Chương 5: Affinity

Bremin nodded, and Evel proceeded with the trick. He took his last Riak out of his pocket, "Now pay very close attention to this coin." Bremin, whose gaze remained unreadable, shifted his focus from Evel to the coin. Evel played around with the coin in his hands for a bit before it disappeared. He revealed his palm to show that the coin was really gone. In reality, it was on the back of his hand, a simple but effective trick on those unfamiliar with his craft. Bremin continued watching Evel blankly.

"Now you may be wondering where that coin went," His voice was steady. He reached over the table and pretended to grab something from behind Bremin's ear. Then, he revealed the coin that had been in his hand the whole time.

"Impressive." Bremin lightly nodded. By the tone of his voice, Evel doubted if he meant it. Aw, man, why did I pick the lamest trick? But also, can this guy only speak one word at a time? Is he stupid? The silence just kept dragging out. At least he's not staring at me so intensely anymore, but damn if he could just stop using his ability! Eventually, a knock on the door saved Bremin. Hera, the waitress from earlier, had arrived with Bremin's food. A bowl of stew, a roasted fish, some corn, and a slice of cake.

An absurd amount of food! Hera politely placed the food before leaving the room as fast as she could. Bremin's aura must have really unnerved her. The creepy man didn't waste any time and immediately started eating. Releasing a soft breath, Evel indulged in his own meal. The constant dull, eerie aura coming out of Bremin continuously radiated, and it started to push Evel off the edge bit by bit. Before long, his annoyance overcame his unease.

"Could you… Rein in your aura for a few minutes? It's killing my appetite." Bremin looked up at Evel and lightly shook his head with a movement so subtle that Evel wasn't sure if he imagined it.

"I can't." He continued to eat.

"And why not?" How can he even train for so long anyway? There should be a limit! He looked up again, blankly.

"I can't turn it off." Evel frowned. He can't?

"Oh... wow, it must be rough interacting with others with such an… unpleasant aura," he sighed, "I suppose it's alright, I once ate almost exclusively stonepods for a month, and in far worse places." Bremin slightly nodded his head, or at least Evel thought he did, and the two continued eating the remainder of their food in silence. Evel savoured every bite slowly, and the world narrowed down to the taste and texture alone; his thoughts dissolved into flavour and warmth.

Even the uncomfortable aura became an afterthought. In the midst of this paradise, Bremin's voice cut through his thoughts.

"Your name?" Evel straightened his back. He was getting somewhere!

"I'm Evel, from Yosten, and you?"

"Bremin, from Almer." Almer?

"The same city saved fourteen years ago by the 'Unyielding Fist' from Dissent?" Despite being from a different city, the event had been a major turning point in Evel's life, one he was happy to discuss. Bremin gave Evel a deep look. Then, he simply nodded and walked out of the room. He had already finished all his food, leaving Evel alone in silence. We exchanged names, which could be called a partial success. He never asked me why I wanted to eat with him…

Evel finished the rest of his meal and left the restaurant shortly, making sure to thank the staff on the way out. Seeing he had about an hour left, he explored the town. Shops and stalls lined up the streets as Evel casually wandered through. People littered the streets with their friends, companions and children. A small girl intensely stared Evel down, continuously licking her ice cream. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

"Hey!" Upon noticing, her mother lightly tapped her in the back of the head. With a smile on his face and his deck of cards in his hand, Evel approached her.

"Watch this." He demonstrated a trick, one even the mother was impressed by and waved her off. Eventually, he bought a cheap tophat with his remaining Riak. Every proper magician needs at least a tophat. Satisfied and with a renewed spirit, Evel found a secluded spot and used his ability until his Energy reserves went to zero. Then, he made his way to the camp. When he got to the gates, he found his previous group, as well as the two girls he was talking to back on the disk, Juniper and Fern.

Aside from them, other small groups had formed.

"Glad to see you're still alive!" Elena was the first to notice him. Evel smiled and joined their group. He mostly listened to Elena and Brenton bicker. Elena argued that each individual strand of grass was its own plant, but Brenton vehemently disagreed. He claimed that it took a larger patch of grass for it to be a plant. Their conversation grew intense with no signs of stopping, nor any real purpose. Once the last of the recruits, 13 of them in total, gathered, a tall lady with long dark hair arrived.

Her stride was confident and purposeful, yet she carried a certain weariness in her eyes. She was wearing a high-collared tunic and a belt holding some sort of scroll. On her right eye was a crystal monocle, and on her chest was a ferrum emblem engraved with a book symbol. She wore a serious expression.

"Welcome to Orsus Camp, I'm Monique. Has anybody explained affinities to your group?" Affinity was a term that Evel had heard floating around. Broadly, he knew that affinity was a measure of strength and potential. However, the specifics eluded him. After no reply from the crowd, Monique gave a brief explanation.

"Each of you has a core, meaning you have a core ability, and that ability uses Energy to function. More Energy means a stronger ability and longer usage." She took a glance around the group.

"If you imagine your Energy to be water, your affinity is the size of the bucket that can hold said water. The size of your bucket determines your strength and how much The Imperium Tempor may invest in you. Of course, strength is a combination of many factors, but your ability and affinity will be two very important ones." She turned her back to the group and entered the gates, signalling to follow her. The camp was a tiered system, requiring frequent climbs up flights of stairs to reach each new level.

The air here tasted of rusted iron and dying fires. The top layer sat 100 meters above the ground. Below it, the bottom layer hummed with a busy residential area, while the second layer housed libraries, training grounds, and several buildings Evel didn't recognize. They stopped at this layer, and Monique led them to a small single-storied stone building.

"I want each of you to bring your right arm in front of you, palm facing up, and activate your ability for about 30 seconds. Everybody who can't maintain their ability for that long, go to the building behind me." A few people walked towards the building; Brenton was one of them. Elena waved him off, "Don't feel too bad after getting a worse affinity than me!" Thinking back, Evel realized he didn't actually know what everybody's ability was.

He hadn't known them for long, but being in such close proximity in such hellish situations did wonders for increasing companionship. He didn't even know if he's see them after the week was over, so did it even matter in the end? I suppose I'll find out now.

Bringing his arm out, palm to the ceiling, Evel activated his ability. In his vision, a transparent hand appeared, floating slightly above. It was unmistakably human, but vague differences gave rise to a feeling of the uncanny valley. The fingers were too uniform, the thumb a bit too big, and every knuckle in perfect alignment. Within it, lines of faint lights replaced veins and arteries, threading through the clear image.

The light constantly shifted around in incomprehensible ways, yet when seen as a whole, it was as though the current arrangement had always been the only arrangement. Of course, Evel was the only one who could perceive his hand. He had conducted many experiments with this hand, and although it could interact with any physical objects, it couldn't cause harm when used on a living being. This world was brutal and combat-filled. Evel knew this from his past experiences.

An ability that provided no combat help just felt useless. He wasn't sure how he could make the best use of his power, but stayed optimistic. He remembered what his mentor had once told him, far before he had awakened his power: "There are no useless abilities, only useless users." A small warmth arose to his right, bringing him out of his thoughts. Looking over, he saw Leo with his eyes closed. Temperature or fire-based ability? Further right, Elena had her palm out with a dagger placed atop.

Both her hands and the dagger shone with brilliance. Some form of weapon ability, or maybe it's the light? To his left, he saw Juniper. At first, he didn't notice anything, but after taking a proper look, he saw it. By her feet, there was an adorable porcupine standing ferociously on guard. Even further was Fern, with roots weakly rising up to her hips. Her parents must have known something when naming her… Suddenly, his arm went into immense pain, and his attention was abruptly brought back.

Instinctively, he tried to reel his hand back, but he couldn't; he lost control of one of his own limbs. Groans and whimpers could be heard all around him, and something sharp cut across his hand. Blood trickled out from the fresh wound and hovered in the air. Slowly, it made its way over to Monique as she examined each sample through her monocle. After each sample, she jotted something down in her notebook. After a minute in silence, Monique addressed the group.

"Anything above 90% can be considered amazing talent to be nurtured. Above 80 means good talent. Just above 65 means below average, and you probably won't make it too far. Above 50 means you almost certainly won't go far down the Path, maybe the fourth realm if you're wealthy. If you're below 50, I'd quit the military within the week, and maybe find some commercial use for your ability. Most of you will be in the 70 to 90 range." Nobody dared to breathe; their entire future may be decided here.

Monique paused and looked deeply into the crowd with an unreadable expression.

"On your palms, I'll write your affinity with your blood. Share it, don't share it, it's up to you." She sighed, and her gaze swept through the recruits. Evel felt that her eyes lingered on him for a few seconds longer than the rest. She lightly adjusted her monocle.

"If you want advice, come talk to me later." At her snap, the floating pool of blood immediately rushed at the recruits. Each strain of blood splashed onto their palms, but Monique had already turned to enter the door behind her. Evel didn't notice. His eyes were fully fixated on his palm ahead of him as his heart hammered out of his chest. His breathing turned ragged as his gaze slowly lowered to his palm.

There were so many things his heart desired, and a good affinity here would be the first step to being able to grasp those lofty dreams. This one moment would forever change the trajectory of his life. As his blurred vision slowly focused on the number on his palm, his roaring heart quieted down, and breathing resumed at a smooth, constant pace. Fuck. On his hand, the poorly written, bloodied numbers read: 60