Affinities

Like all fifteen-year-olds on the eve of their awakening, Callum dreamed of greatness. The system granted many things: stats, skills, and the affinities necessary to wield powerful spells. Most importantly, it gave power — the power to defend humanity against the ever-present monster threat. Greatness, however, is not always freely given. For Callum, it must be earned. Through blood, sweat, and tears, he must fight for every scrap of power he gains, building himself into something his enemies will fear. If they don’t kill him first. -- [participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge]  Full disclosure: this story is a training exercise for myself more than anything, an attempt to force myself to write faster. Editing and rewrites will be minimal. I still want the story to be as good as it can be within my self-imposed limitations, and I have a general outline for where I'll be taking it, but I'll be doing my best NOT to overthink any of it. Which means it will likely be rough in many places, and lean heavily on common tropes in others. Consider yourself warned.