Chapter 66: Aptitude Test

The next day!

Eren and Jake woke up early and met each other in the living room. They had their breakfast together. Jake could see a lot of groups forming over breakfast tables. He wanted to introduce himself to a few of them, but it didn't look like Eren would join him. And he didn't want to leave the guy behind for his socializing activities.

They were required to gather at a huge hall that was located inside a four-story tall building, on the base floor. According to the board that was hung over the entrance, the building's name was Ranker's Incipience.

The hallroom of Ranker's Incipience was huge in both size and height. It had a ceiling height of four stories. Its length was more than 100m.

The hall had practically nothing inside as its interior compared to its large size. The students of 1/C gathered near a particular podium with the term 1/C written over it. Other students went to their respective podiums located at a distance from each other.

The podium had someone waiting on them to arrive. It was Lin Karr with his panel of assistant professors standing behind him. Everyone from the class 1/C was present at the scene. Lin started his speech as soon as he counted the class students.

"Hello, students of 1/C. As most of you must already know, my name is Lin Karr. And I'm assigned as the homeroom teacher of your class.

Before you ask or think to yourself, let me state out the obvious. My parents were very inspired by our country's founding hero, Lin Lehan at the time of my birth. That's why they chose Lin as my name, hoping I'd get as good as the kingdom's idol we all hail as Sansara Sage.

My father is an array master while my mother is serving in the kingdom's army as a distinguished potion master.

Both of them, how should I say this...

They both are sorta like nerds with their specialization fields as their only interests in their lives.

Therefore, it's not strange for them to go with the same name as the biggest nerd this kingdom has ever known, Lin Lehan.

I don't know why the academy receives a few complaints every year from the students' families, saying that I've been tarnishing a great name? But let me assure you that neither my family nor I have any ill intentions behind keeping my name as Lin.

Now that any possible misunderstanding my name might have is out of the way, let's get down to business.

I have my panel with me that I would like to introduce to you. After all, they will be the ones you'll be seeing most of the week. I'll be available once or twice every week, mostly towards the end of it, to guide you.

Meet Peter Griffin. He is a capable E-Class ranger. He is well versed in tracking techniques and some other skills related to hunting.

This lady is Ela Thorn. She is an exceptional E-Class healer. She will teach you about first aids and various natural as well as manufactured medicines you can use depending upon the terrain and situation.

We have Julia Ekheart. Her class is special. Let's just say for now that she is an E-Rank hunter. She will expound on how to detect illusions and counter them.

And finally, we have me, Lin Karr. I will teach you about the fundamentals of mana arrays and their functions. Since my lecture will be once or twice every week, it'll continue for that whole day and you won't be able to attend anything else.

Let's first find out about your element affinity and aptitude. Just form a queue first and I'll tell you what to do."

Lin Karr ordered the students of 1/C to fall in line and the students obliged. Jake was standing ahead of Eren.

Lin would order the student at the front of the line to stand right over an eye of the array that was drawn on the limestone ground nearby from their gathering.

Lin had already told the students that they needed to imbue their feet with their mana. The array would be lit up after absorbing that mana inside its inscriptions.

The ground was inscribed with array details that would be lit up intermittently. Then a few spectral words would appear over the student who was standing in the middle of the array at the time.

Soon came Jake's turn. He stood inside the array eye and imbued his feet in mana. The ground lit up once again before forming words:

[ Elemental Affinity- Water

Inherent Nature- Unobstructed fluidity

Aptitude- Potioneer, array master, inscription specialist… ]

Lin had already described to students that they will have at least one elemental affinity and at least one inherent nature, and a few aptitude compatibilities.

Elemental affinity was simple to understand.

There were five great elements and a lot of derived elements. The five great elements were earth, water, fire, wind, and ether.

The derived elements were born from the combination of the five great elements in various proportions and permutations.

For example, ice is a derived element formed by combining water, wind, and cold fire.

Likewise, the derived element of lava would be the result of the fusion taking place between earth and fire.

Those who have derived elements as their affinity would also have the affinity for the elements that are involved in the derivation. That means if someone has ice as their elemental affinity, they can also be considered to have an affinity in water, wind, and cold fire mentioned above.

But great element affinities granted by the derived element would be different from their normal affinity standards.

That meant when one had their elemental affinity as water, their elemental affinity would not get divided. 100% of their elemental affinity belonged to the water element.

But water elemental affinity granted by having the derived elemental ice affinity would prohibit the ranker from having 100% affinity in any of the involved parent elements. If their ice element is formed by 70% water, 25% wind, and 5% cold fire, then the ranker would only be able to make use of the water element with 70% efficiency.

Having a derived element affinity came with its own set of advantages and disadvantages, after all.

For example, the derived element affinity meant possessing inherent affinities in at least two great elements or more. This was a huge advantage.

The ability to make use of two or more great elements meant having an edge over the rankers who only had one great element affinity in terms of variation. The ones with derived element had more spells and techniques to choose from.

The disadvantage of having a derived element affinity was the lack of suitable ranking techniques to choose from. The disadvantage became even more apparent when it came to oddball derived elements like mud, haze, sound, etc.

Another disadvantage of having a derived element and practising a ranking technique related to it was the sudden increment in difficulty level when it came to progressing further in a ranking journey.

A ranker practising a ranking technique corresponding to their derived element will progress at a slower rate than their peers when the amount of effort was the same.

The advantages and disadvantages of any element would usually nullify each other.

So having a derived element did not mean gaining superiority over other rankers. Nor does having a single affinity in one great element means your potential as a ranker is limited.

There's no superior element. Only superior ranker.

This was a saying famous within the ranker communities. It accurately highlighted the importance of ranker's hard work.

The term 'Inherent Nature' described the way the rankers' elements would behave normally. For example, in Jake's case, his elemental affinity was water. And the Inherent Nature section described the way Jake's element would behave inherently.

The Inherent Nature section would help the rankers zero in on a suitable ranking technique for themselves belonging to their element and nature. A ranker would progress quickly and efficiently while facing less obstruction if they practise in a ranking technique compatible with their element and nature.

The aptitude section takes account of rankers' body stats, mana signatures, elemental affinities, and inherent natures to suggest a suitable path for them.

The student would head to meet an academic staff appointed to them to discuss the path and class suitable for them, post their aptitude test. The expert would then suggest a list of suitable ranking techniques available in LA and their respective values.

The experts would also suggest the students in courses suitable for their element, path, and class. Of course, these courses needed merit points too.

Good thing was that the aptitude test and consultation was free. LA was heartless where it needed to but would also support the students where it deemed they needed supporting.

Next was Eren's turn. He went ahead and stood inside the array before imbuing his mana in his feet.

Eren had already taken a precaution and told Reen to wait inside his dorm room in her inorganic form. He didn't want her presence to interfere in his aptitude test.

Soon Eren's test became known to every student in class 1/C.

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Author's Note: Hello. 'A Chaotic Symbiosis' received third place (bronze trophy) in #WPC216. The writer in me is glad and feel validated. I Hope VEH does even better in #WPC218. ;)