat out the teacher. "Lock yourself inside the house, don't open the door for anyone else besides myself." He ordered.

Panicked, Nathan hurriedly asked "W-What's happening?"

The teacher didn't reply but instead got up and picked up a sword that was hung up on the wall. 

Nathan couldn't help but be a little frightened because his teacher seemed to releasing a bloodthirsty aura

'What the hell is this?! How are teacher's emotions almost spilling out of him and affecting me? He never taught me this, it makes no sense!'

"Void monsters are here and I'll have to fight." The teacher said in a scarily apathetic tone before opening the front door and immediately slamming it shut behind him.

'Okay, I'm just going to listen to what teacher said and stay inside'

ROOAAAARRR

Nathan fell onto the floor clutching his ears in pain.

'That hurt a lot, teacher wasn't kidding when he said that Void Monsters can incapacitate humans with just their roar'

'My ears are bleeding too' Nathan thought as he looked at the blood on his fingertips.

Nathan continued to sit on the floor holding his ears shut for the next hour, occasionally hearing more roars.