Quinn

My first group of patients was the Templetons' children and their mothers. When doing a health examination here, it was not a single patient by patient. Rather, it was a whole family case since that way it was easier for me and the families. Hence, the consultation room was packed, with the seats filled up with little ones wiggling about here and there. Luckily, there were Frances, Eden, and Sara, and of course, the nursemaids to help keep them well-behaved, while Maria and Elizabeth were outside working as receptionists.

As the heir apparent of Norsewood, Jonah was first, and after he had taken a seat before me, I asked, "You ready?"

Jonah nodded. "I'm not afraid of some needles," he said. "I'm a man and a Norsewood warrior."

I chuckled. "Indeed, you are," I said as I pushed the button on the finger-prick pen. The boy didn't even flinch, which pleasantly surprised me. A drop of blood landed in the middle of the circle of the Health Check Tablet, and within moments, results popped up on the screen. I scrolled through, noting that everything was normal.

Jonah was eagerly looking at the screen, too, undoubtedly reading some of the familiar letters. The older literate children like Jonah and Leo had already started learning the divine language, or rather English, after all.

I said, "Well done, Jonah, your levels are all normal. You are one very healthy boy. Keep it up."

His cheeks turned crimson, and I could see that he was working hard on trying not to smile with glee.

Eden ruffled his hair, pleased. She said, "Jonah has always been sturdy, being blessed by the Goddess Isaris."

I tilted my head to one side. "Goddess Isaris?"

Sara said, "Us Templetons are all blessed with good health and strength. It runs through our blood."

"Ah, I see," I said.

Could that have explained why the Templeton children were less affected by the famine? Sure, they had had vitamin and mineral deficiencies like everyone else, but because they were blessed, that did not severely affect them physically? Could that also have explained why Aldric wasn't affected by that wound and the bacterial infections from the dragon's claws? Because he was blessed by the goddess? If all the Templetons were blessed via their bloodline, would that show up on the aptitude test? I wondered. There was only one way to find out. But first, the eye examination.

I noticed Jonah was about to get up and said, "We still have a few more tests."

"There's more?" he asked.

I picked up the Eye Examination Tablet and said, "This is a magic circle to test your eyesight."

"Eyesight?" he asked. "But I can see just fine."

"I know," I said. "But it's a good idea to test. Just think of it as a baseline so that if anything happens in the future, we can compare."

It didn't look like he understood the meaning behind my words, but he nodded anyway. I lifted the tablet and said, "Look straight into the middle of the circle, and stay still for a few seconds."

He nodded again, and the circle did its magic. Within seconds, a screen materialized with a statement: Perfect vision.

To the boy, I said, "It looks like you have perfect vision, Jonah."

He harrumphed. "I told you I can see just fine."

"Indeed, you can see just fine." I chuckled in amusement. Picking up the Aptitude Tablet now, I said, "Put your hand on this, please."

"In the middle of the circle?" he asked.

"Yes," I said. "I'm going to measure your skills and abilities."

"There is a magic that can do that?" Sara asked, her eyes wide.

I said, "Vicky created it last night."

Frances, Eden, and Sara leaned in, their eyes on the circle as Jonah put his hand in the middle of the tablet. It glowed for a moment, and then a screen appeared.

I widened my eyes, and Jonah asked, "What does it says?"

"Oh my," I said.

"What does it say?" Sara asked impatiently.

I read out Jonah's status. "Name, Jonah Templeton, Heir of Norsewood. Age, ten. Gender, male. Health, one hundred. Strength, fifty. Mana, fifty. Blessings: Goddess Isaris (Strength), Goddess Arena (Health), God Anir (Good Fortune), Goddess Ela (Prosperity), God Ridall (Education and Learning). Affinity magic: Fire and Ice."

I turned to look at Frances, Eden, and Sara, and to say they looked stunned was an understatement.

Sara said, "But how? I know Jonah is blessed by the Goddess Isaris, as all of us Templetons are but..." She turned to me. "What does this mean, Quinn?"

"I have no idea," I said. "I'll have to ask Vicky that."

The image of Vicky, in her cute schoolgirl uniform, appeared on the small screen of the Aptitude Tablet. She stated: Every individual is blessed with at least one deity. They also have an affinity with at least one type of magic.

Eden said, "Every individual? That's not what was passed down. Only those of noble blood—"

Hypocrisy! Vicky stated. There's no such thing as only those of noble blood being blessed. The deities blessed every single individual, except for the monsters, born in this world.

"Oh my," Eden said. "Then..."

Jonah said, "So I'm... blessed by five deities? And I have an affinity with fire and ice magic?"

I nodded. "It seems so."

The boy widened his eyes, looking as shocked and dazed as could be.

Vicky turned to me. Would you like to make a status card?

A status card, eh? Why not?

I said, "Yes, please."

Then the photo taken from the Eye Examination Tablet will be incorporated. Please wait a moment.

Vicky disappeared, and seconds later, a status card materialized, and Jonah, Frances, Eden, and Sara stared at the small silver card. I picked it up and handed it to Jonah.

"Here you go. This is your status card." I pointed to the status section, which was in both the common as well as the divine language. "See, it has your name, gender, age, as well as health, strength, and mana. Down below—"

"My blessings and affinities," he said, smiling brightly. "And it has my face on it."

"Yes, that's a picture of you," I said.

Turning to Leo, he said, "Leo, look, I have a status card."

Leo jumped up from his seat and came over to check out Jonah's card. Turning to me, he asked, "Will I get one, too?"

I nodded. "Of course."

"Then can I be next?" he asked.

I chuckled. "Of course."

The boys swapped seats, and after the blood test, with the results all at normal levels, I picked up the Eye Examination Tablet. While Leo stared into the circle, I glanced at Jonah, who kept fidgeting about, his eyes sparkling. I just bet he couldn't wait to tell his father about his status.

Me either, I thought. I couldn't wait to tell Aldric about my discoveries. Furthermore, I couldn't wait to measure Aldric and his soldiers' aptitude. If the men had affinities with magic, that meant they could add that powerful arsenal into their skill sets. They could rely on not only strength and fighting techniques, but magic during a battle, too.

The screen popped up with Leo's eye result, which was at negative two. I said, "You have pretty poor eyesight, huh, Leo?"

Leo tilted his head to one side. "But I can see just fine."

I chuckled. "Can you?"

After all, when one was born with a certain sight, one was used to it and thought it was normal.

I said, "What shape do you want your eyeglasses, Leo?"

"Eyeglasses?" the boy asked.

Frances said, "What do you mean, Quinn? Does that mean Leo has poor sight?"

"Yes," I said.

"Oh, I see," she said. "Leo is... uh, he's been cursed by the devil?"

She looked so worried I swore she'd burst out crying if I were to confirm to her that her son was indeed cursed by the devil.

I shook my head. "Relax, poor eyesight is very common where I came from. It has nothing to do with the devil cursing or anything like that. Some people are just born with that, it's the genetic makeup."

"What's a genetic makeup?" Sara asked.

Oops! I shouldn't have gone into that. Too much science. It'd be difficult for the people here to understand.

"Don't worry about that." Turning to Leo, I said, "Eyeglasses, Leo, is a cute, little gadget that sits close to your eyes, and it helps you see better."

He frowned. "But I can see just fine." He turned to Jonah. "Like Jonah."

I leaned forward and said, "I know you think you can see just fine, but won't you give it a go and see if there is any difference?"

The boy turned to look at his mother, and Frances said, "I think it's best if you try it out like Quinn said, sweetie."

He sighed. "All right."

"Then what shape do you want?" I asked. "Rectangle, square, round, or oval?"

He tilted his head to one side. "Rectangle?"

I guessed it was hard to choose since they had never seen eyeglasses before, but for a boy like Leo, a rectangle or square best suited his face.

On the screen of the tablet, it stated: Creating Leo's eyeglasses. Please wait a moment.

"Is Vicky making my eyeglasses for me?" Leo asked.

I nodded. "Mm-hmm." Grinning, I said, "Don't you think it's wonderful that Vicky is making something especially for you? No one can wear your eyeglasses, you know, because it's made for your eyes only."

Leo brightened up immediately at hearing that.

Two pairs of eyeglasses with rectangle black frames, along with two cases, materialized, and all eyes were on the new gadgets.

"Whoa!" Jonah expressed as he rushed over.

"Mama, what's that?" Ruby asked Frances.

"Glasses for your brother," Frances said.

I picked up a pair and said, "Lean forward, Leo. And tell me if you can see any better."

"All right," the boy said and leaned forward.

I placed the glasses on his face, with the frame sitting on the bridge of his nose. The moment the lenses were in front of his eyes, Leo gasped and then shouted, "I can see!"

I burst out laughing, pleased. Indeed, he could now see.

"Mama! I can see! I can really see," he said to Frances.

The woman burst into tears while Ruby, Nick, Michael, and Claire jumped up and down, begging their mothers. "I want one, too. I want glasses, too. I want to see, too." Needless to say, the consultation room was loud and chaotic for the next few moments.

Once they settled down after I had promised them that I'd give them each a fancy pair of glasses, nonprescription ones if they had perfect sight, of course, I tested Leo's aptitude.

Like Jonah, Leo was blessed by the five deities: Isaris for strength, Arena for health, Anir for good fortune, Ela for prosperity, and Ridall for education and learning. As for affinity, he had wind and water.

Frances looked dazed at seeing her son's status, and as for Leo himself, the boy couldn't stop staring at his card.

The secondary health check continued until I was done with the Templeton children, and of course, Eden, Sara, and Frances. I found that all the children were blessed by at least five deities, which I suspected ran in the family. The boys tended to have an affinity with the combative magic such as fire, earth, metal, water, wood, wind, or ice, while the girls were the nurturing type such as healing, charms, blessings, and incantations. For Eden, Sara, and Frances, all three women had very high affinity with healing, and I knew I had found my minion healers, or rather nurses.