Sing!

Full Affinity

"Now, lets see..." Simone said, bright eyes scanning her small group of students, deciding who would be the first to learn their fate. "Ryan! How about it?"

Ryan was a short boy, even shorter than me! He was full in size but I don't know if I would call him over weight... It just wasn't a size you saw outside families of wealth. A person needed money in this world to actually put weight on, the rest of us were luck to get a good meal each day. His hair was brown and shone rather nicely in the sun and his eyes were a rich blue-ish grey color. He would be a decently attractive young man had it not been for the large nose and the fresh spread of puberty induced acne all over it.

At Miss Simone's invitation, his face lit up. I could apricate that, especially after what Miss Simone had said about it usually taking years for a person to naturally discover this information. He eagerly stepped forward while the rest of us held our breath, anxiously awaiting what news the young man would be given.

"Alright, now hold this in your cupped palms... yes, just like that." Said Miss Simone, settling the large black pearl in his up-turned hands. Given the slight dip they took when the gen fell into them, I would guess that it was heavier than it looked. "Ryan, have you ever tried channeling your mana before now?" She asked.

Ryan nodded while I wondered who would be attending this class without having done, at the very least, that much. It was the first, most basic, step in casting magic, and if you could not do it, than you were not destined to be a mage. Yes, everyone had a little magic in them, granted by the gods, but the ability to freely use it was not as common as I once thought. And among those who could access their mana, only a slim few ever excelled past the most basic of spells. I could not imagen paying for this expensive class without checking that your child could even preform magic first.

But what did I know about nobles and the rich?

"Good. I need you to just focus your mana into the stone. it will do the rest." Explained Simone, taking a step back and nodding that Ryan should start.

The brown haired boy fairly glared at the pearl as he concentrated and I fought not to laugh. If he concentrated any harder he might let out a fart...

As we watched, the stone began changing color, blue bleeding into the black. "The stone will cycle through the different elements, and shine brighter the stronger your affinity." Said Simone softly. "Stronger stones, found in important buildings like the palace or several of the guild headquarters, can provide even greater detail, but this is more than enough for what we want."

As she spoke, the orb finished turning blue than began to glow slightly, as if it were a firefly or something. It was quite pretty, but I had expected a brighter shine.

"You have a small affinity towards water." Informed Simone, still watching the stone closely. The pearl cycled through a scarlet red color and a pale yellow-ish green with no glow at all. Then it turned a grey/brown. Just as the color turned, the stone shone the brightest yet and I saw Miss Simone smile broadly. "Lovely! It seems you will be strongest in earth magic Ryan! It is quite a  versatile element, indeed."

Ryan smiled broadly, eyes alight with excitement. And I found myself smiling too, the joy some what infectious. But Miss Simone had him keep a hold of the sphere as it cycled through the last two attributes. But as the stone turned a crystal clear before transitioning to a deep, almost black, blue color, neither shone at all.

Ryan handed the pearl back to Miss Simone and returned to our group. A boy, tall and sporting more muscle than most kids his age, patted Ryan on the shoulder, his smile telling me that the two were friends.

"Okay, how about you now Noland?"

The tall boy grinned broadly, showing slightly crooked teeth but over all he was quite handsome, with messy dark waves for hair and piercing dark green eyes. He sauntered forward with a confidence even I was a little envious of.