The Elemental Affinity Test

The very morning of her fifth birthday, Lucia woke up at dawn, incredibly excited about the day that would change her destiny forever. It would not be exaggerating saying that this was the most important day of her new life so far and that it would determine her future.

As soon as dawn broke, she woke up, waiting for her mother to be ready. As she was forcing herself to be patient, she thought about what she would do it she did not have any elements for the millionth time and tried to reassure herself, convincing herself that she would get an element.

If I can't practise magic, I'll just live a simple life without any regrets, marrying myself to a handsome prince and living and uneventful and peaceful life. Hgh… This is what I should be thinking, right? Just thinking about it makes me sick… Anyway, why would I have reincarnated in a world with magic only to have no ability with it whatsoever, it doesn't make sense. I'll definitely have magic and become immensely powerful. Yes, this is what will happen…

While she was dispelling her fears, her mother finally woke up and, seeing the eager look on Lucia's face and her shining eyes, she did not make her wait any longer and almost immediately left for the mage association's building. The mage association was the organization that controlled most of the matters related to magic.

After they left the house, Lilia suddenly put a serious look on her face as and declared:

-You know, Lucia, no matter if you have talent for magic or not, I will always be there for you. Don't stress yourself too much, neither I nor your father possess any magical capabilities, so it will be fine if you don't possess magic either. Just remember that we love you. And will always love you, no matter what you want to do in life.

-Thank you, Mom. I love you too, Lucia replied, raising her eyebrows. She had not expected such a speech from her mom and, honestly it made her tear up slightly. Her heart eased and she relaxed a little after this loved-filled message from her mother.

As they continued to walk, Lucia remembered her family in her previous life. Her mother was cold and distant, a truly pitiful woman. She died of tuberculosis when Lucia was nine. Lucia remembered clearly what she had said while a bit too drunk one day: "…What are you doing there? Shouldn't you be already sleeping? Not that it matters… What are you waiting for? Go to sleep. Bah, do what you want, it's not as if I ever wanted you… If I had not been roped into marriage by your father's empty promises, how happy would I be? Anyway, it's too late now."

At least, her father had been a rather close to her, he cared one bit about her, but he was a scum, a living trash. He was a criminal that made money by threatening and robbing old people. One day, he robbed to wrong man, a small noble, and got killed the day after. Before his death, though, he had taught Lucia her how to fight and mend for herself, so she managed to survive after becoming a street orphan.

"My new family is so loving and good… I don't want anything to happen to them, I don't think I would forgive myself."

As they arrived in front of the mage association building, Lucia was once again taken aback by the blandness of the building. She had gone there at least a hundred times in the past two years, but its banality still stunned her. It was an old building tree stories high made of fading bricks that were probably red several decades ago. It looked like every other neighbouring shop, except for the sign above the entrance with "Mage Association HQ in Shratz" written on it in stylized letters.

Although she had gone there a lot of times, she had never got inside it and, as she entered, the contrast between the interior and the exterior baffled her as her steps stopped while she was observing the sight presenting itself. The inside of the building was filled with weirdly coloured lights and overflowing with people. It was buzzing with activities, but it was weird, she rarely saw anyone entering or exiting the building. There were several counters on a side with signs explaining their use. One that caught her attention was the one with "Teleportation" written on its sign. She assumed that people got in here by teleporting in and out. Magic was truly wonderful. On the other side, there was a shop with several strange items to sell. It ranged from potions and pills to different weapons and even crystal balls and other oddities.

Lucia's mother immediately headed toward a specific counter, the one for the "Elemental affinity test" and when they got there, the old man at the counter waved his hand when he saw Lucia and an entrance appeared on the previously empty wall. Lucia closed her eyes and reopened them to ensure that she was not hallucinating and thought again that magic was truly making impossible things possible.

They entered and they soon noticed that they were not the only one doing the test today, there was also a mother with her son waiting. They were in a stone corridor and there was a closed door ahead. Lucia assumed that there was a child doing the test right now. It did not take long before the child doing the test got out with a beaming smile on his face while jumping in joy. Lucia overheard the mother of the child speaking and learned that he had gotten affinity the element he wanted, Fire. Lucia was a bit jealous, Fire was also the element she wanted, but she would be happy with any of them.

The moment that the child with the fire element got out, the one waiting in front of her immediately got inside the room with stiff movements, but soon after her entered, about two minutes later, he got out with a disappointed expression, he had no talent for magic. Lilia, her mother then said:

-Let's go, and don't be too stressed darling.

-Do I look that stressed? Lucia responded while forcing out a dry smile and quickly following her mom in the room where the test took place. Her heart was racing and cold sweat was pouring on her back. She took deep breaths to try and calm herself, without success.

Behind the door was an office with a plump, middle-aged woman seated behind an impressive desk made of dark wood. On the desk was a single item, a mysterious dark grey crystal ball about 5 cm radius. The middle-aged woman spoke as soon as the mother and daughter entered the room and said, with an annoyed and monotone voice:

-Hello, my name is Presty and I will guide you through the elemental affinity test. The elemental affinity test is very simple, you just need to lay your hands on the pearl and breathe slowly. If you have affinity for an element, the pearl will change color and the better your affinity is, the brighter the color will be. For example, Fire is red, Water is blue, Wind is green, Earth is brown and lightning is yellow. Understood?

Lucia nodded and approached the device, fearing for the worst. What if I don't have an element? Her whole body was shaking and she was chewing of her lips. She suddenly felt dizziness and nausea. She took a deep breath to try to calm down and placed her trembling hands on the crystal ball. The device was cold, too cold and it now seemed as if her hands were glued on it. In fact, her whole body was paralyzed, she was unable to move even a finger.

Her eyes closed themselves and started breathing slowly, like the woman instructed, and for what seemed an eternity to her, nothing happened. Then, she felt a cold and unpleasant feeling, like a shower of ice, spread through her body. She opened her eyes and saw that the ball had become transparent, almost invisible. As soon as she saw that there were no colors at all, she felt despair and defection as her dreams got shattered like glass.

She then heard her mother crying softly behind her and that confirmed her suspicions, she was talentless at magic. The look of pity that came from the woman behind the desk was like adding insult to injury, crushing her soul even more and making her want to give up on life.

"WHY! I guess it was too good to be true after all. Getting a fresh start in another world with magic and a loving family was already more than I ever asked for... But if there is a god up there, I hope he feels good after toying with my hopes and aspirations only to crush them to nothingness… Guess I'll live a normal life…"

As Lucia had those depressing thoughts, she still wanted to confirm for real if she couldn't ever use magic. She knew it was an unrealistic, but maybe it was something else. She asked in a hesitant, slightly trembling voice that could've broken at any moment:

-Have I no elemental affinity? Won't I ever be able to use magic?

The woman replied with a voice filled with pity and a tinge of regret:

No, it's even worse than that… You have the Universe element.