Author's Notes: So this is the first of two chapters to be uploaded for March. Rekka No Ken and What If both tied for update on the poll, so I'm doing both. Obviously, Rekka No Ken will be worked on and updated later, though it will be sometime next month. Rekka No Ken won't count for next month's chapter. I have at least one chapter in the works for that. But that means I'm breaking my promise for the next chapter of Side Stories being about how Michael first met Jake. That's getting pushed back. The reason being that this new one I'm writing just sprung up on me and I think it's definitely something to delve into. If any of you are fans of two certain knights, you'll be VERY happy.

What If: Affinity Test

"So... Here we are..." Hassar gasped out, finally free to loosen his nerves for some time now. Lyndis's little friend proved to be more of a handful than heinitially thought. Walking up to wild animals, picking plants, constantly stopping and asking a thousand questions about everything and anything. Such boundless curiosity fed by an above average amount of knowledge... And Lyndis's was only too happy to accompany him for the more dangerous actions. Truly, it was enough to make a father's heart twist in pain.

"Wow...!" Michael whispered to himself in awe. No picture he had seen of the nomads of Sacae could come close to the wonder and glory of seeing everything unfolding around him.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Hassar smiled as he eyed the young boy's reaction. "Reading about something never comes close to experiencing it in person."

Michael could do nothing but nod in agreement, his gaze trailing from new sight to new sight, drinking in as much as he could. "It's so... natural."

Hassar nodded to himself, instantly catching on to what the young boy meant. "Lycia and all the other countries might be testaments of the ability of humans to create something from nothing, but I think Sacae is in turn a testament to how people can live around everything and thrive within it all."

"What are you two talking about?" Lyndis asked as she turned her head back and forth between the two. "Don't leave me out..."

Hassar let out a small but amused sigh as he reached down to take his daughter unit his arms and hoist her up to his lap. "I'm sorry my dear, daddy and your new friend were just having a moment."

"Is a fiancé and friend the same thing?" Lyndis asked.

Hassar and Michael instantly turned to stone, their happy expressions now marred with great annoyance and disgust. "W-Who taught you that word, Lyndis?"

"Grandpa," Lyndis responded without a second thought. "He said to 'seal the deal' while we were still little."

'I'm going to kill my father in law next time I see him...' Hassar vowed to himself at that instant. 'They will NEVER find his remains.'

"Her too...?" Hassar heard Michael whisper under his breath. Oh, the pains of dealing with troublesome father figures. Especially when they were reputable politicians.

As Hassar was attempting to think up a suitable answer for his daughter while still reeling in shock, one of the clansmen looked up and noticed the group, quietly dropping the book in their hands and pulling their hood up from their cloak as they walked up to them. Their steps were short and slow, with a second or two between each one taken, as if walking was a great strain. Either this person was in advanced age or crippled in some way. Michael immediately thought of an arrow to the knee being the cause for such a condition, given Sacae's penchant for bows.

"Hassar..." the cloaked individual hissed as they approached. Boney hands rose from raised sleeves as they grabbed the chieftain's cheeks, softly slapping them, making the sound human flesh generally makes when slapped. "You've returned unharmed, just as my divination foretold. Good..."

"Greeting to you too, Necseala," Hassar lightly laughed as he grabbed the boney hands on his cheeks and squeezed them back. He brought the hands into his vision before letting them fall back towards the Diviner's sides. "You look more wizened with each trip I take! I daresay you'll be finding your successor using your remains for divination soon enough."

"Hahahahahaha," Necseala chuckled as she stifled a cough. She reached for her hood and pulled it back, revealing a tanned face decimated by old age and slight burn scar. Her eyes were glassy and blank, staring into nothing. It took Michael a moment, but he realized the woman was blind. "Hassar, don't joke like that with me. You know as well as I how rare it is for one to be born with the gift for Ancient magic within this tribe, much less all of Sacae. I can't let myself perish before I find and raise a suitable successor."

"Necseala..." Hassar sighed before shaking his head, "We have discussed this before..."

"Hush, child..." Necseala whispered to Hassar as she lifted a bony finger to her lips. Her finger trembled before she pulled it back. "I shall not discuss this here and now with you. Your wife should be prepared to welcome home her husband and daughter... And a guest?" Necseala looked next to Lyn and stared directly at Michael, her eyes squinting before looking back to Hassar. "Did you find an orphan? Did a merchant or trader give a child as payment?"

"Of course not!" Hassar frowned as he stomped his foot. "What kind of barbarian do you take me for, Necseala? I'm not some low-born bandit."

"Ancient magic?" Michael parroted back in confusion.

"Yeah, it's this weird black and purple stuff!' Lyn jumped as she began to explain. "It goes all 'woosh woosh woosh' and 'wur wur wur wur' and smells like burnt grass!"

"That didn't explain anything," Michael informed her with a blank stare.

Necseala sighed as she shook her head, as he reached a hand into her robes before pulling out a black leather-bound book. "This is a tome. It's a special kind of book that details the chant, pronunciation, and spells within a given level of its magic class. This one is an Ancient magic one."

"Wow…" Michael looked on in awe of the tome, his mouth open in amazement. "Can I read it?!" There were stars floating in Michael's eyes as he smiled at the shaman, eager to immerse himself into the pages of this new piece of literature in front of him.

Necseala was taken aback for a moment, Hassar following suit. Never before had she seen someone willingly desire to see Ancient magic, much less beg to read a tome! "It won't do you any good," Necseala told Michael after recovering from her shock. "I doubt you could read the writing in these books. They're written in an old language not many know."

"I know all about language alphabets!" Michael cheerfully declared as he jumped on his feet. "My grandfather's library if FULL of books like that!"

Necseala looked at Hassar and gave him a glance of curiosity. Hassar merely shrugged back to her. "Don't look at me. I'm not privy on the Marquess's private collection."

"Fine then…" Necseala sighed as she relented. "Open the book and see if you can read it. But don't be disappointed if you can't. It's a very rare language."

With a child-like glee rare for him, Michael opened the book and turned through the pages, reading passages and phrases as he skimmed them, looking for important pieces of information or words he didn't know. Boy, did he find a lot of the latter… "What's ardently mean? I don't think I've ever seen that word before…"

Necseala stood frozen in place for a moment, stunned that Michael could even read a single word within the tome. It had taken her years of study under the last shaman of the clan to learn the language and here was a child that could understand the contents of these tomes with a mere glance! "Looks like there won't be any need to conscript someone anymore…" Necseala muttered to herself as the sides of her lips curled into a small smile.

"Necseala…" Hassar began to say, knowing full well that nothing good ever happened for him when the shaman smiled.

"It means passionately," Necseala answered Michael. She remembered that section of the tome well. "The phrase goes like this, "Might the ancient bond of magic and blood heed my call. Allow the knowledge and power I have ardently cultivated all these years be my strength." It's one of the most common phrases, chanted in every Ancient magic spell."

Lyn looked on at the two talking, unnoticed and just a little bit jealous. She whispered under her breath, "I'm more fun than a stupid book…"

Hassar, however, heard that little comment and snickered a little. Lyndis was evidently very territorial of those she grew fond of. Hopefully that wouldn't cause too much trouble for either of them down the line. "Lyn, how about we go see Mommy now, alright? We'll let these two bookworms have their fun and meet up again with Michael later. Does that sound agreeable?"

"Yeah…" Lyn answered with little enthusiasm. She slumped her shoulders as she began to walk towards their family's ger, dejected that she had gotten dumped in favor of a blind crone that smelled like week old fish. "I wanted to show him how to fish…"

"That can wait until later," Hassar tried to comfort his daughter as he gave her a pat on the head. "You can't always have things go your way, right?" In his defense, Hassar never was one for giving pep talks.

Necseala observed the two leave for a few moments while Michael occupied himself with reading the tome some more, occasionally asking what a word meant that she answered without pulling herself away. She didn't want anyone of import or understanding to see what she was about to try.

"Boy?" she asked Michael as he closed the tome.

"It's Michael," he corrected her before answering. "But yes?"

Necseala put her hand in her robes once more and produced a slim piece of paper, barely worthy of even such a description. It fell flimsily over itself as she steadied her hand in front of the boy. "What I have here is an Affinity Sheet. Do you know what affinities are, child?"

Michael tilted his head in confusion. He had never heard that phrase before. "Affinity?" He wracked his brain, trying to summon an answer. "Nope. Can't say I ever heard of either of those things."

Necseala nodded, expecting that answer. "Not surprising. Not many people in the more "organized" countries put much import in such things anymore. Their loss. Anyway, as I was saying, Affinity Sheets can determine one's affinity. Affinity is one's inner strength; where they draw their personality from. Its very essence shapes every person into who they are and will become."

"Why tell me this?" Michael asked, not seeing the point behind her explanation. If anything, this sounded like the gribble merchants would chant while trying to sell wares on the open streets. And everyone knew how reliable their words were…

"Because affinity is very important to Ancient magic," Necseala responded. "Take this paper into your hand and concentrate on it as hard as possible." She handed Michael the slip of paper, mindful not to crush it lest the paper fade away like the insignificant scrap it was.

Michael took the slip into his hands and stared at it blankly. He sent a brief glance towards Necseala before looking back his hands. A minute or two went by in complete silence aside from the other tribe members going about their business around them. "… Like this?"

"Hold it in your hands, please," Necseala replied curtly. To be fair, she hadn't told him what to do, so she couldn't be too harsh with the child. Well, not yet at least. "And make sure to press your hands together and concentrate. Like you're trying to break off small rocks in a lump of dirt."

Michael nodded in understanding as he slipped the paper into his hands and pressed them together as hard as he could. He imagined he held a piece of coal in his hands, trying to turn it into a diamond with the force of his hands. His hands began to shake, his breathing beginning to quicken, and his forehead wrinkled for the effort.

'Don't overexert yourself…' Necseala thought to herself as she saw the young boy struggle. It was a little embarrassing to watch, but at the same time, oddly charming; like watching a puppy try and chase its tail while lying down. "I think you can stop now…" It was too much to keep watching.

"Huh? Really?" Michael asked as he let go of the tension he had been building. Necseala nodded as she opened her hand for him to give her the paper slip. Michael placed it in her hand and stepped back, waiting for the results to be revealed.

Necseala observed the paper with great interest. The once white paper slip had been dyed in a rich orange. If she remembered the color wheel that went along with each affinity… The boy had an Anima affinity. A pity. She had hoped he'd have a Dark affinity. Though rare, it usually meant one would share a close bond with the Ancient magic. "Anima affinity."

"Is… Is that good?" Michael asked Necseala, watching her somewhat downtrodden expression.

The Shaman sighed before shaking her head. "No, there's certainly nothing bad. I guess my hopes were just too high, is all. I keep finding myself becoming more desperate in my old age…"

"I could still learn magic though, right?!" Michael asked again, this time more excitedly.

Such excitement… Why did this old woman have to play the villain now? Necseala began to play with the Affinity Sheet in her hand. "Well, I wouldn't say you'd have an easy time to begin with, but having Dark would h-" Necseala stopped dead in her tracks. Along the bottom edge of the slip, bleeding ever so slightly into the orange, was black. Black was the color associated with Ancient magic! Could this boy possibly?!

"What?!" Michael asked her with a panicked expression. "Is something wrong? Am I not able to learn? I'm a good student, I promise!"

Necseala smiled to herself as threw the Affinity Sheet into the air, watching it float off in the breeze. "You've nothing to fear, Boy. No, it was Michael, correct? Well, how would you like to become my apprentice?"

Michael stood frozen in place for a moment. "What?"

"I won't repeat myself again!" Necseala warned him. She pointed a bony index finger at his forehead. "Are you one who seeks knowledge? Do you refuse to remain ignorant of the world's truths? Are you one who has no need for others barring your pathways to strength? If you say yes to any of these, then you are worthy of learning Ancient Magic! If you wish to learn, become my apprentice!"