Clowns

As they stepped inside, they were greeted by a large hall-like lobby full of people who looked to be waiting for the affinity test as well.

The room was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. Most people were in their own heads, nervous to see if they held any affinities for magic.

As Lyrian and his family entered, many eyes attached to them and followed them through the room as they walked.

In the city of Illstria, it was rare to not know of the Theageld family.

Before Braakan took over as city mayor, and the Theagard part of the family became known and celebrated, it was the Theagelds who ruled.

Now, Grasus Theageld was a name undermined by many as a mana-less failure, but never forgotten for that same reason.

The stares that some people gave were enough to evoke embarrassment in many people, but by the looks on his parent's faces, Lyrian could tell that they weren't bothered whatsoever.

Thinking on it, they must have gone through this for many years by now, even before he was born.

After walking for a bit they found a small row of empty seats lined up against the wall and sat down.

"Puh-hahaha! What the hell are they doing here?" A random young man sitting 15 or so meters away from them suddenly burst out into a laugh amongst his friends.

"Don't tell me they are trying to get their kid an affinity test. Are they that delusional to think their bloodline still has a chance at magic."

The young men - three in total - began to laugh to themselves as they caught the attention of many people inside the waiting room.

They all appeared to be in their early twenties and were most likely rookie adventurers judging from their amateur adventurer clothing and garments.

As this happened, a woman from the far left side of the room called out names behind a podium, the named person then had to stand up and go into the testing room.

Although Lyrian was a bit annoyed at the bullies, he didn't want to randomly start summoning Garmr and beating up those losers straight up in front of everybody.

He still didn't know whether he wanted to showcase his power to the world. Right now, it didn't seem like the safest idea.

Peeking at the faces of his parents, he saw that they weren't very bothered by it either, so he decided to leave it alone.

After a while of waiting, one of their names was called. The tallest one out of the bunch who was also the first one to start mocking them.

"Hugen Jeiner, please enter the testing room."

The young man stood up, smirking slightly at Lyrian's family to flex knowing full well that he was going to pass the affinity test and have an affinity to a certain element.

He arrogantly walked into the room with his chest out and chin up. In a few moments, his name was called again to exit the room.

"Hugen Jeiner, fail." The announcer woman said before beginning to call in another person.

Suddenly the door to the testing room opened up once again, but it looked like an entirely different person walked out this time.

Hugen slumped back to his seat with a gloomy expression on his face. He could almost sense the eyes of everyone looking at him, so he couldn't muster up the courage to look anywhere else but the floor.

His friends didn't seem as confident as before either, and seeing the drastic change in demeanor, Lyrian couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Suddenly all of the attention in the room went to him, and even his parents were surprised. However, unlike everyone else in the room, Lyrian didn't find a need to hide his emotions about those clowns.

He put his hand on his face and laughed his ass off, causing a few others who were trying to hold in their laughter to join in as well.

Surprisingly, Hugen didn't say anything. Failing this test wasn't a small deal. Not only was the embarrassment bogging down him, but the failure of this test meant that he was never going to be able to use magic.

His entire life, his hopes, and dreams were flushed down the toilet at once.

"Uriel Joan, fail. Glis Silandra, please enter the testing room."

This clearly caught the attention of the people in the room, as even the people who were most nervous looked up from the ground to see if the person who was just named would actually come up.

From the entrance door, the young girl from before walked inside with her butler following close behind.

As she made her way across the room to the testing room, she walked with her eyes closed and her chin pointed towards the ceiling, as many onlookers gasped in awe at her presence.

Lyrian still didn't care, but his parents looked to be shocked as well. Since they were talking to the clerk, they didn't recognize her in the main lobby.

As she arrived at where Lyrian was sitting, she suddenly stopped and turned towards him.

The butler's eyes widened as he noticed this.

"Ma'am! Pleas--"

He said before being cut off by Glis.

"You!" She yelled, stomping her foot down on the ground.

Lyrian didn't expect her to stop like this. Now, he really wanted the ability to hide his aura.

Now, all of the eyes in the room were on him.

"Who's that boy she's talking to?"

"Theagelds kid?"

People started to whisper.

"Wow... he gets to talk to a royal?"

"What do you want?" He said out of nowhere, thinking it was completely normal.

Everyone's jaws suddenly fell to the floor in shock.

"Did he just say that to a member of the Silandra family!?"

"Is he that close with her?"

People began to whisper.

His parents exchanged surprised glances, not quite sure how to react to their son's boldness.

They had never imagined him casually exchanging words with a member of the prestigious Silandra family.

The air crackled with a mix of curiosity, disbelief, and a tinge of envy.

Glis, on the other hand, fumed with anger, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

She stomped toward the testing room, her butler trailing behind, struggling to contain his own astonishment.