I sat back and thought over the results of my measurement. Earth, fire, air and water. My body held affinity for four elements, not just one. Alongside metal, these four were the ones used in elemental wheels back on Earth. At least, the ones I knew about.

When I’d arrived in this world, I’d thought that these five elements would be the basic ones.

The regents powered down around me and the headmaster stood up. He made his way to Gerial and I and placed a hand on his son’s shoulder.

“I am needed to oversee the examination preparation and provide details of the measurement to the church.” He looked at me. “Your exams begin in three hours, please don’t be late.”

The headmaster had a copy of my results in his hand, and I saw him put it away as he saw us out of the room. The earth mana rushed to greet me as I found myself surrounded by trees and dirt.

He bid us goodbye and walked towards the other side of the room, disappearing as he closed the doors behind him.

Gerial stayed by my side.

“Aren’t you going with him?” I asked.

“Of course not. I feel like we’ve barely had time to catch up.” Gerial gestured towards the exit. “Without company. I love my dad, but it’s super awkward to talk with him around us.”

He had a faint smile on his lips, his posture straightened, and his steps had an added bounce to them.

He ran his fingers through the empty space around him and I felt a gust of wind blow against my body. The trees rustled around me, and I saw birds flapping into the air.

The church had really gone all out for this room.

“When you’re not around adults, you really transform.” I took in the cool air with open arms.

The magic made the room come alive.

“Straight back into the kid I want to be.” Gerial spoke unashamedly. “It’s really cool that you have an affinity for four elements. I only have three myself.”

I looked at the surroundings with my mana sense. Gerial’s spell had swept the surroundings, but I wasn’t able to see the wind mana. I’d never been able to see it.

Strange.

I turned it off as the large amount of earth mana overwhelmed my senses. I could still feel it at this concentration without mana sense, so there was no need to keep it active at all times.

“It’s not just air for you?” I turned to him. “I thought you were a one hit wonder.”

“That's because you haven’t seen me fight. We can change that if you want. You said you had the arena booked for tomorrow, right?” He grinned. “I’m kidding. I’ve got affinities for connection, wind, and lightning. I’m terrifying.”

Doubt grew in my heart at his words. When I had gone to William’s island, his birthday demonstration was going to be a fight between him and Gerial.

William had always been a fighter, but in my eyes Gerial was the boy that went invisible around adults, and otherwise acted like a kid, even if he was a bit serious at times.

Then I blinked as I took in his words.

“You’re attuned to three elements?” I stared at him.

“No.” He wagged a finger at me. “I have an affinity with three elements, I told you, it’s common. What’s uncommon is attuning to the elements.”

I nodded. Even if I hadn’t known my affinities, I had tried to attune to other elements. I hadn’t been able to establish even the most basic of connections.

Well, that wasn’t completely true. Mana was constantly around me, and I could see it and acknowledge it because of my mana sense.

I would see students walking past mana without even realising it was there. It was how most people lived their lives.

“I’ve attuned to two elements.” Gerial raised his hand in front of his body. “Wind and lightning. See, look here.”

He stared at his palm, and I followed his gaze. I waited, but nothing appeared. It was an empty palm.

“Is there really something there, or are you just messing with me?” I leaned closer. “I can’t see anything.”

“That’s because it’s invisible.” Gerial flicked his fingers.

There was a shift in the mana around his hand and a bright light stabbed at my eyes. My body jolted and I stepped back in surprise.

I blinked rapidly and I saw a variety of colours cross my eyes. It slowly disappeared as the minutes went by. A few seconds later I opened my eyes and saw Gerial grinning at me.

“You’re a pet donkey.” I borrowed Amanda’s words.

The lightning did exist, and it had blinded me. I shouldn’t have doubted his words.

The surroundings were a bit darker than before, and every time I blinked I could see the ball of lightning behind my eyelids.

“I think you mean pit donkey.” He waited for me to recover.

“That too.” I rubbed my eyes.

To my surprise the recovery didn’t take long. After a few seconds my eyes adjusted and were fine. I went over the memory in my mind and realised the lightning wasn’t as bright or powerful as the ones I had seen on Earth.

“That was… A surprise.” I massaged my temple. “Invisible lightning is terrifying.”

I would have seen it, but I hadn't activated my mana sense.

“Sure, if you’re fighting. If you’re a student there’s not much use for it.” Gerial closed his hand. “I still practice it, but mainly for its support abilities. You’d be surprised what lightning can do in the right environment.”

He looked at the trees with a smile. “What do you think of this place?”

“The room?” I looked around the area. “It’s nice.”

Nice was one way of putting it, rich and extravagant was another. Going from my home with its peeling paint and wooden ceiling to the shining splendour of healthy plant life and bird calls was a strange feeling.

The earth mana alone didn’t match the cultivation rooms of Zodiac and the academy, but it came close. Every breath I took felt deeper, and my worries were carried off my back as the earth mana comforted me with its company.

“It was designed for you.” Gerial grabbed a handful of dirt. “Ophelio, the bishop you met before, oversaw the renovations himself.”

“For me? What do you mean?” I took another look at the room.

I didn’t know how the churches were usually built, so the earth room hadn’t surprised me. I’d thought there may be other rooms as well, one for each element.

“Well, once they finally admit that you’re Marked, you’ll probably want to stay somewhere that doesn’t have people swarming you.” Gerial gestured at the surroundings. “Ophelio wanted to show you what his church had to offer. The measuring gave him the perfect opportunity.”

I recalled the silver haired man in the mask. His actions were designed to flatter me, but I hadn’t realised he’d gone that far.

“This isn’t just to be nice to me, is it?” I spoke. “There’s some sort of subtext I’m missing.”

Gerial nodded. “Everybody wants to become a member of the church a Marked one is staying in. Or align themselves with it. Ophelio himself believes we are divine ones. Your presence as the first Marked one to be born while the second is still alive… it’ll be worth a lot in the minds of some people.”

“I see.” It was a political move.

Having a Marked one residing in your church was sure to attract attention. Ophelio knew this, and I could see that he would look like he had my support if I lived in his church.

I wasn’t sure about the internal politics of the church, or the other factions in the world, but I knew that I would be a powerful piece to have on the board.

Gerial put his hand up to stop my rampant thoughts.

“Don’t choose right now. The other churches you visit will have similar setups. They’ll even give you stuff to try and curry your favour. They did it for me.”

“Do you think I should take their gifts?” I tilted my head. “Isn’t that going to make them think I owe them?”

“They can think whatever they want, but in the end, they can’t force you to do anything. Think of it as getting perks for shopping around.”

Gerial wrapped his arm around my shoulder and whispered into my ear. “Even the people that are opposing your validity are preparing just in case. Your measuring results will only make them more anxious to get on your good side.”

I nodded, and then smiled at his antics. Whispering wouldn’t help much if people were listening in on us.

“How many people are against me right now?” I frowned.

“About 75%.” Gerial drew away from me. “I wouldn’t worry too much. I've spoken out on your behalf and my own personal guards testified that your mana and presence were indistinguishable from my own when you were creating the portal.”

I still had my own copy of the measuring in my pocket. It was just another piece of a long line of evidence I would need to provide before people accepted my status.

“I’m fine with that as long as they don’t feel the need to get rid of me.” I joked.

Gerial’s expression dropped. “They’ll have to go through me for that. Not to mention my dad.”

The air around me wavered, and the sound of the birds was lost as wind buffeted against my ears.

“Okay, okay.” I gave Gerial a firm pat on the back. “I was just kidding. Thanks for being there for me.”

The space around me calmed down. The thought of someone having the ability to control an invisible force made me shiver.

I don’t think I’d seen any other wind magicians in the academy. Then again, I’d only been hanging out with Amanda and people from my earth and metal magic studies class.

“Moving onto lighter subjects, do you think this means I can attune to those other elements?” I couldn’t hold down my optimism.

Just the idea of being able to use multiple elements brought a smile to my face.

“It means you can try.” Gerial wasn’t as optimistic. “At least with your mana you’ll definitely get into class one. Unless you monumentally fail the exams.”

“That won’t be happening.” I said with certainty.

The exams were designed to test our level of competence, so that we could be ranked.

They weren’t as long as a real exam was, nor as difficult.

“You know, it would be good to have you join Amanda and I tomorrow.” I saw Gerial’s hesitation. “Nobody will be at school, and you can go invisible if you feel nervous.”

“I might give that one a bit more time and thought.” Gerial shook his head. “People get a bit weird when they know others know me. Friendships can go sour really quickly, and I don’t want to do that to you.”

“Also, her family is really religious. Her dad can’t come up to me without looking like he’s going to faint from the honour.” Gerial added. “I don’t know how she’ll react.”

That made sense. Even if Amanda’s dad was a follower of a different divine, the Marked ones were considered equal to each other. If he believed that they were the physical incarnations of their respective divines, then Gerial was just as important as his god.

“I’ll keep inviting you, she’s a pretty cool person.” I let him off the hook. “And I don’t think she’s following her dad’s footsteps.”

"It's great that you made a friend like her already." Gerial smiled. "Remember what I said, try to meet and befriend as many people while you can. Get to know the real them. After your status is revealed, everyone you meet is going to want something out of you, and they'll lie and cheat their way into your heart to get it."

We talked until it was time for me to head to the exams. Gerial led me through the church and back into the waiting room, and we both walked through the portal that appeared there.

This one led to the academy instead of my home.

The measurements were done individually in the church, but the exams were taken in the main hall where the first day speech had been given.

Gerial wished me good luck, turning invisible the moment we arrived, and I spotted Amanda inside the hall. She was too far away for me to say hi, so I waved instead.

The first exam we had was symbols.

Professor Pernacles walked by me and placed a stack of paper on my table.

The top page was familiar. It was the exact same page I had almost finished during his symbols class. He had given me the exam during his class.

However, the first few pages were missing this time. Probably because I had already answered them.

I put my head down, and the moment the teachers called for us to start writing I dove into it.

The first exam passed by like a breeze, and so did the second and third. I had a giant grin on my face by the time the history exam was put in front of me.

I was going to ace these exams.