“Teach you some magic...? Well... Touya, what’s your aptitude?”

“Aptitude?”

“Magic is highly influenced by the... aptitude that you’re born with! People without the gift for it... won’t be able to use magic at all...”

Hmm... So, magic wasn’t something that just anybody could use. Well, that made sense. After all, if everyone could use magic, then civilization would have been far more based around it.

“The gift for it, huh... You know, I think I’ll be fine on that front. Someone, uh, guaranteed that I’d be able to use magic if I wanted to.”

“Who told you that?”

“Oh uh... just a very, very important person.” It was God, as a matter of fact.

Hah. Yeah right. They’ll think I’m insane if I tell them that. I figured it’d be best to keep that part to myself.

“I mean, is there any way to test whether someone has any aptitude for magic?”

At my question, Linze pulled out some translucent stones from the pouch around her waist. Red, blue, yellow, and perfectly clear; they shone almost like they were made of glass. Each one was about one centimeter around. Looking at them, I remembered that there was a similar one on Linze’s silver wand. The one on her wand was bigger than the pebbles she placed before me, though.

“Okay, so what are these?” I asked, clearly confused by her actions.

“They’re, uhm, spellstones. They can be used to amplify, store, and release magical energy. We can use these to test whether or not you have aptitude for magic. But it can only provide a rough estimate, either way...” Linze whispered something like “I wonder if water would be the easiest to demonstrate...” before picking up the blue stone. She held it over the cup that she’d finished drinking her tea out of.

“Come forth, Water!”

At Linze’s command, a small amount of water flowed from the spellstone and into the teacup.

“Whoa.”

“This is how you cast a spell. Just now, the spellstone responded to my magical energy and created water.”

“By the way...” Elze cut in, then took the spellstone from her sister. After that, she tried to cast the same spell.

“Come forth, Water!”

The spellstone refused to activate. Not even a droplet of water poured out.

“This is what happens when you have no aptitude for an element. See, this means I can’t use Water magic.”

“You can’t use it even though your twin sister can?”

“Man, you really don’t think before you speak, huh? I mean, no offense taken, but still...”

Whoops. That was a pretty poor slip of the tongue. It didn’t seem like she was seriously angry at me, though, more like sulking a little. I was just glad my thoughtless comment hadn’t hurt her.

“In exchange for not being able to use Water magic, Sis can use Fortification magic... I can’t use that type, personally... You need the proper aptitude to use Fortification magic, too.”

Things suddenly made a lot more sense. I had been wondering where she was packing all that punch in that slender frame of hers, but the mystery had been solved.

“Everyone has some magical energy inside them, but unless they have the aptitude to use it, they won’t be able to channel it into any spells.” Seemed like everything hinged on whether or not you had the gift for it. Those without talent were just out of luck. It seemed that this world was just as unfair as the last.

“So, we’ll be able to test my aptitude if I do the same?”

“Yes. Just take the stone in your hand and focus on it, then chant Come forth, Water! Then, if you have the aptitude... water should come out.” Elze handed me the blue spellstone as she said that. I put a plate down under my hand to keep the table from getting wet, then held the stone above it and began to concentrate. I cast the spell I had just been taught.

“Come forth, Water!”

Before I could even blink, the spellstone started gushing out water like a broken faucet.

“Uh-oh-huh-wha-?!”

I dropped the spellstone hurriedly, and the waterfall immediately ceased. Sadly, though, it was too late. The table looked like it had just been soaked down with a hose, and the tablecloth was drenched.

“...What the heck does this mean?” I looked at the two sisters sitting in front of me, seeking some kind of explanation for the bizarre scene. Neither one answered me, though. They just sat there, looking on in amazement at the spectacle before them. It honestly looked like the expressions on their faces had been copied and pasted. In fact, it was all so silly that I almost found myself laughing.

“...Touya, you have so much magical energy that it’s almost overflowing... I think. To cause such a strong reaction with such a tiny stone and only the fragment of a spell... and on your first attempt, too... It’s just... your magical energy seems to be obscenely potent... I can’t believe my own eyes, even though I just saw it.”

“...You’re really much more suited to being a mage, I think. Seriously, I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.”

Seemed I had the potential after all, just like God told me I would. My sheer talent in the field was surely the work of God, too. It had to be. I mean, I wasn’t about to complain about it, I was just glad to know that I really could use magic.