The Library: Affinities Part 2

"Welcome back to The Library, where your knowledge can expand~" The Librarian sang out with a mischievous gri- wait what? You're singing now?

"Last time, we went through common Affinities, and today we move on to the rest~," he continued to sing, unaware of the pain he brings. Also, no we bloody won't! That would be like 6,000 words!

"Then let's begin with the Affinity known as ice~" The Librarian sang once more, ignoring my protest.

Fine, I'll indulge you.

He snapped his fingers, and frost began to creep, covering the ground in a shimmering sheet, a gleaming layer of ice, both cold and neat. P.S., I hate this.

"Ha, ha! Now, with a low ice Affinity, you can chill your surroundings, make your body cold—so much so that it's uncomfortable for anyone around." 

What he's saying is, you're basically a malfunctioning air conditioner. As he clapped his hands, the ice scattered and danced across the land like a gust of winter wind.

Why do I have to rhyme too!?

"At medium Affinity," he continued with a swish of his arm, "you can shape and sculpt the ice as though it were clay, bending it to your will and moving it like crashing waves." He flicked his wrist, and an intricate ice castle rose from the ground, towering over the surrounding dummies. "Oh, and you can give people hypothermia."

Okay, that last part didn't even rhyme!

Whatever. The Librarian waved his hand, making the ice dance and sway, sculpting arches and towers that reached to the sky in a magical display.

"With a high Affinity, you can freeze the blood in someone's veins," he continued, clearly ignoring my commentary. "Not only that, but you can change the weather itself, bringing icy storms and destruction from above." His smile broadened as he spoke, clearly enjoying this ridiculous performance.

The ice glistened, its frigid power evident as he let out a satisfied sigh. 

And with that, this ridiculous rhyming farce ends! Starting now!

"Aw, you're no fun, Narrator," The Librarian teased with a chuckle.

Like I care!

Seriously, what was that? Why did you do it? "Well, I thought we'd mix it up a bit rather than just explain to the readers." Well, don't ever do that again. It was physically painful for me to hear and narrate that.

"Sigh. Whatever you say, Mr. Narrator. Anyway, now that we've explained ice in a fun manner, let's move on to water," The Librarian said with an amused grin. With a wave of his hand, the frosted ground shifted back to its original state, the grass springing up as if nothing had happened. He clapped his hands together and slowly pulled them apart, droplets of water forming between his fingers and swirling gently in mid-air. "Water magic is pretty straightforward," he continued, the water starting to take shape. "It's about controlling life." He chuckled, eyes gleaming. "Yes, you heard right. Water doesn't just heal like people assume."

"With a low level of water Affinity, you can heal cuts, cure a cough, maybe even make someone's skin break out in a rash—like a bad case of poison ivy," he added with a wink. So, basically, you're a little less useful than a decent first aid kit, got it? The water droplets began to merge, growing as they pulled moisture from the air around them. "No, I'm just putting more mana into them." Dude! Allow me to make it sound fantastical, please!

"Ehem. At medium Affinity, you can actually be useful," he continued, the water now swirling in a tight, controlled orb between his hands. "Like healing fatal injuries as long as they don't require you to regrow anything and you can cure most poisons and illnesses too, though stuff like cancer?" He shrugged, shaking his head. "Still out of reach. But if you specialize, you could even manipulate nature itself, like those druids or dryads. That is, if you're one of the rare few who can. Oh, and by the way, you can boil someone's blood if you're feeling... creative." The water in his hand shimmered, becoming so pure and flawless it looked like liquid crystal—with cleanliness that would be impossible to replicate with real water.

"With high water Affinity..." He trailed off, letting the crystal-clear water hover in front of him, his eyes narrowing as he focused on it. "You can pretty much do anything. Regrow limbs, restore organs, cure any disease or poison. Even death isn't final for you." His tone turned darker, more serious, as he leaned in. "There are some who can raise entire armies by making it rain healing water. It's practically a miracle. And trust me, when we get to Holy magic, we'll cover all that." He let the orb of water float for a moment before letting his hand hover above it. The water trembled under his palm, as though waiting for his command.

"But don't get cocky," he said, his voice dropping to a near whisper. "Just because water magic isn't the rarest doesn't mean high Affinity is easy to come by. Very few can truly manipulate life and death this way. One of them? The God of Healing himself." With a sudden motion, he crushed the water beneath his hand, the droplets scattering into nothingness. "Death is still permanent for most, and if you can't accept death, you'll never control life," he added, a creepy smile forming on his face.

"Did you really have to describe it as a creepy smile?" No, but just think of this as payback for the beginning of the chapter. "Heh, alright I don't mind, I don't hold a grudge." Considering what else you do, that's ironic. "Let's move on," The Librarian said as he snapped his fingers, lightning sparking and arcing between them. "Ah, lightning, the most versatile magic Affinity. Now, we debated how much of this Affinity we should reveal, since it happens to be the main power of Ercale, everyone's favorite Demon Lord, and we decided on..." He waved his hand, letting the lightning fizzle out. "Not telling you."

Yeah, it would be better for the story if you learned it by watching Ercale. "Correct, but I will say this: lightning is, by a significant margin, the most versatile magic Affinity with the most applications. That's all I'm willing to divulge, sorry," he said, shaking his head. "So instead, let's talk about thunder, which—believe it or not—is different from lightning, though many people don't actually know that." He raised his hand as if to snap his fingers but hesitated. "Actually, thunder doesn't lend itself to a good physical demonstration, considering it's just sound." He paused, rubbing his chin. "Hmm... well, whatever, we'll do without a physical display."

Thank god! Because I had no idea how I'd even begin to describe that. "Anyway, thunder, much like lightning, is versatile but less so than its flashy cousin. Still, it can do some pretty nifty things," he said, turning toward a few wooden practice dummies. He clapped his hands, and the air vibrated violently as a wave of sound burst forth, hitting the dummies with enough force to shatter them into a cloud of splinters. The sheer impact was like an invisible fist smashing through them, the wood cracking and exploding outward.

"Fun, right? With low Affinity, you can create small vibrations, amplify your voice, or even become a living dog whistle." He gave a casual shrug. "Not much, but imagine the everyday fun you could have with it. Now, at medium Affinity, things get serious. You can burst people's eardrums, rupture their organs with sound vibrations, and if you're well-trained, you can even perform short bursts of movement at the speed of sound, kind of like a flash step."

He tapped his foot lightly, and in the blink of an eye, he vanished, reappearing almost instantly about a hundred feet away. "And then, with high Affinity... well, you saw what I did to those dummies with a single clap, right? Now, imagine that, but used against living beings, or better yet, on a city-wide scale." He gave a wicked grin. "Pretty devastating. Oh, and by that point, you could also just run at the speed of sound, no problem. Anyway, that's enough for now. Bye!"

What the hell!? That was so sudd-