“Breaking Shackles? What’s that?”
“I don’t know either. I’ve never heard of it. Is there such a level of elemental affinity?”
“Why did the test crystal ball shatter? Can anyone explain?”
Even the experienced mentors were baffled by this situation, let alone the students below. The term Breaking Shackles was entirely unfamiliar to them, and many had never even heard of it.
This wasn’t surprising. Breaking Shackles was a once-in-a-millennium occurrence.
The last recorded instance was during the ancient Carillian Empire, where a peerless genius, much like Aesphyra before her, shattered the elemental crystal ball used for testing.
However, that genius mage had shattered a water elemental crystal ball, and the spectacle was far less shocking than Aesphyra’s display.
Breaking Shackles was a term used to describe an elemental affinity level that was beyond the current technology of the Carillian continent to measure.
Thus, even within Breaking Shackles, there could be vast differences, possibly even greater than the gap between mediocrity and excellence.
While many mentors present had never seen it, they had heard legends about Breaking Shackles.
Such occurrences were so rare in the continent’s history that even they found it hard to believe this was the legendary Breaking Shackles.
If the mentors couldn’t be sure, the students were even less likely to jump to conclusions. Opinions varied, and the way they looked at Aesphyra changed repeatedly.
They had initially thought she was just a lucky, pretty face. Now, it seemed she might be a formidable figure.
“This is significant. I must report it to the headmaster,” the elderly mentor stroked his beard and said gravely.
“Miss Aesphyra, regarding your fire elemental affinity, we are temporarily unable to rate it. We hope you can understand,” the mentor spoke politely, his tone filled with respect, as if fearing Aesphyra might leave the academy dissatisfied.
“Of course,” Aesphyra smiled, showing she didn’t mind.
After all, if this truly was Breaking Shackles, it would be recorded in history.
In time, this extraordinary silver-haired girl would undoubtedly reach the pinnacle, touching the heavens that no one had ever reached before.
The more he thought about it, the more excited the elderly mentor became. Ignoring the others, he wrapped up the crystal shards and quickly left the trial hall.
“Alright, students, don’t just stand there. Continue testing your elemental affinities. When your name is called, step forward,” the female mentor who took over called out to the restless crowd, urging them to settle down.
However, the incident was far from over.
“Water elemental affinity: Excellent.” Looking at the surging tsunami appearing on the blue crystal ball before Aesphyra, the mentor’s face showed astonishment.
A suspected Breaking Shackles in fire element was already eye-catching enough.
Who would have thought there was more? Her water elemental affinity was also at the Excellent level.
Generally, as long as one’s magical aptitude was sufficient to learn mage techniques, having even one elemental affinity at the Excellent level was enough to ensure a promising future.
The most typical example was the legendary earth mage, Kantem. His other elemental affinities were mediocre or even poor, but his earth elemental affinity was Excellent, which eventually led him to become a legendary mage recorded in history.
The mentors conducting # Nоvеlight # the tests felt dizzy. Looking at Aesphyra, who still wore a faint smile, unimpressed and unexcited, they couldn’t help but sense an air of profundity and depth in this silver-haired girl.
She’s putting on a show, they thought.
The students’ astonishment came in waves.
While still reeling from the shock of the crystal ball shattering, some students and mentors thought it was just an accident, unrelated to something as mystical as Breaking Shackles. Now, their beliefs were beginning to waver.
Vinny glanced at the stunned crowd, finding it somewhat amusing.
Basic stuff, everyone, sit down, no need to applaud.
Are you so shocked you can’t close your mouths? There’s more to come.
“Earth elemental affinity: Excellent.”
“Thunder elemental affinity: Excellent.”
“Ice elemental affinity: Excellent.”
“Dark elemental affinity: Excellent.”
“Light elemental affinity: Excellent!”
“...” The entire hall fell silent.
Even the mentors responsible for testing and recording the results stopped their work, their jaws nearly hitting the floor. Never in their lives had they been so profoundly shocked.
The earth elemental crystal ball displayed a scene of cataclysmic destruction, the thunder elemental crystal ball crackled with lightning...
Wherever this silver-haired girl went, the crystal balls lit up like disco balls, illuminating the entire trial hall.
By the end, both students and mentors were numb, and the mentor recording the results found it hard to write steadily.
Aesphyra’s testing was over, but the shock it left behind was far from ending.
It wasn’t just the students who were questioning their existence; the mentors were too.
Witnessing such cheat-like talent, they wondered if they had wasted their lives.
Without exaggeration, if any one of Aesphyra’s elemental affinities were given to them, it would have been a qualitative leap.
How can the gap between people be so vast!?
“My goodness, this is insane... Did this beauty save the world in her past life?” Fred couldn’t help but exclaim.
“Such a person probably has no record in the entire continent’s history. Unprecedented and unparalleled. We’re witnessing history.”
“By the way, Vinny, are you so shocked you’ve gone numb? Why don’t you have any expressions?” Fred asked, looking at Vinny, who was yawning beside him.
“Why should I be shocked? We’re just specks of dust under the wheels of history. Witnessing history isn’t our role, so why be surprised?” Vinny glanced at Fred, indifferent.
“That’s true, but you’re way too calm. It’s like you already knew.”
“How could I? I don’t have the ability to foresee the future.”
“Don’t you feel resentful?” Fred asked. The hall was filled with geniuses, many of whom were proud of their talents. Being so thoroughly overshadowed would be hard for them to accept.
“Why should I feel resentful?” Vinny found it strange.
“Our life trajectories and those of the geniuses are parallel lines that never intersect. Each has its own brilliance. Especially with innate talents, it’s a matter of luck. Why feel resentful?”
“Instead of worrying about that, you should think about what to eat tonight. That’s more practical.”
“Haha, you’re quite open-minded,” Fred patted Vinny’s shoulder.
It wasn’t that he was open-minded; it was just that after transmigrating into a cannon-fodder villain, he had to be.
Otherwise, it would be a confusing ending.
Fred, on the other hand, wasn’t a top-tier genius, just someone with a bit of talent and a clear self-awareness.
He didn’t care much about such things; at most, he’d sigh in admiration. He was more interested in card games and collecting rare cards.
However, others weren’t so indifferent. Many students showed deep frustration, like defeated roosters.
Some were so stunned they seemed to have left their bodies, and the mentors had to call them back multiple times.
Clearly, Aesphyra had severely damaged the confidence of these geniuses, and it was a dimensional strike.
These youngsters probably wouldn’t recover for a while.
“Vinny Varelis.” Not long after, Vinny, who had been chatting with Fred, heard his name called and stepped forward from the crowd.
He didn’t notice that the moment the mentor called his name, two pairs of eyes instantly lifted and focused on him.
“... Varelis??” Milian tilted her cute little head, looking at Vinny’s back with a mischievous expression, murmuring softly.
“Varelis? Isn’t that the Saintess family my sister often mentions??”
The other gaze came from a pair of cold and noble purple eyes.
Isatia Lanteville’s amethyst-like eyes flickered as she watched this moon-blue-haired boy, her delicate brows slightly furrowed as she examined him from head to toe, wondering what was on his mind.
“Why is it a man??” Some foreign nobles who weren’t from the kingdom looked over upon hearing the surname Varelis.
Seeing it was a blue-haired man, they frowned, not understanding what was going on.
However, only a few who hadn’t paid attention to the news found it strange. Many foreign nobles had heard of Vinny’s “glorious deeds,” as he was, after all, a well-known figure.
Vinny began his elemental affinity test. At that moment, he happened to see Aesphyra receiving her test results.
Upon witnessing his testing, her moist lips curved slightly, and her shimmering eyes turned into crescents, filled with teasing.
Hmph, this damn protagonist is here to watch my downfall.
Whatever, let her watch. I don’t care.
When it came to elemental affinity and magical aptitude, Vinny had long since given up. Why would he care about this?
He walked up to the first crystal ball for testing magical aptitude and placed his hand on it.
The crystal ball seemed too lazy to even emit light. After a moment, it flickered weakly, barely showing a single star.
“Pfft, Varelis’s legendary one star.” The Varelis name was still eye-catching, but upon seeing Vinny’s magical aptitude results, many students couldn’t help but laugh.
However, Aesphyra gradually stopped smiling.
Vinny ignored the laughter and continued with his fire elemental affinity test.
“Fire elemental affinity: Poor.” The mentor glanced at the dimly burning flame on the elemental sphere and recorded it.
“Water elemental affinity: Mediocre.” The glow on the water elemental sphere was slightly brighter than the fire element’s, but still unremarkable.
“Thunder elemental affinity: Poor.” Only a few sparks flickered on the thunder elemental sphere.
“Wind elemental affinity: Poor.” The grass elemental sphere showed only a few withered vines.
“Earth elemental affinity: Mediocre.” The earth elemental sphere displayed a small, unremarkable hill.
Vinny paid no attention to these harsh assessments or the mocking looks from behind. In fact, among the elemental affinities, he only cared about one.
“Ice elemental affinity...” Seeing Vinny place his hand on the crystal ice sphere, the mentor lifted his gaze, his expression gradually showing a hint of surprise.
“Ice elemental affinity: Excellent!” Watching the ice elemental sphere swirling with a snowstorm, the mentor finally showed some interest.
So, his ice elemental affinity was at the Excellent level.
Excellent was only one level below Extraordinary, which was already a very high level of elemental affinity, especially since high ice affinity was rare.
No wonder he was so adept at using ice magic.
“Too bad his magical aptitude is only one star. Otherwise, he could have been a great ice mage,” the mentor gave his evaluation.
Next were the light and dark elements.
“Dark elemental affinity... None??” Seeing Vinny press his hand on the dark sphere for a long time with no reaction, the mentor was puzzled for a while before finally accepting it, muttering, “How strange, how can there be no affinity at all?”
“This is really rare.” After recording it, Vinny proceeded to test his light elemental affinity.
“Light elemental affinity... Wait, none either??” Watching Vinny place his hand on the light elemental sphere, which didn’t emit any light after a long time, the mentor was shocked again.
It was common knowledge that light and dark elements were like two sides of a person, one bright and the other dark, and they coexisted. It was impossible to have none of either.
The mentor held his head, glancing at his colleague responsible for recording, who also looked bewildered.
Having absolutely no light or dark affinity was unprecedented. In a way, it was even rarer than Breaking Shackles.
But rarity aside, it was utterly useless.
Breaking Shackles was terrifyingly strong, a sign of a peerless genius. Vinny’s case was that of a peerless loser.
Vinny, who was well aware of his light and dark affinity from the original setting, wasn’t surprised at all.
Aesphyra, who had been silently watching, raised an eyebrow.
She had just had a rather absurd thought, but now it seemed indeed too absurd.
Not only were their personalities and genders completely opposite, but their magical aptitude and light elemental affinity also didn’t match.
Aesphyra shook her head.
“Strange, so strange. How can someone have absolutely no light or dark affinity??” The mentor couldn’t understand it and muttered to himself.
“But it shouldn’t matter, right?” Vinny asked.
“How can it not matter? If you have no light or dark elemental affinity, it means you can’t even touch any related magic,” the mentor said irritably.
“Really?” Vinny found it hard to believe.
But when he turned into Vanessa, he could use light magic with ease. Strong Light had blinded many people.
Why was that?
Vinny had a guess.
Could it be that Vanessa’s elemental affinity was separate from his?
Vinny’s light and dark elemental affinity was zero, but Vanessa’s wasn’t??
Thinking about it, it made sense.
If Vanessa’s magical aptitude was only one star, like Vinny’s, how could she wield the four-star Soul Armament Saint Envoy?
That was impossible.