Mom opened the door to the “Testing Room”.
Inside, there are all sorts of equipment used to test magic, plus some provices—programming devices used to record all data and analyze them. I used a provice to browse and read all sorts of novels and manga back when I was Reinst, as they don’t only do data programming. The device is a small chunk of rectangular box that has quite a number of buttons displayed after you open the lid. The buttons consist of all alphabets, numbering, power button, and symbols. When the power button is pressed, a holographic screen will pop out from the box, and it is fully touchable.
The novels and other things I accessed with the Provice were stored inside the data network. The network is sustained via some towers built for the purpose of storing the data and transmitting the network signal. I don’t know the other details, but technologies are amazing!
I know my current family isn’t that wealthy, but I do know that each of my parents has a Provice. I wonder when will I be allowed to operate them?
Well, it’s not like there is no physical book… Maybe I can finally continue to read my favorite series someday.
Oh my, looks like I will have a lot to catch up to, it’s been like… 11 years since I last read them? I guess most of them might have ended during my 11 years of absence.
Anyway, there is a young magician working in front of a provice. It seems that she is too focused on her work that she doesn’t notice the door opening and our presences. She must really trust the security system that she can lower her guard around and focus on doing her job. She vigorously types on the provice as the screen with a lot of complicated data is reflected on her glasses.
“…Meredea?” Mom decided to greet the hard-working woman, though her voice has a hint of hesitation in it.
“!!”
Hearing Mom’s voice, the woman seems to jump a little from her seat.
“Ophelia-sama!! Have you been standing there for a long time?” She stood up and asked apologetically.
“Nah, I entered just a while ago and since I might have to bother you a bit with what I’m about to do, I decided I should just greet you beforehand.”
“S, sorry for not noticing that!!” Meredea bowed to Mom.
“No need to apologize. It’s reassuring for me to have a dependable junior, you were so focused on the research data, huh?”
“Y, yeah, I was analyzing your son’s result after the practice the other day… huh?”
Meredea seems to notice my presence, currently hiding behind my mom’s robe. I timidly show my face to her.
“Ara, ara, is that little Lyra?!” Meredea takes off her glasses and approaches us.
“N, nice to meet you…”
“Whoa, whoa, you’re 4 years old already?! Time sure flies so fast!!” She roughly brushes my head, causing a mess to my twin-tailed hair.
“Yeah, kids sure grow up fast, right? And it was like yesterday that she was a tiny little baby…,” Mom says as she gazes into the faraway past.
Well, I can still remember clearly my toddler days, as well. Ah, that good and embarrassing time. And yup, time sure flies so fast!
“So, she’s gonna take the test today?” Meredea puts her glasses back and even through the glasses, her sparkling eyes are so obvious.
“Yeah, I figured you’d be interested in her test, so I didn’t bother to do it silently behind your back… literally,” Mom laughed.
“Of course I’d be interested!! Not only is she my leader’s daughter, but she is also the sister of the only known [Void] magician besides [The Greatest Magician] from many decades ago!! I am expecting interesting results here!!” She says that in one breath, and now she breathes in roughly as she may need more oxygen.
“Uhmmmmm…”
I am not sure of what I can say in this situation.
But… please, oh, please do not expect big things from this little me!!
I can still remember my life as Reinst Carnatia Grabberton, the daughter of a swordsman family. Magic was a distant thing of my life.
Also, I don’t want to overestimate myself, and then be disappointed, too.
“Well, honestly that’d be interesting… but it might also be quite burdensome for me to raise two [Void] children, hahaha! Although, I can’t dismiss the possibility. Regardless, I will assist their magic training,” said Mom, as if to reassure me that it’s okay even if I won’t have an amazing result just like Alt-nii’s, which is most likely, since the probability of [Void] affinity to happen is almost zero in most cases. It is not called the mythical element for no reason.
Although I fear for it since Altaire and I are blood-related siblings. Plus, the common understanding that the reincarnated has ‘cheats’ given by god.
I can’t decide which is better : to have the same affinity as Altaire or as my past self?
Both seems like a burden to me, anyway, so why not make it neither of the two? Problem solved!
But if I had to choose between the two, I think having the same affinity as Altaire might be more natural than suddenly getting an affinity for a magic element that nobody in my family can do.
“Alright, let’s get down to the business, then!” Meredea tidies up her robe and proceeds to prepare the magic tester.
I expected the high-tech magic tester that would print out the result just like Alt-nii’s result, but then I saw her preparing the different tool.
“Is it different from Alt-nii’s tool?” I tilted my head in confusion.
“Well, if you’re referring to the paper you saw the other day, yes. That tool would be used to analyze your magic when you turn six. For a four-year-old… you can only be tested for your strong magic affinities. Let’s go to Meredea and see the tool, I will explain more.”
Hmm, yeah right. I forgot that I was still 4 years old. My magic power has started to manifest at this age, but it is still incomplete. No use testing for something that isn’t fully manifested yet.
The two of us approached Meredea as she is done with her preparation.
There, I can see a spherical glass or orb-like device.
“This is the basic Affinity Tester. You should put your hand on top of the sphere and wait for the light indicator on its base to turn green and beep. After a while, the sphere will glow in accordance to your magic affinity. In case of multiple elements… The first one it glows will be the element you have the most affinity with, and the second one is the second strongest, et cetera… In case of [Neutral], it will glow, but stays transparent in color. For the other elements…”
Mom proceeds to tell me what kind of color collaborates with what type of magic… basically the one I have ever briefed before.
Also, the quality and the credibility of the tool is guaranteed, being the tool that the Royal Magic Court possesses.
“How is it so far?” Mom asked after she finished her explanation.
“Got it, Mom!” I say with my full confidence.
“Oh myyy, as expected of the Sky Magician’s daughter!!” Meredea says in amusement.
Uhm, actually… it’s because I am a reincarnated person and that I retain all my past knowledge and memories, but… I guess it’s okay as long as I can make my parents proud of me?
“The tool is all set and ready, and I am ready to record the data in my provice, by the way!” Meredea announced.
“Okay, Lyra, whenever you’re ready… just place your hand on top of it.” Mom gestured me to step forward, so I did.
Directly in front of me, the beautiful spherical glass stands.
The indicator button on its base is yellow right now, waiting for it to detect someone’s magic.
I become a bit nervous and my body is slightly trembling.
Is this because of my anticipation? My excitement?
Or is it because of my fear?
I cannot think straight and sort my feelings. After all, I still have difficulties in understanding my own emotions.
Besides, whether it is due to fear or excitement, it doesn’t matter.
Meredea and Mom said to take my time, so I did.
I slowly breathed in and out as I stretched my right hand forward.
I reflexively closed my eyes as I placed my hand on top of the glass.
I can feel a cold sensation of the glass at that time, together with the flow of my mana.
BEEP BEEP!
I opened my eyes and I can see how the indicator light turns to green from yellow.
I hold my breath back as I am waiting for the sphere to glow.
Ready or not, here it is!!
The next instant, the sphere glows strongly…
It is…
Clad in…
Black.
…
…
No… way…
I stared blankly at the sphere as it changes its color.
Light blue. Grey. White. Blue. And then it fades away, as the indicator turns to yellow again.
But those colors don’t matter anymore. The first one was black, after all.
“Whoa, that’s amazing! So, from the least element you have the strong affinity with… water, light, life, ice… and your strongest affinity is… unexpectedly, dark!!” Meredea says in amazement.
“…”
I cannot move from my spot.
“…Lyra?” Mom probably can sense that something is up, as she gently touches my shoulder.
“Your result is amazing. You have strong affinity with 5 types of magic, three being rare magics in humans!” Mom says.
But even still…
My strongest affinity is… the dark element.
Exactly the same as my past self’s only affinity.
“No…,” I murmured without even giving it any thought.
“Eh?” Mom and Meredea noticed that something is wrong.
“No way, not dark magic!!” I stormed towards the corner of the room
“Lyra?! What’s wrong?!”
I didn’t respond to Mom’s worried tone and curled myself in a ball, both of my hands covering my ears, as I tried to deny what I just saw.
***
“What, there is someone with [Dark] affinity here?!”
“Yeah, even if her mana is too weak to really use magic, it doesn’t change the fact that her element is [Dark]!”
“She doesn’t have any oni blood, does she?”
“Wait a second, she is the rumored perfect queen candidate, right?! So, it was only her facade to cover her real wicked self?”
“She rarely shows any emotion outside, but who knows what she’s actually thinking deep inside, right?”
“Yes, yes, she has an affinity with [Dark] element, after all!”
People are quick to selfishly judge others, even when they know nothing at all.
***
In my past life, most people would talk behind my back, and most of the time, they would talk about my affinity to [Dark] magic, in twisted ways. They began to speculate that I was actually a wicked child, and so on. Even when I showed excellent attitude in etiquette, morals, mannerisms, and scored perfect in the lessons… Instead of the gossip of me and my [Dark] magic being suppressed, it escalated even further.
I have never done anything bad, but they still speculated it because they correlated my magic with the darkness and evil in all those stories and beliefs. Even when I did good, they still talked behind my back, and it was always about my dark magic.
I wonder about the other people with [Dark] affinity…? Do they also have to face this prejudice in most places? I can’t remember gossips about them, but well, I clearly heard and remembered the gossips about me…
Dark magic is closely related to all those evil and wicked things as far as I can remember. I don’t know who started their correlation and how did they come up with that… but dark has always been the antagonist.
Even in the war between elves and oni, most would say that the oni are the evil ones and that they started it.
In the fairy tales and other stories, the heroes would usher the power of the light, and triumph over the darkness.
Dark element is sinister. It reflects the user’s dark thoughts. It tends to be manipulative. Full of deceit.
Some prejudices against dark element still remain up until now…
In addition to that, my current family does not have anyone with any affinity with [Dark]. Even worse, my mom’s affinity is [Light], a total opposite of [Dark]. Even if I also inherit her affinity with [Light], but for me to have [Dark] as my strongest affinity is… weird.
Others would totally judge that… And it matters A LOT to me.
I’m off to a bad start…
I wish this is all just a dream…
