When they arrived at the temple, Alea quickly went to the receptionist and handed over her card to the receptionist. "I want to go to the skill room."
"I understand. Let me guide you." The receptionist gave a signal to her co-worker to replace her before leading both Alea and Theo to the second floor.
This was the first time Theo entered the second floor, but other than the huge lobby and bustling people, nothing changed. He still couldn't understand the layout of this floor at all.
Suddenly, the receptionist turned left and placed her thumb on the door's lock, scanning both her thumb and retina to open the door.
She then let them inside, where only a few people were searching for skills inside. Alea didn't mind them and quickly went to another counter to see the skill catalog.
"This is Mr. Meiman. According to your current privilege, you can only get two skills this year."
"Two? This Year?" Theo widened her eyes and looked at her with a weird expression.
Alea only waved her hand as if it wasn't a big deal. "It's fine. I can buy more skills if I want later. Also, we are going to increase your overall strength, so take a look at the catalog to see if you have something in your mind."
"…" Theo couldn't comprehend why Alea would waste one of the two chances she got in a year but remembered the fact that she came from a wealthy family. She could buy another one directly on the Skylink Network no matter how expensive it was. Still, he doubted that would happen unless something extreme happened since Alea didn't rely on her family that much.
After receiving the catalog, they began searching for their respective skills. Alea ended up getting an E Rank Skill that allowed her to send a shock wave through the ground and hit the enemy.
Theo also picked one skill. Considering all his skills were offensive type skills other than the Haste, he chose a defensive skill to fix his balance.
Skill: Elemental Shield (E)
Effect: Creates a magical barrier on the caster, blocking both physical and magical damage. The magical barrier disappears once its durability reaches 0. The magical barrier will be significantly weaker if used within ten minutes of the previous usage.
Alea then took out her Skylink and paid for both cards before handing him his card.
When Theo received the card, he couldn't help but peek at its true form, but to no avail. He had been trying to replicate the eye that the God of Mischief gave him and he still had a hard time successfully using it. Fortunately for him, he managed to get it right after three tries, albeit it only appeared for an instant.
Skill: Elemental Shield (E) – Upgradeable
Upgrade: Fuse 3 Rank E Skills and 10 Rank F Skills.
In an instant, he realized that this skill's potential was higher than he thought. In fact, it had the same potential as his Blink.
Even though he just used it for a split second, excruciating pain roasted his brain to the point he couldn't help but let out a single groan despite trying to endure it. He dropped to the ground while clutching his head.
"Kh."
"Oi, Theo? What's happening to you?" Alea's face turned pale, misunderstanding the whole situation. In her mind, Theo seemed to be suffering because of some sort of injury back when that Earthquake occurred two weeks ago, making her feel more guilty. After all, She saw Theo suffer when he was alone from time to time, unaware of the fact that he could see how to upgrade a skill.
The others also panicked because they didn't know the whole story, trying to call the ambulance, but the pain subsided and Theo said, "I'm fine. There's nothing wrong."
Theo took a few deep breaths before rising from the ground, showing a smile to make others not worry. "I'm fine. No need to go to the hospital. I know what's going on with my body."
Alea grabbed his arm and looked at his eyes with a worried expression, but Theo didn't give a slight signal that his words were a lie.
"Don't worry. It's not because of you." Theo shook his head with a calm expression. "If you don't believe me, how about I give you the money for the skill?"
Alea hesitated not because she thought about the money but because she doubted Theo was alright. Ultimately, she shook her head and said, "No need. Let's go back."
Theo nodded and exited the building.
After discussing a bit with Alea, they decided to visit her grandfather's shop.
Surprisingly, the moment they entered the shop, Nart Eilric, her grandfather, instantly recognized her weird appearance and facepalmed. "I'm sorry, who are you? I don't remember raising my grand—"
"Grandfather!" Alea pouted and glanced at Theo.
Seeing his figure again, Nart wasn't as shocked as before, even though it was still astonishing that Alea would bring this man to him. However, Nart had no intention of ruining this, so he teased them again. "Yo, boy. You are great. This is the first time my daughter can listen to anyone other than her family."
"Grandfather!" She slammed the table and glared at him.
"Fine, fine. I got the message yesterday. You are here to get a specialized weapon for him, right? Well, I remember him getting a blue spear in this shop, so what do you think about that spear?"
Theo thought for a moment and explained, "I don't have a problem. I feel I have gotten used to it already."
"Is that so? I will create a similar spear while imbuing a Magic Stone as its eye. Do you have an element that you like? I mean, what is your affinity?"
"Affinity?" Theo tilted his head in confusion.
"…" Nart widened his eyes and glanced at his granddaughter.
"He is a first year and has no advanced education." She shrugged. "Even I don't know about his affinity."
He scratched the back of his head, opened his drawers and took out nine palm-sized crystals. "Go inside there."
Alea opened the door next to the counter and led Theo inside. It turned out that this room was like that of a change room where the owner could take measurements and such for his customers.
He then presented all nine crystals to Theo, each in a different color. They were red, light blue, dark blue, brown, light green, dark green, yellow, pink, and white.
"Can you control your Magic Power?"
"Yes…" Theo nodded with a serious expression.
"Try pouring it on these stones one by one."
Theo nodded and poured his magic power in succession, but nothing gave any sort of reaction. "I've finished."
"No reaction, huh…" Nart narrowed his eyes. Even Alea couldn't help but frown.
"Did I do something wrong?"
Nart shook his head and explained. "Each person has a natural affinity to one of the elements in nature. Fire, Ice, Water, Earth, Wind, Plant, Lightning, Space, and Time. Like Alea beside you, she has an affinity with fire, allowing her to wield the fire easier than anyone else.
"Of course, it doesn't mean that you can't use a Fire Based skill. You can… You just need a bit more effort to control it. I'm sure you know what I mean, right?"
Theo closed his eyes and nodded. "Does it mean I have no potential?"
"Not necessarily so. As I said earlier, each person has a natural affinity and your affinity is not toward the element but to the Magic Power itself. This means that if you wield a skill without an element, you will feel more compatible than any other skill.
"It comes with advantages and disadvantages. For example, you can't burn someone with your affinity unless you have the skill to burn them or something like that. However, you can wield Magic Power better than anyone else. That's what it means to have no element affinity.
"I know that having an element like fire or lightning makes you cool, but I have a friend with no affinity as you. He is the one I respect the most. As for his strength… Well, he can destroy this entire castle with just a single punch by controlling his Magic Power. I'm sure that you can imagine how powerful he is…" Nart couldn't help but smile when looking at Theo.
"!!!" Theo widened his eyes and opened his mouth in surprise. Art Beats Castle could still be considered large, spanning over two miles in radius. Yet, the person in his mouth could actually destroy it with a single fist? Theo felt like this person was even stronger than his master.
"That's why I don't think you need a specialized weapon. Looking at your build, I think you need a pair of boots, gloves, and armguards to avoid hindering your movement. Alright. I will just make those three for you since I can't fulfill my granddaughter's request. Well, you better be nice to my granddaughter, okay? I will be holding a grudge if you are not."
"Grandfather! There's nothing between us." Alea shouted, wanting to beat her grandfather that continuously teased her.
"You don't?" Nart made a shocked expression. Considering that Alea would bring someone to him as well as giving so many things, he thought that there was something between them. But her expression looked too serious to even lie. Nonetheless, Nart didn't stop teasing her just to see her cute reaction, pouting. "Hmph. It's the first time seeing you bring someone like this… But it seems I can't be a great-grandfather in this life."
"Either way, since I've misunderstood your relationship, I will shamelessly misunderstand it all the way. It's not that easy to see my Alea become this good to other people after all."
"Hold up! Stop that grandpa joke."
