James waited three days before asking about magic classification.
He'd learned that appearing too eager drew attention, that questions needed to be spaced out, natural. So he spent those three days being a model son. He helped his mother in the garden, sitting quietly while his father worked, playing with the neighbor children in ways that bored him to tears but maintained his cover.
On the third day, during dinner, he made his move.
"Father, you said mages can do different things. Like, some make fire and some heal people?" James pushed peas around his plate with studied casualness. "How does that work? Does everyone just pick what they want?"
Grayson looked up from his meal, the familiar spark of scholarly interest igniting in his eyes. "Ah, that's actually a fascinating question. No, mages don't simply choose their specialty. It's determined by their Affinity. The specific type of mana their soul resonates with."
"Their soul?" James tilted his head in innocent confusion.
"Well, we call it the soul, but it's more accurate to say their essential nature. The core of who they are." Grayson set down his fork, warming to the subject. "When a person's Affinity manifests, it aligns with one of six primary branches of magic."
Six branches, James thought, already creating mental frameworks to organize the information in his memory palace.
"What are they?" he asked aloud.
Eliza laughed softly. "Once you get him started on magical theory, we'll be here all night."
"The boy asked a legitimate question," Grayson protested, but he was smiling. "Besides, he should know this. The Affinity Test is only five years away. Better he understands what's being measured."
Grayson stood and retrieved his projection device from the study. Within moments, six symbols appeared floating above the dinner table.
"The Six Branches," Grayson announced. "Summoner, Elemental, Nature, Eldritch, Chaos, and Dark. Each represents a different relationship between the mage and reality itself."
The first symbol, a circle containing silhouettes of creatures.
"Summoner magic," Grayson began, "is the art of calling forth entities from other planes of existence. Beasts, elementals, spirits, even demons if the summoner is powerful enough and foolish enough to try. The key principle is contract. You're not creating these creatures, you're establishing temporary bonds with beings that exist elsewhere."
James leaned forward. "Where is elsewhere?"
"That's debated. Some scholars believe in literal other dimensions. Others think summoned creatures are condensed thought-forms given temporary physicality. The Dominion priests claim they're aspects of divine will made manifest." Grayson shrugged. "Regardless of theory, the practice is consistent. Summoners can call, bind, and command entities beyond normal reality."
The second symbol ignited. Four quadrants showing flame, water, stone, and wind.
"Elemental magic is what most people think of when they hear 'mage.' Fire, water, earth, air, lightning, ice, all the classical elements and their variations. Elementalists manipulate these elements, bending it to their will. Some are gifted with the ability to manipulate multiple elements, some aren't so lucky."
"So if I had the Elemental affinity, I'd have control over an element or multiple of them depending on my luck?" James asked.
"Precisely," Grayson responded then continued.
The third symbol had a huge tree with something that might have been DNA helixes coiled around it.
"Nature magic governs living things. Plants, animals, the cycles of growth and decay. Nature mages can accelerate plant growth, communicate with animals, influence weather patterns, even heal injuries by encouraging the body's natural recovery processes. Your grandmother, had a touch of Nature affinity. Nothing strong enough to be official, but enough to make her garden remarkably productive."
Eliza smiled at the memory. "She could make roses bloom in winter. Always said she just had a green thumb, but we knew better."
James ignored that information. That was five seconds of his time he wasn't getting back.
The fourth symbol got his attention. It was like a triangle, within a hexagon, within a circle that rotated.
"Eldritch magic," Grayson said, and his voice took on a note of respect. "The manipulation of the three T's. Telekinesis—moving objects with pure will. Teleportation—control over space. Telepathy—direct mind-to-mind communication. Eldritch mages are rare and highly valued. The Dominion's elite guards are almost exclusively Eldritch users."
He could already move things with his mind, James thought to himself. It appears I may have found my affinity. But I do not plan on being boxed in here.
The fifth symbol appeared and James's eye widened in wonder. It showed contradictions, an arrow pointing in all directions at once.
"Chaos magic," Grayson said quietly. "The rarest branch, and the most dangerous. Chaos mages have the ability to manipulate abstract concepts and ideas like time and probability. They can make unlikely things certain and certain things impossible. Can slow or speed the flow of time in localized areas. Some legends claim the most powerful could even glimpse alternate timelines."
"That sounds..." James struggled to find words. "That sounds impossible."
"It basically is. A true Chaos mage who has mastered more than one abstract concept appears maybe once per generation across the entire Dominion. Most die young, their power is too unstable. The few who survive to master it become living legends. Or living catastrophes, depending on perspective."
Looks like what science would refer to as Quantum mechanics, James realized with growing excitement.
The sixth and final symbol appeared, and the room seemed to darken around it. A skull with snakes crawling out of its sockets and smoke from its mouth.
"Dark magic," Grayson said, and now his voice held warning. "Necromancy, curses, soul manipulation, entropy acceleration. Dark mages work with death, decay, and dissolution. They can raise corpses, drain life force, inflict supernatural diseases, even damage souls directly."
"Why would anyone want that?" James asked, and meant it.
"Power," Eliza said softly. "Dark magic is incredibly effective in combat. A skilled necromancer can raise armies from battlefields. A curse-mage can kill from miles away. And soul magic..." She shuddered. "Soul magic can do things..." She couldn't finish as she hugged Grayson tightly who began to comfort her.
So dramatic, James thought to himself. In his head he rolled his eyes, but for all to see, he looked worried.
Grayson took over from Eliza. "It can bind people to service beyond death. Steal memories and skills. Even transfer consciousness between bodies, some claim."
"It's also the most stigmatized branch," Grayson added. "Even in the Dominion, where magic is sacred, Dark affinity marks you as suspicious at best, evil at worst. Dark mages are monitored, restricted, sometimes executed simply for existing. The Imperium considers it proof that magic corrupts."
James absorbed this carefully. Dark magic faced persecution not because it was evil, but because it violated comfortable moral categories. Just like his first mother had been killed not for actual witchcraft but for being too effective at healing.
"Can someone have multiple affinities?" he asked, knowing the answer but needing to hear it confirmed.
"Theoretically possible but exceptionally rare. Most people align strongly with one branch. A few show secondary affinities. Maybe sixty percent Elemental, forty percent Nature. But true dual affinity, where someone commands two branches equally?" Grayson shook his head. "Those ones are rare and treated specially."
"What about all six?" James kept his voice light like he was joking.
And his parents laughed. "Impossible," Grayson said. "The branches oppose each other philosophically and practically. Summoning requires opening yourself to external forces. Chaos requires imposing your will. They're contradictory at a fundamental level. Someone trying to use all six would tear themselves apart from internal conflict. And even if that was possible, such an anomaly would be pruned by the Dominion..." His face went dark for a moment there and he quickly adjusted his look with a smile. "...good thing that it's inconceivable."
"Of course," James laughed. But in the back of his head, he was already devising. His father's look in that moment also didn't escape his observation.
"And technomancers?" he asked. "Do they have branches too?"
"Classifications, yes. Engineers, physicians, weapons specialists, computational theorists, energy systems experts. But those are learned disciplines, not inherent nature. Anyone with sufficient intelligence and training can become any type of technomancer. It's one of their core philosophical points, that achievement should be based on effort, not birth lottery."
James nodded as the pieces were fitting together. Magic was diverse but limited by inherent nature. Science was flexible but required extensive training. Neither was complete. Both had blind spots.
But someone who could do both...
"Time for bed, sweetheart," Eliza said, noticing his distant expression. "I think we've filled your head with enough magic talk for one night."
James went through his bedtime routine, thoughts elsewhere. In his room, he pulled out his hidden journal and began writing rapidly.
Six branches of magic, each manipulating reality through different principles:
Summoner
Elemental
Nature
Eldritch
Chaos
Dark
It's a shame there isn't a branch dedicated to the fundamental forces like Gravity, Friction, Electromagnetism... Perhaps, a gap that science can fill.
Pruned? It appears the Magic Dominion are not far off from what one would expect from ignorant humans.
James paused, pen hovering over paper. What he was contemplating wasn't just forbidden. It was the exact kind of thinking that had led to the Schism.
But Aegon failed for one simple reason. He was not James.
Five years until the Affinity Test. And with a smile on his face, he closed his journal.