Cornering Ice

(Lina POV)

After passing through the finely paved streets she couldn't help but respect a bit, they reached the center of the city. Though it was originally next to the town, as it grew into a city, it surrounded the academy on three sides. Still, the academy was massive, and had tons of fields and open space for training. Despite being impressed, she kept her eternal poker face.

Very soon, the carriage stopped outside the academy. Even the Lidan carriage couldn't go inside willy nilly. She dismounted the carriage, one slender leg before the other refusing any assistance as she heads to the long line of recruits.

She felt it was a bit convenient the day of the entrance exam was the day after she arrived. She had no method of determining the reason for the coincidence, though, and she was utterly unwilling to ask anyone in the line. She could be fairly certain that it didn't stem from the Lidan family, though, and was just a happy coincidence. It definitely was pushed back, though, and that's the only reason she made it. Otherwise, perhaps she would've been prisoner at the Lidan Mansion for an entire year until the next entrance exam came around. Such a thing would have been a nightmare.

…

It had been several hours, and the line had moved a great bit. She had gone past the front gate, past an entire field growing crops, and up and down a training field countless times. Based on the sun, it was three or four in the afternoon, and she was finally leaving the field. She truly felt like everyone in six months distance had come. She could hardly imagine so many people before today. Still, the line led into a stadium, and she gradually reached inside. In front of her, the line curved back and forth some more, before the front person could leave the line, and walk to the center of the stadium. There, there was a crystal alone on a podium in the middle of nowhere.

Overlooking the crystal, in the stadium seats, were scattered elders and section heads the only hope she knew to free her from her situation. As she watched exam after exam, she understood a few things. The first thing was to determine affinity. At that point, there was a pause, and the examiner accepted any input from the stands. There rarely was any. If the crystal glowed, it showed an affinity in an element. If it glowed particularly bright, an elder might show an interest.

As she was only a line away from the crystal, a tall man with long orange hair walked into the center and everyone seemed to be showing him some attention. However, she didn't know why. At least, until he put his hand on the crystal. In an instant, it glowed bright red, before flames burst forth, and overflowed from the crystal. "Peak Fire Affinity!" yells the judge. In an instant, a department head jumped down from the stadium. After a quick conversation, it seemed he accepted him as a disciple, and they left together.

Her heart felt slightly colder at the sight. That was one less person she could hope to impress. However, she shifts her heart back to indifference. That was someone of the fire element, who she couldn't hope to impress. She knew in her heart she wasn't a fire element mage. There was a large variety of elements, some perhaps never seen before. For example, she had never heard of Prol's element, and had no idea what it was. Prol…

Steeling her heart, she eventually made it to the front of the line. As she approached the crystal, she felt colder and colder in her heart. However, that only spurred her on further towards the power she sought. As she reaches out her hand to the crystal, she can feel her heart freezing. Was she truly someone who got so nervous? She hadn't even been so nervous when she had summoned her spirit.

As her hand comes into contact with the crystal, it seems to stick to it, and she feels unable to separate form the crystal, as it draws a bit of energy from her. She can feel it reach out to her soul, and her soul repels the energy with a sickening coldness, unwilling to accept contact from others. The crystal glows with an icy light that quickly blinds everyone present, before 'Crack!'

The crystal didn't break, but it froze solid. Quickly, black ice spread like a virus down the podium, freezing the area around her. Even the judge backs away at the solemn sight. A slender, beautiful girl, with icy blue eyes and long white hair that goes down to her waist, stands alone in a wasteland of black ice. Her face perfectly blank and calm, without the slightest trace of emotion, she stares at the judge.

After a moment of silence, the judge speaks. "Peak Ice Affinity! Unknown variant!"

There was a moment of silence, and scattered whispers. Then, a single figure jumps down from the stands- a tall, peerless beauty. Her skin is just as pale as Lina's, and her hair just as long, but her eyes and hair are an abyssal black. Likewise, her expression is icy cold. "Perhaps, you have some fate with my Desolate Heart Pavilion. I'll authorize you to use the Inheritance Stone. Don't disappoint me," she speaks in an icy tone, that freezes even Lina's heart a bit further.

…

Up in the stands, watching the entire thing, Marth sits. Though he wasn't an elder, as a disciple of one, and being engaged to the daughter of one, he had some right to be here. His eyes burn as he looks down at the beautiful figure waiting in line, but after a while, she touches the crystal, and black ice spills out. Such a thing disturbs his frame of mind. "Ice affinity?" he asks, and his mentor nods.

"Most probably, the events leading up to here improved her affinity with ice. That's why as people get older, their affinities can get stronger. Though affinities don't weaken, different experiences can improve them. She must have had a good talent to improve to this extent. It's likely a second element caused the variation probably a high affinity. To get into the heart of an ice magician is an almost impossible task," the wise old warrior talks, as he looks at the figure of the woman jumping down from the stands. When she'd entered as an elder in the academy, he'd tried to go after her as well, but met with no luck.

"Isn't this bad?" asks Marth, a concerned annoyance filling his tone.

"Perhaps. However, I learned a bit about the Ice inheritance. That elder's cultivation is stuck because of her technique. It might be called the Desolate Heart Pavillion, but that's only because of the elder. Ice techniques makes one indifferent to everything- but that makes it very, very difficult to progress to her level. Her technique is different. By making one exception, she was able to feel the emotions needed to progress, and have a bit of warmth behind the ice. However, because of the technique, when that person dies, it becomes impossible to improve further."

"You mean…" Marth thinks for a moment. "She has to choose me. And when she does, she really won't be able to escape," he says, before licking his lips.

…

In an empty room, Lina stands with the beautiful elder. Despite being of unknown age, she retains her youthful appearance. That, or her growth was truly incredibly fast. Lina didn't know. She had been led to this room, one of four that corners on the Inheritance Stone. Here, she could sit alone, and try to gain her Inheritance. If she could, she'd gain a suitable technique. The stone itself was very mysterious, but its effects were well understood. It'd always provide a suitable inheritance for those allowed to touch it but it consumed a great amount of energy when doing so. As such, only disciples of particularly wealthy elders had a shot at touching it. Though she hadn't been officially accepted yet, she knew if she could get a proper inheritance, she would be.

She looks over her mentor, a bit of concern entering her eyes. "Don't worry, Lina. I'll make sure someone accepts you as long as you get any inheritance, and I'll definitely accept you if you get an ice inheritance. However, the cost to practice my technique is very great. Perhaps, you'll be offered something else. My mistake was seeking to gain power too quickly, instead of worrying about how stable my growth would be. Don't make the same one," she warns, showing a bit of emotion now that so many eyes weren't on her.

"Yes, Elder," Lina says in an indifferent tone but in her heart, she can't agree. No matter what, she needs to get strong enough to stand on her own. She didn't know what move the Lidans would be making, and whatever it was, she couldn't afford to fall to it.