Anomaly

Silas and Adin walked into the Grand Entrance Hall—the floor polished marble, reflecting the light of floating lamps that hovered near the ceiling.

A large emblem of the academy, inlaid with silver and gold, was embedded at the center of the floor and the walls lined with banners, each representing different schools of magic taught at the academy.

At the center was a grand staircase with an ornate wooden railing that led to the upper offices and archives.

Adin and Silas turned the long wooden counter at the right, staffed by scribes and officials dressed in formal robes.

As they approached, a scribe looked up with a genuine look of shock—Lord Ross was a familiar face in this part of the empire, but what business did he have with the academy?

The scribe froze– his memories kicked back to the rumors of a month ago, and his gaze instinctively shifted to Silas. 

The boy had a muscular frame like that of a magic night and an average face. The only interesting thing about the boy was the five green stripes on his hair. 

"Baron Ross, welcome to the academy…" the scribe greeted hurriedly. "How may I help you?" 

"I want to register this young lad and have him enrolled in the academy," Aiden responded sharply.

The scribe nodded with an intrigued expression and pulled out a brown paper, an ink jar, and a feather pen.

"Name and Age?" he asked.

"Silas Ross—18." Silas' response was dull and low, not because he lacked confidence, but because he was uninterested.

'Just get this over with.' He mumbled in his mind.

"Strongest element affinity and weakest affinity." He asked again in a mechanical tone while writing down something.

"Strongest affinity, Necromancy." 

Buzz!

The scribe froze and looked up with a pale face. He looked Silas in the eyes, leaned over the counter, and pressed his ear to his lips.

"S–ay th–at ag–ain?" The scribe's voice trembled with fear and disbelief.

"Strongest element, Necromancy. But that's all I have." Silas took a step back before he spoke.

The scribe slid back to his stand with a doubtful expression. He glanced at Baron Ross and the old man nodded, but even this did not convince him.

Necromancy is a four-star element and is considered one of the rarest elements in the world. It is said to appear only once in ten generations—are these two trying to tell him that such a powerful element appeared in a small village like Thornfield?

Sigh...

"Kar, come inside." Silas let out an exhausted sigh.

Thud!

"W-what? An orc!"

"Wait, stop it!"

BOOOM!

The two guards stationed at the entrance were sent hurling into the room—startling everyone. Heavy footsteps followed as a 7-foot-tall orc walked into the room and stood behind Silas like a minion.

Everyone in the room was petrified with fear, and even the fallen guards played possum.

"I told you." Silas tilted his head and scratched his neck with a gleam of impatience in his eyes.

"Send it back first." Aiden walked up to his side and advised in a whisper.

Seeing this reminded this man that this boy gave up his seat as patriarch to this kid. A month ago, he joined the entire Loth Kingdom to call Aiden a fool, but now he felt like a fool.

Even the Count of Loth wouldn't hesitate to step down from his throne and give it up to Silas if he decided to join. 

The Scribe watched as Kar exchanged glances with its master before walking out of the room. Only after it was gone did he regain some of his composure.

With shaky hands, a pillow was placed on the counter with a crystal ball on it. 

"Pla–Please, place your hand on the crystal ball, Baron Ross." The scribe instinctively addressed Silas as Baron Ross and didn't even notice the mistake.

Silas nodded and placed his hand, and a blinding dark green light illuminated from the crystal ball. What followed next was unexpected—dark green fumes diffused from the crystal ball, spreading across the room.

In seconds, the room was filled with green fumes, accompanied by eerie pearls of laughter and screams.

Ka-ka! Ka-ka!

Web-shaped cracks spread across the crystal sphere and exploded in a deafening explosion—silence followed.

With the crystal ball destroyed, the fumes faded away slowly, while everyone was petrified and glared at him like they had seen a ghost.

A second later, everyone in the room walked forward, surrounding Baron Ross and Silas, including the guards, and they bowed at once.

"CONGRATULATIONS BARON ROSS!"

Those words thundered across the entire capital, sending shivers across the Loth Kingdom. The dying Ross family had somehow stumbled upon an anomaly.

Usually, humans were born with affinity to two elements— one weaker while the other stronger, and some talented individuals are born with three.

Anomalies were individuals born with only one element, with an unreal affinity to that element. 

The Valgard Empire is not standing because of the royal family, but the Empire Martial Saint—an anomaly born with a terrifying affinity to a 5-star element: Time.

That man was the sole reason this empire had remained standing for a thousand years, and now the heavens have blessed humanity with another anomaly?

This was a sign from the heavens!

As soon as everyone realized Silas was an anomaly, everything changed. The rest of the registration went smoothly and Aiden bid him farewell while the scribe led him out of the building to the dormitories.