Chapter 13: Smith Red Martinez

Today, he would discover his magic affinity.

In the Dominion Hall, Aiden reached the first floor and collected the form for checking his magic affinities. He wrote down his name, class, and some personal details, then headed to the fifth floor.

On the fifth floor, in a very spacious hall, stood a strange kind of instrument that Aiden had never seen before. The entire hall glowed green, and a massive chandelier hung from the ceiling. In the middle of the hall, a boy — probably ten years old — was seated in a chair.

As Aiden saw the boy, the child seemed to notice him too — and suddenly transformed into an adult. He had a handsome face, with deep black hair and ocean-blue eyes that looked as if they could see through everything. He wore a grey long coat and looked directly at Aiden.

Aiden felt an irresistible pressure welling up from the bottom of his heart. He could tell it was magic — not a mind-controlling spell, but a true, raw magical force pressing on him.

Then, a voice rang out, and in that instant, the pressure disappeared — as if it had never existed.

"Who are you?" the voice asked.

"My name is Aiden de Ravenspire Winrose. I'm a student of Class S, and I'm here to check my magic affinities," Aiden answered nervously.

The man smiled faintly. "My name is Smith Red Martinez. The instructor is not present."

Smith collected Aiden's form and said, "You're in luck. Though the instructor isn't here, I can check your magic affinities."

With a snap of his fingers, a large white glass ball appeared out of nowhere.

"Press your hand on this," Smith instructed.

Aiden did as told and placed his right hand on the glass ball.

In an instant, he felt half of his mana drain.

Inside the glass ball, red-colored mana flared up, wind began to stir, and a strange hollow space seemed to open — as though a part of reality didn't exist. A swirl of indistinguishable colors appeared, along with several tiny colored orbs.

Smith looked mildly surprised. "Congratulations, Aiden."

Aiden stood still, unsure of what the swirling lights meant.

Smith could already tell that Aiden only partially understood. So he began to explain.

"You have quite good magic affinities. You have a fire affinity — I'm sure you already figured that out from the red-colored mana. And wind magic affinity. You also have a space magic affinity, which means you can bend space if you master it — teleport from one place to another in moments. This type is rare."

He pointed to the swirling, hard-to-distinguish colors.

"That indistinguishable mana represents mental-type magic. But you don't have the offensive kind — it's defensive. It means you can only use it to protect yourself. Normally, people need to learn a defensive mind spell, but you have a passive one. You don't even need to activate it — it'll work automatically."

Aiden blinked, still trying to grasp it all.

Smith continued, "You're protected from mental attacks 24/7. And the best part? It doesn't use your mana — it replenishes from nature itself. It's rare. In ancient magic books, it says this kind of defence can even resist divination magic used by oracles. I've never met anyone who had it... until now."

He paused before adding, "These other few colors represent several potential affinities. Some of them may awaken later, if you're lucky. I'm one of the lucky ones too."

Aiden looked at the glowing ball.

'So... I have all this inside me?' he thought. 'Fire... wind... space... and a passive mind defence...'

Smith added, "But all of this depends on whether your mana quality improves. You'll need to form multiple magic circles. At Initiate level, your mental defence will be as strong as an Initiate's active defence spell. And remember — the only difference is, yours requires no mana."

As Aiden listened to everything Smith explained about the mental defence, he felt a wave of relief.

'That means... I can finally get some protection from Calista's dreams, if not completely,' he thought.

Aiden smiled. He was genuinely happy with the results.

Then he asked, "Sir, do you know anything about any cat race? I mean... not Catmen, but a cat that can sing and dance?"

Smith was visibly startled upon hearing the question.