The royal sorcerer came when Kaelion was two years old.
Not a normal visit. Aldric had requested it. According to what Lyra told her servant the night before, all noble children in this kingdom had to have their magic affinity tested as early as possible. The sooner it was known, the sooner his education could be planned.
Kaelion heard this from behind his half open bedroom door.
He lay in his bed and looked at the ceiling.
Affinity test.
He knew how this system worked. Not from books, not from stories. From a very old memory, from the time he was still flying above this world and watched humans slowly figure out how to measure and classify their own power.
The system was simple. The sorcerer used a special stone that could pick up a person's magic affinity. The stone lit up a certain color depending on the element. Red for fire. Blue for water. Green for earth. White for wind. Yellow for light. Purple for darkness.
If it didn't light up at all, it meant the person had no affinity.
Kaelion thought for a moment.
His fire was there. He knew that now. Small, not yet stable, but there. The question was whether the stone would pick it up or not.
If it picked it up, that was a problem. Solaryn's fire wasn't normal fire. The color was different. The heat was different. If the stone lit up a strange color or reacted in an unusual way, people would start asking questions he didn't want to answer right now.
If it didn't pick it up, he was safe. Considered to have no affinity. Could train quietly without anyone bothering him.
He decided before the sorcerer even arrived.
Better if it didn't pick it up.
The sorcerer was tall, thin, and had a beard that looked older than this castle.
He came in a grey robe and a small case whose contents were unknown. Aldric received him in the main hall. Lyra carried Kaelion from behind.
"This is the child?" asked the sorcerer. His voice was hoarse like someone who rarely spoke.
"Yeah," said Aldric. "My one and only. Kaelion."
The sorcerer looked at Kaelion briefly with half sleepy eyes. Then opened his case and took out a small stone that was clear colored.
"Simple enough," said the sorcerer. "The child just needs to hold this stone for a moment. Then we see the results."
Lyra put Kaelion down on the floor gently. Kaelion stood up and looked at the stone in the sorcerer's hand.
Up close, the stone looked ordinary. Clear, slightly round, sized just right to be held in one small child's hand. But Kaelion could feel something from that stone. A faint pull, like the stone was actively searching for something in the air around it.
The sorcerer crouched in front of Kaelion and held out the stone.
"Just hold it, it won't hurt."
Kaelion looked at the stone.
Then looked at the sorcerer.
Then held the stone.
Inside himself, he pressed down everything he could press down. The small fire he had started to control, he pulled back as deep as possible. Hide it. Don't come out. Don't move. Stay still.
The stone was cold in his hand.
Everyone in the room went quiet and watched the stone.
Five seconds.
Ten seconds.
Fifteen seconds.
The stone stayed clear. Didn't light up. No color. No reaction at all.
The sorcerer took a slow breath and stood back up. "No affinity."
Aldric who had been standing at the back didn't say anything. But Kaelion saw his jaw tighten slightly.
"Still young," said the sorcerer, like he understood what Aldric was feeling. "Sometimes affinity only appears when they're older. But if it doesn't appear either, the non-mana soldier path isn't a bad choice."
Aldric nodded once. "Thank you."
The sorcerer put the stone back in his case, said a quick goodbye, then left.
The room went quiet.
Lyra picked Kaelion back up and hugged him gently. "It's okay sweetheart," she whispered.
Kaelion stayed quiet in her arms.
In his now empty hand, he could still feel the leftover cold from the stone. And behind that cold, deep inside, his small fire was still burning quietly.
It's okay, he thought. This is how it should be.
That night Kaelion heard Aldric and Lyra talking in the room next door.
Not intentionally listening. The walls were thin and their voices carried through.
"No affinity at all," said Aldric. His voice was flat but there was something behind it.
"He's still small," said Lyra. "The sorcerer said that too."
"I know." A short silence. "But if there really isn't any by the time he's older, that means he goes on the non-mana track. At the academy, that's the lowest class."
"So what?"
"I just..." Aldric stopped. "I want the best for him."
Lyra didn't answer right away. A few seconds passed.
"Aldric," said Lyra finally, quietly. "You've seen him practice walking by himself every day. Falls down, gets up, falls down again, gets up again. Never once cried asking to be carried. Never once gave up."
Another silence.
"That boy is going to be just fine."
Kaelion heard a chair scrape. Then footsteps walking away. Then quiet.
He lay in his bed and looked at the dark ceiling above him.
Lowest class, he thought. At an academy he hadn't even entered yet. Looked down on before he even started.
He wasn't angry. Wasn't really sad either.
What he felt was something else. Something he had known for a very long time, from millions of years ago, from when he was still a phoenix and this world was still young.
A challenge.
And Solaryn, in all his millions of years of life, had never backed down from a challenge.
In his palm, a small fire appeared briefly in the dark. Orange with a little ash at the edges.
Then went out.
Then he slept.