Zenaida
"Nyx, go ahead and choose an affinity to try first." Wonder if she still casts the same way she did before her accident. Freeform casting is very personal, and a person's preference has been known to change as they figure out what works best for them.
Nyx lifted her hand and hummed. I felt the melody of the hum as she called the essence in the stone to her other hand, where it transitioned from sparkling motes of light to soft, tiny sparks of lightning that crackled and arced between her fingers like quicksilver.
"Stormbinder (weather and wind affinity), you have a high rating with this affinity, so you are off to a good start. Try another that feels right." I don't remember her rating being 80% with Stormbinder previously. Though I guess it has been documented that such occurrences can happen after significant life changes.
Nyx blinked, tilted her head, then the lightning transformed into a rare orchid. My breath hitched. Verdant (earth): 60%. This was her main affinity previously with a 70% rating. Now she has a higher rating with Stormbinder. Very curious development. I sat down with blinking eyes and quiet breaths to watch what I sensed would be a phenomenon I was not prepared for.
Before our eyes, Nyx shifted the orchid into a sphere of water in her cupped hand that she changed into various small shapes before the essence returned to motes of light. Tidecaller (water): 70%. Next, the essence darkened and expanded to encompass her hand, giving the illusion that her hand was gone.
I barely blinked before her hand reappeared, and she was surrounded by a shower of multi-colored stars. Veilwalker (shadow): 80% and Astral (dream): 90%. With Astral at 90%, it is currently her highest affinity. Extremely unusual because according to her previous assessment, this was her lowest affinity at 0%. It is unheard of to go from no affinity to nearly perfect affinity.
My heart was climbing into my throat. I am now extremely happy Matriarch Davina is here. I would not know how to handle these revelations.
Nyx laughing— a startled, delighted sound —with her scent warmly brightening brought me out of my spiraling thoughts. "I didn't know it could feel like this. So this is what it feels like to essencecraft without it feeling sluggish. I feel a deep connection with each affinity I've tried so far. Some more than others but they all feel like different aspects of myself I'm discovering."
Woah that is some higher level thinking. A person doesn't typically have this realization until Ember 4 or 5 as we prepare to ascend to Veil tier. I glanced at Matriarch Davina to discern her thoughts but she was just watching Nyx with a thoughtful expression.
Okay so while it is a part of cultivating—deepening one's connection with the affinities—what is not typical is to feel that connection with more than three affinities. Especially not with over 50% rating for all tried affinities so far!
Nyx continued checking affinity after affinity off the list. After glancing at the reference list, she drew a glyph of light perfectly on her first attempt, then proceeded to sing a spell of darkness, the air pulsed with layered resonance. Glyph (text) and Echo (sound): 90%, she has three affinities tied for main affinity. If we included decimals, Astral is a tad bit higher, but for now I will leave this as tied in the report.
For a few minutes, she was just standing in the circle with her eyes closed; the essence crystal now tucked between her boobs. Just when I thought she had reached the end of the affinities she could manifest, her eyelids slid open, showing that her pupils had thinned into vertical slits, the irises a flickering red-gold. Her eyes looked draconic, especially with the way they caught the light, making them glow.
I nearly choked when I saw the rating. I had to close my eyes to calm myself as I tried to make sense of her having an above-average rating with even this rare affinity. Savran (animal mimicry): 70%.
This affinity display made Matriarch Davina lean forward — fast, sharp, a fraction too intense for a casual reaction. Nyx didn't notice. After her eyes shifted back to their normal silver, she began playing with fire. She was making tiny flames dance along her fingertips. Waving the flames away, she then went over to the projector to fix it, just as I sensed it needed to be turned off, else it would burn out.
She finished her assessment by creating a thread of essence, the thread then knotted itself. After examining the thread, "there is a high probability of Keir cooking hot dogs for dinner tonight. He will win a box of premium hot dogs in a bet with a friend within the next two hours."
My mind was spinning. Infernal (fire): 70%, Techno (technology): 60%, and Weaver of Fate (time): 80%. This was not possible. Not even rumored to be possible. But Matriarch Davina…she seemed less surprised than shaken. I filed the observation away immediately. Surely she's just…shocked. Yep, just shocked like me and not considering what could have changed about Nyx so much to allow this phenomenon to be possible.
With the test concluded, I steadied my voice. "Nyx… I need to warn you. Having such good affinity with all affinities may not last. As your soul and body finish aligning, you'll settle into a primary affinity. Maybe one or two minors will stay. Also I'll upload your report to your drive so you can review it yourself." I will privately admit I will be upset if she doesn't keep them all. I can't imagine how amazing it would be to work with her on projects and not need to involve a whole team of other people for the essence affinities I would need for any project I was working on.
I shook my head to bring myself out of my daydreaming. I offered Nyx a small smile when I saw her pouting. "To put myself in the spotlight, I'm a Techno witch a minor Glyph and Echo affinity." Learning something about me thankfully ended her pouting. She grins looking me up and down, probably imagining what I look like when I'm essencecrafting. "That's so cool." Warmth blooms in my chest at her simple praise.
To ease my giddiness and also learn more about my idol, I glanced over at Matriarch Davina, asking faux-casually, "Do you have any minor affinities, Matriarch Davina?" She only smiled — a mysterious, closed-lipped curve that said everything and nothing. Of course. She has probably been sworn to secrecy about any hidden aces in case another region tries to find out our capabilities.
Despite trying to hide it, I could tell Nyx was feeling tired from the light essencecrafting, so I declared our lesson over for the day. Matriarch Davina must see what I see because she tells Nyx that they will not have a lesson today. This will leave Nyx with only her lessons with the Patriarch and the Crown Consort left to do.
While Nyx was cleaning up the ritual area, I ended up cleaning the table with the Matriarch. Maneuvering myself closer and activating a sound barrier, I softly asked, "Matriarch, Nyx's rating report is completely different from her previous report. This isn't typical, even if we take into account significant life change exceptions. Do you have any suspicions about how Nyx is capable of what we just witnessed?"
Looking at me out of the corner of her eye, she nodded slowly. I continued on with what I had to say before I chickened out. "I only did enough research on affinity rating to effectively do this test, so please correct me if I'm wrong, but I suspect her first rating report was tampered with. Even if the impossible happened and Nyx's soul went through significant changes, she would not have such a big difference in affinity ratings. Previously, nothing but Verdant was above 50% with everything else lower than 40%. We both know the Dillard Matriarch handled her assessment as a favor to her daughter after Minette talked Nyx out of letting you do it."
I knew I was possibly out of line pointing the finger at her future in-laws, but I refused to not speak up for Nyx. Never again.
Matriarch Davina finished cleaning the table, glanced at Nyx folding the array paper before turning her focus on me. She gazed at me quietly for a minute before speaking. "This is one of my suspicions too. I will have this matter looked into and added to the list of grievances we have with the Dillard Enclave. You have always been loyal and discreet in your actions. I see you, Zenaida Salgrave. I am pleased to have you under my roof again and back in Nyx's life, so I will share this piece of information with you that you must not share until we make the announcement."
With hands clasped behind her back, she proved the Creators do listen to prayers. "Nyx has decided to break her engagement to Koba and cut off all personal relations with Minette. The engagement is still technically in place, but we will be sending the dissolution papers once the Matriarch is back in the region to begin the process of making everything official."
I bowed, grateful she shared this with me. She squeezed my shoulder before she went over, kissed Nyx's head, then departed from the room. The room instantly felt lighter with her heavy aura no longer present.
Nyx and I finished up, then headed out of the room ourselves. As we walked down the hallway and into the foyer, Nyx bumped her shoulder lightly against mine. "The lessons keep getting more and more fun. Thanks for creating such engaging lessons. I think even Nimra was impressed with how well you handled everything. Keep up the good work. Come over for dinner tomorrow. We haven't had a girl's night in two weeks."
A ridiculous rush of happiness filled me. I nodded my agreement, basking in the knowledge that maybe…just maybe this was really a new beginning for our friendship. "Yeah," I said softly. "I'd love to come over for a girl's night. There is nowhere else I'd rather be."