"Aspect?! It's the first time I'm hearing this. Is it something like affinity?" Nova's eyes lit up with curiosity.
Dave frowned. "Yeah, it is somewhat similar. But don't interrupt me while I'm talking—I'll give you time to ask questions later."
"If I put it in simple terms, an Aspect is something you're born with, just like affinity. But unlike affinity, not everyone has it."
"As I said before, an Aspect determines whether someone can become a Sorcerer or not."
Dave turned to face him. "You must be curious about why, right?"
Nova nodded.
Dave continued, "You can think of affinity like a bow. But without a proper arrow—that is, the Aspect—it won't matter. Most people never have that arrow to begin with."
"Also, your statement about the descendants of Sorcerers always becoming one isn't entirely accurate. Affinity and spirituality? Almost everyone has them. But for the Aspect, the chance of their child inheriting it is fifty-fifty."
"So yes, someone born from Sorcerers does have a higher chance of becoming one—but it's never guaranteed."
"These are the basic qualifications for becoming a Sorcerer. Do you have any questions?"
Nova nodded. "Yeah. How does someone identify whether they have an Aspect or not?"
Dave smiled. "Do you know how to find your affinity? It's the same with Aspect—but only after you've unlocked your spirituality."
Nova furrowed his brow, replying uncertainly, "I heard that someone with an affinity will feel close or... alive when they're near it."
Dave nodded. "Yeah, that's it. But that's just a basic method. It'll only be accurate for people with strong senses."
'People with strong senses? Is that why I couldn't feel my affinity in the past?' Nova pondered. 'Now that I have the Toxsona's ability... can I feel it now?!'
Nova's eyes shone with sudden realization. "When you said senses, does that only include innate ones, or can it be an ability gained through a core?"
"No, it's not limited to anything," Dave replied. "As long as you familiarize your body with your affinity—by whatever method you can think of—you can use it after manifesting your Aspect."
Nova breathed a sigh of relief. "Then, for the Aspect?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that part," Dave said apologetically. "When you consumed your potion, did you feel something break inside you? Like something deep within shattered... and you felt liberated—like true freedom for the first time?"
'Something breaking inside me?' Nova began thinking. After a few seconds, he remembered the details. 'Yeah, I definitely felt some kind of seal break inside my head.'
Nova nodded, replying with excitement. "Yeah, it happened a few minutes after I drank the potion."
Dave turned to him, his tone suddenly more serious. "Then you must have an Aspect. Did you feel any change in the way you sense your affinity?"
Nova dropped his head dejectedly. "I was never able to feel any kind of affinity... ever."
Dave's curiosity piqued. "Since you've unlocked both your spirituality and Aspect, you must have an affinity. It's just that it must be something extremely rare inside the Kingdom—or it exists in such small quantities that you couldn't sense it on your own."
'Affinity? I have an affinity?' Nova couldn't believe what he was hearing. 'I really have an affinity!'
"Do I really have an affinity?" Nova asked again, wanting to confirm it in case he had misheard.
Dave found his reaction a little amusing, but replied with a calm smile. "Yeah, you definitely have an affinity—assuming you didn't lie about what you told me earlier."
'Then... I can become a Sorcerer! I can't believe this is happening!'
"Why are you so happy about having an affinity?" Dave asked, a bit puzzled. "Like I said before, everyone basically has some kind of affinity—whether it's useful or not."
"If you had reacted that way to having an Aspect, maybe I could understand or relate. But for an affinity?"
Nova scratched his head. "It's just because I was told I didn't have an affinity for a very long time, and even I believed it." He gave himself a depreciating smile. "As a kid, I went through a lot because of it."
Although Dave couldn't empathize with that experience, he still offered a bit of consolation. "Now you have an affinity. You can make up for all that."
Nova nodded and changed the topic. "Can you tell me more about Aspects—like what they are and how many types there are?"
Dave understood Nova's intention and answered calmly. "For the first question, I don't know. Currently, in the Kingdom, I don't think anyone has the complete answer to that—except maybe the King. And honestly, I even doubt he knows everything about Aspects."
'Don't know? Has no one tried to find an answer? Or are they just not capable?'
Seeing Nova lost in thought, Dave snapped him back. "Don't overthink it. There's a lot of research going on in the academy regarding Aspects—their potential and applications are still being explored. But so far, no one has found anything particularly useful, or how exactly they're manifested."
"As for your second question... I still don't know the full answer to that either. Hell, no one knows how many types of Aspects exist in total."