บท 91: VOL 2 Chapter 36: Synergistic affinities.
Although, for obvious reasons, the box didn't contain a name, it did have a unique identification number plus a brief description of the person's physical appearance. Additionally, something that surprised the women a bit was that Erik had marked him as someone with two affinities.
Starting from the expert rank, all the subsequent ranks more commonly included a unique identification number and a slight description of the person, as well as their respective affinities. This indicated that Erik had paid special attention to them as potential threats in the tournament.
After a while, Erik finished writing in his notebook and sighed with relief. He then handed the notebook to his masters with an amused smile; after all, they seemed incredibly interested in what he had written.
"So you can read it at your leisure." Erik commented playfully as he handed his notebook to Eleonora, who was beside him. She smiled somewhat embarrassedly and said.
"Fufu, thank you."
As Erik began to eat happily, Sigrún and Seraphina gathered around Eleonora to examine Erik's notes more carefully. After all, they were truly a surprise to them, since they contained different findings from the results of the investigation they had conducted on their disciple's—or young master's—potential competitors. In their research, they had only marked about 20 as possible threats, far from the more than 30 threats highlighted in the notes.
But what really surprised them was that there ended up being seven people with double affinities, even though in their investigation they had only found four. Of those four, two had hidden it quite well, requiring some effort to confirm the information. But now Erik, in just a couple of hours and in a completely stealthy manner without raising suspicions, had not only managed to detect those two who liked to hide. He had also seemingly discovered three more who had managed to evade their network.
"Erik, are you sure there are seven people who have double affinities?"
After reviewing the notes several times to make sure she wasn't misreading, Sigrún asked, a bit confused, while looking at the star-haired boy who was eating at high speed. He quickly took a sip from a glass of what seemed to be wine, then responded with a smile.
"Quite sure; I checked several times. Seven had double affinities, and there was even one with synergistic affinities."
That was what puzzled the beautiful women the most: one of the three people who had apparently managed to escape their research network not only had double affinities but also synergistic affinities—something very rare and valuable. To the point that, among the 800 most talented disciples under 300 years old in the Arcane Order—the paradise for talents—only one person had that characteristic, and honestly, that was about the same as winning the lottery.
Moreover, it was foolish to doubt Erik's judgment in determining others' affinities. After all, as a way to ascertain whether it was true that he possessed an affinity that allowed him to control the Myst, the boy had taken it upon himself to search for and try different and varied methods to detect his own affinity. But in the end, it led nowhere, as the results only told him that he had no affinity, although as a consolation prize, he could now determine anyone's affinity with astonishing precision.
The method Erik used to discover others' affinities was something that, in their family of four, only he could do—and perhaps Seraphina, who had the best connection with the Myst after Erik. But even for her, it would be an incredibly difficult task, and to this day, it was impossible for her to have as impressive precision as Erik's—to the point that it was more reliable to simply examine the mana of individuals, something that Sigrún and Eleonora could also do.
Although the method to detect affinities with such precision might seem very complex, in reality, it was quite simple. Over the years, Erik had discovered something interesting: the Myst reacted slightly differently when it came into contact with a person, depending on their affinity. Based on that slight difference—something almost imperceptible to others—Erik was able to detect anyone's affinity with absurd precision, to the point that, until now, he had never been wrong, and they had been testing it for several years.
On the other hand, magical affinities were divided into two major categories: the basic ones, which were six—Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Light, and Darkness—and the composite ones, which were a mix of two or more affinities, giving rise to more specialized affinities. This was the case with Eleonora and Sigrún, who possessed the Lightning and Wood affinities, respectively—being a mix of Fire and Light for Lightning, and Water, Earth, and Light for the Wood affinity.
Being born with an affinity that turned out to be a mix of the basic affinities might make one think that the mana user could use the component affinities separately with ease, but the answer was no. Despite it being more than proven that they were indeed combinations of the basic affinities, they still had no capability with them. Apart from the mix they were born with, they would be as inefficient as others when using them.
For the same reason, a synergistic affinity was so valuable because not only did they have two affinities that they could use independently with high efficiency, but these even interacted naturally. Allowing a mana user to combine their affinities on a deeper level and achieve greater power and versatility than the simple basic combination.
But there was an aspect of synergistic affinities that made them infinitely more valuable than a normal double affinity: with synergistic affinities, there was the possibility of reaching the legendary state known as "perfect synergy", a combination so deep of the affinities that it gave birth to something new and extremely powerful.
"This is truly surprising—a double synergistic affinity..."
Seraphina commented with some surprise while memorizing the description of his appearance given by Erik, aiming to find out a bit more about that person. At that moment, the star-haired boy commented after eating a piece of meat.
"Yes, I was also a bit surprised when I noticed it, since, for some reason, his second affinity was a bit dim, almost hidden—I almost overlooked it."
"Are you sure his second affinity was fainter than the main one?"
Filled with interest, Eleonora asked with evident curiosity in her voice. After all, according to the description Erik wrote in his notebook about the person's clothing, he seemed to be just a regular university student without any faction behind him. And although neither Sigrún nor Eleonora really intended to accept more disciples, managing to incorporate someone with a double synergistic affinity into the Arcane Order would always be welcome; after all, it was quite a lucrative business.
"Yes, his main affinity was a mix of Earth and Air, very possibly Sand or something like that due to its proportions, while the second was undoubtedly Darkness, and they seemed to complement each other well, which is typical of synergistic affinities." Erik responded calmly while setting a plate aside and using his phantom hand to draw a new one toward him.
"Darkness...? If that's the case, he will be quite powerful if he applies the gravity properties of darkness to the sand." Sigrún commented with some interest. After that, she looked at Eleonora with a calculating expression on her face and asked.
"Are you thinking the same as I am, Eli?"
"Fufu, of course I am, Sig." Eleonora replied with a slightly wicked smile, which made Erik roll his eyes. He couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor fool who was going to suffer because of his beautiful masters.
"Erik, can I borrow your notebook for a moment?" Sigrún asked with an innocent smile on her face, to which Erik nodded and commented with a smile.
"Sure, I have more spares; just don't lose it—I have important things written in there."
"Hehehe, how could I possibly lose my love's precious notebook? Please, trust your master a bit more."
After speaking with a huge smile, Sigrún approached and tenderly kissed her beloved disciple on the cheek, then immediately ran out of the room excitedly. At that moment, Eleonora approached Erik and likewise kissed his other cheek before commenting.
"Eat well and rest; your masters have something to do, fufufu."
After saying that, Eleonora left the room following Sigrún, leaving Erik speechless. After a while, he could only shake his head and go back to eating calmly, while Seraphina stood behind him like the perfect maid she was. Eventually, Erik finished eating and began to stretch lazily.
While Seraphina was collecting the dishes from the table, using whips of darkness, Erik walked over to one of the sofas, where he settled comfortably. At that moment, Tiberius and Kaiser entered the main hall running in their puppy forms after having a sumptuous feast, then jumped onto the lap of the star-haired boy.
"You two are really a pair of spoiled brats." Erik commented amusedly while stroking the little heads of the wolves, who barked happily while wagging their tails energetically.
Not long after, Seraphina re-entered the room, carrying a tray with a teapot and a cup. She quickly poured the tea and handed the cup to Erik, who received it with a smile after settling the wolves at his sides. He thanked her in a calm tone.
"Thank you, Seraphina."
"It is a pleasure to serve you, young master." Seraphina bowed respectfully while speaking in a professional tone. But after straightening up, she added with a smile as a book appeared in her hand.
"Young master, since you've had trouble socializing, I took the liberty of preparing this book for you."
"Really? Let me see."
Erik commented curiously while extending his hand toward Seraphina, who handed him the book with a smile. She then walked to stand behind her young master with professionalism. At that moment, Erik began to peruse the book with interest, an expression that quickly turned into a forced smile, as the title of the book was [Young Master's Survival Manual] and it had an even worse subtitle: [Written by someone with more common sense than the young master].
Imagining what the book said, Erik opened it to find an index separated into chapters and subsections, each with a small explanatory description of their contents. Just by reading it, it was obvious who had written it.
+++
Chapter 1: Attitude and Behavior
1.1 The Young Master's Smile: Smile only when absolutely necessary, such as in meetings with important people. Smiling too much could be mistaken for neediness or, worse, accessibility.
1.2 The Calculated Disdain: Learn to look at the horizon as if you own everything you see, even if you have no idea what you're looking at. This creates an illusion of power.
1.3 The Ceremonial Speech: Speak as if you were narrating the epic of your own life. Example: "Today, I have defeated the most fearsome enemy: a fried egg that dared to challenge my frying pan."
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The more he read, the harder it became for Erik to contain his laughter, as each point was even sillier than the last. But he quickly came to a chapter that wiped the smile off his face, which seemed written with an intention, as it had the longest "summary" of all.
+++
Chapter 3: Social Interactions
3.1 Flirting: A Dangerous Art: Although flirting may seem like a useful tool to strengthen social bonds, it must be used with extreme caution. Some key reminders to avoid embarrassing or disastrous incidents.
*Avoid redheads, especially if you are prone to "forgetting" your limits.
*Never flirt with an auction house owner.
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"... At what point did you manage to write this, Seraphina?" Erik asked with a bitter smile while leaning his head back on the sofa to look at his personal maid's expression, who responded brightly.
"While you were sleeping, young master. It is the duty of your personal maid to share your burdens and help you correct your mistakes."
"... And I told you I wasn't flirting." After a sigh, Erik commented in a tired tone, to which Seraphina quickly responded with a professional smile.
"The book is merely a general knowledge guide for interpersonal relationships, young master. Any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental."
"Yeah, right. Better prepare me a bath; I'm tired." Erik commented sarcastically, which made Seraphina smile happily.
"Fufufu, it will be a pleasure, young master."
After bowing respectfully, Seraphina spoke in a cheerful tone, then proceeded to walk toward the second floor—making sure to sway her hips temptingly for her young master, who could only laugh amusedly while shaking his head.
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