CHAPTER 99: CHAPTER 99 - UNKNOWN AFFINITY!

’’Now what do I do with this mess...’’ Logan mumbled, looking around the destroyed room.

He changed into fresh clothes and messaged Erik without wasting time.

It didn’t take long before the door to his breakthrough room shifted open. Erik stood in the doorway, raising an eyebrow for a second before going back to his usual cold expression.

’’Good morning,’’ Logan waved, sitting on the ground with a deformed bone creature in front of him.

Erik stepped in without a word, scanning the wreckage with a quiet frown.

’’Was the breakthrough a success?’’ he asked, opening a hologram on his watch.

"Take a look around," Logan said with a smile, pointing at the wrecked room.

’’What is your second affinity?’’ Erik continued, already sending a message to Allen.

’’It’s an undead affinity,’’ Logan said, smiling. ’’And it seems to be SSS-rank.’’

Raising an eyebrow again, Erik quickly sent a message before gesturing for Logan to follow him.

Standing up, Logan pulled the mana out of the bone creature before following after him.

’’Where are we going?’’ he asked as the door to the breakthrough room slid shut behind him.

Erik’s expression remained neutral. ’’Mr. Foster wants to test your affinity.’’

Logan trailed after him, the extreme cold and warmth he’d felt still fresh on his mind.

’Might as well get this out of the way,’ he thought, a thin smile spreading on his face as he looked at his system interface. ’Besides, I’m also curious if they can figure out exactly what kind of mutation it is.’

[System Interface]

Name: Logan Mercer

Core Grade: Silver

Affinity:

SSS-rank phoenix fire affinity (primary)

SSS-rank Abyssal Raven’s undead affinity (secondary)

Cooldown: 14:23:36:43

Staring at his interface, he fell into deep thought as he saw the name Abyssal Raven.

’Although I know ravens symbolize death in a lot of cultures,’ he thought, narrowing his eyes a little. ’I’ve never heard of an abyssal raven.’

’Abyssal must have something to do with the properties of the cold, black flame,’ he thought, remembering his breakthrough.

As he kept thinking, Erik stopped in front of a different door on the top floor.

The door slowly hissed open while Erik took a step back, waving Logan in.

Logan entered, his eyes immediately falling on the room around him.

The room was large and made out of special stone with runes carved deep inside. A testing machine Logan recognized stood on one side, while a row of training dummies were set against the opposite wall.

At the center stood Allen, his arms behind his back as he stared at Logan. Beside him stood two unfamiliar faces in black robes.

Logan bowed slightly, greeting Allen as the doors shut behind him.

"I hear you finally broke through," Allen said with a small smile. "And it sounds like it was quite the spectacle."

Logan returned the smile. "I’ve successfully reached Silver. And my second affinity is undead."

Allen nodded slowly, having already heard the news.

"A rather peculiar combination," he said, gesturing to the machines on the left side of the room.

The two unfamiliar people walked over to the machines and started working on it.

’’We’ll run a test first,’’ Allen said, moving over to the machine himself. "I’m guessing you’re just as curious as the rest of us about what exactly you’ve awakened."

Logan approached the machine without a word, his gaze fixed on the interface as he sat down.

As it started scanning him, the two unfamiliar figures beside the machine let out gasps and started murmuring with each other.

Even Allen raised an eyebrow as he saw the data on the scanner.

’’Interesting...’’ he muttered, observing it closely.

After the test finished, Logan climbed out of the machine, curiosity rising inside him.

’’It’s been a while since this happened,’’ Allen said, motioning for Logan to come closer. ’’You see these results, my student?’’

[Rank: SSS]

[Affinity: Undead]

[Mutation: Error]

Logan stayed quiet for a moment, his eyes fixed on the screen.

’’I have an unknown mutation on my undead affinity?’’ he said, staring up at Allen.

A large smile spread on Allen’s face.

"Correct," he said. "It’s unique and hasn’t happened in a long time."

’’But it wasn’t outside my expectations since the undead element is extremely rare, especially at the SSS-rank.’’

One of the robed individuals leaned in, whispering something to Allen.

Allen dismissed the whisper with a quick wave and started walking.

"Alright, let’s see what this affinity of yours can actually do," he said, making his way to the training dummies.

Logan gave a small nod, raising his hand as he remembered what it felt like to use his affinity during his breakthrough.

A small black-white bone spike formed above his palm, rotating slowly before shooting it towards the dummy.

The spike pierced several inches deep inside the dummy before coming to a stop.

"Basic undead bone creation, but with more piercing power than usual," Allen said, gesturing for him to continue.

Logan summoned a small blackish flame above his palm.

Allen raised his eyebrows, staring at it with much interest.

’’Now that is something unique,’’ he muttered.

Logan shot the flame towards the target.

For two seconds, nothing happened.

That’s when he noticed the flames slowly seeping into the dummy, before it started decaying from the inside.

’’Really interesting,’’ Allen said, examining the dummy up close. "The flame isn’t hot and it seems to have some kind of decaying effect."

’It might even be a soul-related attack,’ he thought to himself, glancing at Logan with renewed interest. ’Both his affinities are extremely versatile and dangerous. He might grow up to be one of the strongest SSS-ranks in history if it continues like this.’

Clapping his hands together once, Allen smiled. ’’Alright, that’s enough for now.’’

Logan let out a slow breath, giving a small nod as he lowered his hand.

’I should keep the combination of both flames a secret for now,’ he thought, curiously glancing over at Allen.

’’Did you figure anything out regarding my affinity?’’

Allen tilted his head slightly, as if searching for the right words. "I’m not entirely sure yet... but if I had to guess, I’d say it’s something tied to the soul."

He paused, looking at Logan seriously.

’’Whatever it is, you might want to be careful who you show this to.’’

Logan didn’t answer, simply staring ahead.

’Allen is right, some things are better off kept secret like my phoenix fire’s healing,’ he thought. ’But if it helps me take out someone in my way, I won’t hesitate.’