Chương 53: Affinity List

Before, it felt like writing in cursive with four arms at once. Now, it feels like every arm has its own brain, plus an instructor assisting them. Mana begins to flow through the twelve different formations. Some feel like forcing water through a clogged pipe. Others are the opposite, almost inviting my mana in to do whatever it pleases. After a few seconds, one is full, with a few others quickly reaching that point. A couple won't accept my mana at all, despite putting in every inch of effort.

I peek an eye open to see Brax's expression. He stares seriously into my eyes… Well, eye. Nervously, I pull my hands away from the rock.

"Are my affinities that good?" I chuckle.

"You were supposed to do one at a time." He says calmly.

"Oh." …

"So how do my affinities look?" I ask.

"Mind enhancement? Or is it thought splitting?" he says, thinking out loud. I take a breath to speak.

"No, actually, don't tell me. I don't want to know." He shakes his head. My mouth closes.

"So? Affinities?" He looks at me for a moment before shaking his head.

"Yes, of course." His teacher's voice comes on quickly.

"You might have noticed, but there are only twelve formations on this particular rock. There are many more out there, but these are the ones that Straff-" He pauses for a moment before continuing.

"These are the ones that my master was most familiar with." I nod.

"Come on, you have me on the edge of my seat here," I say with growing excitement. He scoffs, then smiles.

"Alright then, I'll start with the worst ones."

"They are: Nature, none. Wind, none. Mind, minor. Light, minor. Dark, minor."

"Mind?" I ask curiously.

"It's for manipulative classes, like merchant, ambassador, tamer, and as you may guess, the classic mind controller." He says logically.

"Well, I say it's for those classes, but those are just the ones most likely to use them." He continues. My heart skips a beat as he mentions my base class.

"Well, I wasn't really hoping to use any of those, except for maybe wind." Looks like I won't be flying any time soon.

"It's because you want to fly, isn't it?" He asks with a grin. I look at him in disbelief.

"Did you just read my mind?" He laughs heartily.

"Everyone wants to fly. It's only natural."

"Yeah, can't deny that." I sheepishly rub the back of my neck.

"Wind has far more uses than just that, you know? One of its biggest boons is to sense and control sound."

"Wait, you know that sound moves through the air in waves?" He looks at me with an eyebrow raised.

"Of course I do, I'm not some bumpkin." He says, slightly offended. Dang, I assumed that their level of knowledge would be on the level of medieval times. I shake my head.

"Anyways, my good affinities?" He narrows his eyes at the quick change of topic, but continues.

"Your average affinities are: Water, below average Space, below average Fire, average Force, above average." My face pulls down.

"What? My space is below average?" I ask sadly. The chunnibyo inside me is crying tears of blood.

"Well, it's not actually below average. Those are just the terms people use to grade them. Space in particular is notoriously hard to use."

"I see." He nods.

"And remember, there's a lot that goes into the art of formations aside from affinities. It's important to practice and study, even if you have a high affinity." I'm practically jumping in my seat as I ask, "Now what are my best ones?" He smiles and shakes his head.

"Your highest affinities are: Earth, high Healing, high Gravity, very high."

"Yes! Gravity!" I say, pumping my fist into the air.

"Before you ask, yes, you can fly with gravity." Wasn't thinking that at all, but that is amazing. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. An image enters my mind of me floating menacingly above the ground, with rocks hovering around me while my eyes shine purple. It's a childish thought, but it still sends shivers down my spine.

"You're pretty lucky. Most affinity testers don't have gravity. If you were born on my planet, there's a good chance it would have gone unnoticed."

"Haha! I'm gonna be a gravity mage!" I jump to my feet and grab Brax by the shoulders, swinging him around wildly in joy.

"Yes! That's very nice! Now please put me down!" He screams in half joy, half panic. Still smiling, I place him on the ground gently.

"Gah," he says, massaging his shoulder.

"That's a strength of seventy-five alright." Guilt spikes in my heart, watering down my excitement. The memory of cleaving through five enemies with one swing burns to the front of my mind. I suck air through my teeth.

"Yeah, sorry about that. You alright?" He rotates his arm in circles while chuckling.

"Don't worry, nothing's broken." God, I'm acting like a child in front of someone far younger than me. Heat spreads across my face.

"Don't get too excited," he says, still smiling.

"Finding a mage that can teach you anything related to gravity is probably going to be impossible within the tutorial. Even out of the tutorial, it's hard."

"Oh" I say, downcast.

"The same is true for healing. Although you've kind of skipped that by getting a skill related to it. Or, at least I assume you haven't come across and learned a healing spell so far." I nod slowly, reminded of efficient heal companion.

"But be happy. Having a very high affinity is rare. About fifteen percent of humans get such a rank." I raise an eyebrow.

"That doesn't sound super rare."

"Well, it's only the third-highest rank. After that come Extremely High Affinity and Peak Affinity." What!? I thought very high was good!

"And what percent of people have those?"

"For humans? It's about half a percent for extremely high. As for peak, it's rare enough that Piatorus only has one every ten thousand cycles." Hmm, about 70 years. That's indeed quite rare.

"Piatorus? I'm assuming that's a country?"

"Yes, sorry. That's the nation I live- lived in."

"And how many people live there?" He shrugs.

"I dunno" Figures…

"High affinity earth is actually something you and I have in common. One of the things that got me into carving in the first place." I nod.

"Cool" Once again, he looks at me like an idiot.

"What I mean, is that I have a few earth spells already engraved if you're interested." He looks at me slyly.

"Yes, please!" Stars shine in my eye. He nods and begins shuffling through his satchel.

"Keep in mind that earth is the hardest of the four base elements to use. It's the only one that can't be made out of thin air."

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah. Fire can be made from combusting mana, water can be pulled from the air, and wind… Well, I'm sure that one's obvious."

"I see how that would be a problem for earth."

"That's right. Of course, most limitations of any element fall away the higher level you become, but that's a long way away." With a quick toss from Brax, I catch a rock the size of my finger. The incisions on the rock are small, only taking up about a quarter of its surface.

"That's the easiest one I have, called Stone Pillar. To put it simply, it grabs a section of earth and pulls it in a certain direction." Oh my god, I'm about to learn actual magic. I stare at the rock in wonder.

"When I made it, I wasn't knowledgeable enough to impart coordinates, but it should be fine if you use enough intent when it's in spell form."

"Spell form?" I ask.

"Right now, it's a formation in a certain type of rock. It becomes a spell when you re-create that formation out of your own mana."

"Got it." I say, closing my eye.

"Wait!" he says quickly. My eye opens and I look at him.

"What?"

"I forgot you come from a world without the system." He shakes his head.

"Make sure you don't make ANY spells inside your own body. Make them in the air with your own mana, then use them like that." Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Suddenly, a scene of fireball appearing in my chest and exploding flashes through my mind. I bow my head to Brax.

"Thank you for the advice."

"Don't mention it." He says with a wide smile. After a small moment of silence, I speak.

"Welp, I hit level twenty-five before getting here, so I'm going to get to choosing."

"Very well." He says, turning and walking back to his mattress. I do the same, falling onto my new bed. As expected, it's even softer than my previous mattress. Once I hit the bed, I let out a quiet moan while stretching as far as I can. Ahh, that's the stuff. I don't bother thinking for the next few minutes, simply enjoying the upgraded sleeping conditions. Eventually, my eye opens to a blue screen floating over me. [Class skill selection available] [One Mind/Two Bodies(lv. 2) > (lv. 3)] Oh, cool.

I know I could use my will to open the selection, but it's satisfying to press against the magnetic screen. It expands quickly, displaying options. [Share Senses] [Through the leader's pact, both the leader and their companion share all senses with the other. Requires consent. Number of senses and clarity scale with Unity and skill level.] An interesting one to start off. When it says ALL senses, does that mean things like mana sense or even a skill like my danger sense?

A tame that has access to danger sense would be sick. This would be an amazing choice. If I had a tame. It's clearly meant to be used alongside one mind/two bodies, increasing the level of cohesiveness. Sadly, it's useless in my current circumstances. With disappointment, I move to the next option. [Companion Pocket] [Tear a hole between dimensions to store your companion. Regeneration rate of health, stamina, and mana increases during this time. Your companion will not experience the flow of time when in this state. Regeneration rate scales with Unity and skill level.] Alright! This is what I'm talking about! The description alone is sick as hell, and regeneration, mana in specific, has been one of the biggest hurdles so far. My excitement falters. Wait, if I'm the one putting them in and taking them out of the skill… What would happen if I placed myself inside?

It's possible that I could seal myself inside, floating in an empty void until I slowly die of old age. But the skill says I won't experience the flow of time. Does that mean I won't age and will imprison myself for eternity? A foreboding sense of dread takes hold of my stomach. Shaking my head, I move to the next. [Share Resources] [Through the leader's pact, transfer health, stamina, or mana to your companion. Efficiency decreases with distance. Efficiency scales with Unity. Speed scales with Intelligence and Skill level.] This is straight up a combination of the skills I got when I was a normal tamer. I think they were called transfer health, mana, and stamina. Regardless, it's another skill that's useless without a tame. [Sacrifice: Companion] [Absolve the pact, killing the user and transferring all health, stamina, and mana to the companion. The user's body will be converted to Vitality to be received by the companion as health. Transfer ratio scales with Unity and Skill level.] Kill myself to save myself? Yeah, no. I start reading the next skill, but backpedal. Wait, how would I even level this one up? Skills level up with use, right? But I can't use this one more than once. With a sigh, I continue. [Skill mutation] [Intelligent Universal Translator > Translate Intent] [Allows the user to telepathically translate most living beings' forms of communication into thoughts, images, or words that the user can understand.] Another skill mutation?

And it's for the other skill from being an inductee. I take a moment to look it over again. Given that it's the only one that doesn't require a tame, it's the best one here. The utility is questionable, though. Do I really want to be speaking to animals and stuff? The only thing it would be useful for right now would be talking to orcs and goblins. Not so sure I want that. Stroking my beard, I ponder the options.