The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

It was with great trepidation that I... no, I'm not going to lie, I practically bounce up the spiral staircase that led to Garth's office.

The room itself is sparsely furnished (I guess it makes sense since he spends most of the year at the academy) but it has a unique charm to it, every item standing out, screaming for attention in my jumbled thoughts.

Most eye catching would have to be the giant crystal orb sitting on a pedestal in the middle of the room, good goddess that thing is the size of a watermelon. I certainly don't envy the poor fellows that had to carry it up those stairs.

The orb is opaque, almost cloudy. The longer I stare at it the more I feel like I have to focus on it. Swirling bursts of colour fill my vision: spirals of red, green and blue are scattered amongst every other colour I can imagine.

Suddenly the colours drain from my vision, returning it to how it was before; though now the world seems black and white.

While recovering from the fuzzy feeling inhibiting my thoughts I hear a voice behind me. "Perhaps I should have warned you before you came, though in fairness I did not expect your mind to be this sensitive."

"Is that a bad thing?" I ask, shaking my head; the sudden change in colour packed quite a kick.

"Not exactly, it makes an untrained mind more susceptible to magical influences but it does have its benefits. It will be easier for you to use magical items and magical sight will come naturally to you as you train."

I file that knowledge away In case I needed it; I've always had a good memory. Anyways, back to the topic at hand.

"So." I try to sound nonchalant though I'm fairly certain I fail miserably. "Where do we start."

Garth chuckles a little, obviously he had seen through me. "I suppose we should determine your affinity first, from there we can start teaching some basic exercises."

Aha, finally something I knew. I had read about magical affinities in my father's library. An affinity was the body's natural inclination towards certain elements, it made it easier to understand spells and concepts related to the affinity.

"So how do we test my affinity?" I asked, cocking my head; the book had not covered this part.

"You already have. At least, partially. The orb in the centre of the room, though it possesses a multitude of functions, one of the most basic is the diffraction of mana. Channeling mana into the orb will split it into the respective elements. By measuring the proportion of each element we can determine your affinity."

Seems simple enough. "So how do I channel mana into the orb?"

"Just place your hand on the orb. Yes like that. Now imagine a stream coming from your chest, down your arm and into the orb."

I did what he said and I could definitely feel something inside, it wasn't exactly co-operating though. Rather than a stream it felt more like wringing a wet cloth but I guess it worked since I could feel something trickling down my arm.

From the opposite side of the orb to my hand, a multicoloured ray of light shot out onto a white roll of paper. Odd, I hadn't seen that when I entered the room.

"Well now... that's certainly interesting." Garth stood beside the beam, scratching his beard ponderously. That worried me.

Poking my head around the crystal I tentatively asked. "What's interesting?"

"Hm? Oh, yes yes, nothing to worry about lad. Though it is an intriguing phenomenon."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "Is there something odd about my affinity?"

"It's not so much your affinity but your lack of one that was odd. Having a higher than average magical sensitivity occurs in perhaps one out of fifty people but this... this is the first time I've seen someone without an affinity."

My heart shook at the possibility that I would be unable to learn magic, scenarios played out in my mind as I walked through dozens of reasons why.

"Don't get ahead of yourself lad, I can almost see your thoughts on your face. You have a bad habit of overthinking things, I didn't say that it was bad to have no affinity, though it certainly will complicate things."

Complicate things? Things were already complicated as it is. Mana? Affinity? Sensitivity?

My head hurt just thinking about them all.

Well, i have plenty of time right?

"So. Whats next?" I ask, anticipation creeping onto my face.