Second Haven Arrival

Affinity Test

Soon enough they had travelled out of the hallway of memories and now they were inside what looked like a small relaxed grove. Cole could hear the faint sound of water flowing along a stream, though as he looked around he could not see the stream itself due to the trees and bushes that surrounded the grove all blocking his vision and that of anyone who would be present inside.

Aside from the giant trees, there was surprising a stone altar that lay in the middle of the grove itself. The altar admittedly was rather plain, just made up of a grey smooth rock. There were no blemishes or anything that showed that the rock was touched by water or even hands. It was just plain and smooth.

On the top of the altar which the priestess now stood beside there was a gemstone. Looking at it, it appeared to be fully clear. The altar itself was visible through the gem if one were to look down. The priestess looking up at Cole, waved her hand a little, indicating for him to come closer.

Once he was in front of the gemstone itself. She looked at his face for a moment.

"The test is simple. All you have to do is pick up the gem and afterwards, I want you to just focus your mind on it. Then we will see if you have any kind of affinity. If not, I do not want you to worry. Most people do not have any kind after all." She smiled at him a little after that, in some kind of attempt to calm his nerves, though Cole himself was calm, which if you were to think unlike the priestess that would make sense, he had after all just been told that he was on a countdown until he died.

Then doing as he was told, his hands reached out and held the gemstone. Finding that it to was surprisingly smooth, he nearly even dropped it for a second earning him a small giggle out of the priestess who then after giggling began to focus her eyes and mind onto the gem. Cole remembering what he was told, began to focus on the gemstone, forgetting everything else that had happened.

Time slowly passed by, as a gentle breeze ruffled the leaves of the trees, making a nice gentle and natural noise. With the two conducting the test nothing at all had happened, then just as the priestess was going to tell Cole that he did not have any kind of affinity for magic, the gemstone began to change.

The colour first began to glow a deep green, which greatly surprised the priestess whose face began to form into an O shape in surprise then, the colour began to slowly darken and black began to morph and change it.

Cole, suddenly feeling all of the energy in his body drained, dropped the gemstone, which instead of falling to the ground as it normally would, just stayed there floating in the air. The dark and murky green soon vanished as it was replaced again with no colour at all. Then the gemstone slowly dropped down to the altar where it had been before.

Cole, after letting go of the gemstone had found that his energy al had recovered and now was standing there looking at the shocked priestess waiting for her judgement on what had just happened. She was frozen for a few seconds as she was unsure of what she should say, then she slowly looked at him.

"Well Cole, normally the green colour would mean that you have a nature affinity. Nature magic is the most obscure of all the elemental magic's. But it has been changed by the demonic corruption, that being the black specks and darkening colour of the green and to tell you the truth, I do not know what it has been changed into. Demons do not have anything close to nature magic after all. So in terms of magic, you will be quite literally in an unknown region." She then looked at Cole with another smile on her face, she seemed to be happy with the news that she had just given him.

Cole looked thoughtful for a few seconds until he smiled back at her. "Thank you for doing this priestess. This means a lot to me. Now, what happens?"

His simple words made the priestess a little annoyed. In fact, she probably felt similar right now to the fire angel that Cole had spoken to before. He just seemed to be a man of very few words and nothing that was being said to him seemed to affect that at all.

Sighing inside, the priestess replied, "That is up to you. You can wait for others like you to arrive which I know of forty-seven so far. You do have an affinity so we can sponsor you into a magic academy, though if they find out about your corruption you will be expelled or worse. Given over to the Demon Slayer Legion. Or you can leave and try to find your own path. It is all up to you, we just offer sanctuary here."

Cole after hearing all of her words stood there in thought, there was only one real thing that he wanted to do and that was to find his fiance. But how could he go about that, there were sanctuaries all over the world as he had been told. She could be at any one of them. Finding her would be nearly impossible unless she caused a storm so that her name would be heard out everywhere around.

Wait! Cole suddenly smiled in happiness and his plan. That was it! All he had to do was cause a storm so his name was heard everywhere, then instead of finding her, she could come to him. As well as that if he got more powerful he could use others to find her. All that means is now, what is the best way to become powerful. He knew nothing of this world other than his curse and that magic did exist.

With his mind on its current line of thought, he quickly looked over to the priestess. "I want to head to a magic academy for now. Learn what I can before they kick me out. After all if what I have seen is true, then personal power will play a part in anything as well as it will keep me sane for longer. So, what academy is there that I can go to?" His words caught her completely off guard and the priestess just looked at him baffled.

What was wrong with this man? That thought was just echoing around in her mind as she looked at him. He was willing to risk his life as well as everything else for just this?

"Well." She mumbled through her words and thoughts, due to being in shock still began to speak slowly. "In the High Kingdom Of Irral Golt, which being the nation we are in now, there are a total of five different academys not counting the one within the black forest which you will not be able to enter. There is one nearby here in the capital city of this Jarldom. There is one near the capital. These are your best choices as the others would take a while to travel there and by then. There would not be much difference to studying in the nearby academy to them." She looked at him, waiting for his decision. This choice for him could change everything.

Cole though thought that choice was a no brainer and made what seemed like to him the obvious choice. "I will study in the academy that is closest to here." His words were bold, and seemingly contained something far deeper than the normal words that he spoke. The priestess could not work out what it was, it definitely was not pride or curiosity or even excitement. It just was something else.

"Hmm, ok then Cole. I will make the arrangements. Someone will pick you up tomorrow and then you will be taken to Yravale city. From there you will go to the academy and be registered as a student. I wish you the best of luck Cole." Then as she finished her words, she left the grove.

Cole seeing that he was alone. Just looked down at the ground in silence. All he could think about was her brown hair and eyes. The gentle touch of her hands and most of all. The infinite amount of love that he had for her. His dawn, the shining light in his soul.