To the surprise of Simon and his classmates, where Instructor Valdin took them to looked like a lab room.
Even Simon was surprised because the last place he expected their class instructor to take them to was a lab where researchers in masks and black robes stood.
Instructor Valdin spoke to one of the researchers, but Simon and the others could not hear the words spoken.
Some seconds later, Instructor Valdin walked up to them.
"I’m sure all of you are surprised, because this is not usually how affinity tests are conducted. But what I can tell you is that there isn’t just one method of testing affinity and its grade. Every organization has its own method."
He paused and glanced at his students before continuing.
"Not all of you naturally awakened an affinity for the shadow element during your Coming of Age, but some of you did.
"What we’ll do here is not only determine the specific grade of those who have already awakened their shadow affinity, we’ll also examine your potential to obtain a shadow affinity in the future.
"I’m sure you all know that the Shadowgrave Clan possesses a method to grant shadow affinity. However, every demon has a different level of potential- a limit to the grade of shadow affinity they can achieve even with our method.
"What we are doing now is identifying that individual potential."
Simon’s eyes flickered with surprise and understanding, and he had a question he wanted to ask.
With a calm expression behind his mask, he raised his hand.
Instructor Valdin was rather surprised because he believed that none in the class had the courage to ask him a question after realizing how dangerous the merit penalty was.
But he was also impressed because Simon did not just speak when he was not meant to. He raised his hand, asking for permission to speak.
’But he’s a slave.’ Instructor Valdin’s eyes flickered, then he nodded at Simon.
"Yes, Broken Halo? You have a question?"
Simon lowered his hand and nodded. "Is it possible to increase one’s affinity grade?"
Instructor Valdin nodded. "Yes. There are ways to increase one’s affinity grade."
Simon nodded inwardly. He already knew this, so he was expecting this answer.
The affinity grading system was the same for both humans and demons, but if a human wanted to obtain an affinity, it had to be given by the system or they have to find an extremely rare item or resource that could do such a thing.
In his past life, had no idea if demons could also get a new affinity since they did not have the system humans had and he literally didn’t care about something like that.
But now, he was interested.
"So, let’s say somebody naturally awakened shadow affinity during their Coming of Age, but his affinity grade is maybe E grade, does that mean the person can increase their affinity grade to the S grade with enough resources?"
All eyes were on Simon and Instructor Valdin, and his classmates were all curious.
Instructor Valdin was a little bit surprised by Simon’s question, but he was not at a loss as to how the answer the question.
In fact...
"I can see where you’re trying to go with this question."
Instructor Valdin smiled, but none could see it.
"To first answer your question... Yes, it’s possible for somebody to increase their natural shadow affinity grade from E grade to S grade but to do that, they would need a lot of extremely rare resources."
Simon was about to ask another question, but Instructor Valdin raised a hand, signaling for Simon to hold on.
"Let me explain."
"The first thing you should know is that it’s not everybody that awakens an affinity during their Coming of Age rite. But for those who do, they all have a particular limit even for that particular affinity they’ve awakened."
"Let’s say for example, you awaken an E grade shadow affinity, your body would have a natural limit as to what your shadow affinity grade can increase to. It might be D grade, or it might be C grade. Don’t forget that each grade also has its sub-grades."
"After thousands of thousands of years, the elites of the demon race have created methods one can use to advance their affinity grade."
"You can decide to call these methods artificial methods because they cannot be compared to natural treasures that also increase one’s affinity grade."
"So, let’s say we use the method of the clan to increase somebody’s natural shadow affinity from the E grade to the D grade, it would be like we’re breaking down a door in the demon, and this door is the pathway to a higher shadow affinity."
"But once we reach the limit of the demon, we would not be able to break down that door no matter what with our method. So, let’s say the natural limit for a demon is intermediate C grade, we won’t be able to increase that demon’s natural shadow affinity past that grade no matter what."
"And this is where the difference between natural treasures and our ’artificial’ methods come in."
"Natural treasures can break down that door and even go past that limit depending on the natural treasure. There are some treasures that can give a demon a S grade affinity even when their original affinity grade was F grade, but these treasures are so rare that wars can be born because of these treasures."
Instructor Valdin paused and looked at Simon.
"Do you understand up to this point?"
Simon nodded, and Instructor Valdin nodded too.
"Good."
"Now, for those who were not born with shadow affinity, we can give them shadow affinity and we can increase the affinity grade till we reach their limit."
"Usually, the limit for those who did not naturally awaken shadow affinity for example is usually E grade or D grade at best. Some might only have a limit of F grade or no grade at all. It means their body is highly incompatible with the shadow element. This allows us to know how best to go about granting this individual shadow affinity while taking into account their limit."