Chapter 7.1: Multi-Affinity Mages
It was still an hour to dawn as Markus and Ezekiel made their way through the eerily quiet side alleys of the capital. This morning, Markus was delivering a sword his uncle had made to the academic district. He had already been waiting outside the smithy when the boy emerged. Markus's bright smile at seeing his friend turned into a grimace as he stifled a massive yawn.
"Well, this is fun," Markus said as they walked. The words echoed dully in the silence.
Ezekiel chuckled darkly, "You don't know the half of it."
Markus gave him a sideward glance. "In all seriousness though," he said, "how are you doing? Really?" Even though they saw each other daily, they hadn't really had a chance to talk.
Ezekiel sighed. "I'm not going to lie, it's been tough." He didn't want to burden Markus with his hardships, so he simply said, "They think I'm just some trash with no future. But I'll prove them wrong."
Markus clapped him on the back encouragingly. "I have no doubt you will," he said. His tone betrayed his total confidence in his friend. "You have more determination than anyone I have ever met. You'll make something of yourself at the academy. I can feel it."
Even though Ezekiel didn't share Markus's positive certainty, he couldn't help the flicker of hope that sprang to life at Markus's words. He'd been working hard and knowing that someone believed in him flooded him with warmth. He glanced at his friend, a fond smile on his face.
"So," Markus said, "made any friends there?"
This question exterminated the warmth in Ezekiel's chest on the spot. He frowned and shook his head.
"It's like I'm an outcast or something," he admitted. "I've tried talking to some of the other students, but they just brush me off or give me looks."
Markus's eyes flashed. "Don't let them get to you, Zeke," he said hotly. "Sometimes, people are idiots."
Ezekiel chuckled at this nugget of wisdom, and Markus grinned.
"You are a good person, Zeke, and a good friend," Markus continued earnestly. "If you keep pushing forward and stay true to yourself, I know you will find your place there. Not everyone is going to like you, and that's okay - but those who'll appreciate you for who you are will find you sooner or later."
"Thank you, Markus," Ezekiel said, his friend's kindness the only positive thing in his life as of late. Neither of the two boys mentioned Lilly.
They turned a corner into the main thoroughfare leading towards the academy. The way to the academy was familiar to Ezekiel by now. As they approached, the towers of the academy were silhouetted against the first pale glow of morning light.
With a pat on the back, Markus turned to leave. "Do your thing, mage boy," he said cheekily, and with a final wave, disappeared into an alleyway, leaving Ezekiel standing alone in front of the academy.
Ezekiel took a deep breath and stepped forward, his eyes drifting toward the Evaluation Hall as he made his way inside. The memories of that day were still fresh in his mind, the sting of his peers' disdain still palpable.
For Ezekiel, the last three weeks had been long and grueling. The days blurred together as he woke up every morning before dawn to make the long journey from his lodgings to the academy. Despite the early hour, he was always wide awake and alert, fueled by his determination to succeed and prove everyone wrong. He knew he had been given a raw deal, but he was determined to make the most of it. He threw himself into his studies with fierce determination, soaking up every scrap of knowledge that was offered to him.
He made his way to his first mandatory morning class, History of the Empire. As expected, not one of the other students talked to him. Even the seats around him remained empty as if he had some sort of infectious disease the others could catch if they got too close. In turn, he set his jaw and kept his attention firmly on the lecturer. He took meticulous notes on the dates of the different treaties. Those would, presumably, culminate in the formation of the Arkenheim Empire - in a thousand years or so.
Ezekiel had discovered a pattern in the annals of the past two millennia. The empire appeared to have abandoned diplomacy. It had embarked on what could only be described as a crusade against all the other nations on the continent. The textbooks he studied as part of his curriculum, however, seemed to condone them.
When that class ended, he got up, mindfully ignoring every one of his classmates, and made his way to his next class, Theory of Mana. Again, the surrounding seats remained empty, but he was too used to this to care.
The lecturer entered the classroom and swept his gaze around. He snorted in disdain soon after. Almost all of his classes were filled with commoners. Most of them had very weak affinities on top of that. There must have been some kind of sorting mechanism that put all the undesirable students together in one class.
Ezekiel suspected this to be the reason why he didn't share a single class with Lilly. She, with her greater Wind affinity, had no business being in this class. The teacher dropped his bag on the table as he began his lesson without any greetings.
"Today, you are going to learn about multi-affinity Mages," he said.
More than one pair of eyes gathered on Ezekiel, he was the only one in class with more than one affinity. The boy in question was excited to finally learn about the subject. For weeks now, he had tried to find out more about the advantages of multiple affinities. He leaned forward, careful to catch every word.
"Let me begin this lesson by clearing up a simple misunderstanding that a lot of new students have. Multiple affinities are not always a boon. There are certain advantages and disadvantages. However, more often than not, every affinity except for your highest one is going to hold you back!"
Ezekiel reeled back as if struck. The teacher, uncaring of his reaction, went on with his explanation.
"Some of you kids might think that having multiple affinities would be a great thing, yes? Being able to cast magic from different schools would make you stronger, yeah?"
Many of the students started to nod at his words, and Ezekiel found himself nodding along as well.
"You are not wrong, in theory. But that is not how it works out in practice. It should be pretty obvious if you think about it," he claimed, before pointing at a random student. "How many cores do you have, boy?"
The student was surprised by the sudden question but still managed to answer.
"One?" he said hesitatingly.
"That is exactly right," the teacher complimented. "And how many cores does a Multi-Affinity Mage have? You don't have to overburden your little minds, I'm going to tell you. They also have one core!"
Realization dawned on many of the student's faces. The teacher smiled upon seeing this and went on.
"That means," he started. "That a student with a greater Fire affinity and a minor water affinity will put twice as much strain on his core when casting Water spells compared to Fire spells. I can not think of a single instance in which that mage would be better off using Water Magic compared to Fire."
Here the teacher paused, before adding with a smirk: "Unless he wants a glass of water."
Chuckling about his own joke, he surveyed the class before explaining his second point.
"That is only the first reason for my statement, the second one is even more important. Let me give you all an example," he said, before pointing at Ezekiel.
"What was your name again, Blood Mage?" Ezekiel was surprised at being pointed out like that and even more so by this address. Still, he didn't want to get on the teacher's bad side for no reason.
"My name is Ezekiel from Feldstadt, sir," he replied.
"And you have three affinities: Blood, Mind, and Space?" he asked.
Ezekiel just nodded, intrigued at where the teacher was going with this.
"So, let's imagine a very unlikely scenario. Ezekiel from Feldstadt gets adopted by a noble family." he began, causing the other students to snicker.
Ezekiel clenched his fist under the table. Still, this was not the first time he had been made fun of by a teacher. The boy had learned to hold back his anger by now.
Uncaring of his feelings, the professor continued making his point.
"What family would that be? Would it be a family of Blood Mages? Mind Mages? Space Mages? There obviously isn't a single family on the continent that specializes in all three. So let's assume that he is adopted by a family of Space Mages, yes?" The students nodded, listening intently.
"They would teach him how to teleport, how to create a [Spatial Barrier], and all the other spells that Space mages are famous for. But what about his Blood Magic, and his Mind Magic?
"His new family would obviously not be able to teach him any of those. At this point, his other two affinities would only be a burden to him. As he would need to train two other affinities. But without knowing any spells, what good would they do him?
"If there is one thing that you kids should remember from this lesson then it would be the following. It is not the affinities that make a Mage weak or strong. It's the spells he knows. What would it matter if you had a perfect affinity for every one of the four elements if you don't know any spells?
Ezekiel pondered the professor's words. Even though he didn't like the man much, he couldn't disagree. If the family he joined could only teach him about a single affinity, his other two would become useless. Still, Ezekiel was not disheartened by this. He had two greater affinities alongside a perfect one. He still had a massive advantage over most people. He would still be faster training all three of his affinities than a Mage with a single regular affinity.
"This is also the reason why people prefer to join one of the four great families," the teacher continued. "Not only do they have a decent selection of auxiliary affinity spells. They also have the best spells for their respective elements. They have been working on perfecting their signature spells for generations. The origin of their spells spans back thousands of years. The Feuerkranz family has their [Crown of Flame]. The Wellenrufen, the [Tide Caller] spell. The Steiner family has their [Stone Form]. Finally, the Windtnzer have their legendary [Wind dance]."
"If you ever have the pleasure of seeing one of those spells performed by an Arch Mage you will understand. You will understand why those four families stand at the top of the hierarchy of the empire."
After the professor finished his speech he was a bit out of breath. He had been talking for a long time. Toward the end of the speech, he had also gotten excited and raised his voice. Finally, a student in the far back raised his hand. The student was clearly hesitant to ask his question. His hand was even shaking as he waited to be allowed to speak. The professor jerked his head in the student's direction, urging him to get on with his question.
"What sort of spell did the emperor family develop?" The student asked.
The professor didn't answer immediately, staring blankly ahead for a moment. After an uncomfortably long pause, he spoke abruptly.
"Nobody knows," he said. "That's the thing with Mind Mages. Even people who may have seen the spell would not necessarily be able to tell what it was. It could also be that nobody who has ever seen the spell even remembers seeing it." He paused for a moment, before adding another possibility to the list.
"...or is still alive to talk about it."
Upon this revelation, the students broke out into animated discussions. Ezekiel, on the other hand, was not even listening to anything being discussed. He was too focused on what he had learned today. Before this lesson, he had not understood that spells were such a rare commodity for mages. If entire families and even the Great families were built around a single set of spells then he was in trouble. It would be much harder for him to get his hands on spells of opposing affinities.
Ezekiel mindlessly followed the other students out of the room. The class was over and the professor had long since left. He was still deep in thought, trying to figure out a solution to this problem.
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