Feared

"Would the dwarves please step forward first?" Prince Ragnar nodded once, stepping forward with his bodyguard, a female dwarf that was basically a muscle mommy.

'Damn. I kind of thought dwarven women would have beards but they're quite pretty?'

Tapping my chin thoughtfully, I pulled out another meat bun, chewing slowly.

'Ahh… so good.'

I shivered, slightly, feeling glares burrowing into my back. Slowly glancing towards the heirs, all their eyes, minus Ragnar, were focused on me, their glares clear as day. Well, except for Princess Lily's brother, who seemed more amused than anything.

I quickly finished my meat bun, fearing they would take it from me before I could finish.

'What's wrong with having a snack…'

"Ragnar Stonefist, while you are a prince, at the academy you are just another student. Do you understand this?" Ragnar nodded once. The fae woman smiled in approval, pulling out a familiar crystal from what I assumed was a storage ring.

"Place your hand on this crystal please. I will activate the first phase of the crystal, showing your affinity." Upon seeing Ragnar's confirmation, a sudden bright reddish orange hue flared from the crystal, before suddenly turning blue. The fae blinked in surprise.

"Oh! A mutated version of the Fire affinity! I assume this is because of your heritage?" Ragnar nodded once.

"Yes ma'am. This is what my ancestors call the Creator's Fire affinity. It's a fire more suited for crafting weapons and such. It can still do damage though." The fae nodded thoughtfully.

"I've heard rumours of this, it's my first time seeing it though. When your brother enrolled, he had just the Fire affinity." Ragnar looked at the fae in surprise.

"You enrolled my brother?"

"I did! He was quite the stoic one though…" Ragnar chuckled dryly.

"He is quite… serious."

"Anyway, let's move onto your potential shall we?" Focusing slightly on the crystal, the bluish white color faded from the crystal, before being replaced with a startling crimson red.

"Crimson potential! Very fitting for the future heir!" Whispers of surprise broke out among the crowd, causing me to sigh slightly.

'So noisy.'

"We'll do your escort next." Ragnar nodded once, the female dwarf stepping forward calmly. "Name?"

"Korga Ironsong ma'am."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Korga. Please place your hand on the crystal." Korga placed her hand on the crystal softly. After a short second, a steely grey color pulsed out from the crystal, firm and steady.

"Metal affinity. Very nice Korga. We'll move to the potential test next."

After a moment.

"Purple affinity! Quite good Korga! You have yourself a fine escort Ragnar." Ragnar smiled slightly, glancing at Korga.

'Oh? Seems like something spicy is cooking between those two?' I licked my lips slightly, deciding to grab another meat bun.

Glare

'Ignored!'

"Will the Fae step forward next please?" Prince Rowarn floated towards the fae woman, his escort following behind him timidly. 

"Prince Rowan, it is quite good to see you again." Rowan smiled.

"It's good to see you too Miss Althea. It's been some time since I last saw you." The fae wom– Althea chuckled slightly.

"Please place your hand here." Nodding once, Rowan complied.

An inky purple black glowed from the crystal, causing Althea to smile slightly.

"Still the Moonshadow affinity I see." I frowned.

'Must be a mutated version of the Shadow affinity. Do all these guys have mutated versions of their affinity?'

"Silver potential!" I blinked in surprise.

'Damn! That's the highest known potential there is… this guy is strong I guess. Seems like Althea already knew though. Just look at her smug face, acting all proud. You'd think she was the one with a silver potential.'

"Will Rowan's escort please step forward next?"

"Y-y-yes ma'am."

'Oof. She's nervous huh. Very cute though. I give it a 11/10.'

"No need to be nervous dear. Why don't you go ahead and place your hand on the crystal." Placing her hand softly on the crystal, I couldn't help but cry out in my mind,

'Wait! What's her name???'

"Shadow affinity…. oh? Echo affinity as well! Where did you find this cutie, Rowan?" 

'She has Echo affinity too? That's… kind of cool. 15 out of 10!!'

"That's something Elise will share herself if she's ready."

'20 OUT OF 10!!! Elise is a beautiful name! She's totally my typ–' I froze, squinting my eyes as Elise blushed a furious shade of red while looking at Rowan. I dropped to my knees, startling the other heirs and Althea. I looked towards the sky, my gaze blank.

'Why? Why is the world so cruel! I finally found my perfect match! And yet… and yet…!'

"Please stand up per-Tryston."

"Yes, your highness. I apologize for my rudeness." I stood immediately.

'Meat buns won't betray me at least.' I pulled out another meat bun, eating sorrowfully.

Glare

'Ignored!'

"Ahem, let's continue. Potential test Miss Elise." Rowan smiled warmly as Elise replaced her hand on the crystal, having let go from surprise when I dropped to the ground.

After a moment, a bright golden color beamed from the crystal, causing Althea to grin broadly.

"What a talent! Gold potential on top of dual affinities! What a catch Rowan!"

"She is indeed." Elise blushed at Rowan's words causing me to click my tongue.

'Tch. Pretty boy always wins.'

Following after pretty boy and my goddess Elise, the rest of the heirs were tested, eliciting gasps of shock and amazement from the crowd.

Sparky Tinkerbell, the heir to the gnomes had gone next, having had three affinities, Electricity, Metal, and a mutation of the Spirit affinity known as Alchemists Spirit affinity. I guess it was an affinity more suited for alchemy, one of the gnome trademarks. His potential was revealed to be Silver, shocking everyone once again. His bodyguard had been a Spirit affinity with a Purple potential. 

Next went the orcs, Drakhar being a very rare affinity of just pure Kinesa. While others could still use Kinesa at a basic level, having a pure affinity with Kinesa was basically the same as being loved by Kinesa itself. This meant he could manipulate Kinesa to a finer degree naturally and enhance his body to a whole new level compared to the rest of us. In terms of raw combat power, Kinesa was the highest. Drakhar had a crimson potential. His bodyguard had Water and Wind affinity with purple potential. He elicited a small gasp of surprise due to his dual affinities, causing Drakhar to smile smugly.

Next was Elenwe, her escort another beautiful elf. Her affinities were Nature and Light, her potential being crimson. While it may seem lackluster compared to everyone who had gone before her, she drew the loudest cheers, mainly from the men. She was quite the beauty after all…

'11/10.'

Her escort had just a Nature affinity, sporting a Gold potential, which was tied with my adorable goddess Elise.

After Elenwe went Lily's brother, although I was confused because he and Lily didn't go together. He sported a Silver potential with an Ice affinity, which was a well known mutation of the Water affinity, and more surprisingly…

Celestial affinity. An affinity that dabbled with the element of Space and a small usage of Time. It was extraordinarily rare, an affinity that was respected among all races, including the dragons. It was complete and utter silence when this was announced, one filled with quiet awe and unbridled respect.

His escort, a beautiful human girl, had been another shock, even to the heirs. Kinesa affinity with crimson potential. On the surface, you could say she was the same as Drakhar. That was quite far from the truth though. Drakhar had a near infinite amount of resources and training while the human girl, Alya, had been found only recently, based on the whispers I heard among the crowd.

Next was the dragon princess… and she set history.

"Wait… what is this?" Althea squinted at the crystal in confusion. Lyra, the dragon girl, was being tested for her potential, her affinities having been a shocking four; Electricity, Solar which was a mutation of the Light element, Kinesa, and Soul Fire, another mutation based on the fire affinity. Simply put, she was hella overpowered right now. And yet…

"This is unprecedented!! A new level of potential??!!" Gasps broke out among the crowd as Lyra stood there calmly.

'I suppose she was expecting this huh. Still though, she's way to op! I should try to bribe her with meat buns so she doesn't hit me…'

The crystal was a bright Crimson-Gold color, at first having confused Althea due to the two known colors mixing together. After discussing with what I assumed were other professors, they came to the decisive conclusion that this was a new level of potential.

While Lyra wasn't the first dragon to enroll in the academy, at least from my understanding, she was the first of the imperial family to enroll. Dragons were known to have a higher general potential than the rest of the races, yet this seemed to be a whole new level. Still though…

'Why does she seem so… indifferent?'

Well whatever. I started munching on another meat bun, smiling blissfully.

'Ah… so good.'

After a few minutes of discussion and conversing with Lyra, she went back to her spot, her escort being a simple, well simple in comparison to her anyway, Crimson potential and Fire affinity.

"Alright, thank you for your patience everyone. After we test Princess Lily and her escort, we will have all of you split off to be tested more quickly before moving on to the next phase of the exam. Lily Arvidian and her escort, please step forward."

I took a deep breath, finishing my meat bun quickly. Walking behind Lily, I stood as she was tested.

"Hmm, dual affinities just like your brother I see." The crystal glowed a bright light blue, signifying Ice, same as Caelen, her brother. Following that was a strange murky purple, confusing me slightly.

"Oh! The Gravity affinity! Another rare affinity! This year is going to be quite a handful I see!" Althea chuckled slightly. "As for potential… Silver! Another one???" She wiped her brow quickly.

"This is certainly… an interesting year." Lily smiled briefly, before stepping back, still keeping her distance from me.

"Name?" I stepped forward, nodding once at Althea. Glancing briefly at the other heirs, I noticed all of them looking at me with slight interest.

'???'

"Tryston Nyuusen ma'am."

"Well Tryston, please place your hand on the crystal for your affinity." 

'Let's get this over with.' 

Placing my hand on the crystal, I waited for the expected colors to show. After a few moments they appeared. A murky grey green followed by a translucent shimmer.

'Now that I think about it, even though Elise also has Echo no one reacted negatively towards her, though she is pretty cute afterall.'

Silence ensued. Similar to Caelen yet oh so different.

Looking up towards Althea, I saw two emotions in her eyes as she very clearly attempted to restrain from backing away from me.

Disgust.

And fear.