Magic in this world is everything, everywhere you look everyone is using magic to even do their daily chores such as watering the plants using water magic, using earth magic to cultivate the soil for farming, using wind magic to dry up clothes, using fire magic to cook meals and stay warm and so on.
Rarely there was anyone who could not use magic but still, some were unfortunate enough to have no affinity with mana the source and fuel of all magic.
A castle stood high, high up on a hill surrounded by beautiful gardens with blooming flowers and singing birds, pastel white colored cobble walls with towers touching the sky
In a big room of 6 meters long and 5 meters wide, a youth of 15 years of age with short black hair could be seen with a cheerful smile as maids were helping him prepare for something when a knock could be heard on the doors followed by a middle-aged woman with a petite yet youthful body and chestnut hairs entering the room.
"Looking great as always young Master" she smiled.
"Oh please! Drop the formalities we know each other for years now Risa" Smiled back the young boy after responding.
"Lord's orders, Master Yopi we cannot oppose his highness, anyways I hope you are ready for your magic affinity test young master the carriage is ready and is waiting at castle gates"
Magic is separated into 6 different elements which are Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Light, and Darkness respectively each useful on its own. Everyone can use every element since magic is originally sourced by mana and all elements followed the same concept, but their affinity is only in one of the six elements meaning they could handle that element with much more ease and more control as well as much more growth speed.
Although a person can gain affinity over other elements with tireless practice and years of dedication it's not worth the while and rarely someone does do it. Since it's more worth spending that time on the element they have already an affinity with to grow much stronger.
***
Sitting in the carriage, Yopi looked outside the window hopeful but stressed after all today was a fate-revealing, having stress was normal even for someone calm like him.
The ride was short but felt like ages for him due to excitement. 'I wonder what my element is I hope it's fire just like father's water would be cool too, it could be useful to make silly pranks with' he slightly laughed at his not-very-clean thoughts of what he could do with magic just like any other youngster.
Soon the carriage arrived at the destination followed by his maid they approached the tall looking building with majestic-looking features and purple flags on top which resembled the Magic Association.
It was one of the Magic Association branches' buildings where all magic-related actions were done one being the element affinity test which showed the person's affinity with their element and how strong it was.
As Yopi and Risa entered the building they were guided by a clerk towards the room they had to go where the test was being held. They followed the directions given and found the room in no time.
Aside from Yopi, there were about 10-15 more youngsters around the same age as him here for the same purpose. He went to one of the staff and filled out a form asking about his information and such. He completed it and received a number from the man who was working there.
There were about 10 more people in the line in front of him each following the instructions of the staff and doing the test respectively one after another.
The test was simple, all you had to do was put your hand in some colorless jelly-like liquid, after several seconds the liquid will slowly change color, and the more saturated the color is the stronger your affinity to that specific element is.
A red-haired boy was up next for the test and followed the instructions given by the test inspector he placed his hand inside the liquid and it slowly started to shift towards a light reddish color. the inspector then brought a paper which appeared to be some color chart that could help him identify the affinity and its tier and compared it to the liquid.
"Affinity: Fire, Grade: 3. You can take out your hand," said the inspector and gestured to the next person to come and do the same after the red-haired boy moved away.
He didn't look excited yet not sad either grade 3 Fire Affinity might not be considered talented but still it's above average and could easily get you a job that would earn you a living.
The test kept going on and more stressful Yopi became as there were about 3 more people in front of him. The next person up for the test was a girl with freckles on her cheeks and shoulder lengthy dark brown hair with strands of light brown.
She did as told and placed her hand in the liquid it slowly began to shift its colors towards a light blueish color but it didn't stop there it kept going and going and at the same time the room got more tense until it finally stopped on a normal shade of blue the inspector then again compared it with his chart.
"Affinity: Water, Grade: 5. Congratulations young miss, please go to room 323 after the test if you have any magic academies in mind that you would like to attend," said the inspector but this time with a smile.
The girl was joyed out and almost couldn't control her happiness but she did. Grade 5 magic was considered almost a prodigy and it was nothing you would see every day only about 0.4% of the population had such strong affinity.
This girl would easily get a job in the Magic Association after her magic academy and would earn a fortune in a short amount of time due to her outstanding talent.
Everyone in the room looked at her in envy, especially the ones who were done with the test. Magic meant everything the better you are in magic the easier of life you will have. She simply left the room with no care because of how excited she was.
Soon it was Yopi's turn and he couldn't wait to see what his affinity would be maybe he would also get a high-graded affinity around the same as the girl who just left the room. He placed his hand in the liquid and closed his eyes and began wishing deeply in his heart to get a good result.
"Huh" the inspector was confused "Take out your hand and try to put it in again after 10 seconds"
Yopi gulped down his saliva and did as the inspector said
"This… Hold on stay right here I will be back" The inspector hurried out of the room towards the door on the other side of the room. Soon he returned and continued "Affinity: None. I'm sorry it's just luck there are many more wonders out in the world don't let this take you down"
He had no affinity with magic!
The inspector awkwardly smiled but there was nothing else he could do but help him with his shock of him being magic-less for the rest of his life.
Yopi just stood there with a rather calm-looking face yet he was trembling, he fisted his hands so hard that his nails made his hands bleed he couldn't believe it.
'No this is not possible, someone can have no magic! How! Just how! Why me!' he inwardly cursed at his luck.
Maybe he was a late bloomer maybe he had to practice for it to appear maybe there was something wrong with the test, that was all that was going inside his mind trying to find an excuse to not believe the cruel reality.
Risa was there and witnessed everything. Being able to do almost nothing for his master's pain he tried to relieve him with words similar to the ones the inspector said while accompanying him outside the building towards the carriage which was idly waiting outside.