A Background Character’s Path to Power

"Yes, I think I already discovered two of my affinities - void and water. But I haven't learned how to use them yet. I only know how to use void to teleport one time. And its grade isn't that high."

She nodded in understanding.

"I see. Then it will be easier for us to find out the rest." She mumbled. "And I already can tell one of them. You must have already guessed it yourself, but I'm gonna show you anyway."

She then raised her hand, and small flames began dancing around her fingers, not the previous black ones but regular orange.

"Hold out your hand," she instructed.

I extended my palm toward her, curious about what she planned to do.

She brought her flame-wreathed fingers close to mine. "Feel something?"

The moment the flames came near my hand, something stirred deep within my chest. But... It was a conflicting sensation.

Part of me felt drawn to the warmth, like a sleeping ember suddenly given air to breathe. But at the same time, there was an almost instinctive repulsion, as if something cold within me was recoiling from the heat.

My palm grew warm, and to my surprise, tiny sparks began flickering around my fingertips. But they were quickly followed by small crystals of frost forming along my knuckles.

"Ice and..." I said, watching the strange dual reaction. "...Fire."

Great, another cliche on my list. Ice and Fire, the classic opposing elements that somehow coexist in one person. Though I suppose I should have anticipated such a scenario. Father had a high fire affinity, and I'd used flames in the First Thread.

"So your water affinity had already evolved into ice," Lady Nisha observed, watching the frost crystals spread across my knuckles. "Its grade must be quite high for it to suppress fire so easily."

I nodded and asked. "Will it be difficult to use them since they both contradict each other?"

She hummed thoughtfully. "Yes and no."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, most resonators in this kind of situation will choose the easy way - they will choose the dominant affinity and focus on it. But they're not as contradictory as everyone thinks they are."

"How so?" I was curious about this world's system.

"Hmm, how do I explain it... Right, fire and ice are both extremes of temperature. They're the opposite sides of the same concept. You can think of it as controlling thermal energy itself, raising it to create fire, lowering it to create ice." She gestured between my knuckles. "The real challenge isn't the contradiction, it's the control. You'll need to learn to regulate which affinity you're channeling and when."

I nodded in understanding. Her words solidified what I already had in mind. There were many characters who could use them both masterfully and even combine them after all.

But, my case was a bit different since ice was dominant and I had other affinity(s).

"We will talk about it more after finishing the checking." She muttered, and we continued.

Lady Nisha proceeded to manifest various elements. Wind swirled around her palm, earth crystals grew from the floor, lightning cracked between her fingers, and pure light gathered in her other hand.

When I asked if she had affinity with all of them, she shook her head, "These are just pure elemental essences. I'm manifesting them directly from the ambient energy of the world."

I asked if it was different somehow, and she explained.

"It's like the difference between drinking water from a river versus creating water from nothing. True affinities come from within. I'm merely revealing what already exists."

Then she continued the process.

"Hmm..." she murmured, manifesting a small orb of pure darkness. When it approached me, I felt a faint stirring, much weaker than warm responses from before.

"You have a small affinity with darkness, probably due to having void affinity, but it's just a low-grade one." She observed, dismissing the dark orb. "Unfortunately, I can't check if you have other types of affinities - essence-based ones like time or space, or personalized ones. However, once you reach a certain level, you can tell them by yourself."

"Thank you, this is more than enough," I added. "I think I don't have any more affinities."

"Don't lose hope." She said. "But this is good enough, like you said. While having more affinities increases your powers, it also means you need to spend more time training them all. And you are short on time."

"Besides, four affinities are already quite a lot: void, ice, fire, and minor darkness. Most resonators only develop one or two affinities in their lifetime. Some might not even awaken them, or their grade is so low that it's practically useless. You are already far, far ahead of your peers."

"Mmm."

I knew that. And perhaps I would have been like that if not for all that happened. I would have only water and fire affinities, both meeting the bare minimum.

"So I should just focus on mastering the three main ones, right?"

"For now, yes." She nodded. "But there's a chance that darkness affinity might develop further as you grow stronger."

"Oh, that would be really helpful."

"It would. Now, let's take the next step - using your affinities."

I straightened up and listened with focused attention as she began explaining.

"The theory is simple, though the execution takes practice," she started, her voice taking an instructive tone. "Your aura is like a flowing river of energy within your body. Normally, it's neutral - colorless, if you will. To use an affinity, you need to 'tint' that aura with the essence of your chosen affinity."

She raised her hand, and I could see a faint shimmer around it - her aura becoming visible.

"Think of it like mixing paint. Your base aura is clear water, and your affinities are different color dyes. You add just enough of the 'dye' to change the nature of your aura without overwhelming it. Look."

To demonstrate, her aura suddenly darkened, becoming like liquid shadow flowing around her fingers. "This is a darkness-tinted aura." Then it shifted, becoming orange-red. "And this is fire-tinted."

"The key," she continued, "is not to force it. Don't try to create fire or ice directly. Instead, let your aura naturally take on those qualities, then guide it outward. Your body already knows how - you just need to stop overthinking it."

She looked at me expectantly. "Wanna try using your ice affinity? It seemed the most responsive after all."

"Alright."