At the same time, Amelia Edemsworth couldn't focus anymore, instead staring at the door, with one elbow on her desk, resting her chin on the palm of her hand.
"...so that's what felt wrong… but.. He corrected it…? There's no way…"
She muttered to herself while tapping her mouth with her fingers.
"Young Miss… It's your turn."
"Eh? AH!"
She was immersed in her own thoughts that Justin had to lean in and nudge her, making the girl let out a short gasp before hurriedly standing up and approaching the device.
After a few moments, all five spheres lit up one by one.
Red, greenish gray, dark green, golden white, and… bluish white.
"Fire, wind, nature, light… and ice… could it be that it still picks up on student Vallhall…?"
The teacher muttered while taking note of Amelia's attunements, furrowing her brows and glancing towards the door.
"Oh, no, no. This is correct. I was already tested back home and I do have an affinity with ice. I was told it is very uncommon because normally those with the affinity for either fire or ice are not attuned with the other element."
"Well, that's reassuring… And amazing, of course!"
Amelia explained after politely shaking her head, making the teacher let out a relieved sigh before she flinched and exclaimed encouragingly.
The girl returned to her seat, next to a fidgeting Justin.
"Sit still. It will work, and it's not something that you'll get punished for. We're making sure now so that nothing unexpected happens during the actual summoning."
Amelia rolled her eyes seeing the commoner student like that and she leaned towards him to whisper.
"..."
The future hero surely heard her, but even though he stopped fidgeting he certainly did not respond. Now only clenching his hand on the fine golden bracelet around his wrist that was poking out of his sleeve.
As someone without a surname, Justin was called last... at least from the students present in the classroom at the time.
He tried to act casual, maybe even confident, but could not completely mask his nervousness when he placed his hand on the device and waited for the reaction.
For some reason, his measurement seemed to be taking longer, or maybe it was just an illusion caused by how nervous he was and the general anticipation.
Nonetheless, after a bit more time, the spheres of the device began lighting up one after the other.
Golden white, golden white, black, dark green, and blue.
"..."
"?"
Seeing two spheres lit up with the same color, the teacher frowned, and her expression darkened, causing the students to pay close attention.
"Ligh, light, darkness, nature, water. A repeat in attunement doesn't just show the strength of the repeated element, but also shows that the tested person lacks ANY connection to another element. But that cannot happen in humans. We are ALWAYS attuned to five elements. That's how our internal mana keeps itself in balance."
The teacher declared and began to explain, having the whole class focus on her every word.
"There are three exceptions. For the first one… the tested person isn't fully human."
"!"
The woman spoke up while raising one finger, causing almost the whole class to hold their breath while staring at the troubled Justin.
" Second… is much simpler. A faulty reading device."
The teacher raised another finger while revealing.
"And the third one. The reading is influenced by a contracted fae or an artifact enhanced with an elemental power. And I firmly believed that I already went over it with you all."
The woman finished, now turning her glare back at the already apologetic-looking commoner student.
"Student Justin. Could you please take off your light-imbued artifact?"
"...yes… I'm sorry…"
The teacher spoke harshly, already reaching her hand for the student to submit the problematic item.
"Let's test you again. Properly."
"...yes…"
As the commoner boy took off the fine golden bracelet and placed it on the teacher's hand, she nodded and motioned at the device with her chin, and the abashed boy hurriedly complied.
This time, the reaction seemed faster.
Golden white, black, dark green, blue, and bluish white.
"Ligh, darkness, nature, water, and ice! Would you look at that! I was going to scold you for trying to fake one of your attunements, but it turns out I was wrong. Here. Now go sit down."
"Y-yes! Thank You!"
The teacher raised her brows, and she let out a baffled gasp before smiling and returning the bracelet to the relieved student.
"You see, what I was worried about was that student Justin attempted to use an artifact to fake affinity to the element he wasn't compatible with. If that had been the case, then during the summoning, something similar to a fae of light element would try to enter our world. That something would be a deofol and NOT an actual fae. Because neither deofols nor faes are fooled by faking affinities with artifacts. It's us humans and our devices who are. You understand the problem, right?"
The teacher said as her expression turned strict.
"If you fake your affinities, that takes away a chance for others to prepare to fight off the deofol in the off chance it will manage to slip through before you cancel the summoning."
She declared, her voice resounding in the completely silent classroom full of tense students.
"BUT! As lucky as it was, enhancing your existing affinity with an artifact is completely fine. Although it is more of a good-luck charm than anything else, as, once again, faes aren't fooled by elements of artifacts. With that, we can end for today… You can start your lunch break early. Please, as you will be on your way out, do tell student Vallhall to come in for his test. Class dismissed"
The teacher ended the lecture on a slightly lighter note and the students began to leave the classroom, most going to cafeteria.
There were a few lagging behind… amongst them Justin and Amelia.
It didn't take long for Rotsard to show up, and he went straight for the device without any unnecessary comments or conversations.
And after only a couple of seconds, all spheres lit up at the same time.
Bluish white, bluish white, bluish white, bluish white, bluish white.
…all of them were the same color…
"..."
The teacher seemed so taken aback that she just stared at the device in baffled silence.
"S-student Vallhall… Do… do you have any ice-imbued artifacts on you, or do you perhaps already have contact with a fae, just like your cousin…?"
After she managed to compose herself, the woman finally asked, clearly doing her best to act calm and not raise her voice.
"I don't carry any artifacts, and I don't intend to put my trust in a fae if I can help it."
"...but if that's true, this reading… Something like that only makes sense for an actual fae…"
As Rotsard shook his head and gave a much softer response about the fae than he usually would, the teacher stared at him in confusion and pointed out.
"!!!"
Her response also caused both Justin and Amelia to flinch and betray the fact that they were, in fact, listening in and not just minding their own business, immersed in a private conversation.
"Although there is a legend that Vallhall bloodline comes directly from the Grand White Wolf Fae, I would rather not believe it… on the other hand, Essence of Winter as a magic system is completely different from the standard one… If I'm not mistaken, the five major affinities of human mana are only a universal rule for the users of the standard magic system. With Essence of Winter, every single spell is connected with ice or at least cold… There is a chance that your device is so sensitive that it picks up on slightly different types of ice element that are connected to a different spell each."
Rotsard winced and shivered in disgust over the idea he could be part fae, before saying the convincing, in his opinion at least, explanation that he came up with while he waited in the hallway.
"That is a very good point, student Vallhall, this device wasn't created with the variant magic systems in mind. It cannot show differences in different types of ice element, just like you said… That said, it is very interesting, and I'm also sorry for my reaction."
"Not at all, teacher. Have a nice day."
The woman's eyes widened and she gasped while nodding her head. Going as far as to lower her head apologetically towards the bleached-blond-haired youth, but he only waved his hand dismissively and left the classroom again.
"So that's the deal with him! Essence of Winter makes it really interesting, doesn't it?"
"Don't be stupid, that was a lie."
Justin glanced after Rotsard before speaking to Amelia with interest, but the girl only scoffed at him.
"Eh!? What do you mean!?"
The future hero's eyes widened and he gasped in confusion.
"If it was because of Essence of Winter, how would Saria Vallhall manage to make a contract with a darkness fae? Although her affinity with ice is strong enough to show up in two spheres, she's also attuned to darkness, metal, and earth… That guy is getting more and more suspicious…"
Amelia explained, recalling the details from the story a Grand Fea read out to her, before starting to grumble to herself.