Evander stepped through the opening in the tent and Gale followed behind him, pulling the tent flap closed. His vision darkened as the outside light became blocked. After a few moments, he was able to discern his surroundings as his vision adjusted to the ambient light of the tent. The light appeared to come from all around him as if leaking through the fabric in the tent. Evander thought it might be enchanted luminescent fabric, but then decided it was probably just thin fabric that let the light through.

There was a table with eight coloured orbs resting on decorative stands. Each stand was coloured the same as the orb it held, with a word printed on its front. The stands read: fire, Kinetic, Mental, Dimensional, Air, Enhancement, Life, Illusion.

Gale walked to stand in front of the desk and turned to face Evander.

“Come on, Evander. I want to get this over with”

Evander walked up next to her and paused, looking around for the fabled affinity stones. He knew he would use these orbs to test his affinities by channelling mana, but the process required an Affinity Stone.

“The process is simple. Take this stone and try to draw ambient magic into it”

She pulled a clear stone from her pocket and handed it to him. The stone was about one inch long with a hexagonal circumference. The crystal was clear and flawless, with a polished surface. The tip of the stone was affixed to a metal casing tied with a leather cord.

“You can hold it, wear it around your neck, or tie it to your wrist. You can fiddle with it in your own time. Later you can fasten it to a weapon or rod, or whatever else suits your fancy. However, for now it is a pendant.”

Evander took the pendant and placed it around his neck.

“Okay, so can I start channelling into the orbs on the table?”

“Slow down buddy, one step at a time. Let’s see you pull mana from your surroundings before we start on the orbs. I’m eager to get this over with as well, but if we don’t do this right it will end up taking longer”

Evander nodded, sheepishly.

“Ok, sorry”

Evander closed his eyes and repeated the instruction from his books. He had done this a thousand times over the years trying to be the first mage to discover stoneless magic, but it was unfruitful. He imagined the crystal in his mind and tried to ‘feel’ the magic in the air.

Evander focused on the stone and the magic around him. He felt a soft breeze circling his body, lightly kissing his skin as though it was slightly more tangible than regular air. He opened his eyes and saw tendrils of silver light encircling him as they made their way into the crystal.

“Wow”

A smile crept across Gale’s face.

“That’s going to save us a lot of time…and frustration”

“Do I get to channel into the orbs now?”, asked Evander

Gale rolled her eyes.

“Yes, you get to channel into the orbs now”

Gale picked up the first orb. It was a translucent sphere about the size of his fist. The inside of the orb appeared to be made of frozen wisps of blue light.

He peered into the orb and began to feel something. His heart began to throb with excitement. According to everything he had read, this feeling was a sign of affinity.

“This is an examiner’s orb, which you are going to touch. It’s not strictly necessary, but it makes the connection easier. After you touch it you just need to draw mana into your Affinity Stone, and try pushing your mana into the orb. If it works, you have a kinetic affinity. If not, you don’t”

Gale held out her hand holding the kinetic orb. Evander placed his palm onto the top of the orb and closed his eyes. The feeling of connection grew stronger and he began channelling mana.

Evander knew exactly what to expect. He would pull energy into his stone and allow it to effortlessly flow from the stone to the kinetic orb. He followed the directions and it all went perfectly, right up to the last step. When he pushed mana into the orb, it felt wrong.

The flow of mana into the orb felt laboured and heavy, like running an incline with his backpack full. He pushed through the heaviness, hoping it would pass, and forced as much mana as he could into the orb. The wisps around him intensified to the point where his clothes and hair were fluttering. A burning sensation filled his chest as his breaths became laboured.

“STOP!" shouted Gale

Gale pulled the orb away from him.

The laboured feeling disappeared and his connection with the orb diminished. Evander opened his eyes and saw a vortex of mana swirling around him. The stone pulsed with silver light as a thin tendril of blue slowly weaved its way into the kinetic stone. A moment passed and the light in his Affinity Stone went out, the blue tendril dissipating quickly after.

Evander frowned as beads of sweat formed on his brow and his heart threatened to beat out of his chest.

“What just happened?”, said Evander

“Umm, I think…Let me just test something”

A light vortex of silver wisps began circling Gale as they made their way into the stone dangling from her right wrist. Wisps of equal size came out of the stone and encircled the testing orb before plunging into it. The testing orb pulsed with a soft blue light before slowly lifting away from her hand, coming to rest a few inches in the air.

Gale furrowed her brow as she stopped channelling. After the light stopped swirling around her, the stone remained lit for several seconds as it continued to deliver blue wisps into the levitating testing orb. When the Affinity Stone’s light went out, the blue wisps dissipated, dropping the orb back into Gale's hand.

“I think you have a trace affinity”

Evander's eyes brightened at the suggestion. He had read about trace affinities before. They were mostly useless extra affinities that granted a mage the ability to use magic outside their real affinities.

The feeling he experienced made sense now. By all accounts, wielding a trace affinity was like running a marathon while dragging a boulder.

“That’s amazing!" exclaimed Evander

“You know about trace affinities?”

“Yeah, I read about them. It’s mostly useless, but it’s better than not having kinetic affinity”

“Better than not having a kinetic affinity”

Evander’s own words hit him like a hammer. He didn’t have a kinetic affinity. With that realisation his expression grew sombre.

Gale, appearing to notice Evander’s change of mood, placed her hand on his shoulder.

“Is one of your parents a kineticist?”

“My father. He's a magesmith”

He felt himself choking up. Not wanting to make a scene, he took a deep breath and put on a serious face, then turned to face Gale.

“It’s fine. We always get what we need. Let’s keep going”, said Evander

Gale studied his expression for a moment, trying to ensure he was fit to continue. After a few seconds, she smiled and moved to swap the kinetic stone for the healing stone. She then turned to Evander and presented the green stone.

“This is the healing stone. Just do what you did last time. If you feel something, try channelling, if you don’t we can move to the next one”

Evander looked at the green stone. It looked much the same as the last, except the frozen wisps were now green. Evander placed his hand on the stone and closed his eyes.

He was overcome with a euphoric feeling as he connected with the stone. He could feel the stone calling to him. He would be a healer like his mother. Focusing his mind, he channelled mana into his Affinity Stone, then began pushing life mana at the life orb. His heart dropped as a familiar feeling confronted him. His efforts were laboured once again.

Evander decided to push as hard as he could. There was no way this was a second trace. This was his affinity and he would take it. He pushed against the heaviness by channelling everything he could muster into the orb. Burning erupted in his chest again as he forced himself to channel harder.

Realising what he was doing Gale tore the stone away from him. However, he held the connection even at a distance.

“That’s enough! Stop it!”

He opened his eyes and saw the air enveloped with a wild vortex of silver light. Looking down at the stone in Gale’s hand, he saw the feeble thread of green meandering the distance between them.

Hopelessness overtook him as he became aware of his body once more. His legs wobbled with exhaustion and he began violently gasping for air. Evander collapsed to his knees and then fell flat as his arms folded like they were made of jelly.

Evander lay there barely conscious as he gasped for air. His lungs felt like they were on fire and his entire body was numb. He rolled onto his back and saw the furious face of his examiner.

“What in the seven hells do you think you were doing! Are you trying to kill yourself!”

“I thought it was a hurdle,” gasped Evander, struggling to speak and breathe at the same time.

Gale pinched the ridge of her nose as she grimaced.

“Idiots, I’m teaching idiots”

Gale checked Evander’s temperature, to ensure he hadn’t developed a fever. Then she moved to sit down on the edge of the table with the testing orbs while Evander lay on the ground desperately gasping for air. This continued for a few minutes while Gale quietly waited. After several minutes she checked his temperature again.

“You’re lucky you don't have mana burn. It’s usually impossible to do on your first time, but you sure tried. If it weren’t for your exceptionally odd circumstances I’d have set the brown-cloaks on you for that stunt you pulled“

Evander rolled onto his back and looked over at her, still gasping for breath.

“Thank you…and sorry”

“You know it’s extremely unusual to have two trace affinities. If you hadn’t tried to kill yourself I would have congratulated you on your exceptional luck. No matter what happens from here, you should count yourself lucky”

Evander simply nodded, still gasping.

After several more minutes Evander weakly pushed himself up. He lifted himself onto his knees only to immediately fall back into a sitting position with his legs spread out.

“It appears I cannot stand,” announced Evander, “Would you mind doing the rest of them on the floor?”

Gale shook her head, but still grabbed the next stone.

“We are going to try fire ne-”

“No! That one we will do last,” said Evander, interrupting her.

Gale paused a moment to consider her next words.

“You know the order doesn’t change the outcome. No matter how much people want to believe”

“I know. But the last two orbs tested my parents’ affinities. I can’t handle another disappointment. At least, not until I have an affinity to console myself”

Gale nodded and placed the red stone back on its stand.

“Then we can try enhancement next”

She knelt on the ground and presented Evander with a cyan testing orb.

“Just like before. And if you pull that stunt again I won’t hesitate to throw you right out of this tent”

Her affinity stone glowed as silver threads of light surrounded the orb, thrusting it away from her then pulling it back to her palm. Evander nodded.

“I promise”

Evander closed his eyes and placed his hand on the stone. Once again he felt the familiar pull from the stone, reaching out and begging him to feed it. Evander calmed his mind and took a deep breath.

Evander hesitated for a moment, fearing a repeat of the last two tests. Eventually his impatience overcame his fear and he pushed on. He channelled the mana as he did before and pushed it into the testing orb. Feeling resistance once again, he decided to disengage.

“Damit! Something is wrong with your stones! There is no way I have three trace affinities”

Ignoring his outburst, Gale stood up and placed the orb back on its stand and then grabbed a purple orb. She knelt back down in front of Evander and presented the purple orb.

“I’ll admit it is rather unusual. Let’s try the illusion orb . It is my second affinity so if you get another trace affinity I can check it like I did with the kinetic orb”

Evander nodded in agreement as he placed his hand on the purple orb. He immediately felt its pull, which angered him. He was tired of being baited by these stupid orbs. He shook off his frustration and began channelling.

Evander channelled as he did the last few times and pushed cautiously into the illusion orb. He sighed as he felt the now all too familiar sensation of heaviness.

“It’s no use!”

Gale silently channelled mana and pushed it into the illusion orb. The orb pulsed with purple light as formless swirls danced around the orb. When she stopped channelling, the formless colourful swirls slowly dissipated and her gem went dim.

“I don’t know what’s going on Evander. For whatever reason, you appear to have four trace affinities. If you add them to your one to three regular affinities, you are looking at between five and seven affinities. Granted most of them are useless, but still it’s something to be happy about”

Evander sighed.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Let’s just get the rest of these over with”

Over the next several minutes, Evander successfully connected to the yellow mind orb, the white air orb, and the black dimension orb. Each time he felt the familiar pull and tried to push mana into it. Every single time he tried, he was met with the same resistance.

Gale’s confusion and intrigue intensified with each orb. Unlike Gale, Evander grew more and more numb. He was torn between the ridiculous novelty of having seven trace affinities, and the overwhelming despair of not having any real affinities. He flopped onto his back and groaned as he failed to properly channel mana into the dimension testing orb. With the seventh test complete, he had to face the reality of getting only one affinity.

Evander choked up again, but this time, he began to sob. He rolled onto his knees and turned his face to the ground, not wanting Gale to see.

“Do you need a minute?”

Evander silently nodded his head as he sobbed into his knees. What if he didn’t have any affinities? He would be useless, powerless…magless. He would not become a mage, let alone, the greatest mage. He began sobbing harder when he felt a hand on his back.

“It’s ok Evander. We still have one more test. And it’s your father’s right? I’m sure this will be the one”

Evander took a deep breath and calmed himself.

“I don’t want to do it. I have nothing. If I fail this last test then…”

Evander trailed off.

Gale continued rubbing his back.

“I’ve administered these tests hundreds of times and you’re not the first to get to this point. Every single time, without fail, they pass the last test. I have never met a student that received no affinities, and you are unlikely to be the first”

“Even if I pass the fire test. I'll only have one affinity. Do you know how shameful that is after everything my parents did to get me here?”

“Evander, you don’t just have one affinity. You have every affinity! I’ve never seen this before in all my years at the academy, and I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn't witness it myself. You are about to become the first and only mage capable of channelling every type of magic there is. If there isn’t a use for it, you can make one. Forget the utility of a single trace affinity, you have seven of them! That’s got to count for something”

Evander looked up at her, eyes red.

“You really think so?”

She looked down at him with an unflinching gaze.

“I know so”

Evander stopped sobbing and wiped the tears from his eyes. He stood up and walked over to the red testing orb.

“Let's do this!"

Gale presented the red orb to Evander and he closed his eyes. He reached out with his mind to connect with the orb and felt the all too familiar pull.

“I feel it!"

“Great! Now take it!”

Evander channelled mana into his Affinity Stone and pushed his energy at the fire orb.

In an instant, his heart sank deeper and harder than ever before. That feeling, that god's damned feeling, greeted him once again, smugly taunting him; mocking him. Tears welled up in his eyes as a hole opened up in his chest, making it hard to breathe.

With nothing left to live for, he decided to fight back, channelling harder, and pushing past the emptiness that threatened to overcome him. He choked and sobbed as he pushed harder, focusing on that red sliver of light that taunted him. His vision narrowed and his senses dulled, until all that remained was the little red wisp.

Faint shouts could be heard nearby, but he couldn’t understand the words. Every now and then he saw flashes of silver light as he channelled harder. As the emptiness threatened to overwhelm him, he pushed harder, harder against something he didn’t quite understand, as though pushing was the solution to all his problems.

He heard the shouting again, this time seeming more desperate, almost pleading. But all Evander could think of was the weight dragging him down and his need to free himself. No matter the cost, he had to break free. He knew if he could break free everything else would be fine. So he pushed, and pushed, and pushed-

The red wisp vanished as his vision whirled. A sudden pressure pushed against his chest, and for a moment, he felt weightless. A moment later, pain shot into his head as a strike to his back blew the wind out of him.

With blurred vision, tinged with red, he tried to make sense of his surroundings. As his mind cleared, a burning pain erupted deep in his chest and shot through his limbs. The burning sensation grew stronger as his chest convulsed. He let out a guttural gasp as he desperately fought for a breath that would not come.

Gale knelt over him, a mortified look on her face as she cried for help. Seeing her conjured vague feelings of anger and despair, as his mind weakly clung to consciousness. After a few more moments of breathlessness, his vision darkened and his mind went blank.