Adaptation

I willed my whole being to do something.

Anything.

But nothing happened. I have no magic affinities. I truly was a mistake, an outlier, and a failure. Despite my emotions threatening to burst forth, I kept a calm demeanor as I faced the King and asked "So does this mean I have no magic? Or is there something else that I need to know?"

He seemed genuinely surprised as he stroked his greying beard, seemingly in deep thought. He finally replied after sorting through his thoughts. "Well, this crystal measures the four base elements, usually those are the most common affinities, but that does not mean you have no affinities, you might be lucky and have a rare affinity for space, time, or you may even have an element that has never been recorded before."

I looked at him like he was fucking stupid. Because that was what it sounded like.

"I'm not lying, Yuuki. My grandfather was the first man to have an affinity for smoke, so what makes you think it would be impossible for you to have the same amount of luck as him?"

I honestly couldn't tell if he was lying or not. Damn his poker face is good!

"Well I'm not getting my hopes up. Thanks again for taking me here." I bowed deeply as a show of respect to hopefully garner more reputation with the King, but he just started to laugh.

"Yuuki, how many times have I asked you to call me by my name when we were not in an official meeting?" I sighed but I just responded in a low tone "Yes, Kain, my apologies."

I was finally able to leave that stuffy room. I found myself on the roof of the castle looking over the mountains and watching the sunset.

"It's beautiful, isn't it." I didn't bother to look behind me. I knew who was there.

"Yes, it is a very breathtaking sight."

One of the only people who understood my pain was one of the servants, a human child around my age with a similar past so we hit it off rather quickly. His name is Kabuto and he's pretty damn tall for his age with light blonde hair that's neatly trimmed and his green eyes reflect a certain maturity that no kid should have. His sharp features combined with his glasses make him seem like a calm and kind person, but in reality, he's just like me.

(A/N: basically Goro from Darling in the FRANXX.)

We sat in silence until the suns fiery red rays had been extinguished, and night had swallowed the light. I heard Kabuto shuffle around for a second before a chilling wind froze my bones.

"So I heard you were going to Northgate Academy this Fall."

"Yeah, honestly I not looking forward to living in dorms with some dumbasses."

"Tch, you're going to the most prestigious Academy and that's what you're worried about?"

The air turned solemn and minutes ticked away until Kabuto spoke once again.

"Y'know, I'm thinking about training my ass off and coming with you. I don't want to watch you go on with your life while I'm stuck being a damn waiter for those Noble snobs."

I stifled a laugh before looking at Kabuto "You're more like a maid with your build my friend."

My friend smirked and pushed up his glasses "Well at least I get to sleep with the cute maids."

This time we both let out soft chuckles as we began to talk about various topics and things that we've been up to and our conversation persisted for most of the night. It wasn't until Lyra came and ruined my blissful escape that we had retreated to our rooms.

---

I woke up the next day feeling refreshed as I got out of bed, brushed my teeth, and donned an ornate robe made of a red silk with gold embroideries. I shuffled down the hall towards the dining room with my hand in the pockets of my robe, appearing as casual as possible.

I wasted no time in nabbing a few pieces of freshly baked bread and retreating to the courtyard to begin my own personal training. I started off with basic stretches and then I moved on to various exercised from pushups all the way to pullups. Then I began to form my own style of fighting. My style was rough at best. It focused on using my whole body as a weapon, making it to where If I get caught without a weapon, I'll still have a chance.

After my daily routine I head towards the library to study and when it gets to the afternoon I usually find time to train some more or I talk with Kabuto. Kabuto and I have gotten really close over the past few days just by sharing our personal stories and struggles.

We really are the same.

Days moved to weeks and the weeks moved to a month. I had somewhat refined my style, but I still needed a proper name for it. My body was now toned but not too muscular, yet I still had a long was to go before I was satisfied. My flexibility was leagues above what it had been before so I could now attempt acrobatics and incorporate them into my fighting style. I wanted to be versatile and unreadable.

My official training had been delayed until the Ki- I mean Kain could find a suitable teacher. Sadly the day he found someone, well that day was today. I found myself looking in the mirror wearing a stuffy black jacket with red motifs, and a lion sewed from a golden silk on the back. I wore my usual black slacks and boots with a few rings and necklaces that I had 'found' in the vault that had various protection spells and wards inscribed within. My favorite was a simple silver necklace with a 6 pointed star made of a shining ruby.

As usual Lyra was waiting for me at the door and walked to the Throne Room with me in silence. Before we had turned the corner to the massive chamber doors, Lyra tugged on my sleeve to get my attention.

'Well shit what'd I do this time?' I thought as I turned to face her.

Her eyes were facing the floor and her hands were gripping the sides of her light blue dress.

"I just want you to kn-"

"Sorry, but we have to go see what the King wants." I interrupted because I felt like if I didn't things would get kind of awkward. Well very awkward. I couldn't get attached to anyone, so I kept my walls raised high to protect me from the raging tides.

I walked through the massive door that the guards opened and found myself in the same chamber I was in when I first met Kain, the King of Ralithon. His weary eyes crinkled into a smile, that was hid under his beard, as he tapped his golden staff on the floor to silence the room. There were the usual eight people, four on each sides, but there were also a wide assortment of people that I had never seen before. I did, however, catch a glimpse of Kabuto within the tide of people.

The King stood up from his throne and cleared his throat before speaking in a deep voice that carried through the entire chamber.

"As you know, the deadlines for admission into Northgate academy is today. I come bearing good news for some who enlisted, and bad news for the rest who had also enlisted."

He began reading names of everyone who passed from a long scroll, my interest peaked when he called out Kabuto and Lyra, but I was still waiting. Kain had said that he would put in a good word if I treated my training seriously, but he wouldn't force them to take me in. When he read off the last few names he stopped and looked directly at me.

"There is one more, a rare case if I might add. The director of Northgate Academy has decided that the orphan Yuuki Silver of the Silver Clan will be accepted and will attend in the Fall like everyone else. That is all." He shot me a wink before walking out the door and into the hall.

I was more curious than happy or surprised. Why was I a rare case? Is it because of this cursed blood running through my veins? Or the rumors of me being a Demon spawn? I had too many questions and too little answers. I was jolted from my thoughts as Kabuto slapped his hand across my shoulder and gave me a wide smile and a thumbs up. Looks like it won't be that bad after all.

I shook my head while suppressing the urge to laugh at the dumb look on his face. I walked into my room to change in the robe I usually wear around when I'm not training or when I'm not in a meeting or anything like that. I walked towards a door that stood next to the stairway and I knocked once.

"Come in."

I swung the door open and saw Kain sitting behind a desk with papers stacked to the side, his face weary but youthful at the same time. He gestured for me to sit and congratulated me on my admittance.

"So, who's my personal trainer? That's why you wanted me to come here, correct?"

"Haha...always to the point eh? Very well." Kain clapped his hand and a figure blurred into sight and stopped behind me, their hand covering my eyes.

"Well well, guess who it is?" An all too familiar voice whispered into my ear.

Great. Another pain in my ass.

"The crazy fire chick who snuck into my room at night." It was more of a statement than a question.

Kain chuckled while the fire chick moved in front of me with her cheeks puffed out.

"I have a name y'know!" Wow. An adult pouting like a child. Fun.

I rolled my eyes and asked "Oh well then what is this great one's name?" with more than a bit of sarcasm, but she seemed dumber than a bag of rocks and puffed her chest out with pride, her dark brown hair falling from her shoulders in the process "My name is Jayne Scarlet! The world most powerful cursed mage!" She nodded her head like she was agreeing with herself. Wait no she actually was agreeing with herself.

Kain had a wry smile on his face but he alleviated my concerns "Don't worry Yuuki, she's not lying. I made sure to find the best teacher for you. The reason why she called herself a 'cursed' mage is because she comes from a prominent family of fire mages, but she doe not wield fire. She wields a special form of Magma, the first of its kind actually."

"So are these cursed mages simply what others call people who unlock a new form of magic?" I asked, hoping to find an answer to an important question. Maybe that's why others called me a curse.

"Well, yes and no. Usually if someone from a Noble family that specializes in a certain magic happens to have a different elemental affinity instead of the families specialization, they are cast out of the family in order to keep their blood pure. However, if they have unlocked a new type of magic, that is either rare or never seen before, the family will brand them a 'cursed mage' but keep them within their family."

Jayne's expression lost a bit of its cheeriness when she heard Kain's words, but she bounced back rather quickly. "So, are you a cursed mage like me? I had heard you were the heir to the Silver clan but you look nothing like a Silver."

My eyes narrowed, my anger threatening to boil over "I have not had any experience with magic so far, so I cannot be for sure that I am a mage."

Jayne must've sensed my anger for she had taken a few steps back while glancing at Kain. I calmed down quickly after berating myself silently before Kain spoke up "Well, there is a way to force your magic to awaken, but the risk heavily outweighs the rewards."

Now I was curious.

"Wait, you said something about forcing my magic to awaken, but I thought that my mana core was filled with internal mana?"

"Yes, it is, but your magic does not reside within your core, it forms and takes shape when your core is about to break through into the first stage of red." Jayne answered for me.

But I never heard of that until now. They must've saw me and thought I was mulling over the information, so they fell quiet. But alas I was doing what anyone should've done in this situation. I was trying to make up a name for my fighting style.

'Bloody Knife? No that's stupid. Night Dance? Damn I suck at this.'

"-uki? Yuuki!"

"Huh, oh yeah what's up?" I rubbed the back of my head while I looked at Kain, who had an unveiled humor in his eyes, as he asked if I was feeling well.

I was finally out of that room. I swear, being near that old man makes me feel like I'm an open book. But I had no time to feel relieved because I now had Jayne following me like a lost puppy who was finding new chew toys at every corner.

"Why are you following me?" I saw the light fade from her eyes as she mechanically turned her head to me and muttered "I don't have a place to stay..."

---

"And that's how I ended up sharing my room with my trainer." After Kabuto had learned I had to share my room with Jayne, well let's say he didn't take it too well.

"Yeah and she just happened to be wearing almost no clothes too." His eyes squinted in accusation.

I sighed "You dumbass. She's wearing the clothes she has for when she enters a Dungeon. And I'm making her sleep on the floor." As much as I liked Kabuto as a person, he pissed me off with his perverted attitude most of the times.