"I'll go first."
Of course it was Sakura. Our class rep probably saw volunteering as her civic duty or something.
She stepped forward, her shoulders squared despite the slight tremor in her hands. High Priest Aldric held out the Awakening Orb, his expression carefully neutral.
"Place both hands on the surface," Elara instructed. "Clear your mind and breathe."
Sakura did as she was told. For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the orb blazed with light.
Golden light, warm and steady, filled the crystal sphere. Threads of white wove through it like lightning caught in amber.
"Oh my," Elara breathed. "Light affinity with celestial undertones. That's rare. Very rare."
Sakura stared at her hands, at the light pouring from the orb, her eyes wide with wonder. When she pulled away, she looked dazed.
"Next," Aldric said, his tone a bit less hostile now. Apparently, magical potential made us slightly less murder-suspect-y.
Kenji went next. The orb turned deep red with flickers of orange.
"Fire affinity," Elara explained. "Straightforward, powerful. Good for combat magic."
Kenji grinned like he'd just won the lottery. "Sick."
One by one, my classmates approached the orb. Each time it lit up, the colors were different, and each time Elara provided commentary with the patience of a very beautiful, very royal tour guide.
Takeshi got earth—brown and green. "Defensive magic," Elara noted. "Stone walls, fortification spells."
Useful. Takeshi looked pleased, flexing his fingers like he might summon a boulder right there.
Hiroshi touched the orb and it swirled with silver and blue—wind affinity. "Speed enhancement, cutting attacks, flight eventually if you train hard enough."
Flight. Okay, I had to admit, this was getting cool.
Then Yuki stepped up.
My attention sharpened. Not that I hadn't been paying attention before, but now I was really paying attention.
She placed her hands on the orb with that same quiet grace she brought to everything. The sphere responded immediately, blooming with colors I hadn't seen yet—deep purple shot through with midnight blue and silver starlight.
Elara actually gasped.
"Void affinity," she whispered. Several priests made warding gestures. "Exceptionally rare. You have an affinity for space, darkness, and..." She tilted her head, studying the swirling colors. "Gravity manipulation, perhaps. This is remarkable."
Yuki looked simultaneously thrilled and terrified. "Is it safe? The void thing—you said there's a Void Plague—"
"Completely different," Elara assured her quickly. "The Void Plague is demonic corruption. Your affinity is natural magic. Think of it as... controlling shadows and distance. Very powerful in the right hands."
Yuki nodded, still looking uncertain as she stepped back. But I caught her glancing at her palms with barely concealed excitement.
Great. Now she was even more out of my league. Regular girl I couldn't talk to? Now a rare void mage I couldn't talk to.
The assessments continued.
Ayumi got water—aqua blue with seafoam green. "Healing potential," Elara said warmly. "We desperately need healers."
Riku got lightning—crackling yellow and electric white. He actually yelped when sparks jumped between his fingers.
Then came Mari.
The orb did nothing.
She held it for a full minute while we all waited, but the crystal remained stubbornly dark. No colors, no light, nothing.
"I... I don't understand," Mari said, her voice small.
"You have no magical affinity," Aldric said bluntly. "It happens."
Mari stepped back, her face flushed with embarrassment. I felt sorry for her—she looked like she might cry.
But then Renji went, and his orb stayed dark too.
Then Kaede. Nothing.
A pattern was emerging, and I didn't like where this was going.
"Um." A quiet voice from the back. Himari, one of the quieter girls in our class, had raised her hand nervously. "Princess Elara? I... I have a question."
Elara turned to her with an encouraging smile. "Yes?"
"Are you... are you absolutely certain that the mages are dead?" Himari's voice got even smaller. "Because if there's any chance they might not be—"
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Daichi snapped.
"Seriously?" This from Kenji. "Did you not see the bodies?"
"They're right there, Himari!"
"That's so disrespectful—"
Himari's face went bright red. "I just—I was only—sorry, never mind, forget I said anything—"
She scurried to the back of our group, practically hiding behind Takeshi. Several people were still glaring at her.
Harsh, but I got it. We were all on edge, and questioning whether the dead mages were actually dead felt like some kind of sick joke.
Elara's expression had gone carefully blank. "They are quite dead," she said quietly. "But I appreciate your... optimism."
The assessments continued in uncomfortable silence.
I counted as we went. Ten students tested. Five had shown magical affinities. Five hadn't.
I was in the second group to go.
My turn came up after Yuna—who got plant magic, green and gold, making Elara smile about "nature affinity"—and I approached the orb with my stomach in knots.
Please. Please let me have something. Even just a little spark. I didn't need to be special like Sakura or rare like Yuki. Just... something.
I placed my hands on the smooth crystal surface.
It was cool to the touch, almost cold. I waited, holding my breath.
Nothing.
The orb remained completely, utterly, devastatingly dark.
I held on longer, pressing my palms harder against it like I could force it to respond. Come on. Come on, do something. Anything.
Still nothing.
"No affinity detected," Aldric said, not unkindly, but not exactly gentle either.
I pulled my hands back like the orb had burned me.
"Wow, Kaito. Absolutely nothing?" Daichi's voice, dripping with amusement. "Not even a flicker?"
"Maybe you have to actually try," someone else—Masaru—snickered.
"At least we know who's sitting out the hero business," Daichi continued.
I wanted to snap back, but the words stuck in my throat. Because what could I say? They were right. I had nothing.
The remaining assessments blurred together. By the end, the count was clear: ten students with magical affinities. Ten without.
Perfectly split. Half and half.
The heroes and the extras.
Guess which group I was in.
I stood there, staring at my useless, magic-less hands while around me the "awakened" students whispered excitedly to each other, comparing colors and affinities. The princess was explaining something about training, about mentors, but her words washed over me.
Summoned to another world to be a hero, and I couldn't even manage that.
Story of my life, really.
Oh, how tragic.
I froze then turned my head around quickly to see who was talking to me.
The voice was in my head—definitely in my head—but it wasn't my internal monologue. It was a high pitched female voice, low and seductive if I've ever heard anything like it.
I didn't know withholding your powers was going to make you this sad. Poor Kaito. Summoned to save a dying world, and you're completely ordinary. No magic, no power, no potential.
What the actual hell?
Don't give anything away. You lots are really a raggedy bunch. You are quite a naughty perv.
"Who are you?" I questioned in a not so friendly voice. It didn't sit well with me that my mind had been invaded by this mysterious lady.
The voice laughed, and it sounded silky.
My, my, my. How rude of me not to introduce myself but you've heard of me from Elara. I am Calliope .